JP6134254B2 - Image forming apparatus, print data generating apparatus, and image forming system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, a print data generating apparatus, and an image forming system capable of performing special color printing using a developer of a special color such as white or transparent.

  In a conventional image forming apparatus, when a toner as a developer is fixed on a medium by heat and printing is performed, and fixing is performed a plurality of times on the same medium such as double-sided printing, the medium and Since the second transfer and fixing of the toner image is performed where the image on the medium is shrunk, there is a problem that the toner image fixed for the second time is enlarged by returning the shrinkage of the medium after printing. In order to solve the problem, there is a technique in which the toner image fixed for the second time is reduced in advance and printed (for example, see Patent Document 1).

  As described above, the problem due to the shrinkage of the medium due to fixing occurs not only when printing on both sides but also when printing a special color such as white or transparent. Special color toners such as white and transparent are cyan (hereinafter referred to as “C”), magenta (hereinafter referred to as “M”), yellow (hereinafter referred to as “Y”), and black (hereinafter referred to as “Y”). The toner is not mixed with the toner of “K”), and is used by being placed on a CMYK image or laid under a CMYK image as a background. In order to realize such two types of printing, the image of one page is divided into two colors by the arrangement of image forming units that form toner images of each color in the image forming apparatus and the positional relationship between CMYK and the special color toner images. There is a need to print more than once.

For example, in an image forming apparatus in which an image forming unit is arranged on a medium so that toner is stacked in the order of K, C, M, Y, and a spot color from the medium side, the spot color (for example, transparent) is set to CMYK (color). ) Printing can be performed by one transfer and fixing operation in order to obtain a printing result placed on the image. However, in order to obtain a print result laid under a CMYK image with a spot color as a background, it is necessary to transfer and fix the image of only the spot color on the medium and then transfer and fix the CMYK image again to perform printing. .
As described above, in the printing in which the toner image is transferred and fixed a plurality of times on the same surface of the medium, in order to solve the problem of the shrinkage of the medium due to the fixing, a part of the toner image constituting one page is enlarged or It was necessary to print at reduced size.

JP 2000-255124 A

However, in the conventional technique, when printing is performed by transferring and fixing a toner image a plurality of times on a medium, the image of the special color toner (first image) is changed to a CMYK image (second image) by the image forming apparatus. Therefore, it is necessary to create each image at the same scaling ratio and then scale a part of the image. In this case, pixel reduction is performed when the created image is reduced. In addition, if an image generated according to the output resolution using a dither pattern or the like is enlarged or reduced, there is a problem that the dither cycle is shifted and the image quality is deteriorated.
An object of the present invention is to solve such problems, and an object of the present invention is to suppress deterioration in image quality when printing is performed by transferring and fixing a developer image a plurality of times on a medium.

Therefore, according to the present invention, in an image forming apparatus that forms an image on the same medium in a plurality of times, a variable magnification storage unit that stores a variable magnification of an image, and a first developed from a print data by a special color developer . An image generation unit that generates an image and a second image developed by a developer different from the spot color developer, and the first image developed by the spot color developer is changed based on the scaling factor. An image magnifying unit that doubles the image, and a developer image based on the first image is transferred and fixed on the medium, and then a developer image based on the second image is transferred and fixed on the medium , or after the developer image based on the second image is transferred and fixed on the medium, and an image forming unit for a developer image based on the first image Ru is transferred and fixed on the medium, the first image -Based developer image transfer and fixing When performing a transfer and fixing of the toner image based on the second image, varying in the magnification ratio of the developer image based on the first image is developed by the spot color developer to the image scaling unit And a control unit for doubling.

  According to the present invention as described above, it is possible to suppress the deterioration of the image quality when printing is performed by transferring and fixing the developer image a plurality of times on the medium.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming system according to an embodiment. Schematic side view showing the configuration of the image forming apparatus in the embodiment The flowchart which shows the flow of the image formation process in an Example Explanatory drawing of the setting screen of the printer driver in the embodiment Explanatory drawing of scaling factor determination in the embodiment Explanatory drawing of the printed image in an Example Explanatory drawing of enlargement of print image in embodiment Explanatory drawing of print image position adjustment in the embodiment Explanatory drawing of the printing result in the embodiment

  Hereinafter, embodiments of an image forming apparatus, a print data generating apparatus, and an image forming system according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming system in the embodiment.
In FIG. 1, an image forming system 10 includes a printer 100 as an image forming apparatus, a PC (Personal Computer) 101 as a host apparatus, and a communication line 102 that connects the printer 100 and the PC 101 so as to communicate with each other. Yes.
A printer driver (software) as a print data generation apparatus is installed in the PC 101, and the PC 101 transmits print data to the printer 100. This print data includes a document to be printed as print setting information that can be analyzed by a data analysis unit 111 (to be described later) of the printer 100 and PDL (Page Description Language) data as drawing data.

The printer 100 forms an image based on print data generated by a printer driver, and includes a data reception unit 110, a data analysis unit 111, a print image generation unit 112, a control unit 113, an image scaling unit. A processing unit 114, an image forming unit 130, a panel unit 170, a print image storage unit 200, a spot color print designation storage unit 201, and a scaling factor storage unit 202 are provided.
The data receiving unit 110 receives print data transmitted from the PC 101 via the communication line 102 and transfers it to the data analyzing unit 111.

The data analysis unit 111 analyzes the print data received from the data reception unit 110, stores the spot color print designation and scaling ratio information as print setting information in the spot color printing designation storage section 201 and the scaling ratio storage section 202, respectively. The PDL data is transferred to the print image generation unit 112.
Here, the special color printing designation information is information relating to a method for generating a special color print image using a special color toner such as white or transparent, and the variable magnification information is the shrinkage of the medium when the toner is fixed on the medium. This is information indicating the rate, and details will be described later.

The print image generation unit 112 generates print image data to be printed on a medium from the PDL data included in the print data and the special color print designation information stored in the special color print designation storage unit 201, and the print image storage unit 200, and notifies the control unit 113 that print image data has been generated.
In this embodiment, the print image generation unit 112 uses the PDL data included in the print data and the spot color print designation information stored in the spot color print designation storage unit 201 as a first color print image (hereinafter referred to as a first color print image). , “Special color image”) and a color print image (hereinafter referred to as “CMYK image”) as the second image.

In response to the notification that the print image data has been generated from the print image generation unit 112, the control unit 113 reads the special color print designation information from the special color print designation storage unit 201, and transfers the image at least twice for printing one page. It is determined whether or not fixing is necessary and whether or not the spot color image is transferred and fixed for the first time.
If the result of the determination indicates that scaling processing of the print image is necessary, the control unit 113 scales part of the images according to the information stored in the scaling factor storage unit 202 to the image scaling processing unit 114. When the necessary image scaling process is completed, the image forming unit 130 is instructed to print the image subjected to the scaling process.

  As described above, the control unit 113 performs transfer and fixing of the toner image (spot color developer image) based on the spot color image and transfer and fixing of the toner image (CMYK developer image) based on the color print image. The image scaling unit 114 scales the spot color image or the color print image with the scaling factor stored in the scaling factor storage unit 202, and when the necessary image scaling process is completed, the image forming unit 130 performs the scaling process. Instructed to print the selected image.

  The image scaling processing unit 114 generates print image data obtained by enlarging or reducing a part of the image according to information stored in the scaling factor storage unit 202 in accordance with an instruction from the control unit 113, and the print image storage unit 200. When the scaling process is completed, the control unit 113 is notified that the scaling process has been completed. In this embodiment, the image scaling processing unit 114 enlarges or reduces the spot color image and the color print image generated by the print image generating unit 112 based on the scaling factor information stored in the scaling factor storage unit 202. The generated print image data is stored in the print image storage unit 200.

The image forming unit 130 reads the print image data from the print image storage unit 200 in accordance with an instruction from the control unit 113, and executes printing by transferring and fixing a toner image based on the read print image data onto a medium such as a print sheet. To do.
The panel unit 170 includes display means such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) and input means such as operation buttons, and can execute test printing for obtaining a scaling factor by a user's menu operation. Further, the setting of the scaling factor in the scaling factor storage unit 202 can be performed not only from the printer driver but also by the user's menu operation from the panel unit 170.

The print image storage unit 200 is a storage unit that stores the print image data generated by the print image generation unit 112 and the print image data generated by the image scaling processing unit 114.
The special color print designation storage unit 201 is a storage unit that stores special color print designation information as print setting information of print data.
The scaling factor storage unit 202 is a storage unit that stores scaling factor information as print setting information of print data, or scaling factor information input from the panel unit 170.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view illustrating the configuration of the image forming apparatus in the embodiment.
In FIG. 2, the printer 100 forms a toner image as a developer image of each color of KCMYW (K: black, C: cyan, M: magenta, Y: yellow, W: white) on the panel 170 and the medium. And image drums 150, 151, 152, 153, and 154 to be transferred, a fixing device 155 for fixing the toner transferred onto the medium with heat, and a transport belt 156 for transporting the medium in the medium transport direction indicated by arrow A in the figure. Then, the tray unit 157 for storing the medium 158 and the medium on which the toner is fixed are discharged to the outside of the apparatus through the discharge roller 163, or again via the sensors 161, 162, 159, and the image drums 150, 151, 152, 153, 154. And a change-over switch 160 for switching whether to carry the paper.

In this embodiment, the image drums are arranged in the order of the image drum (K) 150, the image drum (C) 151, the image drum (M) 152, the image drum (Y) 153, and the image drum (W) 154 from the upstream in the medium transport direction. It shall be.
An image forming unit 130 shown in FIG. 1 controls the above-described components to transfer and fix a toner image formed based on print image data onto a medium, and performs printing on the medium.
The printer 100 configured as described above can be formed by transferring and fixing an image in a plurality of times on the same medium.

The operation of the above configuration will be described.
First, an example of a setting screen for a printer driver operating on the PC 101 shown in FIG. 1 will be described based on an explanatory diagram of a setting screen for a printer driver in the embodiment shown in FIG.
When printing using a special color, “whole page”, “data portion”, and “spot color toner only” other than “not used” in the special color usage method 411 on the printer driver setting screen 41 shown in FIG. , “Application designation” is selected, and FIG. 4A shows a state where “data portion” (printing a special color) is selected.

When the spot color is a color that can be printed above or below CMYK (color), such as W (white), CMYK is displayed in the overlapping order 412 on the printer driver setting screen 41 shown in FIG. And select the order of spot colors. FIG. 4A shows a state where “print spot color on color” is selected.
In an apparatus in which toner is transferred onto a medium in the order of KCMYW, such as the printer 100 shown in FIG. 2, printing with the special color (W) on the color (CMYK) can be performed by one transfer and fixing. In addition, printing in which the color (CMYK) is placed on the spot color (W) requires two times of transfer and fixing (first time the spot color (W) and second time the color (CMYK) transfer and fixing).

As shown in FIG. 4A, when “print spot color on color”, which is a print in which spot color (W) is placed on color (CMYK), is selected, a scaling factor is not required. The reduction ratio in the Y direction is grayed out and need not be set.
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4B, when “print spot color under color”, which is printing in which color (CMYK) is placed on spot color (W), is selected, the scaling factor can be specified. In addition, the setting of the reduction ratio in the X and Y directions is accepted.

  When, for example, setting is performed on the printer driver setting screen 41 illustrated in FIG. 4B and printing is performed on the PC 101 illustrated in FIG. 1, the printer driver of the PC 101 displays the “data portion selected in the spot color usage method 411. ”Information for drawing a special color, information indicating“ print a special color under the color ”specified in the overlapping order 412 (information for specifying special color printing), and a scaling factor (X-direction reduction ratio: 99.6). %, Y-direction reduction ratio: 99.4%) and PDL data are transmitted as print data to the printer 100 via the communication line 102.

Next, the scaling factor set on the above-described printer driver setting screen will be described with reference to the explanatory diagram of the scaling factor determination in the embodiment of FIG.
The scaling factor to be set is obtained in advance by performing printing for measuring shrinkage on a medium used for printing a spot color. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, by performing spot color printing without performing enlargement or reduction with a variable magnification, an appropriate variable magnification can be estimated.
In the example shown in FIG. 5, the image 51 having the scales in the X direction and the Y direction is transferred and fixed to the medium in the first printing operation, and one side to be measured with the scale printed in the first time in the second printing operation. A rectangular image 52 of 5.0 inches (inches) is transferred and fixed on the medium. The reference value 53 may be printed by either the first printing operation or the second printing operation, but it is preferable to print with a toner that is easy to read.

After the scale image 51 and the rectangular image 52 are printed, the widths of the rectangular image 52 in the X and Y directions are read with the scale image 51, and the scaling values in the X and Y directions are calculated from the reference values 53 described. Determine the reduction ratio.
For example, when the value obtained by reading the width of the rectangular image 52 in the X and Y directions with the scale image 51 is 5.01 inch, the reduction ratio is 99.8%, and when the value is 5.02 inch, 99.6%. .

When the scale image 51 is printed with a special color such as white, or when the scale is difficult to read, the length of the sides in the X and Y directions of the rectangular image 52 is measured with a measuring tool such as a measure after the medium shrinks. May be measured.
Also, printing for measuring the shrinkage of the medium may be prepared in the printer 100 as a test printing function that is activated by operating the panel unit 170 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

Next, the image forming process performed by the printer that has received the print data from the printer driver will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 in accordance with the step indicated by S in the flowchart showing the flow of the image forming process in the embodiment of FIG. To do.
S1: The data receiving unit 110 of the printer 100 receives print data transmitted from the PC 101 via the communication line 102, and transfers the print data to the data analyzing unit 111.
S2: The data analysis unit 111 analyzes the print data received from the data reception unit 110, determines whether it is print setting information or PDL data, and if it is determined to be print setting information, the process proceeds to S3. If it is determined that there is, the process proceeds to S4.

S3: The data analysis unit 111 determined to be the print setting information stores the special color print designation and the variable magnification as the print setting information in the special color print designation storage unit 201 and the variable magnification storage unit 202, respectively, and the process proceeds to S2. And waits for reception of PDL data.
S4: The data analysis unit 111 that has been determined to be PDL data passes the PDL data to the print image generation unit 112 in order to generate image data for printing.
The print image generation unit 112 generates print image data for one page from the spot color print designation and scaling ratio stored in the spot color printing designation storage unit 201 and the scaling factor storage unit 202 and PDL data, and the printing image storage unit 200.

Here, the print image data generated by the print image generation unit 112 will be described.
FIGS. 6A and 6B to 6F are examples of print image data generated by the print image generation unit 112 in S4.
The PDL data expresses an image made up of CMYK shown in FIG. 6A. Print images for cyan, magenta, yellow, and black for printing this image are shown in FIGS. 6B and 6C. ), (D), (e).
In the special color print designation stored in the special color print designation storage unit 201, it is assumed that a special color is drawn in the “data portion” and “print special color under color” is set.

In this case, according to the designation of “data portion”, which is the use method of the set spot color, that is, “draw the spot color in the color image portion”, the print image data of each color shown in FIGS. Print image data for the special color (white) shown in 6 (f) is generated.
Note that, when the usage method of the special color specified by the special color printing stored in the special color printing designation storage unit 201 is “do not use (special color)”, print image data for the special color (white) is not generated. Further, when the usage method of the special color is “special color toner only”, print image data for each color of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black is not generated.

S5: The print image generation unit 112 that has generated print image data for one page and stored in the print image storage unit 200 notifies the control unit 113 that the print image data for one page has been generated.
S6: Receiving the notification that the print image data has been generated from the print image generation unit 112, the control unit 113 determines whether or not the special color image needs to be scaled in S6 to S8.

  First, when the usage method of the special color specified by the special color printing stored in the special color print designation storage unit 201 is “do not use (special color)” or “only the special color toner”, the control unit 113 sets both the special color and CMYK. Since the image is not printed, it is determined that the scaling of the print image is unnecessary because the transfer and fixing are performed once, and the process proceeds to S11. On the other hand, the special color printing stored in the special color print designation storage unit 201 is performed. If the usage method of the specified spot color is not “do not use (spot color)” or “only spot color toner”, it is determined that both the spot color and CMYK images are to be printed, and the process proceeds to S7.

  S7: The control unit 113 that has determined that both special color and CMYK images are to be printed is the order in which the image drums corresponding to each color toner are mounted (arranged) in the medium transport direction, and the special color stored in the special color print designation storage unit 201 Based on the superposition order of special colors designated for printing, it is determined whether the transfer and fixing of the special color image and the transfer and fixing of the CMYK image need to be performed in two steps, and the transfer and fixing are performed twice. If it is determined that it is necessary to perform the process separately, the process proceeds to S8, and if it is determined that it is not necessary to perform the transfer and fixing in two steps, the process proceeds to S11.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, in the printer 100 in which the image drum is mounted in such a manner that the CMYK image is transferred between the spot color image and the medium, the order of overlaying the spot colors is “over color. In the case of “print special color”, the control unit 113 determines that the special color image and the CMYK image can be printed by one transfer and fixing.
On the other hand, when the superposition order of the special colors is “print special color under the color”, the control unit 113 determines that the special color image and the CMYK image need to be printed separately by two transfers and fixing. . In this case, it is necessary to transfer and fix the special color image before the CMYK image.

Unlike the printer 100 shown in FIG. 2, the image drum mounting order in which the spot color image is transferred between the CMYK image and the medium (the image drum (W) 154 is arranged at the most upstream in the medium conveyance direction). In the printer 100, when the spot color superposition order is “print spot color under color”, the control unit 113 determines that the spot color image and the CMYK image can be printed by one transfer and fixing. .
On the other hand, when the superposition order of the special colors is “print special color on the color”, the control unit 113 determines that the special color image and the CMYK image need to be printed separately by two transfer and fixing. . In this case, the special color image needs to be transferred and fixed after the CMYK image and printed.

  S8: The controller 113, which has determined that the transfer and fixing of the special color image and the transfer and fixing of the CMYK image need to be performed in two steps, transfers and fixes the special color image before the CMYK image and prints it. If it is determined that it is necessary to transfer and fix the special color image before the CMYK image, the process proceeds to S9, and the special color image is transferred and fixed after the CMYK image. If it is determined that printing is necessary, the process proceeds to S10.

S9: Having determined that the special color image needs to be transferred and fixed prior to the CMYK image and printed, the control unit 113 sets the scaling factor stored in the scaling factor storage unit 202 to the scaling factor storage unit 202. In response, an instruction to enlarge the spot color image stored in the print image storage unit 200 is given.
For example, when the scaling factor stored in the scaling factor storage unit 202 is 99.6% in the X-direction reduction ratio and 99.4% in the Y-direction, the image scaling processing unit 114 performs processing shown in FIG. The spot color (white) image shown in FIG. 7B is replaced with a spot color image enlarged so that the X direction is 100.4% and the Y direction is 100.6% shown in FIG.

As described above, when the control unit 113 determines that the toner image based on the special color image is transferred and fixed on the medium before the toner image based on the CMYK image is transferred and fixed on the medium, the image scaling unit 114 is determined. Then, the spot color image is enlarged at a scaling factor stored in the scaling factor storage unit 202.
When the scaling process instructed to the image scaling processing unit 114 is completed, the control unit 113 shifts the process to S11.
S10: The control unit 113 that has determined that the special color image needs to be transferred and fixed after the CMYK image for printing is sent to the image scaling processing unit 114 in accordance with the scaling factor stored in the scaling factor storage unit 202. An instruction to reduce the spot color image stored in the print image storage unit 200 is given.

For example, when the scaling factor stored in the scaling factor storage unit 202 has an X direction reduction rate of 99.6% and a Y direction reduction rate of 99.4%, the image scaling processing unit 114 performs the special color (white). The image is replaced with a spot color image reduced to 99.6% in the X direction and 99.4% in the Y direction.
As described above, when the control unit 113 determines that the toner image based on the special color image is transferred and fixed on the medium after the toner image based on the CMYK image is transferred and fixed on the medium, the control unit 113 causes the image scaling unit 114 to The spot color image is reduced at the scaling factor stored in the scaling factor storage unit 202.

When the scaling process instructed to the image scaling processing unit 114 is completed, the control unit 113 shifts the process to S11.
S11: The control unit 113 instructs the image forming unit 130 to print the print image stored in the print image storage unit 200. The image forming unit 130 receives the print image data from the print image storage unit 200 according to the instruction of the control unit 113. When the special color image and the CMYK image are printed, the positions of the special color image and the CMYK image are aligned and printed on the medium.

Here, the alignment between the spot color image and the CMYK image will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of print image position adjustment in the embodiment. The usage method of the spot color shown in FIG. 4B is “whole page”, the overlay order is “print spot color under color”, and the X direction. When setting the reduction ratio 99.6% and the Y-direction reduction ratio 99.4% and printing the special color image and the CMYK image by performing transfer and fixing twice, the special color image and the CMYK image are always displayed on the medium. An example in which the transfer position of a print image is adjusted so as to be arranged in the center is shown.

  FIGS. 8A and 8B show an example in which the enlarged spot color image 81b is placed at the center in the X direction and Y direction of the medium 81a in the first transfer. At this time, when the upper left position of the medium 81a and the upper left position of the enlarged special color image 81b are combined, the position is adjusted so that the margins in the X and Y directions with respect to the special color image 81b of the medium 81a are halved. To do. In addition, 81c of Fig.8 (a) has shown the special color image before expansion.

As shown in FIG. 8B, the enlarged spot color image 81b is transferred to the center of each of the X and Y directions of the medium 81a, the medium 81a is passed through the fixing device 155 shown in FIG. 2, and the spot color image 81b is transferred to the medium. When the image is fixed to 81a, the medium 81a and the spot color image 81b are shrunk like the medium 82a and the spot color image 82b shown in FIG. 8C. In FIG. 8C, the broken line represents the medium 81a before shrinking.
In this manner, the shrinkage ratio of the medium by the first transfer and fixing is set as a variable magnification set on the setting screen of the printer driver.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B, the CMYK image 81c that has not been enlarged is transferred by adjusting the position so that it is placed in the center in the X and Y directions of the medium 82a in a contracted state. As a result, the image sizes of the spot color image 82b shrunk by fixing and the CMYK image 81c coincide and overlap.
The medium 82a in which the spot color image 82b and the CMYK image 81c coincide and overlap each other is passed through the fixing device 155 shown in FIG. Can return to the original size as in the medium 81a shown in FIG. 9C, and a print result can be obtained in which the spot color image and the CMYK image coincide with each other in the center of the medium 81a.

This overall enlargement of the image can be canceled by reducing the PDL data from the printer driver, for example, at a scaling factor set in advance in the printer driver.
At this time, the printer driver of the PC 101 corresponds to the CMYK toner image when the CMYK toner image formed with toner different from the special color toner is transferred and fixed to the medium after the special color toner image is transferred and fixed to the medium. Assume that print data including PDL data reduced at an input scaling factor and information indicating the scaling factor is generated.
Further, the printer driver of the PC 101 corresponds to a CMYK toner image when a CMYK toner image formed with a toner different from the special color toner is transferred and fixed to the medium before the special color toner image is transferred and fixed to the medium. It is assumed that print data including PDL data and information indicating the input scaling ratio is generated.

The printer print control by the image forming unit 130 shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG.
When printing can be performed by one transfer and fixing, the image forming unit 130 pulls the medium 158 from the tray unit 157 onto the conveyance belt 156, and transfers the toner of a necessary color onto the medium by the image drums 150 to 154 to fix the image. After the toner is fixed on the medium in the container 155, the changeover switch 160 is switched so that the medium is discharged to the outside of the apparatus, and discharged to the outside of the apparatus via the discharge roller 163 to complete the printing.

  In the case of printing that requires two times of transfer and fixing, the image forming unit 130 pulls the medium 158 from the tray unit 157 onto the conveyance belt 156 and transfers, for example, the special color (white) toner onto the medium by the image drum 154. Then, after fixing the toner to the medium in the fixing device 155, the changeover switch 160 is switched, and the medium is conveyed again to the image drum via the sensors 161, 162, and 159. The image drums 150 to 154 transfer the CMYK toner onto the special color (white) toner fixed on the medium, and the fixing device 155 fixes the toner to the medium, and then the medium is discharged to the outside of the apparatus. The switch 160 is switched and discharged to the outside of the apparatus via the discharge roller 163 to complete the printing.

In this embodiment, the scaling factor (reduction ratio) of the medium is set on the setting screen of the printer driver. However, an input operation is performed according to a menu displayed on the panel unit 170 provided in the printer 100 and set. Anyway.
In this way, in a printer that prints by transferring and fixing a toner image a plurality of times on the same surface of the medium, the first special color toner image is scaled at a set scaling ratio and transferred and fixed on the medium. After that, the second CMYK toner image is transferred and fixed onto the toner image transferred and fixed at the first time, and printing is performed by transferring and fixing the toner image on the medium a plurality of times. In this case, it is possible to suppress a decrease in image quality.

Also, instead of scaling the CMYK toner image that is transferred and fixed and printed after the second time, the spot color toner image that is transferred and fixed and printed the first time is drawn at a relatively high density, and the spot color toner image is printed. Therefore, the shift of the dither cycle or the like is hardly noticeable, and the deterioration of the image quality can be suppressed.
Furthermore, the spot color toner image and the CMYK toner image can be printed on the medium with the same size while maintaining the image quality of the CMYK toner image.

  In this embodiment, when the special color (white) toner image and the CMYK toner image are transferred and fixed twice each time, the special color toner image is scaled without scaling the CMYK toner image. However, for other special color toners such as transparent toners, the special color toners are transferred and fixed multiple times to improve the appearance of gloss. There are ways to make adjustments and embossing effects.

As described above, when the CMYK toner image and the spot color (transparent) toner image are transferred and fixed for the first time, and then the spot color (transparent) toner image is transferred and fixed for a plurality of times, the first CMYK toner image is superimposed. The spot color (transparent) toner image may be scaled without changing the scale of the spot color (transparent) toner image.
For example, when transferring and fixing a CMYK toner image and a special color (transparent) toner image for the first time, a special color (transparent) toner image for the second time, and a special color (transparent) toner image for the third time, the first CMYK toner image and the special color The (transparent) toner image is not scaled, and the second and third special color (transparent) toner images are reduced, transferred and fixed, and printed.

Also, when a special color (golden) toner image is transferred for the first time, a special color (golden) toner image is transferred for the second time, and a CMYK toner image is transferred and fixed for the third time. Only the special color (golden) toner image for the second time is enlarged, and the special color (golden) toner image for the second time and the CMYK toner image for the third time are transferred and fixed without scaling.
Also, in test printing for confirming the scaling factor, it is possible to make the reading of the scaling factor easier by replacing the image of a special color such as white (white) or clear (transparent) with a color such as cyan. And cost can be reduced.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the first toner image is scaled at the set magnification, transferred and fixed on the medium, and then the second toner image is transferred and fixed on the first time. By transferring and fixing the toner image on the toner image for printing, it is possible to suppress deterioration in image quality when the developer image is transferred and fixed on the medium a plurality of times. can get.

The first special color toner image is scaled and transferred and fixed on the medium, and then the second CMYK toner image is transferred and fixed on the first transferred and fixed toner image for printing. As a result, the special color toner image and the CMYK toner image can be printed on the medium with the same size while maintaining the image quality of the CMYK toner image.
In this embodiment, the image forming apparatus is described as a printer. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a copier, a facsimile machine, a multifunction peripheral (MFP), or the like may be used as long as it is a device that prints a toner image.

10 Image forming system 100 Printer 101 PC
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 102 Communication line 110 Data receiving part 111 Data analysis part 112 Print image generation part 113 Control part 114 Image scaling process part 130 Image formation part 170 Panel part 200 Print image storage part 201 Special color printing designation | designated storage part 202 Variable magnification storage part

Claims (8)

In an image forming apparatus that forms an image on the same medium in multiple times,
A scaling factor storage for storing the scaling factor of the image;
An image generation unit that generates a first image developed from a print data by a spot color developer and a second image developed by a developer different from the spot color developer ;
An image scaling unit that scales the first image developed by the spot color developer based on the scaling factor;
After the developer image based on the first image was transferred and fixed to said medium, a developer image based on the second image is transferred and fixed onto the medium, or the developer based on the second image after transferring and fixing an image on the medium, and an image forming unit for a developer image based on the first image Ru is transferred and fixed onto the medium,
When transferring and fixing the developer image based on the first image and transferring and fixing the developer image based on the second image, based on the first image developed by the spot color developer. image forming apparatus characterized by a control unit for zooming in the magnification ratio of the developer image on the image scaling unit. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 .
The image forming apparatus, wherein the developer image based on the second image is a color developer image. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2 .
When the control unit determines that the developer image based on the first image is transferred and fixed on the medium before the developer image based on the second image is transferred and fixed on the medium. An image forming apparatus that causes the image scaling unit to enlarge the first image at the scaling factor. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2 or 3 ,
When the control unit determines that the developer image based on the first image is transferred and fixed on the medium after the developer image based on the second image is transferred and fixed on the medium, An image forming apparatus, wherein the image scaling unit reduces the first image at the scaling factor. 5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:
An image forming apparatus, comprising: an input unit that receives an operation for performing printing for obtaining the magnification. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5.
The printing for obtaining the scaling ratio is a printing in which a scale image is transferred and fixed after transferring and fixing a scale image, and a reference value of the scaling ratio is transferred and fixed. An image forming apparatus. A print data generation apparatus that generates print data of an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a single medium in a plurality of times,
It has an input unit for inputting the magnification,
After the first developer image formed with the spot color developer is transferred and fixed onto the medium, the second developer image formed with a developer different from the spot color developer is transferred and fixed onto the medium. Generating print data corresponding to the second developer image and including drawing data reduced at the variable magnification and information representing the variable magnification,
Before the first developer image formed with the spot color developer is transferred and fixed onto the medium, the second developer image formed with a developer different from the spot color developer is transferred and fixed onto the medium. When this is done, the print data generating apparatus generates print data including drawing data corresponding to the second developer image and information indicating the magnification. An image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6 ,
A print data generation device according to claim 7 ;
The image forming apparatus forms an image based on print data generated by the print data generation apparatus.

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