JP3753552B2 - Printer system, print control method, and computer-readable recording medium on which program for causing computer to execute the method is recorded - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a printer system, print control method, and program for causing a computer to execute a method of adaptively printing out a document in which text information and non-text information that is information other than text information are mixed while maintaining readability. The present invention relates to a recorded computer-readable recording medium.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, when manuscripts in which text information and information other than text information, for example, non-text information such as image information, table information, and graph information are mixed and scaled to be printed out, the readability of the text information may be deteriorated. Therefore, the text information or the like is partially rescaled once on an application program that can edit the original, and the corrected corrected original is requested to be printed to the printer and printed out.
[0003]
In this case, the original document must be edited on the application program, and the editing process takes time and effort.
[0004]
Therefore, in recent printer systems, in order to reduce the time and labor required for this editing process, the print conditions of the application program are set, so that the enlargement / reduction is performed based on the relationship between the print size of the original and the output paper size of the printer. Processing is automatically performed so that the print size of the original can be matched with the output paper size of the printer. For example, when the output paper size is smaller than the print size of the original, the print data is automatically reduced and printed out when the original is output.
[0005]
However, in this alignment process, as described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-221023, the entire original is uniformly enlarged / reduced regardless of the data type. The quality of the original document deteriorates due to the difference in resolution. For example, when the scaling process such as enlargement / reduction is other than an integral multiple, the image is distorted, and deterioration of the image is inevitable.
[0006]
For this reason, in the page printer described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-221023, the ratio of text information and image information in one page is changed to an appropriate resolution or the print dot diameter is changed. However, image degradation is still inevitable.
[0007]
On the other hand, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-286221 discloses a data type in print information input from a data source at the time of zooming and printing, and a different variable for each data type based on the determination result. A printing method and apparatus for executing an enlargement process and developing an output image based on the enlargement / reduction process data after each enlargement / reduction process are described, and image degradation during enlargement / reduction of a document is eliminated.
[0008]
For example, as shown in FIG. 22, when scaling output of a document is performed, a scaling process for each data type, that is, text information T21 to T23 and image information I21 and I22, is performed according to the data type. This prevents image deterioration of the print output during the scaling process, and faithfully reproduces the original document.
[0009]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the printing method and apparatus described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-286221 described above can certainly avoid image deterioration, but, for example, in the case of reduced printing, the text information becomes smaller like rice grains and printed. In such a case, it is difficult to read the contents of the text information, and the original information value of the text information is lost due to the deterioration of the readability.
[0010]
On the other hand, even in the case of enlarging printing, if the size of text information characters becomes abnormally large, this also becomes difficult to read, and there is a problem that readability is lowered.
[0011]
This is because text information has moderate character sizes that are easy to read while maintaining human readability, and has different characteristics from information other than text information such as image information, that is, non-text information. is there. This is because the non-text information has an appropriate size in relation to the resolution, but the factor for determining the appropriate size is different from that of the text information. It is not always possible to satisfy both the requirements for both text information and non-text information.
[0012]
That is, the printing method and apparatus described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-286221 are intended to faithfully print out a document without deterioration in image quality regardless of the magnification of the entire document. When the image is already determined, when printing at that scaling factor, different scaling processing is performed for each data type so that image quality degradation does not occur. This scaling processing is applied to the entire document regardless of the data type. In other words, there are cases where the requirements for both text information and non-text information cannot still be satisfied, and in particular, the readability of text information may be impaired. There was a problem.
[0013]
The problem that the readability of such text information is impaired occurs not only when a single page is scaled, but also when, for example, a plurality of pages are printed out as one page.
[0014]
The present invention has been made in view of the above, and adaptively prints out text information while maintaining readability when scaling and printing a document in which text information and non-text information are mixed. An object of the present invention is to provide a printer system, a print control method, and a computer-readable recording medium recording a program for causing a computer to execute the method.
[0017]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
  Claims1According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a printer system that prints out a document in which text information and non-text information that is information other than text information are mixed, and analyzes the input document to analyze the text information and the non-text. Separating means for separating information;Setting means for setting an attribute change of text information based on the print designation of the input document; non-text information processing means for developing the non-text information separated by the separation means;Separated by the separating meansFirstThe text information, Based on the setting of the attribute change by the setting meansDeployment processAnd non-change setting processing means for performing the same processing as the non-text information on the second text information separated by the separation means.Text information processing means;The second text information output from the non-change setting processing means is printed over the non-text information output from the non-text information processing means, and the attribute change setting is set by the text information processing means. 1 text information is printed in a different area from the non-text informationAnd a print control means for outputting.
[0018]
  Claim1According to this invention, the input manuscript is separated into text information and non-text information by the separating means, and the text information and non-text information are respectively input to the text information processing means and the non-text information processing means and developed. In this case,The text information is further processed in the same manner as the non-text information, and the text information subjected to the same processing as the non-text information is output to be overlapped with the non-text information, and the attribute is changed and output. Set the text information to be output to a different area from the non-text information and print it out while maintaining readability.
[0019]
  Claims2The printer system according to the invention is a printer system that prints out a document in which text information and non-text information that is information other than text information are mixed, and prints out a plurality of page documents in the document on one page. A page dividing means for dividing the input original into a page original to be made into one page when the print is designated, and for each page unit for analyzing the page original and separating it into the text information and the non-text information A plurality of separation means,Setting means for setting an attribute change of text information based on print designation of the input document; a plurality of non-text information processing means for developing the non-text information separated by the separating means;Separated by the separating meansFirstThe text information, Based on the attribute change by the setting meansDeployment processAnd non-change setting processing means for performing the same processing as the non-text information on the second text information separated by the separation means.A plurality of text information processing means;The second text information output from the non-change setting processing means is printed over the non-text information output from the non-text information processing means, and the attribute change setting is set by the text information processing means. 1 text information is printed in a different area from the non-text informationAnd a print control means for outputting.
[0020]
  Claim2According to the invention, the page dividing means divides a plurality of page originals in the original into a page original to be made into one page when there is a print instruction to print out a single page.ThisThe page manuscript is analyzed and separated into text information and non-text information for each page manuscript.ThisThe page manuscript is analyzed and separated into text information and non-text information for each page manuscript, each text information processing means performs a development process of only text information, and each non-text information processing means contains only non-text information. The expansion process is performed.The text information is further processed in the same manner as the non-text information, and the text information subjected to the same processing as the non-text information is output to be overlapped with the non-text information, and the attribute is changed and output. Set the text information to be output to a different area from the non-text information and print it out while maintaining readability.
[0021]
  Claims3The printer system according to the invention of claim1Or2In the invention, the print control means changes the attribute of the text information after the scaling process of the document when the scaling process of the document is instructed.
[0022]
  Claim3According to the invention, the print control means performs the document scaling process on the text information and the non-text information when the document scaling process is instructed, and further the text after the document scaling process. Non-text information can be scaled as much as possible, for example, with a reduction ratio within the range that can capture the image of the entire document, while adaptively changing the attributes of the information and maintaining the readability of the text information. I have to.
[0027]
  Claims4The printer system according to the invention of claimAny one of 1-3In the present invention, the print control means outputs the relationship information indicating the arrangement correspondence relationship between the text information printed on the output document in an area different from the non-text information area on the non-text information area, and the text information area and the non-text information. It is characterized in that it is added to the area and printed out.
[0028]
  Claims4The printer system according to the invention of claimAny one of 1-3In the invention, the print control means outputs the relation information indicating the arrangement correspondence relationship of each text information printed on the output document in an area different from the non-text information area on the non-text information area. It is characterized in that it is added to the information area and printed out.
[0029]
  Claims5The printer system according to the invention of claim1~Any one of 4In the invention, the print control meansThe first said attribute change settingThe attribute of the text information is a character size, and the print control unit changes the character size so that readability can be maintained.
[0030]
  Claim5According to this invention, the print control means changes the character size to a character size that can maintain readability as a change in the attribute of the text information. For example, even if the entire manuscript containing text information and non-text information is instructed to perform a scaling process with a predetermined reduction ratio uniformly, the text information content will become unrecognizable reduced characters. Only the information is printed out as text information having a character size that retains readability.
[0031]
  Claims6The printer system according to the invention of claim1~Any one of 5In the invention, the print control meansThe first said attribute change settingThe attribute of the text information is a character color, and the print control means changes to a character color that can maintain readability.
[0032]
  Claim6According to the invention, the print control means changes the character color to a character color that can maintain readability as a change in the attribute of the text information. For example, even if the text color is difficult to read due to the color of the non-text information with respect to the entire document in which text information and non-text information are mixed, the text color retains the readability of the text information. Printed out as text information.
[0033]
  Claims7The printer system according to the invention of claim1~6In the invention, the attribute of the text information changed by the print control means is a character typeface, and the print control means changes to a character typeface that can maintain readability.
[0034]
  Claim7According to the invention, the print control means changes the character font to a character font that can maintain readability as a change in the attribute of the text information. For example, even if the entire manuscript in which text information and non-text information are mixed is instructed to perform a scaling process with a predetermined reduction rate uniformly, the text information is not readable. Is printed out as text information having a typeface of characters that retains its readability.
[0035]
  Claims8The printer system according to the present invention is the first aspect.7In the invention, the text information is text information included in non-text information.
[0036]
  Claim8According to the invention, the text information may exist independently on the manuscript, but there is also text information that is subordinately or hierarchically included in non-text information such as image information and graph information. Such included text information is also processed as a text information target.
[0037]
  Claims9The printer system according to the invention of claim1~8In the invention, the print control means changes the attribute of some text information among the plurality of text information processed by the text information processing means.
[0038]
  Claim9According to this invention, the print control means changes the attribute of some text information among the plurality of text information processed by the text information processing means. For example, the attribute of only text information included in non-text information is changed.
[0043]
  Claim 10The print control method according to the invention includes a separation step of analyzing an input document in which text information and non-text information that is information other than text information are mixed, and separating the input document into the text information and the non-text information; and the input Separated by the setting step for setting the change of the attribute of the text information based on the print specification of the document and the separation stepFirstExpansion processing of the text information based on the attribute change settingAndExpansion processing of the non-text information separated by the separation stepAnd processing similar to the non-text information on the second text information separated by the separation stepThe unfolding process and the unfolding processThe second text information that has been processed in the same manner as the non-text information is printed over the non-text information, and the first text information that is output with the attribute change set is output as the non-text information. Print output to a different areaAn output process;IncludingIt is characterized by.
[0044]
  Claim 10According to this invention, first, an input document in which text information and non-text information are mixed is separated into text information and non-text information, and the attribute change setting of the text information is set. After that, this text information attribute change was set.FirstText information and non-text informationAnd exhibitionThe opening process is applied,Furthermore, by performing the same processing as the non-text information on the second text information, the second text information subjected to the same processing as the non-text information is output in an overlapping manner with the non-text information, The first text information whose attribute is changed is set to be output to an area different from the non-text information, and is printed out in a state where readability is maintained.
[0045]
  Claim 11The print control method according to the present invention is input when there is a print designation for printing out a plurality of page documents in an input document in which text information and non-text information which is information other than text information are mixed. A page dividing step for dividing the original into one page to be divided into pages, and analyzing the page original divided in the page dividing step to separate the text information and the non-text information for each page. Separated by the separation step, the setting step for setting the attribute change of the text information based on the print designation of the input document, and the separation stepFirstExpansion processing of the text information based on the attribute change settingAndThe non-text information separated by the separation step is developed in parallel with the development process.In addition, the second text information separated by the separation step is processed in the same manner as the non-text information.The unfolding process and the unfolding processThe second text information that has been processed in the same manner as the non-text information is printed out by duplicating the non-text information, and the text information that is output with the attribute change set is different from the non-text information. Print out to the areaAnd an output step.
[0046]
  Claim 11According to the invention, first, when there is a print designation for printing out a plurality of page documents in an input document in which text information and non-text information are mixed in one page, a single page is input from the input multi-page document. The document is divided into page documents to be made into pages, and then each page document is analyzed and separated into the text information and the non-text information for each page. After that, the attribute change of text information based on the print specification of the input manuscript was set and separatedFirstText information is expanded based on the attribute change settingAnd minutesThe separated non-text information is expanded and processed.Further, the second text information subjected to the same process as the non-text information is overlapped with the non-text information by performing the same process as the non-text information on the separated second text information. At the same time, a setting is made to output the first text information whose attribute is changed and set to an area different from the non-text information, and printout is performed in a state where readability is maintained.
[0047]
  Claim 12A print control method according to the present invention is the first aspect.0Or 11In the invention, the setting step changes the attribute of the text information after the scaling process of the input document when the scaling process of the input document is instructed.
[0048]
  Claim 12According to the invention, when the document scaling process is instructed, the document scaling process is performed on the text information and the non-text information. In the setting step, the text information after the document scaling process is further processed. The attribute is adaptively changed so that the non-text information can be scaled as much as possible, for example, with a reduction ratio within the range where the entire image can be grasped, while maintaining the readability of the text information. Yes.
[0053]
  Claim 13A print control method according to the present invention is the first aspect.Any one invention of 0-12InNoIn the setting step, the relationship information indicating the arrangement correspondence of the text information printed on the output document in a different area from the non-text information area is displayed in the text information area and the non-text information area. It is characterized in that additional settings are made.
[0054]
  Claim13According to the invention, when the expanded text information and the expanded non-text information are printed out in different areas on the output document using the synthesis step, the arrangement of the text information on the non-text information area is arranged. Relation information indicating the correspondence, for example, number information is added to the text information area and the non-text information area and printed out, and the arrangement correspondence on the non-text information for each text information printed out in a different area is clarified. I am doing so.
[0055]
  Claims14The print control method according to the present invention is as follows.10~Any one of 13In the invention, the attribute of the text information to be changed in the setting step is a character size, and the setting step is changed to a character size that can maintain readability.
[0056]
  Claim14According to the invention, in the setting step, the character size is changed to a character size that can maintain readability as a change in the attribute of the text information. For example, even if the entire manuscript containing text information and non-text information is instructed to perform a scaling process with a predetermined reduction ratio uniformly, the text information content will become unrecognizable reduced characters. Only the information is printed out as text information having a character size that retains readability.
[0057]
  Claims15A print control method according to the present invention is the first aspect.0~Any one of 14In the invention, the attribute of the text information to be changed in the setting step is a character color, and the setting step is changed to a character color that can maintain readability.
[0058]
  Claim15According to the invention, in the setting step, the character color is changed to a character color that can maintain readability as a change in the attribute of the text information. For example, even if the text color is difficult to read due to the color of the non-text information with respect to the entire document in which text information and non-text information are mixed, the text color retains the readability of the text information. Printed out as text information.
[0059]
  Claims16A print control method according to the present invention is the first aspect.0~Any one of 15In the invention, the attribute of the text information to be changed in the setting step is a character font, and the setting step is changed to a character font that can maintain readability.
[0060]
  Claim16According to the invention, in the setting step, the character font is changed to a character font that can maintain readability as a change in the attribute of the text information. For example, even if the entire manuscript in which text information and non-text information are mixed is instructed to perform a scaling process with a predetermined reduction rate uniformly, the text information is not readable. Is printed out as text information having a typeface of characters that retains its readability.
[0061]
  Claims17A print control method according to the present invention is the first aspect.0~Any one of 16In the invention, the text information is text information included in non-text information.
[0062]
  Claim17According to the invention, the text information may exist independently on the manuscript, but there is also text information that is subordinately or hierarchically included in non-text information such as image information and graph information. Such contained text information is processed as a target of text information.
[0063]
  Claims18A print control method according to the present invention is the first aspect.0~Any one of 17In the invention, the setting step is characterized in that an attribute is changed with respect to some text information among the plurality of text information processed in the expansion processing step.
[0064]
  Claim18According to this invention, in the setting step, the attribute is changed for some text information of the plurality of text information. For example, the attribute of only text information included in non-text information is changed.
[0067]
  Claims19The recording medium according to the present invention is the above-mentioned claim 1.0~18By recording a program for causing a computer to execute the method described in any one of the above, the program can be machine-readable, and thereby0~Any one of 18Can be realized by a computer. Specifically, it is applied as printer driver software.
[0068]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Exemplary embodiments of a printer system and a print control method according to the present invention will be explained below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0069]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the printer system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a print request 1 is information requested from an application program installed on a personal computer (not shown).
[0070]
As shown in FIG. 2, the configuration of the print request 1 mainly includes a print designation 20 and print information 23. The print designation 20 includes an original magnification change designation 21 of print information (original) 23 which is an entity requesting printing, various adaptive change designations 22 indicating various alteration designations such as attribute changes of text information, and the like. In the print information 23, print information having various information types such as text information 24, image information 25, table information 26, and graph information 27 is mixed for each page. Further, the text information 29 may be further included in the image information 28 like the text information 29 in the image information 28. The included text information 29 has hierarchical or logical dependency in the image information 28.
[0071]
The reception buffer 2 receives the print request 1, sends at least the print designation 20 to the print control unit 10, and sends at least the print information 23 to the object decomposition unit 3.
[0072]
The object decomposition unit 3 analyzes the information type (object) of the input print information 23, decomposes it into non-text information that is information other than text information and text information, and sends the text information to the text information processing unit 4a. Then, the non-text information is sent to the non-text information processing unit 4b.
[0073]
Independent of the non-text information processing unit 4 b, the text information processing unit 4 a executes a development process for only text information under the print control unit 10, and sends the developed text information to the synthesis unit 5.
[0074]
The non-text information processing unit 4b executes unfolding processing of only non-text information independently of the text information processing unit 4a under the print control unit 10, and sends the unprocessed non-text information to the combining unit 5. To do. Note that the non-text information includes image information, graph information, table information, and the like as described above. However, in the non-text information processing unit 4b, the non-text information may be further executed in parallel for each non-text information unit. Good.
[0075]
Further, the synthesizing unit 5 executes various synthesizing processes to be described later based on the input text information and the arrangement information attached to the non-text information, and outputs it to the frame buffer 6.
[0076]
The combined print data input to the frame buffer 6 is sequentially output to the printer engine 7. The printer engine 7 executes print processing realized by a predetermined printing method among various printing methods, and performs printing. Output.
[0077]
The print control unit 10 controls the entire print processing in this printer system. In particular, the print control unit 10 includes a text attribute change setting unit 11, a non-text scaling ratio setting unit 15, and a text / non-text arrangement relationship setting unit 16. The text information processing unit 4a and the non-text information processing unit 4b Perform settings related to the expansion process to be executed.
[0078]
The text attribute change setting unit 11 sets an attribute change of text information processed by the text information processing unit 4a, and includes a scaling factor setting unit 12, a color attribute setting unit 13, and a typeface attribute setting unit 14.
[0079]
The scaling factor setting unit 12 changes the character size among the attributes of the text information. The scaling factor setting unit 12 adaptively changes and sets the scaling factor so that the scaling factor for the entire document indicated in the document scaling specification 21 in the print designation 20 is a character size within a predetermined range that can further maintain readability. can do.
[0080]
The color attribute setting unit 13 performs a change setting of the character color among the attributes of the text information. The setting of the color attribute can be adaptively changed and set so that the readability of the character can be maintained based on the relationship with the background color or the color of the non-text information, for example.
[0081]
The typeface attribute setting unit 14 performs change setting of the typeface among the attributes of the text information. Here, the typeface refers to, for example, various types of typefaces such as Mincho and Gothic, but in addition to this, typefaces relating to modifications such as italics and hollows may also be included. The change setting of the typeface attribute is to make the typeface that can maintain the readability of the text information.
[0082]
The text attribute change setting unit 11 can also change and set the text information attribute for the character string such as the character spacing of the text information and the line spacing as well as the attribute of the single character.
[0083]
The non-text scaling factor setting unit 15 sets a scaling factor for the entire document specified by the document scaling specification 21 of the print designation 20 for the non-text information.
[0084]
Since the text / non-text arrangement relationship setting unit 16 is based on the premise that there is a print request in which text information and non-text information are mixed, there is a case where the scaling ratio of the text information and the non-text information is different. In such a case, the positional relationship between the text information and the non-text information, for example, the text information and the non-text information are separately output to the separated areas on the output document, and further in this case, the text information and the non-text information are converted into the text information and the non-text information. On the other hand, a setting for adding information that gives an arrangement correspondence relationship on the non-text information of the text information is performed.
[0085]
Note that the print control unit 10 can also perform control to stop the development process of the non-text information processing unit 4b, execute the development process of only the text information processing unit 4a, and print out only the text information.
[0086]
Next, an overall print processing procedure of the printer system according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
[0087]
In FIG. 3, the reception buffer 2 first receives the print request 1 (step S11), and the object decomposition unit 3 analyzes the object of the print information requested to be printed and separates it into text information and non-text information. The data is output to the text information processing unit 4a and the non-text information processing unit 4b (step S12). On the other hand, the print control unit 10 performs setting processing such as changing the attribute of text information based on the information content of the print designation 20 in the print request 1 (step S13).
[0088]
Thereafter, the text information processing unit 4a executes text information expansion processing (step S14), and the non-text information processing unit 4b executes non-text information expansion processing (step S15). Each expansion process is performed in parallel by the text information processing unit 4a and the non-text information processing unit 4b.
[0089]
Thereafter, the synthesizing unit 5 synthesizes the text information expanded by the text information processing unit 4a and the non-text information expanded by the non-text information processing unit 4b (step S16), and combines the synthesized print data. The data is temporarily stored in the frame buffer 6 and printed out by the printer engine 7 (step S17), and a series of print processing ends.
[0090]
Next, an example of a setting process procedure based on print designation in step S13 will be described with reference to a detailed flowchart shown in FIG.
[0091]
In FIG. 4, the print control unit 10 first obtains a print instruction 20 (step S21). Thereafter, it is determined whether or not the print instruction 20 instructs to output only text information (step S22). When the print instruction 20 instructs to output only text information (step S22, YES), non-text information processing is performed. The setting is made so that only the text information expansion process is performed by the text information processing unit 4a without performing the expansion process of the unit 4b (step S23), and the process proceeds to step S24.
[0092]
If the print instruction 20 does not instruct the output of only text information (step S22, NO), it is further determined whether or not it is an instruction to print out text information in a different area from the non-text information ( In step S25), when printing out to another area (step S25, YES), it is further determined whether or not the positional relationship between the text information and the non-text information is made to correspond by a numerical number (step S26).
[0093]
When the arrangement correspondence between the text information and the non-text information is not performed with the numeric number (step S26, NO), the text / non-text arrangement relation setting unit 16 defines the text information as the non-text information area. The setting for print output to another area is performed for the text information processing unit 4a and the non-text information processing unit 4b (step S27), and the process proceeds to step S24. On the other hand, when the text information and the non-text information are arranged and associated with each other by the number number (step S26, YES), the text / non-text arrangement relation setting unit 16 arranges the text information on the original document. Set the number number corresponding to this text information to be written at the position on the non-text area corresponding to the position, and the number number corresponding to this text information is added to the text information and written on the text area. (Step S28), the process proceeds to step S24.
[0094]
On the other hand, if the print instruction 20 has not instructed to print out text information in a different area from the non-text information (step S25, NO), whether or not to further change the adaptive scaling factor of the text information. Is determined (step S29). When changing the scaling factor of the text information (step S29, YES), the scaling factor setting unit 12 performs a setting for scaling to text information having an adaptive character size that retains the readability of the text information ( Step S30) and the process proceeds to Step S24.
[0095]
The character size that retains the readability of this text information is determined whether the character size after scaling is within the range where readability can be maintained, and if it is not within the range, it is scaled to a character size within this range. Is set. For example, when texts of character sizes such as subscripts are mixed, scaling is set so that all characters are within the range of character sizes that can maintain readability. Of course, either one may fall within the range.
[0096]
If the scaling ratio of the text information is not changed (step S29, NO), it is further determined whether or not the text information and the non-text information are output redundantly (step S31), and if the text information is output redundantly (step S31, NO). YES), a setting is made to output the non-text information and the text information in duplicate (step S32), and the process proceeds to step S24.
[0097]
When the text information and the non-text information are not output redundantly (step S31, NO), it is further determined whether there is an instruction to change the color attribute of the text information (step S33), and the color attribute of the text information is determined. In the case of changing (YES in step S33), the color of the text information is changed and set to an adaptive color with readability (step S34), and the process proceeds to step S24.
[0098]
If the color attribute of the text information is not to be changed (step S33, NO), it is further determined whether or not there is an instruction to change the typeface attribute of the text information (step S35), and an instruction to change the typeface attribute of the text information. If there is any (step S35, YES), the text information typeface is changed to a readable adaptive typeface (step S36), and the process proceeds to step S24 to change the typeface attribute of the text information. If there is no (NO in step S35), the process returns to step S13.
[0099]
In step S24, it is determined whether or not there is a next print instruction 20, and if there is a next print instruction 20 (YES in step S24), the process proceeds to step S22 and the next print instruction 20 is set. The corresponding process described above is repeated, and if there is no next print instruction 20 (NO in step S24), the process returns to step S13, and the setting process based on the print designation is terminated.
As a result, various print instructions 20 can be instructed in an appropriate combination.
[0100]
A manuscript in which text information and non-text information are mixed by processing control by the print control unit 10 as described above has an adaptive attribute change with readability for text information and an adaptive print area of text information and non-text information. Depending on the setting, a print output with good readability can be obtained.
[0101]
Next, a specific print output example according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the print information 23 for which the print request 1 is made, that is, the information content of the original document. In this original, text information T1 to T3 indicating “office environment”, “telephone facility”, and “computer” and image information I1 and I2 indicating images of “telephone facility” and “computer” are mixed. ing. The “office environment” is text information that collectively indicates “telephone equipment” and “computer”.
[0102]
FIG. 6 is an example of a print output in the case where a print output of only text information is instructed in response to the print request for the original document shown in FIG. Only the text information T1 to T3 can be extracted and printed out from the original document in which the text information T1 to T3 and the image information I1 and I2 are mixed, and the text information only can be output as easy-to-read information. In this case, zooming or the like for the entire document is not instructed, but can be instructed.
[0103]
FIG. 7 shows an instruction to print out text information and non-text information in different areas when the scaling factor for the entire original document is instructed to 1/2 in response to the original document print request shown in FIG. An example of print output in the case where there is an error is shown.
[0104]
As shown in FIG. 7, the text information T1 to T3 and the image information I1 and I2 are scaled by a scaling factor of 1/2, and the image information I1 and I2 and the text information T1 to T3 are different output areas. Print output to E1 and E2. As a result, the text information T1 to T3 are output together, so that an easy-to-read output result can be obtained. In this case, the attributes of the text information T1 to T3 are adaptively changed as text information having readability. However, in the case of a scaling factor of 1/2, the readability is not deteriorated, so the attribute is not changed.
[0105]
FIG. 8 shows a case where the scaling factor for the whole original document is instructed to 1/2 in response to the original document print request shown in FIG. 5, and the text information and the non-text information are printed out in different areas. Furthermore, a print output example is shown in the case where the output correspondence is added with the arrangement correspondence of text information.
[0106]
In the print output example shown in FIG. 8, the number correspondence information of the text information T1 to T3 is further added to the print output example shown in FIG. The correspondence relationship between T3 and image information I1 and I2 is further clarified, and this is a print output example that is easier to read and understand.
[0107]
In this case, the number information N1 to N3 added to the image information area E1 are additionally arranged at positions corresponding to the positions where the text information T1 to T3 are arranged on the original document, respectively, and the text information area E2 is added. Shows the text information T1 to T3 respectively corresponding to the number information N1 to N3, the number information N11 to N13 is added to the head part of the text information T1 to T3, respectively.
[0108]
The numerical number information N1 to N3 is merely an example showing the arrangement correspondence of text information, and it goes without saying that it may be other codes, symbols, etc., or combinations thereof as used in footnotes. Any information may be used as long as the information indicates the corresponding correspondence relationship.
[0109]
FIG. 9 shows a print output when the original document print request shown in FIG. 5 is instructed to have a scaling factor of 1/8 for the entire original document, and text information and non-text information are output in duplicate. An example is shown.
[0110]
In this case, the image information I1 and I2 are reduced and scaled to 1/8 by the non-text information processing unit 4b as they are, but the text information T1 to T3 retains readability when reduced to 1/8. Therefore, the enlargement / reduction rate setting unit 12 sets an enlargement / reduction rate that can maintain readability, and the enlargement process is performed. The image information I1 and I2 and the text information T1 to T3 are combined in the same area and printed out. According to this, the text information T1 to T3 can always maintain the readability of the text information despite the large reduction ratio.
[0111]
FIG. 10 shows a case where the scaling factor for the entire original document is instructed to 1/8 in response to the print request for the original document shown in FIG. 5, and text information and non-text information are output to different areas. An example of print output is shown.
[0112]
In this case, the image information I1 and I2 are reduced and scaled to 1/8 by the non-text information processing unit 4b as they are, and the text information T1 to T3 sufficiently uses the area E2 different from the scaled and scaled image information. Thus, it is enlarged to a character size that can maintain readability, and is printed out in this area E2. As a result, the image information can be printed out as text information that can maintain sufficient readability even when the image information is scaled at a large reduction ratio.
[0113]
The print output example shown in FIG. 11 shows a print output example in which the type of text information in the print output example shown in FIG. 7 is changed. In the print output example shown in FIG. 7, the text information is output in the Mincho typeface, but in the print output example shown in FIG. 11, the Mincho text information is changed to Gothic text information. It is intended to maintain sufficient readability corresponding to the user. By changing the typeface attribute of the text information, it is possible to obtain a print output that retains the readability of the text information.
[0114]
In FIG. 11, the typeface attribute change is shown as one of the attribute changes. However, the color attribute of the text information may be changed. When changing the color attribute, for example, even if text information is set to a predetermined color in relation to the image information on the original document, readability may be reduced when it is output to an independent area. Because it occurs. In addition, even when output is duplicated, the readability of the text information may deteriorate due to the background color or the non-text information in the background.
[0115]
The print output example shown in FIG. 12 shows a print output example in which the type of text information in the print output example shown in FIG. 9 is changed. In the print output example shown in FIG. 9, the text information is output in the Mincho typeface, but in the print output example shown in FIG. 12, the Mincho text information is changed to Gothic text information. It is intended to maintain sufficient readability corresponding to the user. By changing the typeface attribute of the text information, it is possible to obtain a print output that retains the readability of the text information.
[0116]
Next, a printer system according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described. In the first embodiment, a necessary print designation needs to be included in the print request. In the second embodiment, the contents of the print designation are automatically processed as much as possible. The configuration of the second embodiment is the same as that shown in FIG. 1, but the control processing content of the print control unit 10 is different.
[0117]
FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a setting processing procedure based on print designation in the printer system according to the second embodiment. The overall flowchart in this case is the same as the overall flowchart shown in FIG. 3, and the flowchart shown in FIG. 13 is a subroutine of step S13.
[0118]
In FIG. 13, first, the print control unit 10 acquires the print designation 20 (step S41). Then, it is determined whether or not the acquired print designation 20 designates scaling of the original document (step S42). If scaling of the original document is not designated (step S42, NO), the process proceeds to step S53, and if scaling of the original document is designated (step S42, YES), the text attribute change setting is set. The character size of the text information after scaling specified by the unit 11 is estimated (step S43), and it is further determined whether or not the readability can be maintained by the estimated character size (step S44).
[0119]
If readability can be maintained after scaling (step S44, YES), there is no need to further change the scaling factor. Therefore, the process proceeds to step S53, and readability cannot be maintained after scaling (NO in step S44). In this case, the scaling factor setting unit 12 in the text attribute alteration setting unit 11 changes the setting to a scaling factor that can maintain readability (step S45).
[0120]
Thereafter, it is determined whether or not a text area into which the text information changed in magnification by the changed magnification can be secured (step S46). If the text area into which the text information is written can be secured (step S46, YES), it is further determined whether or not high-speed processing is designated by the print designation 20 (step S47). If high-speed processing is designated (step S47, YES), for example, as shown in FIG. 7, the text information is written and output in an area other than the document area, that is, the non-text information area (step S47). Step S48) and the process proceeds to Step S53. On the other hand, when high-speed processing is not designated (step S47, NO), for example, as shown in FIG. 8, in the document area, the number number information of the corresponding text information is placed at the position where the text information has been arranged. The setting is made to write the text information that has been added and written to the area different from the non-text information area and to print it out (step S49), and the process proceeds to step S53. .
[0121]
On the other hand, if the text area into which the text information is to be written cannot be secured (step S46, NO), it is determined whether or not the scaled text information can be accommodated within the output paper size range (step S50). . When the text information falls within the output paper size range (step S50, YES), for example, as shown in FIG. 9, the text information is set so as to be overlapped with the non-text information (step S51). Control goes to step S53. If the text information does not fit within the output paper size range (step S50, NO), the variable magnification is set to fit within the output paper size (step S52), and the process proceeds to step S53.
[0122]
In step S53, it is determined whether or not to change the color attribute in order to maintain the readability of the text information. If it is determined that the color attribute is to be changed (YES in step S53), the color attribute of the text information is changed and set to a color attribute that can maintain readability by the color attribute setting unit 13 (step S54), and the process proceeds to step S55. If it is determined that the color attribute is not changed (step S54, NO), the process proceeds to step S55 as it is.
[0123]
In step S55, it is further determined whether or not to change the typeface attribute in order to maintain the readability of the text information. If it is determined that the typeface attribute is to be changed (YES in step S55), the typeface attribute of the text information is changed and set to a typeface attribute that can maintain readability by the typeface attribute setting unit 14 (step S56), and then the process returns to step S13. If it is determined not to change the typeface attribute (step S55, NO), the process directly returns to step S13.
[0124]
By performing such text information attribute automatic change processing and text information automatic layout change processing, the burden on the user during operation is further reduced.
[0125]
Next, a printer system according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention will be described. In the first and second embodiments described above, a document in which text information and non-text information are mixed is separated into text information and non-text information. However, in this third embodiment, the contents of the original document can be reproduced as faithfully as possible.
[0126]
FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the print system according to the third embodiment of the present invention. In this third embodiment, the text information processing unit 4a in the configuration of the first embodiment shown in FIG. The text information processing unit 34a further includes a non-change setting processing unit 35 that faithfully performs text information expansion processing without changing the attributes of the text information of the requested contents. Other configurations are the same as those shown in FIG.
[0127]
Therefore, the text information processing unit 34a performs processing including text attribute change setting on the text information sent from the object decomposition unit 3, and converts the text information sent from the object decomposition unit 3 to the non-change setting processing unit 35. On the other hand, a normal process in which the text attribute change setting is not performed is performed, and each is output to the synthesis unit 5.
[0128]
On the other hand, the non-text information processing unit 34b performs normal expansion processing on the non-text information sent from the object decomposition unit 3 and outputs the result to the synthesis unit 5 in the same manner as the non-text information processing unit 4b.
[0129]
Then, the synthesizing unit 5 synthesizes the text information output from the non-change setting processing unit 35 and the non-text information output from the non-text information processing unit 34b in an overlapping manner with the original document arrangement relationship, and the text information and the non-text. The same print output contents as when not processed separately are formed, and the readability is maintained in a region different from the information obtained by overlapping the text information including the attribute change processed by the text information processing unit 34a. Print out in the same form.
[0130]
However, the print control unit 10 performs control such that text information and non-text information are not duplicated.
[0131]
FIG. 15 shows an example of print output when the scaling ratio for the entire original document is reduced to 1/8 as in FIG. 10, but in this case, only the image information I1 and I2 are included in the area E11. Is not output, but the text information processed by the non-change setting processing unit 35 is also output in duplicate, and is output to the area E11 in a state where the original document is faithfully reduced and scaled at a scaling factor of 1/8. . On the other hand, in the area E12, text information in a state in which the scaling factor is changed and the readability is maintained is output as in FIG. The text information and non-text information output to the area E11 are both reduced at the same scaling factor and overlap-synthesized with the same arrangement relationship, so that they are output in the same state as when the conventional printer system is scaled down. The text information in the area E11 is not readable, but the readability is maintained by referring to the text information output to the area E12.
[0132]
In this way, in the third embodiment, the text information is processed in the same manner as non-text information such as image information, and a print output including the text information is obtained, and the readability of the text information is output to another area. Therefore, the readability of the text information can be maintained while grasping the normal print output state of the original document.
[0133]
Next, a printer system according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention will be described. In each of the first to third embodiments described above, the text information is separated and this text information is processed independently from the non-text information. The text information is processed individually and selectively.
[0134]
FIG. 16 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the printer system according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. In this fourth embodiment, the functional configuration corresponds to the text information processing unit 4a in the configuration of the first embodiment shown in FIG. A plurality of partial text processing units 45 are provided in the text information processing unit 44a, and each partial text processing unit 45 receives a plurality of text information sent from the object decomposition unit 3 under the setting control of the print control unit 10. Are expanded by each partial text processing unit 45. Other configurations are the same as those shown in FIG.
[0135]
The text information processing unit 44 a assigns a plurality of text information sent from the object decomposition unit 3 to each partial text processing unit 45, and each partial text processing unit 45 performs each text information under the print control unit 10. Similar to the processing for the entire text information shown in FIG. 1, processing including attribute change is performed.
[0136]
FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a print output example in which the fourth embodiment is applied to the original document shown in FIG. In FIG. 17, image information I1 and text information T2 are included in image information I3, and image information I2 and text information T3 are included in image information I4. These text information T2 and T3 are separated into objects. The part 3 is separated in the same manner as the text information T1 and sent to the text information processing part 4a.
[0137]
The print control unit 10 performs setting so as not to change the attribute only for the text information included in the image information I1 and I2, and based on this setting, as shown in FIG. Only T3 is scaled down to 1/2 with the same scaling factor as that of the image information, and the text information T1 is set to be subjected to an attribute change that can maintain readability and developed.
[0138]
As a result, only the text information T1 is printed out in a form in which readability is reliably maintained, and the text information T2 and T3 included in the image information I3 and I4 are handled and reduced in the same manner as the image information.
[0139]
When only a part of text information of a plurality of text information existing in such a manuscript is handled in the same manner as image information, for example, text information of symbols such as “*” and “+” is used. This is because there is a case where an image such as a graphic is used in some cases, and it is appropriate that such text information is appropriately processed in the same manner as non-text information such as image information.
[0140]
In the fourth embodiment, only desired text information among a plurality of text information is kept readable, and other text information is processed in the same manner as non-text information. Print output can be obtained.
[0141]
Next, a printer system according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention will be described. In the fifth embodiment, when a plurality of originals including continuous pages are printed out as one original, the readability of the text information as shown in the first to fourth embodiments is maintained and printed out. Is.
[0142]
FIG. 18 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the printer system according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention. 18, in the fifth embodiment, the object decomposition unit 3, the text information processing unit 4a, and the non-text information processing unit 4b shown in FIG. 1 are respectively an object decomposition unit 53, a text information processing unit 54a, and non-text information. It corresponds to the processing unit 54b, and all of the plurality of page unit processing units 52 have the same configuration.
[0143]
The page division processing unit 51 divides the print request 1 received by the reception buffer 2 into a plurality of pages, particularly continuous pages into one page, and divides the pages into the specified pages. Each page document is assigned to a plurality of page unit processing units 52 and transmitted.
[0144]
The print control unit 60 includes a layout information setting unit 61, a text attribute change setting unit 62, a non-text scaling ratio setting unit 63, and a text / non-text arrangement relationship setting unit 64. The text attribute change setting unit 62, non-text The scaling factor setting unit 63 and the text / non-text arrangement relationship setting unit 64 correspond to the text attribute change setting unit 11, the non-text scaling factor setting unit 15, and the text / non-text arrangement relationship setting unit 16 shown in FIG. Setting processing is performed on the text information processing unit 54a and the non-text information processing unit 54b in each page unit processing unit 52.
[0145]
The layout information setting unit 61 sets layout information based on the designation of layout information for a page document that should be a single page, or automatically sets layout information without designating layout information. Each page unit processing unit 52 is controlled.
[0146]
The synthesizing unit 5 synthesizes text information and non-text information sent from each page unit processing unit 52 based on the layout information, and causes the printer engine 7 to print out the synthesized print data via the frame buffer 6. .
[0147]
Next, a print processing procedure according to the fifth embodiment will be described with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG. In FIG. 19, the reception buffer 2 receives the print request 1 (step S61). The page division processing unit 51 divides the document into a plurality of page originals to be formed into one page according to the print request 1 (step S62), and sends each divided page original to each page unit processing unit 52 (step S63).
[0148]
On the other hand, the print control unit 60 sets layout information for a plurality of page originals based on the print request 1 sent from the page division processing unit 51 (step S63). Further, the print control unit 60 performs setting processing based on the print designation on each page unit processing unit 52 that performs development processing on each page document (step S64). This setting process includes the attribute information attribute change setting described in the first to fourth embodiments.
[0149]
Each page unit processing unit 52 performs text information expansion processing on each page document sent from the page division processing unit 51 by the text information processing unit 54a based on the settings of the print control unit 60. The non-text information processing unit 54b performs non-text information expansion processing, and sends the expanded text information and non-text information to the synthesis unit 5 (step S65).
[0150]
Thereafter, the synthesizing unit 5 synthesizes the sent text information and non-text information (step S66), prints out from the printer engine 7 (step S67), and ends this process.
[0151]
FIG. 20 shows a print output example according to the fifth embodiment, in which three page originals are adaptively set in layout and printed with the readability maintained.
[0152]
That is, the image information in the areas E21 and E22 is reduced to １ ／ with respect to the original document, and the image information in the area E23 is reduced to ¼ with respect to the original document, but is output in the area E24. The text information T11 to T13 is output with the attribute changed to text information maintaining readability regardless of the scaling factor.
[0153]
Since such layout setting can be freely set using print designation, it goes without saying that flexible layout setting is possible. The processing described in the first to fourth embodiments can also be applied to the fifth embodiment.
[0154]
According to the fifth embodiment, even when a plurality of page originals including continuous pages are printed out as one page and there is a page original in which text information and non-text information are mixed, Non-text information processing on the page can be scaled freely, and arbitrary layout processing such as greatly emphasizing important pages can be performed, and the readability of text information is maintained by changing the attributes of text information On the other hand, many page contents can be printed out on a small number of pages, printed out in a compact and easy-to-read form, and the output result can be saved.
[0155]
In particular, since multiple page manuscripts are printed out on a single page, the print information content or print status summary for each page manuscript and the entire manuscript consisting of multiple page manuscripts can be easily maintained while maintaining the readability of text information. Can understand. This also makes it possible to easily perform color reproduction or color balance inspection on the entire document.
[0156]
The above-described printer system has been described on the assumption that it is a local printer device. However, as shown in FIG. 21, a print request from a client device 71 connected to the network N is sent via the network N. It is obvious that the present invention can be applied even to a printer system that outputs from a printer 72 connected in this manner. In this case, the printer server 73 may be used, or a printer locally connected to the printer server 73 may be used.
[0158]
【The invention's effect】
  Claims1According to this invention, the input manuscript is separated into text information and non-text information by the separating means, and the text information and non-text information are respectively input to the text information processing means and the non-text information processing means and developed. In this case,By further processing the text information in the same way as the non-text information, the text information that has been processed in the same way as the non-text information is output to the non-text information in duplicate, and the attribute is changed and output. Text information is output to an area that is different from non-text information so that it can be printed in a state where readability is maintained. There is an effect that can be held.
[0159]
  Claims2According to the invention, when there is a print instruction to print out a plurality of page documents in the document as one page, the page dividing means divides the input document into page documents to be formed into one page and separates them. The means analyzes this page manuscript and separates into text information and non-text information for each page manuscript, each text information processing means performs a development process of only text information, and each non-text information processing means In this case, the print control means controls the processing of each text information processing means and the processing of each non-text information processing means independently, and changes the attribute of the text information in particular. Since it is designed to print out, when printing multiple pages including continuous pages on one page, text information and non-text information Even if there are mixed page manuscripts, the non-text information processing of each page can be freely scaled, and for example, arbitrary layout processing such as greatly emphasizing important pages can be performed. By changing the attributes of text, the readability of text information is maintained, and many page contents are printed out on a small number of pages, and can be printed out in a compact, easy-to-read form and saved. Play.
[0160]
  In particular, since multiple page manuscripts are printed out on a single page, the print information content or print status summary for each page manuscript and the entire manuscript consisting of multiple page manuscripts can be easily maintained while maintaining the readability of text information. Can understand. This also has the effect that color reproduction or color balance inspection can be easily performed on the entire document.In addition, by performing the same processing as the non-text information on the text information, the text information subjected to the same processing as the non-text information is output to be overlapped with the non-text information, and the attribute change is set. Since the text information to be output is set to be output to a different area from the non-text information so that it can be printed in a state where readability is maintained, the text information There is an effect that readability can be maintained.
[0161]
  Claims3According to the invention, the print control means performs the document scaling process on the text information and the non-text information when the document scaling process is instructed, and further the text after the document scaling process. Non-text information can be scaled as much as possible, for example, with a reduction ratio within the range that can capture the image of the entire document, while adaptively changing the attributes of the information and maintaining the readability of the text information. As a result, the text information that requires readability is retained in this way, and only the non-text information of the manuscript in which text information and non-text information are mixed can be arbitrarily scaled. In the case of a large-size document, it can be printed out in a small size while maintaining the readability of this document, and a large amount of document information can be stored compactly. , Printed out as easily output forms, further enhance the understanding of the document contents, moreover, an effect that print consumption is small.
[0164]
  Claims4According to the invention, the print control unit prints the text information processed by the text information processing unit and the non-text information processed by the non-text information processing unit in different areas on the output document using the synthesis unit. In addition, relation information indicating the arrangement correspondence relationship of each text information on the non-text information area, for example, number information is added to the text information area and the non-text information area and printed out, and the text information printed out in different areas is Since the arrangement correspondence relation on the non-text information is clarified, it is possible to easily grasp the whole image of the non-text information while maintaining the readability of the text information, as well as image information and graphs. It becomes easier to understand the correspondence of text information to non-text information such as information An effect.
[0165]
  Claims5According to this invention, the print control means changes the character size to a character size that can maintain readability as a change in the attribute of the text information. For example, even if the entire manuscript containing text information and non-text information is instructed to perform a scaling process with a predetermined reduction ratio uniformly, the text information content will become unrecognizable reduced characters. Since only the information is printed as text information with a character size that retains readability, any scaling process is instructed for a document that contains both text information and non-text information. Even in such a case, the readability of the text information is always maintained.
[0166]
  Claims6According to the invention, the print control means changes the character color to a character color that can maintain readability as a change in the attribute of the text information. For example, even if the text color is difficult to read due to the color of the non-text information with respect to the entire document in which text information and non-text information are mixed, the text color retains the readability of the text information. Since the text information is printed out, even if the text information has a text color that is difficult to read due to the relationship with the non-text information, the text information and the non-text information are mixed. Thus, the readability of the text information is always maintained.
[0167]
  Claims7According to the invention, the print control means changes the character font to a character font that can maintain readability as a change in the attribute of the text information. For example, even if the entire manuscript in which text information and non-text information are mixed is instructed to perform a scaling process with a predetermined reduction rate uniformly, the text information is not readable. Because it is designed to be printed out as text information with a typeface of characters that retains the readability of the text, any scaling process is instructed for a manuscript containing both text information and non-text information. However, the readability of the text information is always maintained.
[0168]
  Claims8According to the invention, the text information may exist independently on the manuscript, but there is also text information that is subordinately or hierarchically included in non-text information such as image information and graph information. Since the included text information is also processed as the text information target, the readability of all text information on the document is always maintained and printed out.
[0169]
  Claims9According to this invention, the print control means changes the attribute of some text information among the plurality of text information processed by the text information processing means. For example, since the attribute of only text information included in non-text information is changed, the readability of only desired text information can always be maintained.
[0172]
  Claim 10According to this invention, first, an input document in which text information and non-text information are mixed is separated into text information and non-text information, and the attribute change setting of the text information is set. After that, the text information that has been set to change the text information attribute, the non-text information,Is an exhibitionThe opening process is applied,At this time, by performing the same processing as the non-text information on the text information, the text information subjected to the same processing as the non-text information is output to be overlapped with the non-text information, and the attribute change setting is performed. The text information that is output is output to a different area from the non-text information so that it can be printed with readability maintained. There is an effect that the readability of information can be maintained.
[0173]
  Claims11According to the invention, first, when there is a print designation for printing out a plurality of page documents in an input document in which text information and non-text information are mixed in one page, an input document of a plurality of pages is converted into one document. The document is divided into page documents to be made into pages, and then each page document is analyzed and separated into the text information and the non-text information for each page. Thereafter, an attribute change setting of the text information is set based on the print specification of the input document, and the separated text information is expanded based on the attribute change setting and the expansion process is performed.Reason beforeSince the non-text information separated by the separation step is expanded and the expanded text information and non-text information are printed out, a plurality of page originals including continuous pages are printed on one page. Even if there is a page manuscript that contains both text information and non-text information, the processing of the non-text information on each page can be scaled freely, for example, to emphasize important pages greatly. The layout of the text information can be changed and the readability of the text information can be maintained by changing the attributes of the text information, while printing the contents of many pages on a small number of pages, making it compact and easy to read. Can be printed out and saved.
[0174]
  In particular, since multiple page manuscripts are printed out on a single page, the print information content or print status summary for each page manuscript and the entire manuscript consisting of multiple page manuscripts can be easily maintained while maintaining the readability of text information. Can understand. This also has the effect that color reproduction or color balance inspection can be easily performed on the entire document.In addition, by performing the same processing as the non-text information on the text information, the text information subjected to the same processing as the non-text information is output to be overlapped with the non-text information, and the attribute change is set. Since the text information to be output is set to be output to a different area from the non-text information so that it can be printed in a state where readability is maintained, the text information There is an effect that readability can be maintained.
[0175]
  Claim 12According to the invention, when the document scaling process is instructed, the document scaling process is performed on the text information and the non-text information. In the setting step, the text information after the document scaling process is further processed. The attribute is adaptively changed so that the non-text information can be scaled as much as possible, for example, with a reduction ratio within the range where the entire image can be grasped, while maintaining the readability of the text information. Therefore, the readability of text information that requires readability is maintained, and only non-text information of a manuscript in which text information and non-text information are mixed can be arbitrarily scaled. In some cases, this manuscript can be printed out in a small size while maintaining the readability of the manuscript. In printed output, further enhance the understanding of the document contents, moreover, an effect that print consumption is small.
[0178]
  Claims13According to the invention, when the expanded text information and the expanded non-text information are printed out in different areas on the output document using the synthesis step, the arrangement of the text information on the non-text information area is arranged. Relation information indicating the correspondence, for example, number information is added to the text information area and the non-text information area and printed out, and the arrangement correspondence on the non-text information for each text information printed out in a different area is clarified. Therefore, while maintaining the readability of the text information, it is possible to easily grasp the whole image of the non-text information and understand the layout correspondence of the text information to the non-text information such as image information and graph information. The effect that it becomes easy to do is produced.
[0179]
  Claims14According to the invention, in the setting step, the character size is changed to a character size that can maintain readability as a change in the attribute of the text information. For example, even if the entire manuscript containing text information and non-text information is instructed to perform a scaling process with a predetermined reduction ratio uniformly, the text information content will become unrecognizable reduced characters. Since only information is printed as text information with character size that retains readability, any scaling process is instructed for a document that contains both text information and non-text information However, there is an effect that the readability of the text information is always maintained.
[0180]
  Claims15According to the invention, in the setting step, the character color is changed to a character color that can maintain readability as a change in the attribute of the text information. For example, even if the text color is difficult to read due to the color of the non-text information with respect to the entire document in which text information and non-text information are mixed, the text color retains the readability of the text information. Since the text information is printed out, the text is always text, even if the text information has a color that is difficult to read due to the relationship with the non-text information. There is an effect that the readability of information is maintained.
[0181]
  Claims16According to the invention, in the setting step, the character font is changed to a character font that can maintain readability as a change in the attribute of the text information. For example, even if the entire manuscript in which text information and non-text information are mixed is instructed to perform a scaling process with a predetermined reduction rate uniformly, the text information is not readable. Because it is designed to be printed out as text information with a typeface of characters that retains the readability of the text, any scaling process is instructed for a manuscript containing both text information and non-text information. However, the readability of the text information is always maintained.
[0182]
  Claims17According to the invention, the text information may exist independently on the manuscript, but there is also text information that is subordinately or hierarchically included in non-text information such as image information and graph information. Since the included text information is processed as the target of the text information, the readability of all text information on the document is always maintained and printed out.
[0183]
  Claims18According to this invention, in the setting step, the attribute is changed for some text information of the plurality of text information. For example, since the attribute of only text information included in non-text information is changed, the readability of only desired text information can always be maintained.
[0185]
  Claims19The recording medium according to the present invention is the above-mentioned claim 1.0~18By recording a program for causing a computer to execute the method described in any one of the above, the program can be machine-readable, and thereby0~18Can be realized by a computer. Specifically, the present invention has an effect of being applied as printer driver software.
[0186]
In particular, even when the device that includes the application program for editing the document does not have the printer driver function described above, the printer driver function is provided on the printer side, for example, by changing the attribute of text information. There is an effect that it is possible to print out or automatically print out a plurality of page originals on one page.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a printer system according to a first embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a print request according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a print processing procedure of the printer system according to the first embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a setting processing procedure based on print designation in the printing processing procedure of the printer system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of an original document processed by the printer system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a print output processed by the printer system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of print output processed by the printer system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of print output processed by the printer system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a print output processed by the printer system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a print output processed by the printer system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a print output processed by the printer system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of print output processed by the printer system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a setting processing procedure based on print designation in the printing processing procedure of the printer system according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a printer system according to a third embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of print output processed by the printer system according to the third embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 16 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a printer system according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of a print output processed by the printer system according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 18 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a printer system according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing a print processing procedure of the printer system according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example of print output processed by the printer system according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 21 is an overall view showing a configuration when the first to fifth embodiments of the present invention have a network configuration.
FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between an original document subjected to a scaling process by a conventional printer system and a print output result.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Print request
2 Receive buffer
3 Object decomposition part
4a Text information processing department
4b Non-text information processor
5 synthesis unit
6 Frame buffer
7 Printer engine
10 Print controller
11 Text attribute change setting section
12 Variable magnification setting section
13 Color attribute setting part
14 Typeface attribute setting section
15 Non-text scaling factor setting section
16 Text / non-text placement relation setting part
20 Print designation
23 Print information
35 Non-change setting processing part
45 Partial text processing section
51 Page division processing part
52 page processing unit
61 Layout information setting section

Claims (19)

In a printer system that prints out a document in which text information and non-text information that is information other than text information are mixed,
Separating means for analyzing the input document and separating the text information and the non-text information;
Setting means for setting an attribute change of text information based on the print specification of the input document;
Non-text information processing means for developing the non-text information separated by the separation means;
The first text information separated by the separation means is expanded based on the setting of the attribute change by the setting means , and the second text information separated by the separation means is replaced with the non-text information. Text information processing means comprising non-change setting processing means for performing similar processing ;
The second text information output from the non-change setting processing means is printed over the non-text information output from the non-text information processing means, and the attribute change setting is set by the text information processing means. Print control means for printing out the text information of 1 in a region different from the non-text information ;
A printer system comprising: In a printer system that prints out a document in which text information and non-text information that is information other than text information are mixed,
Page dividing means for dividing a plurality of page originals in the original into a page original to be made into one page when there is a print designation to print out a single page;
A plurality of separation means for each page unit for analyzing the page document and separating the text information and the non-text information;
Setting means for setting an attribute change of text information based on the print specification of the input document;
A plurality of non-text information processing means for developing the non-text information separated by the separation means;
The first text information separated by the separating means is expanded based on the attribute change by the setting means , and the second text information separated by the separating means is the same as the non-text information. A plurality of text information processing means including non-change setting processing means for performing processing ;
The second text information output from the non-change setting processing means is printed over the non-text information output from the non-text information processing means, and the attribute change setting is set by the text information processing means. Print control means for printing out the text information of 1 in a region different from the non-text information ;
A printer system comprising: It said print control means according to claim 1 or 2 printer system, wherein the changing the attributes of the text information after variable magnification processing of the document when the variable magnification processing of the document is instructed. The print control means adds relation information indicating an arrangement correspondence relationship of each text information to be printed out in an area different from the non-text information area on the output document to the text information area and the non-text information area. The printer system according to claim 1, wherein the printer system outputs a printout. The attribute of the first text information set by the print control unit as an attribute change is a character size, and the print control unit changes the character size so that readability can be maintained. The printer system according to any one of 1 to 4 . Attribute of the first of said text information said print control means is attribute change settings is the color of characters, said print control means according to claim, characterized in that to change the color of characters that can hold readability 1 5 the printer system according to any one of. Attribute of the first of said text information said print control means is attribute change setting are font characters, said print control means according to claim, characterized in that to change the font of characters that can hold readability 1 7. The printer system according to any one of 6 . Said text information, the printer system according to any one of claims 1-7, characterized in that the text information contained in the non-text information. It said print control means is any one of the claims 1 to 8, characterized in that to perform a change in the attributes for some of the text information of a plurality of text information text processing means for processing The printer system described in one. A separation step of analyzing an input document in which text information and non-text information which is information other than text information are mixed and separating the input document into the text information and the non-text information;
A setting step for setting an attribute change of text information based on the print specification of the input document;
The expanded processing based separation first of the text information separated by the process of the setting of the attribute change, while expansion processing the non-text information separated by said separation step, separated by the separation step An expansion processing step for processing the second text information in the same manner as the non-text information ;
The second text information that has been subjected to the same processing as the non-text information in the expansion processing step is printed over the non-text information, and the first text that is output after the attribute change is set An output process for printing the information in a different area from the non-text information ;
Print control method characterized by including the. If there is a print designation to print out multiple page originals in an input original that contains both text information and non-text information other than text information as one page, the input original is changed to one page. A page dividing process for dividing the page into original pages,
A separation step of analyzing the page original divided in the page division step and separating the text information and the non-text information for each page unit;
A setting step for setting an attribute change of text information based on the print specification of the input document;
Together with the separation first of the text information separated by the process and expansion processing based on the setting of the attribute change, to development processing the non-text information separated by said separation step independent parallel the development process A development processing step for processing the second text information separated by the separation step in the same manner as the non-text information ;
The second text information that has been subjected to the same processing as the non-text information in the expansion process step is printed over the non-text information, and the text information that is output with the attribute change set is output as non-text. An output process for printing out to a different area from the information ;
A print control method comprising: Said setting step, according to claim 1 0 or 1 1, wherein the print, characterized in that to change the attributes of the text information after scaling of the input document if scaling of the input document is instructed Control method. In the setting step, relation information indicating an arrangement correspondence relationship on the non-text information area of each text information to be printed out in an area different from the non-text information area on the output document is added to the text information area and the non-text information area. The print control method according to claim 10, wherein setting is performed. Attribute of the text information to be changed in the setting step is a character size, the setting step, any one of claims 1 0-13, characterized in that to change the size of characters that can hold readability The print control method as described in one. Attribute of the text information to be changed in the setting step is a color character, the setting step, in one or more of claims 1 0-14, characterized in that to change the color of characters that can hold readability The print control method described. Attribute of the text information to be changed in the setting step is a font of characters, the setting step, in one or more of claims 1 0-15, characterized in that to change the font of characters that can hold readability The print control method described. Said text information, the print control method according to any one of claims 1 0-16, characterized in that a text information contained in the non-text information. It said setting step, any one of claims 1 0-17, characterized in that to perform a change in the attributes for some of the text information of a plurality of text information to be processed by the developing process step The print control method according to one. Claim 1 0-18 computer-readable recording medium characterized by recording a program for executing the method described in the computer in any one of.

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