JP4791240B2 - Print control apparatus and print control method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing control apparatus and a printing control method, and more particularly to a technique for controlling a printing apparatus.

  In recent years, printers are frequently used in general households. As a general usage of a printer, the main usage is to connect a printer to a PC (Personal Computer) and print a document or an image. At that time, software called a printer driver corresponding to the printer needs to be operated on the PC.

  It is considered that it is only necessary to connect not only to a PC but also to home appliances such as a TV and print TV broadcast images and data broadcast data. As an example of a method for realizing such a function, an image forming apparatus described in Patent Document 1 has been devised.

  The configuration of the image forming apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 is shown in FIG. The printer 90 in Patent Document 1 includes a document interpretation / layout processing unit 91, a print engine 92, an image reception / document generation unit 93, a control panel 94, an image buffer 95, and an external output unit 96.

  When the printer 90 receives an XHTML document from the outside, the document interpretation / layout processing unit 91 analyzes the document, downloads a JPEG image linked from the outside, performs layout, and then uses the print engine 92. Print. When receiving the JPEG image, the image reception / document generation unit 93 creates an XHTML document for printing the JPEG image, stores the JPEG image in the image buffer 95, and converts the XHTML document into a document interpretation / layout processing unit. Pass to 91. The document interpretation / layout processing unit 91 downloads a JPEG image from the image buffer 95, performs layout, and prints it using the print engine 92.

In addition to the above, the image forming apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 can set parameters for printing using the control panel 94 and can output to an external device using the external output unit 96.
JP 2004-114326 A (published on April 15, 2004)

  When the image forming apparatus described in Patent Document 1 is used, printing without using a PC is possible. However, there is a problem that the layout may differ depending on the printer that performs printing. This is because the printing capability such as the printable range differs depending on the printer. For example, if printer A can print up to 1 mm from the edge of the paper, but printer B can only print up to 3 mm from the edge of the paper, sending layout information tailored to printer A to printer B The part will not be printed.

  That is, when the image forming apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 is used, since the printer information cannot be grasped on the layout information holding side, the same layout information is transmitted to any printer. However, the appearance will differ depending on the printer.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and the object thereof is to perform appropriate printing even from home appliances such as a TV without preparing specific software such as a printer driver. A printing control apparatus and a printing control method are provided.

  In order to solve the above problems, a print control device according to the present invention acquires device information related to a printing device, and manages device information management means for managing the acquired device information, and a layout used for printing in the printing device. Template management means for managing a template for generating information, layout information creation means for creating layout information based on the template managed by the template management means, and the acquired device information, and the layout information Layout information transmitting means for transmitting the layout information created by the creating means to the printing apparatus.

  According to the above configuration, when the printing control apparatus finds a printing apparatus on the network, the printing control apparatus acquires performance information of the printing apparatus from the printing apparatus. Examples of the performance information include printable paper size, printable area size, type of ink that can be used for printing, printable resolution, double-sided printing capability, and CD (Compact Disc) printing capability. Can be mentioned.

  The print control apparatus of the present invention manages templates by template management means. This template describes a part of the layout information for printing by the printing apparatus. The print control apparatus adds a description based on the performance information of the printing apparatus to the template, and creates layout information that can be printed by the printing apparatus. The print control apparatus causes the printing apparatus to execute printing by providing the printing apparatus with the layout information thus created.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to issue an appropriate print instruction even from a general home appliance such as a television without preparing specific software such as a printer driver. Therefore, there is an advantage that the versatility of the printing technique is improved.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
[Outline of device configuration in network]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a device configuration in a network to which a print control apparatus is connected, which is a system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the print control apparatus 10 is connected to a network. In addition to the print control apparatus 10, the network includes content servers 21 and 22 having a function of providing content such as video and images to devices connected to the same network, and devices connected to the same network. Network printers 31 and 32 having a function of receiving layout information to be printed, interpreting the layout information, and printing are connected. A display device 40 is connected to the print control apparatus 10 rather than via a network.

  The print control apparatus 10, the content servers 21 and 22, and the network printers 31 and 32 connected to the network are equipped with a device discovery function based on UPnP (Universal Plug and Play). By using this function, the print control apparatus 10 can discover other devices.

  In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the number of content servers and network printers in the network is 2, and one or a plurality of image contents are stored in each content server. That is, in the present embodiment, it is assumed that the relationship between the number of “print control apparatus”, “content server”, and “network printer” is many-to-many-to-many. However, even in the case of one-to-one, one-to-one, one-to-one, etc., the configuration of the print control apparatus 10 is the same, and the present invention can be applied.

[Configuration of content server and network printer]
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a main part of the content server 21 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3, the content server 21 includes a communication unit 71 for communicating with devices connected to the same network, a content storage unit 72 for storing content such as video and images, and the same network. A content server information providing unit 73 is provided for providing its own information in response to a request from the connected device.

  When the content server 21 is connected to the network, the content server information providing unit 73 notifies its own information to each device in the network using the communication unit 71. Also, when an information request is received from a device in the network, the device itself is notified of the requested information. The own information here is an IP address or MAC address, which is a network address indicating the location of the apparatus, a name of the device, and the like, and is information for identifying itself.

  The content server 21 notifies the content list in the content storage unit 72 when a content list request is received from each device in the network. In addition, when there is a request for transmitting the content itself, the corresponding content is transmitted.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a main part of the network printer 31 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4, the network printer 31 interprets a document including layout information received from a communication unit 81 for communicating with devices connected to the same network, and creates an image for printing. In response to a request from a document interpretation / layout processing unit 82 for printing, a printing unit 83 for printing a printing image created by the document interpretation / layout processing unit 82, and a device connected to the same network. A printer information providing unit 84 is provided.

  When the network printer 31 is connected to the network, the printer information providing unit 84 uses the communication unit 81 to notify its own information to each device in the network. Also, when an information request is received from a device in the network, the device itself is notified of the requested information. The own information here is an IP address or MAC address, which is a network address indicating the location of the apparatus, a name of the device, and the like, and is information for identifying itself.

  When there is a print request from a device in the network, the network printer 31 uses the communication unit 81 to acquire layout information. This layout information is interpreted by the document interpretation / layout processing unit 82, and if necessary, an image or the like is obtained from a device on another network. A print image is created based on the layout information and image acquired in this way. The print image is printed by the printing unit 83.

[Configuration of print control device]
Next, the print control apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIG. It should be noted that the content server 21 and the network printer 31 shown in FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a main configuration of a print control apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the print control apparatus 10 includes a device information management unit 1, a template management unit 2, a selection unit 3, a layout information creation unit 4, and a layout information transmission unit 5.

  The device information management unit 1 transmits a message for discovering devices to the content server 21 and the network printer 31 connected to the network, acquires a list of contents included in the content server 21, Acquires printing capabilities and manages acquired information.

  The template management unit 2 stores a template for creating layout information that defines an image position, an image size, and the like, which is necessary when the network printer 31 performs printing. I will provide a.

  The selection unit 3 follows the print capability information of the network printer 31 provided from the device information management unit 1, the content list in the content server 21, and the external input from the set of print templates provided by the template management unit 2. Make a selection as to which template to use and what content to insert within the template.

The layout information creation unit 4 uses the print capability information of the network printer 31 provided from the network device management unit 1 and information about the content to be printed selected by the selection unit 3 for the template selected by the selection unit 3. Add necessary descriptions and create layout information that can be interpreted and printed by a printer.
The layout information transmission unit 5 transmits the layout information created by the layout information creation unit 4 to the network printer 31.

  Note that the printing capability information of the printer is the printing capability of the printer, such as how much paper the printer can print, at what resolution, at what processing speed. This is performance information indicating the upper limit. Examples of the performance information include printable paper size, printable area size, type of ink that can be used for printing, printable resolution, double-sided printing capability, and CD (Compact Disc) printing capability. Can be mentioned.

  Among them, the device information management unit 1 communicates with devices on the network, and discovers information received from the network communication unit 11 that discovers devices on the network and acquires various information, and the network printer 31 on the network. To store the information received from the printer information management unit 12 for providing the printer information to the selection unit 3 and the layout information creation unit 4 and the content server 21 on the network, and to provide to the selection unit 3 The content server information management unit 13 is provided.

  The selection unit 3 receives information about the selection target such as a list of print templates and a content list from the device information management unit 1 and the template management unit 2, changes the contents displayed on the display device if necessary, A selection processing unit 14 for notifying the layout information creating unit 4 of information related to the object selected by input from the input, a selection input unit 15 for receiving input from outside and notifying the selection processing unit 14; And an output screen generation unit 16 for receiving information on options from the selection processing unit 14 and outputting the information to the display device 40.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a template provided by the template management unit 2 and information related to the template. As shown in FIG. 5, the template management unit 2 (FIG. 1) prints a template name, a template body, a template thumbnail, and a template as described in order from the left column for one template. It manages the abilities necessary to do it. In the example of FIG. 5, there are template body portions from <html> to </ html> as templates named template A. A thumbnail image indicating that an image is printed on the upper half of the paper when printed with this template, and a function capable of printing in color on A4 paper as a printing machine are required to print this template. Two necessary print capacities indicating this are managed as information accompanying the template A.

[Process flow]
Next, the flow of data and processing in each of device discovery, layout creation, and printing when the print control apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1 is operated will be described based on the respective flowcharts.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing when the print control apparatus 10 discovers the content server 21 and the network printer 31 on the network and acquires information from those devices.

  When the print control apparatus 10 is activated (S101), the network device management unit 11 of the print control apparatus 10 notifies all of the devices in the network of its own IP address using the UPnP protocol. A device search message is issued (S102). Thereafter, the print control apparatus 10 enters a state of waiting for a notification from a device on the network (S103).

  At this time, if the content server 21 on the network can respond to the notification from the print control apparatus 10 (YES in S104), the content server 21 uses its UPnP protocol to send the print control apparatus 10 its own. Information is notified (S105). FIG. 7 shows an outline of communication between the print control apparatus 10 and the content server 21 at this time. As shown in FIG. 7, information notified from the content server 21 to the print control apparatus 10 at this time includes its own IP address, its own content server, and its own name.

  When the network device management unit 11 of the print control apparatus 10 receives this notification, the network device management unit 11 analyzes this notification and knows that this notification has been transmitted by the content server. The information is stored in (S106). Thereafter, it again waits for a notification from a device on the network (S103).

  If the network printer 31 on the network is ready to respond to the notification from the print control apparatus 10 (YES in S107), the network printer 31 uses its UPnP protocol to send its own information to the print control apparatus. 10 (S108). An outline of communication between the print control apparatus 10 and the network printer 31 at this time is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 8, information notified from the network printer 31 to the print control apparatus 10 at this time includes its own IP address, its own printer, and its own name.

  When the network device management unit 11 analyzes the notification and finds that the notification is transmitted by the printer, the network device management unit 11 issues a print capability acquisition request to the network printer 31, and the network printer 31 acquires the print capability. In response to the request, the printing capability is notified (S109).

  An outline of communication between the print control apparatus 10 and the network printer 31 at this time is shown in FIG. In FIG. 9, the network printer 31 allows the print control apparatus 10 to print in color and monochrome, and there are two types of paper sizes that can be printed by this printer. The first type is A4 paper. The top and bottom left and right margins are each 3 mm, the second type is postcards, and the top and bottom and left and right margins are 1 mm. In this example, the printable color, the printable paper size, and the printable area in the paper are notified as the print capability. The printing method (inkjet printer, laser printer, etc.), the possibility of double-sided printing, the possibility of printing on a CD, etc. can be considered.

  The print control apparatus 10 stores the information acquired in S108 and S109 in the printer management unit 12 (S110). Thereafter, it again waits for a notification from a device on the network (S103).

  FIG. 10 shows that the print control apparatus 10 selects one of a plurality of templates based on the print capability acquired from the network printer 31, the content list acquired from the content server 21, and the selection input, and corrects the template. 6 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing when creating layout information printable by the network printer 31.

  When layout creation is started in the print control apparatus 10, the selection processing unit 14 of the print control apparatus 10 acquires a list of printers on the network from the printer information management unit 12 (S201). The selection processing unit 14 displays the acquired printer list on the display device 40 as a printer selection screen using the output screen generation unit 16 (S202). An example of the printer selection screen displayed here is shown in FIG. In the example of FIG. 11, printer A, printer B, and printer C are displayed on the screen as printers connected to the network, and the user can select one of these printers based on this display.

  When the network printer 31 is selected as a printer to be printed from the printer selection screen displayed on the display device 40 and the input is transmitted to the selection processing unit 14 through the selection input unit 15 (S203), the selection processing unit 14 Detailed print capability information of the selected printer is acquired from the printer information management unit 12 (S204). The print capability information is obtained by the network communication unit 11 from the network printer 31 in S109 of FIG. 6 and stored in the printer information management unit 12, and is in the format transmitted from the printer in FIG.

  Next, the selection processing unit 14 acquires a list of templates that can be provided by the template management unit 2 from the template management unit 2 (S205). In the template list, information other than the template among the information stored in the print template management unit 2 shown in FIG. 5, that is, the template name, the template thumbnail, and the printing capability necessary for printing the template are included. included.

  Thereafter, the selection processing unit 14 compares the printing capability of the printer acquired in S204 with the printer capability necessary for printing in each template acquired in S205, and selects a template that cannot be printed using the printer. Remove from the list (S206). For example, if the printing capability shown in FIG. 9 is acquired in S204 and the template list shown in FIG. 5 is provided in S205, the paper size A3, which is the capability necessary for printing the template L in FIG. Since 31 cannot print, it is removed from the list.

  Thereafter, the selection processing unit 14 uses the output screen generation unit 16 to display a list of template names and template thumbnails included in the template list after the templates acquired in S205 and unprintable in S206 are removed. 40 (S207). An example of a template selection screen displayed on the display device 40 is shown in FIG. In the example of FIG. 12, names and thumbnails are displayed for templates A and H in the template list generated in S206, and one of these templates can be selected.

  When a template to be printed is selected from the thumbnail image list of templates displayed on the display device 40 (S208), the selection processing unit 14 reads the selected template body from the template management unit 2 (S209). The template body is described in the XHTML format as shown in the template column of FIG.

  In the template, an image stored in another server can be inserted into the template, and a description for printing the template description and the image stored in the other server together can be described. In the example of the template in FIG. 5, the portion <img src =...> Applies to this description. As described above, when there is a description in the template in which an image from another server can be inserted (YES in S210), the selection processing unit 14 acquires a content server list from the content server information management unit 13 ( S211). The selection processing unit 14 displays the acquired list of content servers on the display device 40 using the output screen generation unit 16 (S212). An example of the content server selection screen displayed on the display device 40 is shown in FIG. In the example of FIG. 13, content server A, content server B, and content server C are displayed as a content server list, and one of these content servers can be selected.

  When a content server 21 having an image to be printed is selected from the list of content servers displayed on the display device 40 (S213), the selection processing unit 14 determines which content server has been selected by managing the content server information. Notification to the unit 13. The content server information management unit 13 acquires a list of images stored in the content server 21 from the selected content server 21 through the network communication unit 11 (S214). An outline of communication between the content server 21 and the print control apparatus 10 at this time is shown in FIG. When the print control apparatus 10 requests a content list from the content server, the content server 21 has a content title, a content size, and a URL (Uniform) for accessing the content for each of the held contents. A list of contents including “Resource Locator” is transmitted to the print control apparatus 10.

  The selection processing unit 14 receives a list of images stored in the content server 21 from the content server information management unit 13, and displays the image list on the display device 40 using the output screen generation unit 16 (S215). An example of an image selection screen displayed on the display device 40 is shown in FIG. In the example of FIG. jpg, sea jpg, sea 2. jpg is displayed, and one of these images can be selected.

  When an image to be printed is selected from the image list displayed on the display device 40, the selection processing unit 14 stores which image has been selected (S216). After that, if there is a part where images from other servers are still inserted in the template (YES in S217), by repeating the processing from S211 to S216, the images to be inserted into all the image insertion parts in the template are displayed. determine.

  When the image to be inserted into all the image insertion portions in the template is determined (NO in S217), or when there is no portion to insert the image in the template (NO in S210), the selection processing unit 14 selects which printer. The layout information creation unit 4 is notified of information about which template has been selected and which image is to be inserted into the template, thereby requesting creation of layout information (S218). In the layout information creation unit 4, information about the printing capability of the printer selected from the printer information management unit 12, the contents of the template selected from the template management unit 2, and the URL of the image selected from the content server information management unit 13 Are acquired respectively (S219).

  Next, the layout information creation unit 4 modifies the acquired template based on information about the printing capability of the printer and the acquired image URL (S220). A specific example of the correction performed in S220 is shown in FIG. First, the image size portion included in the template is determined by the print margin information acquired from the printer information management unit 12. In the example of FIG. 16, there is a portion where an upper margin is specified in the template, and the upper margin is 3 mm according to the acquired printing capability. Therefore, a value of 3 mm is entered in the upper margin portion in the template. Thereafter, the address of the content to be printed by the template is determined as the content address acquired from the content server 21. In the example of FIG. 16, there is a portion in which the address of the image 1 is specified in the <img> tag, and the address of the image 1 acquired from the content server information management unit 13 is “http://192.168.8.0”. .102 / i1.jpg ”, this address is entered in the image 1 address portion in the template.

  In this way, the template provided by the template management unit 2 is modified with respect to the template based on the information about the printing capability of the printer and the acquired image URL, and can be printed by the network printer 31. Information. This layout information is sent from the layout information creation unit 4 to the layout information transmission unit 5 (S221).

  FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing a processing flow when the print control apparatus 10 performs printing using the network printer 31 based on the layout information created by the means shown in FIG.

  When printing based on the layout information created by the means shown in FIG. 10 is instructed (S301), the network communication unit 11 transmits a print instruction message to the printer 31 used for printing (S302). The print instruction message includes a URL used when a device other than the print control apparatus 10 acquires layout information in addition to the size of the paper used for printing and the number of copies. Upon receiving this print instruction message, the printer 31 issues a layout information download request to the layout information URL included in the message (S303). When the print control apparatus 10 receives this download request, the layout information transmission unit 5 transmits the designated layout information to the printer 31 (S304).

  The printer 31 checks the contents of the layout information downloaded from the print control apparatus 10, and checks whether the layout information includes the URL of another content server (S305). If there is such a URL, the image is downloaded from the designated URL (S306). Thereafter, the printer 31 performs printing with a layout according to the layout information (S307).

  FIG. 18 shows a data flow between devices in the process of FIG. In the example of FIG. 18, first, a print instruction is issued from the print control apparatus 10 to the printer 31. In this print instruction, a URL indicating the inside of the print control apparatus 10 is specified as the URL of the layout information. The printer 31 issues a download request to the print control apparatus 10 using the specified URL, and layout information is transmitted from the print control apparatus 10 to the printer 31 in accordance with the download request. In this layout information, there is a URL indicating the content in the content server 21. Therefore, the printer 31 issues a download request to the content server 21 with the specified URL, and the content is transmitted from the content server 21 to the printer 31 in response to the request. Printing is performed using the layout information and content acquired in this way.

  As described above, the printing control apparatus according to the present embodiment generates the layout information from the printing apparatus performance information and the template, and transmits the layout information to the printing apparatus. The layout information is received, and as a result, printing with an appropriate layout according to the capability of the printing apparatus is possible, and the versatility is improved.

  In the above embodiment, the example in which the template is stored in the template management unit has been described. However, the template management unit reads the template from an external storage medium such as a CD and provides the template to each part in the print control apparatus. It is also possible to configure in the form. The template management unit can also be configured to receive a template from a server device connected via a network and provide the template to each part in the print control apparatus. A program for causing a computer to execute the steps described in the flowchart and a storage medium for storing the program also fall within the scope of the present invention.

  The present invention can be used for a highly versatile printing system.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a main configuration of a print control apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the outline | summary of the apparatus structure of the whole network to which the printing control apparatus by this Embodiment was connected. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the content server apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the printing apparatus illustrated in FIG. 2. It is an example of the information regarding the template and template which are managed by the template management part in the printing control apparatus by this Embodiment. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a processing flow when the print control apparatus according to the present embodiment acquires information from a printing apparatus and a server apparatus on a network. It is a figure which shows the data flow when the printing control apparatus by this Embodiment acquires server apparatus information from the server apparatus on a network. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a data flow when the print control apparatus according to the present embodiment acquires printing apparatus information from a printing apparatus on a network. It is a figure which shows the data flow when the printing control apparatus by this Embodiment acquires the capability information of a printing apparatus from the printing apparatus on a network. Flow of processing when the print control apparatus according to the present embodiment selects a template and creates layout information from the template based on the capability information of the printing apparatus on the network and information from the server apparatus for the template It is a flowchart which shows. It is an example of the printer selection screen which the printing control apparatus by this Embodiment outputs to a display apparatus. It is an example of the template selection screen which the printing control apparatus by this Embodiment outputs to a display apparatus. It is an example of the content server selection screen which the printing control apparatus by this Embodiment outputs to a display apparatus. It is a figure which shows the flow of data when the print control apparatus by this Embodiment acquires the content list in a server apparatus from the server apparatus on a network. It is an example of the selection screen of the content inserted in the template which the printing control apparatus by this Embodiment outputs to a display apparatus. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a data flow when the print control apparatus according to the present embodiment corrects a template and creates layout information from print capability information of a printing apparatus and content information of a server apparatus. 4 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing when the print control apparatus according to the present embodiment transmits layout information to a printing apparatus on a network and prints it. It is a figure which shows the flow of data when the printing control apparatus by this Embodiment transmits layout information with respect to a printing apparatus. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an outline of an image forming apparatus described in Patent Document 1. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Device information management part 2 Template management part 3 Selection part 4 Layout information creation part 5 Layout information transmission part 10 Print control apparatus 11 Network communication part 12 Printer information management part 13 Content server information management part 14 Selection processing part 15 Selection input part 16 Output screen generation unit 21, 22 Content server 31, 32 Network printer 40 Display device 71 Communication unit 72 Content storage unit 73 Content server information provision unit 81 Communication unit 82 Document interpretation / layout processing unit 83 Printing unit 84 Printer information provision unit 90 Image Forming apparatus 91 Document interpretation / layout processing unit 92 Print engine 93 Image reception / document generation unit 94 Control panel 95 Image buffer 96 External output unit

Claims (12)

A device information management unit for acquiring device information related to the printing apparatus and managing the acquired device information;
A template management unit that manages a template for generating layout information related to a layout of printing by the printing apparatus;
A layout information creation unit that creates layout information based on the template managed by the template management unit and the acquired device information;
A layout information transmission unit that transmits the layout information created by the layout information creation unit to the printing apparatus ;
The layout information creating unit determines an image size included in the template based on margin information included in the device information .   The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the layout information is information for creating layout information that defines a layout including a position or size of a target to be printed on a print sheet.   The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the device information includes information related to a printing capability of the printing apparatus. The print control apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the print capability includes a printable paper size and a printable area size. The template management unit, the printing control apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that read data from a storage medium in which the template is stored. The template management unit, the printing control apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that read data from the template server device on the network which the template is stored. The print control apparatus according to any one of claims 1, characterized in that it comprises a template selecting section for selecting one template from the plurality of templates that are managed by the template management portion to 6. The print control apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein the template selection unit determines whether a template can be printed based on the acquired device information, and notifies the result of the determination. The device information management unit acquires a content list from a content server connected to the network,
The selection unit selects one or a plurality of contents from the acquired list,
The layout information creation unit, the printing control apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that to create the layout information by using the information of the selected content. The device information management unit
A network communication unit that communicates with devices on the network, discovers devices on the network, and acquires various types of information;
A printer information management unit for storing information received from a network printer on a network, and providing printer information to the template selection unit and the layout information creation unit;
Storing information received from the content server on the network, according to any one of the and a content server information management unit for providing said selection unit from claim 1, wherein up to 4 Print control device. Transmission of a message for discovering a device to a content server or network printer connected to the network, acquisition of a list of contents included in the content server, acquisition of printing capability of the network printer, and acquired information A device information management unit for managing
A template management unit that stores a template for creating layout information that defines a printing position and a printing size, which is necessary when the network printer performs printing, and provides a template or a list of templates according to a request; ,
From the set of print templates provided by the template management unit, any template based on the print capability information of the network printer provided from the device information management unit, the content list of the content server, and external input A template selection unit for selecting which content is to be inserted into the template, and
A necessary description is added to the template selected by the selection unit by using the print capability information of the network printer provided from the network device management unit and information on the content to be printed selected by the template selection unit. A layout information creating unit that creates layout information that can be interpreted and printed by the network printer;
A print control apparatus comprising: a layout information transmission unit configured to transmit layout information created by the layout information creation unit to the network printer. Obtaining device information about the printing device;
A layout for creating layout information that defines a layout including a position or size to be printed on a print sheet based on a template for generating layout information used for printing in the printing apparatus and the acquired device information. Information creation step;
Transmitting the created layout information to a printing apparatus;
I have a,
In the layout information creation step, an image size included in the template is determined based on margin information included in the device information .

Images