JP5171973B2 - Information processing apparatus and control method thereof - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a printer driver and an image forming apparatus, and more particularly to a printer driver and an image forming apparatus for performing transparent toner or transparent ink printing.

  Conventionally, various methods have been proposed for adding additional information to content data. Patent Document 1 discloses a process related to stamping, but the stamp information is made more visible by printing the stamp color to be added with the complementary color of the content data to be overwritten.

  That is, in Patent Document 1, when a digital copying apparatus combines and outputs a stamp such as a page number to a document read by a scanner included in the digital copying apparatus, the stamp color is combined with the stamp color. This is a complementary color to the color of the original part.

JP 2003-244422 A

  However, in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 described above, the color designation selected by the user may be changed automatically without intention. In addition, since the content data on which the stamp as additional information is overwritten is not always monochromatic data, the additional information may be difficult to see depending on the content data.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and the purpose of the present invention is to reduce the influence of the backing according to the color setting at the time of printing, and to add additional information (for example, a stamp or the like) to the original. And a printer driver and an image forming apparatus for combining and printing.

In order to solve such a problem, the information processing apparatus according to the present invention outputs a stamp image to be output over the content data to be output in a color selected from a plurality of colors or is transparent. the setting of whether to output a color, and a switching means for switching over the setting screen by the switching means, when switched to a setting for a transparent outputs an image of the stamp, in the connected image forming apparatus, wherein is the image synthesis of the content data stamp, in order to output the content data on which the image is superimposed of said stamp output in transparent colors, respectively image and the content data of the stamp, the connected image Transmission means for transmitting to the forming apparatus .

  In the present invention, the user can switch between normal printing and clear toner printing according to the settings on the printer driver UI for the additional information of the content data without any particular attention, and the convenience of the user can be improved.

It is explanatory drawing of the print control system in one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the interface which performs the setting of the overlay printing which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the interface which performs the setting of the overlay printing which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. 6 is a flowchart illustrating processing on the printer driver side when performing overlay printing in an embodiment of the present invention. It is the flowchart which showed the control software side process at the time of performing overlay printing in one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the interface of the stamp designation | designated setting which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the layout designation | designated interface of the stamp which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. 5 is a flowchart illustrating processing on the printer driver side when performing normal color stamp printing according to the present invention. 6 is a flowchart showing a switching operation between a normal color stamp and a T color stamp in the present invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  The present invention switches between normal printing and printing with transparent toner (clear toner) or transparent ink by switching the format of a print control command generated on the printer driver side by specifying the color of additional information added to content data. Features.

The configuration of the print control system according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG.
As long as the function of the present invention is executed, it may be a single device or a system composed of a plurality of devices. Further, the present invention can also be applied to a system in which processing is performed through a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network) or a WAN (Wide Area Network).
The print control system according to the embodiment includes a host computer 3000 and a printer 1500.

A host computer 3000 as an information processing apparatus includes a CPU 1, a RAM 2, and a ROM 3.
1, the host computer 3000 includes a CPU 1 that executes processing based on various programs (for example, the programs shown in FIGS. 4, 8, and 9) stored in the program ROM of the ROM 3. The CPU 1 comprehensively controls each device connected to the system bus 4.
The RAM 2 functions as a main memory and work area for the CPU 1.

  The host computer 3000 also includes an input operation unit (not shown) including a keyboard or various switches for inputting predetermined commands or data, and a display unit (not shown) for performing various displays including an input / setting state. (Shown).

  The CPU 1 opens various windows registered based on commands instructed by the user with an input operation unit such as a mouse cursor on a display unit such as a CRT, and executes various data processing. When instructing execution of printing, the user can open a window related to print settings and give instructions for setting the print processing method for the printer driver, including printer settings and print mode selection. The application 101, the graphic engine 102, the printer driver 103, and the system spooler 104 are programs stored in the ROM 3, as shown in the figure. These programs are read out to the RAM 2 by the CPU 1 and executed, whereby various processes are performed.

  In the present embodiment and thereafter, the description will be made assuming that 101 to 104 perform processing as the execution subject for the sake of simplicity. That is, the present embodiment and the subsequent description will be described using an expression that the application 101 executes the processing of. As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the expression that the application 101 executes the process A means that the application 101 is loaded from the ROM 3 into the RAM 2 and the CPU 1 executes the process A based on the loaded application 101. means. The same applies to the graphic engine 102, printer driver 103, system spooler 104, or control software described later.

  The printing apparatus 1500 is controlled by a printer (printing apparatus) CPU 5.

The printing apparatus CPU 5 is a printing unit (printer engine) connected to the system bus 10 via the printing unit I / F 7 based on a control program (for example, the program shown in FIG. 5) stored in the program ROM of the ROM 9. ) Output image data to 11. Further, a control program (software) for the CPU 5 is stored in the program ROM of the ROM 9. The CPU 5 comprehensively controls each device connected to the system bus 10.
The CPU 5 can communicate with the host computer, and can notify the host computer 3000 of information in the printing apparatus.
The RAM 6 is a RAM that functions as a main memory of the CPU 5, a work area, and the like.
The hard disk 8 as storage means stores form data and the like.

  In the present embodiment, the rendering unit 16 is configured using dedicated hardware or the like. Therefore, the processing is faster than the control software 15. The rendering unit 16 combines the two data by rendering the two data in order. Compared to this, in the synthesis using the form data described later (synthesis by the control software 15), the processing is faster. That is, the composition process is faster than the control software 15.

  This is due to the following processing being performed in composition using form data described later. That is, in the synthesis by the control software 15, the procedure is performed in which the form data is rendered, the content data is further rendered, and the two rendered data are synthesized. In this way, rendering is performed twice and composition is performed once.

  On the other hand, the rendering unit 16 performs only two renderings (in other words, only one rendering and one synthesis). For this reason, the composition using the rendering unit 16 is fast once.

  However, on the other hand, since the rendering unit 16 uses dedicated hardware or the like, it can handle only RGB or CMYK data. In addition, in the present embodiment, there is also a fact that “the output data bus for outputting data from the rendering unit 16 to other processing units (control software, RAM, etc.) is only provided for RGB or CMYK”.

  As described above, the rendering unit 16 in the present embodiment has such a very limited configuration, but those skilled in the art can extend the rendering unit 16. However, the rendering unit 16 is limited in that it does not handle T data (T: transparent data). Here's why I wrote that it's not handled but not handled.

  For example, although the rendering unit 16 can handle transparent data, the image processing unit 17 connected to the rendering unit 16 cannot handle T data, so that the rendering unit 16 does not handle transparent data. In such a case, since the same processing as this embodiment will be performed, it is written that it is not handled but not handled.

  On the other hand, the control software 15 is a program group, and at the same time, is a virtual subject that is generated when the program group is executed by the CPU 5. Therefore, it can be easily expanded by a new design of the program group. For example, it can be easily extended to handle data other than RGB or CMYK (T: transparent data). In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the control software 15 is extended and designed to handle RGBT or CMYKT.

  In this specification, “transparency data (T)” is image data for forming an image by applying a material that does not contain a color material such as transparent toner or transparent ink. Therefore, by forming an image based on the transparent data, transparent toner or transparent ink is applied to the recording medium so as to be an image to be created, and a transparent image (such as a stamp) is formed.

The overlay (composite) printing function of the print control system shown in FIG. 1 will be described.
2 and 3 are examples of interfaces for setting overlay printing, and are displayed on the display unit of the computer 3000. FIG. Through these interfaces, the user can designate “do not perform overlay printing”, “perform overlay printing”, and “create form file (form data)” in the control software 15. That is, when the user operates the input operation unit of the computer 3000 and selects a predetermined operation, the computer 3000 transmits information indicating the selected operation to the printing apparatus 1500, and the control software 15 receives the received information. The operation based on is performed.

FIG. 2 shows an example of an interface when “perform overlay printing” is designated. When this designation is made by the user and a print instruction is given, the printer driver 103 performs the following processing. That is, the printer driver 103 inquires of a command interpretation unit (not shown) of the printing apparatus 1500 about the form data stored in the hard disk 8 and acquires the file name and storage date / time of the stored form data. The file name and save date / time of the acquired form data are displayed in the field 201.
In this specification, a “form” is an image that is combined (overlaid) with content data, and includes graphics, characters, numbers, and the like.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing when the printer driver 103 that has received a print command from the graphic engine 102 performs overlay printing.

  In step 401, the printer driver 103 acquires the setting designated by the user through the interface shown in FIG. The setting to be acquired is an overlay processing method, the file name / save date / time of form data stored in the hard disk 8 of the printer 1500, or the file name of the form data to be created, or a combination thereof.

  For example, when the user selects “do not perform overlay printing” via the input operation unit, the printer driver 103 acquires a user input indicating that overlay printing is not performed as an overlay processing method. When the user selects “create form file (form data)” via the input operation unit, the printer driver 103 acquires user input for creating form data. At this time, in addition to the user input, the printer driver 103 acquires the file name of the form data to be created input by the user via the input operation unit. Further, when the user selects “perform overlay printing” via the input operation unit, the printer driver 103 acquires user input for performing overlay printing. At this time, in addition to the user input, the printer driver 103 inquires of the hard disk 8 of the printing apparatus as described above, and acquires the file name and the storage date / time of the form data stored in the hard disk 8.

  When “Create form file” is selected, the printer driver 103 displays the interface shown in FIG. 3 on the display unit and allows the user to input the file name of the form data to be created. The file name input in this way becomes the “file name of form data to be created” described above. In addition, the printer driver 103 acquires image data (image data to be form data) corresponding to the input file name from a predetermined memory.

  When the user selects “perform overlay printing”, the user selects a file name of desired form data from the field 201 of the interface shown in FIG. 2 via the input operation unit. Then, based on the user input by the selection, the printer driver 103 acquires the file name and save date / time of the selected form data.

  In step 402, step 403, and step 404, the printer driver 103 determines that the specified overlay setting (user input) is any one of “do not perform overlay printing”, “perform overlay printing”, and “create form data”. Determine if there is.

  That is, in step 402, the printer driver 103 determines whether or not the user input acquired in step 401 indicates that “no overlay printing is performed”. If it is determined that “overlay printing is not performed”, the process is terminated. If it is not determined that “overlay printing is not performed”, the process proceeds to step 403.

  In step 403, the printer driver 103 determines whether the user input acquired in step 401 indicates “create form data”. If it is not determined that “create form data”, the process proceeds to step 404.

  If the setting of “create form data” is acquired, the printer driver 103 generates a predetermined printer control command and transmits it to the printing apparatus 1500 in step 405. This predetermined printer control command includes the file name of the form data specified in the form 301 of FIG. 3 (obtained in step 401) and a command for instructing to register the form data. Further, the printer control command includes “image data to be form data” which is image data corresponding to the file name.

  The control software 15 in the printing apparatus 1500 receives the received printer control command and interprets the printer control command. Thereafter, the process shown in FIG. 5 described later is performed.

  In step 404, the printer driver 103 determines whether or not the user input acquired in step 401 indicates “perform overlay printing”. If it is not determined that “overlay printing is to be performed”, the process ends.

  When the setting of “perform overlay printing” is acquired, the printer driver 103 generates a predetermined printer control command and transmits it to the printing apparatus 1500 in step 406. This predetermined printer control command is a command that indicates three of the “file name”, “save date / time” of the form data designated by the user from the area 201 in FIG. Including. Further, the printer control command includes content data. The content data is data to be printed by combining form data.

  The control software 15 receives the received printer control command and interprets the printer control command. Thereafter, the process shown in FIG. 5 described later is performed.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation when the control software 15 receives a printer control command including a command instructing to register form data or a command instructing overlay printing. .

  In step 501, the control software 15 interprets the received printer control command by the control software 15.

  In step 502 and step 503, the control software 15 includes a command for instructing to perform overlay printing and a command for instructing registration of form data in the printer control command based on the interpretation result in step 501. Judgment is made.

  That is, in step 502, the control software 15 determines whether or not there is an instruction regarding “registering form data” from the printer driver 103 as a result of interpretation in step 501. If it is determined that the instruction is not “register form data”, the process proceeds to step 503. On the other hand, if it is determined that the instruction is “register form data”, the control software 15 determines that form data is to be generated and registered in the hard disk 8, and the process proceeds to step 504.

  If the printer control command includes a command for registering form data, the control software 15 uses the control software 15 to generate form data in the bitmap data format in step 504. That is, the control software 15 generates the form data in the bitmap data format by converting the image data to be converted into the form data included in the printer control command transmitted from the printer driver 103.

  In step 505, the control software 15 stores the form data in the bitmap data format generated in step 504 in the hard disk 8 (registers it as form data).

  In step 503, the control software 15 determines whether or not the instruction from the printer driver 103 is “perform overlay printing” as a result of interpretation in step 501. If it is determined that the instruction is not “perform overlay printing”, the process ends.

  If the printer control command includes a command for instructing overlay printing, the control software 15 acquires the corresponding form data stored in the hard disk 8 in step 506. That is, the control software 15 designates the user from the hard disk 8 based on the command indicating the “file name” and “save date / time” of the form data designated by the user included in the received printer control command. Extract form data.

  In step 507, the control software 15 extracts the content data to be combined with the form data from the received printer control command and transmits it to the rendering unit 16. The rendering unit 16 converts the content data into a bitmap data format and transmits it to the image processing unit 17. Then, the image processing unit 17 performs image processing on the content data in the bitmap data format, and transmits it to the control software 15.

  In step 508, the control software 15 overwrites the form data in the bitmap data format acquired in step 506 with the content data in the bitmap data format received from the image processing unit 17. That is, the control software 15 functions as a synthesis unit, and overlays (synthesizes) the form data and the content data to generate composite image data in the bitmap data format.

  The printing apparatus 1500 realizes an overlay printing function by transmitting the composite image data in the bitmap data format created in step 508 to the printing unit 11.

  Next, the normal color stamp printing function of the print control system shown in FIG. 1 will be described. As described above, in this embodiment (including the following embodiments), the stamp is taken as an example of the additional information, but the application range is not limited. For example, the present invention can be applied to all “techniques for printing additional information” such as copy-forgery-inhibited pattern images, bar codes, two-dimensional codes (eg, glyph codes, dot codes, QR codes (trademark), etc.), watermarks, and watermarks. Note that the additional information (additional data) is information other than information (sometimes referred to as content data) for which the user has explicitly instructed printing.

FIG. 6 shows an example of an interface screen displayed on the display unit of the computer 3000 for designating whether or not to print a document with a stamp.
FIG. 7 shows an example of an interface screen displayed on the display unit of the computer 3000 for designating the layout when a stamp is added to the content data.

  The user can designate printing by adding a stamp to the content data to the printer driver 103 via the interface of FIG. That is, when the user operates the input operation unit of the computer 3000 and checks the check box 601, the computer 3000 receives an instruction to specify stamp printing.

  The user can specify stamp layout information to the control software 15 via the interface shown in FIG. The layout information includes stamp color, stamp character string, character string font information (font name, style, size), rectangular frame as a decoration, circle frame, stamp coordinates, stamp angle, and the like. That is, the layout information is information related to additional information (additional data). In the layout information, when transparent is selected as the stamp color, the additional information is transparent data.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a process in which the printer driver 103 that has received the content data from the graphic engine 102 overwrites the content data with a normal color stamp and prints it.

  Note that the normal color stamp refers to a stamp in which the color of the stamp as additional information is a normal color (RGB, YMCK) other than transparent.

  In step 801, the printer driver 103 acquires the setting designated by the user through the interface shown in FIG. The setting to be acquired is designation of stamp printing. That is, when the user operates the input operation unit to check the check box 601, the user has designated stamp printing, and the printer driver 103 acquires the designation of stamp printing from the user input.

  After acquiring the setting for specifying the stamp printing (setting indicating that the stamp printing is specified), in step 802, the printer driver 103 acquires the setting specified by the user through the interface shown in FIG. The settings to be acquired are stamp color, stamp character string, character font information (font name, style, size), rectangular frame as a decoration, circle frame, stamp coordinates, stamp angle, etc. Layout information. That is, when the user operates the input operation unit and inputs it as desired in a predetermined field of the interface shown in FIG. 7, the user has input layout information. The printer driver 103 receives the layout information from the user input. get.

  Here, since the user selects a color other than “transparent” as the stamp color when inputting the layout information, the printer driver 103 instructs the printer 1500 to instruct the normal color stamp processing. A control command will be generated.

  In step 803, the printer driver 103 determines the color of the stamp as additional data from the layout information acquired in step 802. At this time, since the stamp color is a color other than transparent, the printer driver 103 determines that the stamp color is not transparent. Next, the printer driver 103 generates a printer control command that instructs the content data to be overwritten and combined with the setting stamp acquired in step 802 (instructed to perform overlay printing). The stamp at this time is designated as a normal color stamp in the RGB or CMYK data format from the color setting of the acquired stamp. In addition, between step 802 and step 803, the printer driver 203 performs format conversion of content data. That is, the content data received from the graphic engine 102 is converted into a format (PDL format) suitable for the printer control command.

  In step 804, the printer driver 103 transmits the printer control command generated in step 803 to the printing apparatus 1500 via the system spooler 104. The printer control command transmitted at this time includes stamp layout information as additional data designated in the RGB or CMYK data format, a command for performing overlay printing, and content data.

In the processing in the printing apparatus 1500 after step 805, the following processing different from the processing shown in FIG. 5 is performed.
The control software 15 in the printing apparatus 1500 receives the received printer control command and interprets the printer control command. That is, the printer control command in the PDL format is interpreted to obtain a display list format command. Thereafter, the control software 15 transmits data (display list format command) obtained by interpreting the printer control command to the rendering unit 16. The rendering unit 16 generates image data (composite image data) in the bitmap data format from the received command.

  Specifically, the rendering unit 16 generates content data in a bitmap data format by performing rendering using a display list format command (a command related to content data in the command). Furthermore, rendering is performed using a display list format command (a command related to a stamp among the commands). At this time, rendering using a command (a command related to a stamp among the commands) is performed on content data in a bitmap data format that has already been generated. Therefore, the bitmap data format stamp is combined with the bitmap data format content data. That is, overwriting synthesis is performed.

Further, the rendering unit 16 transmits the image data (synthesized image data) in the bitmap data format obtained by the overwrite synthesis to the image processing unit 17 as RGB data. The image processing unit 17 performs image processing on the image data in the bitmap format and sends the image data to the printing unit 11. After step 805, the above processing (synthesis processing by the rendering unit 16) is performed.
According to the above flow, the printing apparatus 1500 realizes the normal color stamp printing function.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a process in which the printer driver 103 that has received content data from the graphic engine 102 overwrites the content data with a normal color or T color stamp and prints it. The printer driver that performs the processing of FIG. 9 is the same as the printer driver that performs the processing of FIGS. That is, the printer driver that performs the processes of FIGS. 4 and 5 also performs the process of FIG.

  In step 901, the printer driver 103 acquires the setting designated by the user through the interface shown in FIG. The setting to be acquired is designation of stamp printing.

  In step 902, the printer driver 103 acquires the setting designated by the user through the interface shown in FIG. The settings to be acquired are stamp color, stamp character string, character font information (font name, style, size), rectangular frame as a decoration, circle frame, stamp coordinates, stamp angle, etc. Layout information.

  In step 903, the printer driver 103 determines whether the stamp color is T color (T: transparent data) from the stamp layout information acquired in step 902. That is, in step 903, the printer driver 103 functions as a determination unit that determines whether or not the stamp color is transparent.

  If the stamp color acquired in step 902 is not T color, in step 904, the printer driver 103 performs the processing of step 803 and step 804 (normal color stamp processing) shown in FIG. After the processing in step 805, the printing apparatus 1500 performs the same processing (compositing processing by the rendering unit 16) as described later with reference to FIG.

  This is because when the stamp color is not T color (transparent), it is possible to use the data in RGB or CMYK, so the normal color stamp processing is performed. In the process of the normal color stamp, the image processing unit 17 can handle the rendering 16 by using the content data and the command related to the stamp as one data.

  If the stamp color acquired in step 902 is T color, the printer driver 103 sends a printer control command for the T color stamp composition processing using the overlay printing function to the printing apparatus 1500 in the flow after step 905. To do.

  Although the stamp color is T, the rendering unit 16 and the image processing unit 17 of the print control system handle only RGB or CMYK. Therefore, a T-color stamp printing function is realized by performing overlay printing using the RGB or CMYK content data and a command relating to an RGB or CMYK stamp including information relating to a T-color stamp.

  In step 905, the printer driver 103 generates a first printer control command based on the results acquired in steps 901 and 902 and transmits the first printer control command to the printing apparatus 1500. This first printer control command includes an arbitrary “file name” for identifying the stamp to be combined. This arbitrary file name may be automatically created after the printer driver 103 acquires the layout information in step 902. Further, when a user inputs in the interface shown in FIG. 7, the user may be allowed to input a file name corresponding to the layout information (stamp) selected by the user. In this case, the file name input by the user is the “arbitrary file name”. The first printer control command includes a command for instructing registration of form data and a command indicating that the form data is transparent data. Furthermore, the first printer control command includes a command indicating drawing of a stamp in the stamp layout information acquired in step 902, that is, image data to be form data.

  When the printing apparatus 1500 receives the first printer control command, the control software 15 performs processing similar to steps 502, 504, and 505 shown in FIG. 5, and registers form data. When registering the form data in the hard disk 8, the control software 15 registers the image data (stamp) to be the form data included in the first printer control command as the form data with the arbitrary file name. . Further, at the time of this registration, the form data is registered as transparent data based on a command included in the first printer control command indicating that the form data is transparent data. Thus, the hard disk 8 holds form data identified by the arbitrary file name and managed as transparent data. That is, the control software 15 stores the form data in the disk 8 in association with the fact that the form data is transparent data.

  As described above, in this embodiment, when the color of the stamp as additional data is transparent, first, the stamp is preliminarily held on the printing apparatus 1500 side as form data, and the held form data is transparent data. The printer 1500 recognizes this. For this purpose, the printer driver 1003 transmits additional information having a transparent color as form data to the printing apparatus 1003 and transmits a command indicating that the form data is additional information having a transparent color.

  In step 906, the printer driver 103 generates a second printer control command based on the results acquired in steps 901 and 902 and transmits the second printer control command to the printing apparatus 1500. The second printer control command includes a command for instructing to perform overlay printing. The second printer control command includes the “file name (arbitrary file name)” of the form data transmitted in step 905 and a command indicating content data printing, that is, content data.

  The control software 15 in the printing apparatus 1500 receives the received printer control command and interprets the printer control command. Thereafter, the control software 15 performs overlay printing according to the flow of FIG.

  Since the printer control command generated by the printer driver 103 in step 905 includes a command indicating that the color is T color, the control software 15 generates composite image data of the T color stamp in step 507. The printing apparatus 1500 realizes a T color stamp printing function by sending the generated composite image data to the printing unit 11.

  That is, the printing apparatus 1500 generates a composite image of the T color stamp by combining the form data held on the hard disk 8 and the content data so that the stamp color as the form data is output (printed) as transparent. And output (print).

  Thus, according to the present embodiment, the printer driver determines the color of the additional information, and the case where the color is transparent (transparent data) is different from the case where the color is a normal color other than transparent. A printer control command is generated. The printing apparatus operates according to a printer control command when the color of the additional information is transparent, and can perform output in which transparent data and content data are combined. Further, the printing apparatus can perform output in which the additional information of the normal color and the content data are combined by operating according to the printer control command when the color of the additional information is a normal color other than transparent. That is, the printing apparatus can switch between normal printing and printing using transparent toner or transparent ink without determining whether the additional information is transparent on the printing apparatus side.

  In the present invention, when the printing apparatus interprets the printer control command transmitted from the printer driver, it is important to switch to processing for handling transparent data. In other words, the printing apparatus handles transparent data only by following the received printer control command without performing processing such as determining whether the transmitted additional information is transparent data or determining an operation when the additional information is transparent data. It is important that it becomes possible.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, the printer driver transmits additional information (transparent data) with a transparent color as form data to the printing apparatus as in step 905, and the form data has a transparent color. A command indicating additional information is transmitted. Upon receiving such a command, the printing apparatus can hold the form data on the assumption that the color of the form data is transparent. That is, the printing apparatus recognizes that the color of the transmitted additional information is transparent according to the command transmitted from the printer driver without determining whether the color of the transmitted additional information is transparent. can do.

  Therefore, when a printer control command including the effect of performing overlay printing using the form data as transmitted in step 906 is received, the printing apparatus switches to processing for processing transparent data and performs overlay processing ( Synthesis process). That is, since the printing apparatus has already recognized that the form data is transparent data, the process as shown in FIG. 5 is performed during overlay processing without determining whether the form data is transparent data. It can be switched to.

  In the above description, the form in which the form data is not used in the normal color stamp process is described, but the present invention is not limited to this. The essence of the present invention is that when the additional information is transparent data, the printer driver simply issues an instruction command to determine whether the additional data to be color-determined or combined is transparent data. Without, it is to output additional information that is transparent data. Accordingly, the normal color stamp processing is not particularly limited, and form data may be used.

(Other embodiments)
The present invention can be applied to a system constituted by a plurality of devices (for example, a computer, an interface device, a reader, a printer, etc.), or can be applied to an apparatus (multifunction device, printer, facsimile machine, etc.) comprising a single device. Is also possible.

  The processing method for storing the program for operating the configuration of the above-described embodiment so as to realize the function of the above-described embodiment in a storage medium, reading the program stored in the storage medium as a code, and executing the program on the computer is also described above. It is included in the category of the embodiment. That is, a computer-readable storage medium is also included in the scope of the embodiments. In addition to the storage medium storing the computer program, the computer program itself is included in the above-described embodiment.

  As such a storage medium, for example, a floppy (registered trademark) disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, and a ROM can be used.

  In addition, the processing is not limited to a single program stored in the above-described storage medium, but operates on the OS in cooperation with other software and expansion board functions to execute the operations of the above-described embodiments. Those are also included in the category of the embodiment described above.

1 CPU
2 RAM
3 ROM
5 CPU
6 RAM
8 Hard disk 9 ROM
11 Printing unit 15 Control program (software)
16 Rendering unit 101 Application 102 Graphic engine 103 Printer driver 104 System spooler 1500 Printing device 3000 Host computer

Claims (5)

Switching means for switching, via a setting screen, whether to output a stamp image to be output over the content data to be output in a color selected from a plurality of colors or a transparent color When,
When the switching unit is switched to a setting to output the stamp image transparently,
At connected image forming apparatus, the image of the content data and the stamp are synthesized, so as to output the content data on which the image is superimposed of said stamp output with a transparent color,
An information processing apparatus comprising: a transmission unit configured to transmit the stamp image and the content data to the connected image forming apparatus. In order to add the stamp to the content data, an image of the stamp is created as form data,
By the content data and the form data is combined by the connected image forming apparatus, in claim 1, characterized in that stamped output in transparent color for the content data is added The information processing apparatus described. Switching step for switching the setting of whether to output a stamp image to be output over the content data to be output in a color selected from a plurality of colors or a transparent color via the setting screen When,
By the switching step, when switched to the setting for transparent output an image of the stamp, in the connected image forming apparatus, the image of the content data and the stamp is synthesized, the stamp output by transparent color And a transmission step for transmitting the image of the stamp and the content data to the connected image forming apparatus, respectively, so as to output the content data on which the images of the images are superimposed. Method. In order to add the stamp to the content data, an image of the stamp is created as form data,
By the content data and the form data is combined by the connected image forming apparatus, in claim 3, characterized in that the stamp is output with a transparent color for the content data is added A control method of the information processing apparatus described.   A program for causing a computer to execute the method according to claim 3.