JP3728202B2 - Information processing apparatus and control method thereof - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and a control method thereof, and more particularly to an information processing apparatus connectable to a plurality of printing apparatuses and a control method thereof.
[0002]
[Prior art]
There are various printing methods of the printing apparatus such as an electrophotographic method such as a laser beam printer, an ink droplet ejecting device (inkjet printer), and the like.
[0003]
In general, a laser printer is mainly suitable for printing in two colors of black and white, and the print quality of the black and white portion is high. It also has the property of being fast. On the other hand, an ink jet printer is capable of color printing, but is slower than a laser beam printer.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, when a document is created by a document processing apparatus (including a personal computer or the like), it is often the case that most pages are black and white, and a portion requiring color printing is several pages.
[0005]
In such a case, the operator pays attention to the existence of the page of the color part and outputs the entire document to the color inkjet printer for printing, or outputs only the color page part in the document to the color inkjet printer. However, other monochrome pages are printed by a monochrome laser beam printer.
[0006]
In the former case, since the printing operation is completed with a single printing instruction, the operator only has to do one time. However, due to the use of a color inkjet printer, it takes a long time until all pages are actually printed. It takes time.
[0007]
In the latter case, when there is only one printer interface in the apparatus itself, the connection switching operation between the two printers must be performed, and the print instruction operation must be performed at least twice. Even if the apparatus has two printer interfaces, the printing operation must be performed at least twice. This is the case when connected to a network, and it does not change even when printing is performed by a color inkjet printer on the network and a laser beam printer dedicated to black and white (or one of them is a local printer).
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and automatically selects and prints an optimum printing apparatus in accordance with the characteristics of the page for each page, and allows an operator involved in the printing process to perform printing. It is an object of the present invention to provide an information processing apparatus and a control method for reducing the burden.
[0009]
  In order to solve this problem, for example, an information processing apparatus of the present invention has the following configuration. That is,
  An information processing apparatus that prepares a plurality of printer drivers corresponding to the printer languages of a plurality of printing apparatuses and distributes printing to the plurality of printing apparatuses,
  A setting unit that allows a user to set a printer driver corresponding to each printing apparatus as a plurality of output destination printing apparatuses used in distributed printing via a virtual printer driver setting screen;
  Storage means for storing the setting contents set by the setting means as an environment file of a virtual printer driver;
  When the print instruction is issued, the virtual printer driver is activated to distribute the print target data received from the host process to a plurality of printer drivers set in the environment file of the virtual printer driver in units of pages. Virtual printer driver control means for controlling the activation of each printer driver;,
  A determination means for determining whether the setting is to insert a replacement page;
  When it is determined by the determination means that the replacement page is set to be inserted, the replacement page is inserted into a specific printing device at a page position corresponding to a page distributed to a printing device that is not the specific printing device. And control means for controlling to print,
  The control means controls to print the same data as a page sent to a printing device different from the specific printing device as an insertion page applied to the specific printing device on the specific printing device. It is characterized by.
[0010]
Further, according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the first setting means for setting whether or not to insert a replacement page and the first printing device for setting the printing of the replacement page are set. 2 and the first setting means instructing the insertion of a replacement page, and when printing one page of data to the sending means, the printing set by the second setting means It is desirable to provide second sending means for sending the replacement page data to the apparatus. As a result, the work of collecting the print results in units of distributed pages becomes easier.
[0011]
The second sending means applies the data for one page sent to the printing apparatus not set by the second setting means to the printing apparatus set by the second setting means. You may make it send out. As a result, all pages are printed from one printing device, and only the pages to be replaced are printed from the other printing device. Although the output form is different, it is clear which page can be pointed out. It becomes.
[0012]
Further, the second sending means counts the number of pages continuously sent to the printing apparatus not set by the second setting means, and the data corresponding to the counting result is sent to the second setting means. It may be sent to the printing apparatus set by the setting means. As a result, the recording medium is not wasted.
[0013]
The printing characteristic is a characteristic indicating whether or not color printing is possible, and the determination unit determines whether or not there is information about color in the page unit data, and the selection unit includes information about the color. In some cases, color printing is selected, and in the absence of color information, a monochrome printing device is selected. According to this, it is possible to obtain printing results that are good in terms of cost and speed for each of black and white and color.
[0014]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0015]
<Description of configuration>
FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a document processing apparatus according to the embodiment. FIG. 2 shows that the apparatus of FIG. 1 is one of clients on the network and is connected to the network.
[0016]
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a CPU that controls the entire apparatus, and reference numeral 2 denotes a ROM that stores a boot program, BIOS, and the like. Reference numeral 3 denotes a RAM that is used as a work area of the CPU 1 and that develops and executes an OS (NOS: including a network OS) and a document processing program. The program developed in the RAM includes a printout driver program (printer driver). Details of the printer driver will be described later.
[0017]
Reference numeral 4 denotes an external storage device such as a hard disk, which prestores an OS, application programs such as document creation, and a printer driver.
[0018]
Reference numeral 5 denotes an input device composed of a pointing device such as a keyboard and a mouse, and 6 denotes a display device for displaying an editing screen and the like. Reference numeral 7 denotes a network interface (network I / F) for exchanging data with the network, and reference numeral 8 denotes a printer interface (printer I / F) for connecting a printer (local printer) to the apparatus itself.
[0019]
In FIG. 2, 10a and 10b are client apparatuses on the network, and the configuration thereof is as shown in FIG. Reference numerals 11a and 11b denote local printers connected to each client. A print server 20 prints print data sent from the client to the printer 21 connected to the print server.
[0020]
In the above configuration, a color ink jet printer is connected as a local printer to each client, and a laser beam printer capable of high-speed printing dedicated to black and white is connected to the print server 20. It will be apparent from the following description that the invention is not limited.
[0021]
FIG. 5 is an overview of color inkjet printers (IJRA) 11a and 11b in the embodiment. In the figure, the carriage HC engaged with the spiral groove 5004 of the lead screw 5005 that rotates via the driving force transmission gears 5011 and 5009 in conjunction with the forward and reverse rotation of the drive motor 5013 has a pin (not shown). And is reciprocated in the directions of arrows a and b. An ink jet cartridge IJC for each of the C, M, and Y color components is mounted on the carriage HC. Reference numeral 5002 denotes a paper pressing plate that presses the paper against the platen 5000 in the moving direction of the carriage. Reference numerals 5007 and 5008 denote photo-couplers, which are home position detection means for confirming the presence of the carriage lever 5006 in this region and switching the rotation direction of the motor 5013 or the like. Reference numeral 5016 denotes a member that supports a cap member 5022 that caps the front surface of the recording head. Reference numeral 5015 denotes suction means that sucks the inside of the cap, and performs suction recovery of the recording head through an opening 5023 in the cap. Reference numeral 5017 denotes a cleaning blade, and reference numeral 5019 denotes a member that enables the blade to move in the front-rear direction, and these are supported by a main body support plate 5018. Needless to say, the blade is not in this form, and a known cleaning blade can be applied to this example. Reference numeral 5012 denotes a lever for starting suction for suction recovery, which moves in accordance with the movement of the cam 5020 engaged with the carriage, and the driving force from the driving motor is controlled by a known transmission means such as clutch switching. Is done.
[0022]
These capping, cleaning, and suction recovery are configured such that a desired process can be performed at the corresponding position by the action of the lead screw 5005 when the carriage reaches the region on the home position side.
[0023]
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing the internal structure of a laser beam printer (hereinafter abbreviated as LBP) connected to the print server 20 in this embodiment. The LBP can register a character pattern or a fixing format (form data) from the print server.
[0024]
In the figure, reference numeral 100 denotes an LBP main body, which inputs and stores character information (character code), form information, or a macro instruction supplied from a host computer connected to the outside (in the embodiment, the print server 20). At the same time, a corresponding character pattern, form pattern, or the like is created in accordance with the information, and an image is formed on recording paper as a recording medium. Reference numeral 120 denotes an operation panel on which switches for operation and an LCD display are arranged. Reference numeral 101 denotes a printer control unit that controls the entire LBP 100 and analyzes character information supplied from a host computer. This control unit 101 mainly converts character patterns corresponding to character information into video signals and outputs them to the laser driver 102. The laser driver 102 is a circuit for driving the semiconductor laser 103, and switches on and off the laser light 104 emitted from the semiconductor laser 103 in accordance with the input video signal. The laser beam 104 is swung left and right by the side surface of the rotary polygon mirror 105 rotating at a constant speed, and scans and exposes the electrostatic drum 106. As a result, an electrostatic latent image such as a character pattern is formed on the electrostatic drum 106. This latent image is developed by the developing unit 107 around the electrostatic drum 106 (after black toner adheres) and then transferred to the recording paper.
[0025]
A cut sheet is used as the recording paper, and the cut sheet recording paper is stored in a paper cassette 108 mounted on the LBP 100 and is taken into the apparatus by a paper feed roller 109 and delivery rollers 110 and 111, and is stored in the electrostatic drum 106. Supplied. Then, the toner image attached on the electrostatic drum 106 by the developing device 107 is transferred to the conveyed recording paper. Thereafter, the recording paper is conveyed toward the fixing device 112 where the toner is fixed and finally discharged to the outside by the discharge roller 113.
[0026]
<Description of processing outline>
Next, print processing on the client side in the embodiment having the above configuration will be described. In order to simplify the description, a case where printing is performed in the client 10a will be described below.
[0027]
In general, on the client side, for example, when the OS uses MS-WINDOWS of Microsoft Corporation of the United States (not limited to this, of course), any application (such as a word processor application or a graphic processing application) is used. Also, printing is performed via a common printer driver. As the processing of the printer driver, the data passed from the application side through the OS is converted into a language suitable for the corresponding printer, and the data is output through the OS. The same applies to the embodiment.
[0028]
However, in this embodiment, the printer driver displays an environment setting window screen (not shown), in which a local printer is used for color printing and a printer 21 on the network is used for monochrome printing. Set in advance to use.
[0029]
When the printer driver actually gives a print instruction from an application or the like, the printer driver determines whether the print is in color (whether color designation information other than black and white or information intended for a color image is included). If it is determined for each page and it is determined that it is color, printing is performed using the locally connected inkjet printer 11a. If it is determined that it is monochrome, print data is sent to the print server 20, Printing is performed by the LBP 21 connected thereto.
[0030]
As a result, when the client side instructs a document for 10 pages (the entire document is not necessarily 10 pages), and the third and fifth pages are intended for color printing, The print data for the third and fifth pages is sent to the local printer 11a, and the print data for the other pages is sent to the server 20.
[0031]
As a result, the third and fifth pages are printed out from the local printer 11a, and the remaining pages 1, 2, 4, 6 and 10 are printed by the LBP 21.
[0032]
However, as a result, one document is printed from two printers. Therefore, it is clearly indicated in which part of the page printed in black and white the color printed page is inserted. In some cases, there may be fewer black and white pages, so a dummy page (replacement page) with a predetermined message for printing is printed on either black and white or color. did.
[0033]
For example, an example in which a replacement page is inserted on the monochrome printing side will be described with reference to FIG.
[0034]
In the figure, reference numeral 40 denotes document data to be printed, of which the page indicated by reference numeral 42 is color and the remaining pages indicated by reference numeral 41 are black and white. The page with reference numeral 42 is printed by the local printer 11a, and the page with reference numeral 41 is printed by the LBP 21, but in this embodiment, a color page originally exists at the page position indicated by the reference numeral 42 when printing by the LBP 21. A dummy page (replacement page) 43 with a predetermined message for clearly indicating this is printed.
[0035]
It should be noted that whether or not to print the replacement page can be appropriately selected by the user when printing. As a result, when there are a large number of pages for black and white and color, it is obvious at which part the color page is inserted, and when the total number of pages is small, there is no confusion. It is also possible to make effective use of resources.
[0036]
<Description of processing contents>
The processing contents of the printer driver in the embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG. This process is started when a print instruction is issued from an application.
[0037]
First, in step S1, a predetermined menu screen is displayed on the display device 6, and whether or not a replacement page is printed in the display device 6 and whether replacement page printing is set, whether to insert into a monochrome printer or a color printer. Let the user set. However, since monochrome printing is generally more frequent, when replacement page printing is designated, the monochrome printer is enabled by default.
[0038]
Next, a page buffer is secured in the RAM 3 to create print data, and it is cleared. Next, a color flag (stores information indicating whether the page of interest is color or black and white) reserved in advance in RAM 3 is initially set to off (set to monochrome printing), and the process proceeds to step S4.
[0039]
In step S4, data to be printed is received from the OS or application, and it is determined whether or not there is color information (information other than white and black).
[0040]
If it is determined that the color information exists, the process proceeds to step S5 and the color flag is turned on.
[0041]
When the process proceeds to step S6, print data based on the received data is created and stored in the page buffer. Since the print data creation process itself is known, the description thereof is omitted here.
[0042]
This is repeated until it is determined that the print data creation and storage for one page of data has been completed.
[0043]
When storage of the print data for one page is completed, the process proceeds to step S8 to determine the state of the color flag.
[0044]
If it is determined that the color flag is OFF (when it is determined that the print is monochrome printing), the process proceeds to step S9. Here, the print data stored in the page buffer is sent to the print server 20 on the network, and printing is performed by the printer (LBP 21) connected thereto.
[0045]
Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S10 to determine whether or not the color printer is set to print a replacement page. If the determination is yes, the process proceeds to step S11, and the replacement data is transferred to the color printer (in the embodiment).Local printer 11a).
[0046]
On the other hand, if it is determined that the color flag is on, the process advances to step S12 to send the print data in the page buffer to the color printer. In step S13, it is determined whether or not the monochrome page is set to print the replacement page. If the determination is yes, the process proceeds to step S114, and the replacement data is transferred to the monochrome printer (in the embodiment,Print server 20).
[0047]
Thus, when printing for one page is completed, the process proceeds to step S15, and it is determined whether printing of all pages is completed. If not, the processing from step S2 onward is repeated to print the next page.
[0048]
In the above process, for example, when a replacement page is printed by a color printer, if the monochrome print data for 5 pages is continuously printed by the monochrome printer, the same number of replacement pages will be printed. Therefore, if it is only necessary to confirm, a message (character string) indicating that five pages are inserted may be recorded on one recording sheet.
[0049]
In order to realize this, during the printing of the monochrome page, the process of counting the number of pages is performed in step S11 so that the replacement page is not printed.
[0050]
If the count result is other than “0” at the position immediately before step S12, data with a message indicating that the page indicated by the count value is to be replaced should be recorded on one page of recording paper. , And sent to the color printer to reset the count value to “0”.
[0051]
The same applies to step S14. Instead of sending print data, correction is made so that counting is performed, and a message indicating that replacement for the counted value is performed is added to the position immediately before step S9. The data is printed and the count value is reset to “0”.
[0052]
When the above processing is performed, even when there are consecutive replacements of a plurality of pages, they are only recorded on a single recording sheet indicating the replacement, so that resources can be used effectively.
[0053]
In the above embodiment, it has been described that an appropriate message is printed when a replacement page is printed. However, the present invention is not limited to this.
[0054]
For example, in step S11, the print data stored in the page buffer is output to the color printer. Similarly, in step S14, information (commands, etc.) relating to color control in the print data stored in the page buffer is excluded. The print data may be printed on a monochrome printer.
[0055]
As a result, for example, in 10-page printing, only pages 3 and 5 are in color, and when the replacement page is printed by the monochrome printer, all pages 1 to 10 are printed from the monochrome printer. Only 5 pages that should be printed in original color are printed from the color printer.
[0056]
This is because, for example, the original includes black and white and color pages, and copes with a case where a plurality of copies are made by a black and white copying machine. In general, in a black-and-white copying machine, when a color document and a black-and-white document are scanned and copied, the result of copying a color document is less than the result of copying a monochrome document, which is inconvenient.
[0057]
Of course, the above-described modification of the first embodiment may be appropriately applied to other embodiments described later.
[0058]
In the above embodiment, one of the two printers is a local color printer connected to the client, and the other is a black and white LBP printer on the network. If an interface is provided, a high-speed monochrome printer and a color printer with a low speed may be connected to each interface. As a result, it is possible to cope with the case of using as a stand-alone. In general, a personal computer is provided with a parallel interface and a serial interface. Also, recent printers have either of these interfaces or can be connected as an option. Therefore, it is not always necessary to have the same interface.
[0059]
Further, the printer on the network is described as being connected to the printer interface provided in the print server. However, in the case of a printer that can be directly connected to the network, the configuration shown in FIG.
[0060]
<Second Embodiment>
In the above embodiment (the first embodiment), it has been described that both the monochrome printer and the color printer interpret and print the same printer language.
[0061]
However, even with printers from the same manufacturer, the latest printers have functions that can be interpreted with respect to previous printer languages, but basically the printer language has been expanded, and when used in the greatest common divisor. There is a possibility that the original function cannot be performed. Needless to say, in the case of different languages from different manufacturers.
[0062]
Therefore, in the second embodiment, an example will be described in which processing can be performed in the same manner as in the first embodiment even when different printer languages are used.
[0063]
In the following, it is assumed that the color printer, which is a local printer, is assigned to the LPT1 port of the apparatus, and the printer LBP of the network server 20 is assigned to LPT2. The languages of these printers are different. Color printers originally create and output print data by a printer driver “DRIVER_A”, and monochrome LBP printers create and output print data by a printer driver “DRIVER_B”. It will be explained as a thing. That is, in the external storage device 4 of the deviceIsAssume that these two drivers are already stored. In the second embodiment, a virtual driver for switching between the two is prepared and switched between pages.
[0064]
FIG. 7 shows an example of a virtual printer driver setting window in the second embodiment.
[0065]
As shown in the figure, the local printer is assigned to the LPT1 port, the actual driver name “DRIVER_A” used for the local printer is set, the network driver LBP is assigned to LPT2, and the driver name “DRIVER_B” is set. Is shown.
[0066]
Here, when the OK button is instructed by the input device 5 or the like, the setting contents are stored in the environment file of this virtual driver.
[0067]
Now, when a print instruction is actually issued, this virtual driver is activated, receives data in units of one page, determines whether or not there is information on color, and has information on color. For example, the driver_A set as a color printer is activated, and processing for passing data for one page is performed. If there is no information about the color, DRIVER_B is activated, and processing for passing data for one page is performed.
[0068]
<Description of Third Embodiment>
In the above embodiment, the processing on the print data sending side is main, but this may be performed on the printer side.
[0069]
This example will be described as a third embodiment with reference to FIGS.
[0070]
FIG. 8 shows the connection relationship between the host computer and two printers. In the case shown in the drawing, at least the monochrome printer has the configuration shown in FIG. This will be described below.
[0071]
In the figure, 201 is a CPU that controls the entire printer, and 202 is a ROM that stores an operation processing procedure of the CPU 201 and various font data. A RAM 203 is used as a work area for the CPU 201 and includes a reception buffer. 204 is a frame memory capable of developing image data for one page or one band, 205 is an interface for receiving print data from a higher-level device (host computer 1000 in FIG. 8), and 206 is a printer connected to the lower level. It is an interface for sending. Reference numeral 207 denotes a printer engine (substantially the same as that shown in FIG. 6) that actually performs print processing, and 208 denotes an operation panel.
[0072]
Here, 201 to 206 correspond to the printer control unit in FIG.
[0073]
In the above configuration, print data is sent from the host computer 1000, but the data is temporarily stored in the reception buffer. When there is no color information in one page of the print data, the image data is developed in the frame memory 204 and output to the printer engine 207 for printing.
[0074]
When the presence of a page having at least one color information (color other than black and white) is detected, the print data of that page is output to the color printer 3000 connected to the lower level.
[0075]
As a result, the host computer 1000 only needs to perform normal printing processing, and need not perform the processing described in the first embodiment.
[0076]
Further, since the host computer 1000 only needs to have one printer interface, it is not necessary to install a special card.
[0077]
Further, in the third embodiment, the replacement page may be printed, or the processing when the replacement is continuously performed may be performed as in the modification example of the first embodiment.
[0078]
<Description of Fourth Embodiment>
In the first to third embodiments, the example of performing distributed printing to two printers by paying attention to color / monochrome as the characteristics of the printer has been described.
[0079]
Some printers (particularly page printers) can be mounted with a plurality of different paper trays at a time, and can select and print a paper instructed by a host computer.
[0080]
However, on the other hand, many printers have only one type of paper tray (or an apparatus that can have only one type).
[0081]
Therefore, distributed printing processing may be performed on two or more printers equipped with such different paper trays or paper.
[0082]
That is, as in the previous embodiment, the page size to be printed in page units is detected and sent to a printer having the corresponding paper. At this time, the content of the replacement page is printed at a reduced size when the print data is larger than the paper size, and at the same size when the print data is not larger.
[0083]
The present invention can also be applied to three or more printers.
[0084]
As described above, according to the present embodiment, whether to insert a replacement page for aligning the pages of a document to be printed in a distributed manner, and if so, in which printing device to insert the replacement page And a step for determining which printing device print data is to be printed on a page basis, a step for printing on the printing device according to the determination result, and a replacement page insertion are instructed from the characteristics of the print data and the printing device. Then, by including the step of inserting the replacement page into the instructed printing apparatus, printing is performed on the printing apparatus having appropriate characteristics in the print data, so unnecessary printing can be reduced. In addition, since the replacement page is inserted, it is easy to align the divided and printed documents. Since there is a page number in the output data and the page order may be clearly understood without inserting a replacement page, it is possible to set so that the replacement page is not inserted.
[0085]
In addition, when a printer that is slow but has few printing opportunities is combined with a printer that has high printing speed and many printing opportunities, printing throughput is improved.
[0086]
Also, when printing is performed via a WAN or the like at a remote location and the original document cannot be referred to, rearrangement may not be possible by simple division printing without a replacement page. In the present invention, since the replacement page is inserted, the replacement can be performed without referring to the original document.
[0087]
In the above-described embodiment, an example in which one of the two printers is directly connected to the network and the other is described. Of course, both of the two printers are printers on the network. Of course it is good.
[0088]
Note that the present invention may be applied to a system constituted by a plurality of devices (for example, a host computer, an interface device, a reader, a printer, etc.) or an apparatus constituted by a single device.
[0089]
Another object of the present invention is to supply a storage medium storing software program codes for implementing the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or apparatus, and the computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus stores the storage medium. Needless to say, this can also be achieved by reading and executing the program code stored in the.
[0090]
In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.
[0091]
As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a CD-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, or the like can be used.
[0092]
Further, by executing the program code read by the computer, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also an OS (operating system) running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. It goes without saying that a case where the function of the above-described embodiment is realized by performing part or all of the actual processing and the processing is included.
[0093]
Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function expansion is performed based on the instruction of the program code. It goes without saying that the CPU or the like provided in the board or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.
[0094]
For example, when the above storage medium is applied to the first embodiment, the program code corresponding to the above-described flowchart is stored in the storage medium. In brief, the memory map of FIG. Each module shown in the example is stored in a storage medium.
[0095]
That is, at least a determination module that receives data to be printed from a host process and determines data characteristics in units of pages, a selection module that selects one of a plurality of printing apparatuses according to the determination result, and a selection What is necessary is just to include the sending module which sends the data for one page of the judgment object by the said judgment process in the printed printing apparatus.
[0096]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to automatically select an optimum printing apparatus according to the characteristics of the page and perform printing, thereby reducing the burden on the operator for the printing process. It becomes possible to make it.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram of an information processing apparatus according to an embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a network configuration in the embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an outline of printing including a color page in the embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a print processing procedure according to the embodiment.
FIG. 5 is an overview of a color inkjet printer in the embodiment.
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing the internal structure of the laser beam printer in the present embodiment.
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a printer driver setting screen according to the second embodiment.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a system configuration in a third embodiment.
FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a printer 2000 according to the third embodiment.
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a memory map of a storage medium for realizing the first embodiment.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 CPU
2 ROM
3 RAM
4 External storage device
5 input devices
6 Display device
7 Network I / F
8 Printer I / F

Claims (14)

An information processing apparatus that prepares a plurality of printer drivers corresponding to the printer languages of a plurality of printing apparatuses and distributes printing to the plurality of printing apparatuses,
A setting unit that allows a user to set a printer driver corresponding to each printing apparatus as a plurality of output destination printing apparatuses used in distributed printing via a virtual printer driver setting screen;
Storage means for storing the setting contents set by the setting means as an environment file of a virtual printer driver;
When the print instruction is issued, the virtual printer driver is activated to distribute the print target data received from the host process to a plurality of printer drivers set in the environment file of the virtual printer driver in units of pages. Virtual printer driver control means for controlling the activation of each printer driver;
A determination means for determining whether the setting is to insert a replacement page;
When it is determined by the determination means that the replacement page is set to be inserted, the replacement page is inserted into a specific printing device at a page position corresponding to a page distributed to a printing device that is not the specific printing device. And control means for controlling to print,
The control means controls to print the same data as a page sent to a printing device different from the specific printing device as an insertion page applied to the specific printing device on the specific printing device. An information processing apparatus characterized by:   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of printer drivers correspond to different printer languages.   3. The virtual printer driver performs a process of prompting activation of a printer driver corresponding to one page unit and transferring data for one page under the control of the virtual printer driver control unit. Information processing device.   Under the control of the virtual printer driver control means, the virtual printer driver analyzes the data to be printed, determines whether there is information about color in the data in page units, and sets the data to be printed as a plurality of data. 4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information processing apparatus is distributed to printer drivers.   Under the control of the virtual printer driver control means, the virtual printer driver analyzes the data to be printed, determines the recording medium size designated for each page, and distributes the data to be printed to a plurality of printer drivers. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information processing apparatus is an information processing apparatus.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of printing apparatuses is a printing apparatus on a network.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein print data generated by a printer driver activated by the virtual printer driver is sent to a printing apparatus via a print server on a network. A method of controlling an information processing apparatus that prepares a plurality of printer drivers respectively corresponding to printer languages of a plurality of printing apparatuses and distributes printing to the plurality of printing apparatuses.
A setting step for allowing a user to set a printer driver corresponding to each printing device as a plurality of output destination printing devices used in distributed printing via a setting screen;
A storage step of storing the setting contents set by the setting step as an environment file;
When a print instruction is issued, it starts as a virtual printer driver, and print target data received from the host process is distributed to a plurality of printer drivers set in the environment file of the virtual printer driver for each page. A distributed process for starting the printer driver;
A determination step for determining whether or not to set a replacement page;
When it is determined in the determination step that the replacement page is set to be inserted, the replacement page is inserted into a page position corresponding to a page distributed to a printing apparatus other than the specific printing apparatus with respect to the specific printing apparatus. And a control process for controlling to print,
The control step performs control so that data similar to a page sent to a printing device different from the specific printing device is printed on the specific printing device as an insertion page applied to the specific printing device. A method for controlling an information processing apparatus. The information processing apparatus control method according to claim 8 , wherein the plurality of printer drivers correspond to different printer languages. The dispersion step, prompted the activation of the printer driver corresponding to one page, the control method for an information processing apparatus according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that the process of passing the data of one page. In the distribution step, the print target data is analyzed, it is determined whether or not there is information about color in the page unit data, and the print target data is distributed to a plurality of printer drivers. control method for an information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 8 to 10. The dispersion step is to analyze the data to be printed, to determine the recording medium size specified in page units, 8 to claim, characterized in that distributing data of the print target to a plurality of printer drivers The control method of the information processing apparatus according to any one of 10 . It said plurality of printing devices, a method of controlling an information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 8 to 12, characterized in that both a printing apparatus on the network. 14. The information processing apparatus control method according to claim 13 , wherein the print data generated by the printer driver activated in the distribution step is sent to the printing apparatus via a print server on the network.

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