JP7354655B2 - Programs and information processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

The technical field disclosed in this specification relates to a program and an information processing device that output paper size.

In a printing system in which a print management program is built into an information processing device such as a personal computer, when an application program receives a print instruction, the print management program receives image data from the application program and prints print data based on the image data. Techniques for outputting to a printer are known. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technology using CUPS (Common Unix Printing System) (registered trademark) as a print management program.

JP 2019-53398 Publication

Depending on the print management program, the image may be automatically rotated based on the size of the image indicated by the image data and the paper size included in the print settings. For example, if a paper size that is vertically long is set and the image is horizontally long, the print management program may rotate the image by 90 degrees to align the vertical and horizontal size relationships between the paper size and the image. If a horizontally long image is rotated into a vertically long image in this way, problems may occur when printing on roll paper. For example, the amount of feed may increase and the amount of sheets consumed may increase. Furthermore, for example, there is a possibility that the image will be printed in an orientation that is not desired by the user.

This specification discloses a technique for reducing problems when printing using a print management program that may automatically rotate images.

A program designed to solve this problem is a program executable by a computer of an information processing device, which causes the computer to receive paper by a print management program built into the information processing device according to paper type settings. The print management program executes output processing to output the size, receives print settings and image data, and outputs print data based on the image indicated by the received image data to the printer; , the size relationship between the length direction size and the width direction size of the paper size included in the received print settings corresponds to the length direction of the paper size of the image shown in the received image data. If the size in one direction is different from the size in a second direction corresponding to the width direction of the paper size, the image may be rotated by 90 degrees or 270 degrees, and the computer is further instructed to perform the output processing. When the print management program executes an acquisition process to acquire the image data to be received, and the paper type setting is a setting indicating roll paper, the paper size to be received by the print management program is as follows: The size relationship between the lengthwise size and the widthwise size of the paper size, and the size in the first direction and the size in the second direction of the image indicated by the image data acquired in the acquisition process. It is characterized by outputting a specific size that matches the size relationship of .

By executing the program disclosed in this specification, the information processing device acquires image data to be received by the print management program, and when the paper type is roll paper, the length direction size and width direction size are outputs a specific size that is a paper size whose size relationship with the image data matches the size relationship between the vertical size and the horizontal size of the image data. For example, when horizontally long image data is acquired, the information processing device outputs a horizontally long paper size as the specific size. As a result, even if the print management program automatically rotates the image data according to the size relationship between the length direction size and width direction size of the paper size, a specific size is used as the paper size. This avoids automatic rotation of the image and can be expected to reduce problems when printing on roll paper.

An information processing device that realizes the functions of the program, a control method for realizing the functions of the program, and a computer-readable storage medium that stores the program are also new and useful.

According to the technology disclosed in this specification, a technology is realized that reduces problems when printing is performed using a print management program that may automatically rotate an image.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a printing system according to an embodiment. 7 is a flowchart showing the procedure of paper registration processing. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a paper registration screen. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a printing procedure. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of rotating an image. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example in which an image is not rotated. FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram showing an example of a printing procedure. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of size determination processing.

Hereinafter, a first embodiment that embodies a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as "PC") will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. This embodiment discloses a PC that is connected to a printer that prints on a continuous strip-shaped print medium, so-called roll paper.

As shown in FIG. 1, the printing system of this embodiment includes a PC 1 and a printer 2 that are communicably connected to each other. The PC 1 is a device that can execute various application programs (hereinafter referred to as "apps") for causing the printer 2 to print. PC1 is an example of an information processing device. Instead of the PC 1, for example, a smartphone or a tablet computer may be used.

As shown in FIG. 1, the PC 1 includes a control board 10 including a CPU 11 and a memory 12. Furthermore, the PC 1 includes a user interface (hereinafter referred to as "user IF") 20 and a communication interface (hereinafter referred to as "communication IF") 30, which are electrically connected to the control board 10. There is. Note that the control board 10 in FIG. 1 is a general term for hardware and software used to control the PC 1, and does not necessarily represent a single piece of hardware that actually exists in the PC 1.

The CPU 11 executes various processes according to programs read from the memory 12 and based on user operations. The CPU 11 is an example of a computer. The memory 12 includes a ROM and a RAM, and further includes a nonvolatile memory such as an HDD and a flash memory, and stores various programs and data.

Memory 12 may be a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable storage medium is a non-transitory medium. In addition to the above-mentioned examples, non-transitory media also include recording media such as CD-ROMs and DVD-ROMs. Furthermore, non-transitory media are also tangible media. On the other hand, electrical signals that carry programs downloaded from servers on the Internet are a type of computer-readable signal medium, but non-transitory computer-readable storage Not included in media.

The user IF 20 includes hardware such as a keyboard, a mouse, etc. that accept input operations by the user, and a display that displays information. The user IF 20 is an example of an input interface. The user IF 20 may include a touch panel or the like having both an operation reception function and a display function.

The communication IF 30 includes hardware for communicating with external devices such as the printer 2. The communication method of the communication IF 30 may be wireless or wired, and may be any standard method such as LAN, Wi-Fi (registered trademark), Bluetooth (registered trademark), or USB.

As shown in FIG. 1, the memory 12 of the PC 1 of this embodiment includes an operating system (hereinafter referred to as "OS") 41, a content application 42, a print management program 43, and a paper registration application 44. It is. The content application 42 is a group of programs for creating and editing images to be printed. The content application 42 creates and edits content such as document content, diagram content, and presentation content based on user instructions. The content application 42 further receives an instruction to print the created content. The content application 42 is an example of an application program.

The print management program 43 is a group of programs that generates print data and sends the generated print data to the printer 2 based on print instructions received by an application such as the content application 42 . The print management program 43 includes setting information 431 that stores various information used for print settings.

The setting information 431 includes information unique to each printer connected to the PC 1, and stores, for example, paper information regarding the paper that can be selected by the printer 2. Setting information 431 is an example of a database. The paper information stored in the setting information 431 includes paper size information and paper type information. The paper size defined by the paper information may be a standard size such as A4 or B5, or a user-defined size including width and length.

The paper registration application 44 is a program that accepts registration instructions for various types of paper used in the printer 2 and updates the setting information 431 based on the received instructions. The paper registration application 44 is an example of a program.

Before accepting an instruction to execute printing, the content application 42 accepts, for example, a user's designation of print settings including paper information. The content application 42 obtains the paper information of the paper registered in the print management program 43 from the setting information 431, and receives paper selection by displaying paper options based on the obtained information, for example. Further, when receiving an instruction to execute printing, the content application 42 passes information on print settings including paper information of the selected paper and information on an image to be printed to the print management program 43 .

The content application 42 and print management program 43 can be used depending on the type of OS 41. For example, in the PC 1 that uses Linux (registered trademark) as the OS 41, LibreOffice can be used as the content application 42, and CUPS can be used as the print management program 43, for example. CUPS is incorporated as part of the OS41. The CUPS includes a file format PPD (PostScript Printer Description) as setting information 431.

Note that the OS 41 is not limited to Linux, and may be, for example, Windows (registered trademark), MacOS (registered trademark), iOS (registered trademark), or Android (registered trademark). In that case, the content application 42 may be Microsoft Office (registered trademark), for example. Further, the setting information 431 does not need to be in a file format, and may be any information that can be referenced from the content application 42 or print management program 43.

The printer 2 of this embodiment is, for example, a so-called label printer that includes a thermal transfer print head, stores label paper wound into a roll, and prints while unwinding the label paper. Label paper is an example of roll paper. Examples of the types of label paper used for printing in the printer 2 include long tapes, die-cut labels, and marked media. The long tape has a continuous strip of paper attached to one side of a continuous release paper, similar to the release paper. A die-cut label is a label in which sheets of paper pre-shaped into a predetermined shape are pasted on one side of a continuous release paper at predetermined intervals. The marked media is paper on which predetermined marks are provided in advance at predetermined intervals in the transport direction of the label paper.

The print settings of the print job accepted by the printer 2 include paper type information and paper size information as paper information. Since the paper to be printed by the printer 2 is label paper, the paper size information includes width and length information corresponding to the label width and label length. The label width is the size of the paper attached to the release paper in the direction perpendicular to the direction in which the label paper is conveyed, that is, the width direction, and is specified for each label paper. The label length is the size of the produced label in the direction in which the label paper is conveyed, that is, in the length direction. If the paper is a long tape, the label length is basically not specified. If the paper is a die-cut label or marked media, the label length is specified depending on the label paper.

The printer 2 has a function of detecting the label width of the stored label paper. Further, if the label width of the stored label paper does not match the width of the paper size included in the print settings, the printer 2 outputs a paper error and does not print. That is, the width of the paper size in the print job to be sent to the printer 2 is specified according to the label paper to be printed.

Next, processing by the paper registration application 44 of this embodiment will be explained. Note that the following processing and each processing step in the flowchart basically shows the processing of the CPU 11 according to instructions written in each program. That is, the processes such as "judgment", "extraction", "selection", "calculation", "determination", "identification", "acquisition", "reception", and "control" in the following explanation are performed by the CPU 11. represents. The processing by the CPU 11 also includes hardware control using the API of the OS 41 of the PC 1. In this specification, the operation of each program will be explained without describing the OS 41. That is, in the following description, a statement to the effect that "program B controls hardware C" may also refer to "program B controls hardware C using the API of the OS 41." Further, the processing of the CPU 11 in accordance with instructions written in a program may be described in abbreviated terms. For example, it may be described as "performed by the CPU 11" or "performed by the program."

Note that "acquisition" is used as a concept that does not require a request. That is, the process of receiving data without a request from the CPU 11 is also included in the concept of "the CPU 11 obtains data." Furthermore, "data" in this specification is represented by a computer-readable bit string. Furthermore, data having substantially the same meaning and content but different formats shall be treated as the same data. The same applies to "information" in this specification. Furthermore, "request" and "instruction" are concepts that indicate outputting information indicating a request or information indicating an instruction to the other party. Further, information indicating that a request is being made or information indicating that an instruction is being given is simply referred to as a "request" or "instruction."

Furthermore, the process of determining whether information A indicates matter B by the CPU 11 may be conceptually described as "determining whether information A is matter B or not." There is. The process of determining whether information A indicates matter B or matter C by the CPU 11 is called ``determining whether information A is matter B or matter C. It may be described conceptually, such as ``.

First, the procedure of paper registration processing by the paper registration application 44 of this embodiment will be explained with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 2. The paper registration process is executed by the CPU 11 of the PC 1 upon receipt of an instruction to execute the paper registration application 44.

In the paper registration process, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, the CPU 11 displays a paper registration screen 61 on the user IF 20 and accepts input into each column (S101). The paper registration screen 61 is a screen that accepts input to each item, for example, paper specification information 611, paper size 612, and margin size 613. The paper registration screen 61 further displays an image designation button 62, an add button 63, and a cancel button 64.

The paper designation information 611 includes, for example, information on the paper name and paper type that are registered in the setting information 431. The paper size 612 is the size of the paper to be registered, and includes width and length information. The margin size 613 is the size of margins set on all sides of the paper. The printer 2 prints the image on a portion of the paper size 612 excluding the margin.

The image designation button 62 is a button that accepts designation of an image to be printed on the paper to be registered. The add button 63 is a button that accepts an instruction to register paper information including the information input in the paper registration screen 61 in the setting information 431 and end the process. The cancel button 64 is a button that accepts an instruction to end the paper registration process without registering paper information.

The CPU 11 determines whether an operation on the image designation button 62 has been accepted (S102). When determining that the operation to the image designation button 62 has been accepted (S102: YES), the CPU 11 determines whether the paper type displayed in the paper designation information 611 on the paper registration screen 61 is a long tape. (S103). Note that by default on the paper registration screen 61, the paper type is long tape.

If it is determined that the paper type is a long tape (S103: YES), the CPU 11 displays an image selection dialog on the user IF 20, accepts the image selection (S104), and saves the image data of the selected image. Acquire (S105). S105 is an example of acquisition processing.

Then, the CPU 11 acquires the vertical size and horizontal size of the image based on the acquired image data (S106). Note that the size of the image acquired in S106 means the size of the print range of the image on the printed paper when printing is performed based on the print settings. More specifically, the vertical size and horizontal size of the image are the respective sizes of two adjacent sides of the smallest rectangle that includes the print range of the image.

The CPU 11 determines whether the longer one of the vertical size and horizontal size of the acquired image is less than or equal to the label width (S107). The label width is the size in the width direction of the label paper to be printed, and is set by the user to the width of the paper size 612 in the paper registration screen 61. In the following, of the vertical size and horizontal size of an image, the longitudinal size will be referred to as the "longitudinal size of the image", and the size in the lateral direction will be referred to as the "short side size of the image".

If it is determined that the longitudinal size of the image is less than or equal to the label width (S107: YES), the CPU 11 sets the length of the paper size 612 to the width of the image (S108). If it is determined that the longitudinal size of the image is larger than the label width (S107: NO), the CPU 11 sets the length of the paper size 612 to the longitudinal size of the image (S109). In S108 and S109, the CPU 11 adjusts the length of the paper size 612 based on the size of the image acquired in S106, and displays the adjusted length on the paper registration screen 61.

If it is determined that the operation of the image designation button 62 is not accepted (S102: NO), or if it is determined that the tape is not a long tape (S103: NO), or after S108 or after S109, the CPU 11 determines whether the operation of the add button 63 has been accepted (S110). If it is determined that the operation of the add button 63 has been accepted (S110: YES), the CPU 11 registers the paper information displayed on the paper registration screen 61 in the setting information 431 (S111). S111 is an example of output processing. The paper size of the paper information to be registered is an example of a specific size.

As a result, when the paper registration application 44 receives a registration instruction after image data is specified, it registers paper information of a paper size suitable for the specified image data in the setting information 431. On the other hand, if the paper registration application 44 receives an instruction to register the paper information of a long tape without accepting the specification of image data or the specification of the paper size length, the paper registration application 44 assigns a default label to the paper size length information. The length is set and paper information is registered in the setting information 431. The default label length is often set larger than the label width. For example, if the tape has a width of 6.5 cm, the default label length is set to 10 cm.

If it is determined that the operation of the add button 63 has not been accepted (S110: NO), the CPU 11 determines whether or not the operation of the cancel button 64 has been accepted (S112). If it is determined that the operation on the cancel button 64 has not been accepted (S112: NO), the CPU 11 returns to S101 and accepts further input. On the other hand, after S111 or when it is determined that the operation of the cancel button 64 has been accepted (S112: YES), the CPU 11 closes the paper registration screen 61 and ends the paper registration process.

Note that if the printer 2 has an automatic deletion function that deletes spaces at the end of the image, in S108 the CPU 11 sets the length to a size that is equal to or larger than the short side of the image and smaller than the label width. Good. Further, in S109, the CPU 11 may set the length to a size larger than the label width, such as a default value. By enabling the automatic deletion function of the printer 2, even if the length of the paper size is larger than the image size, the printer 2 automatically deletes blank spaces after the trailing edge of the image.

Next, the operation of the PC 1 when the content application 42 is used to cause the printer 2 to execute printing will be described with reference to FIG. 4. The user starts the content application 42 and selects an image to be printed and print settings. When the content application 42 receives a paper selection instruction as a setting instruction for print settings, the content application 42 refers to the setting information 431, reads out the paper name of the registered paper information (arrow A), and displays it as an option for the paper information. .

Note that the paper information registered in the setting information 431 includes information registered in advance such as standard sizes, as well as information registered in the paper registration process by the paper registration application 44 described above (see the arrow B). For example, in the paper registration process, by operating the image designation button 62 and then accepting the specification of image data to be printed and the operation of the add button 63, paper information of a paper size suitable for the image data is generated. The paper is registered with a user-specified paper name. Thereafter, when the content application 42 receives a paper selection instruction, the registered paper names are displayed as options.

When a paper name is selected from the displayed options, the content application 42 generates print setting information including paper information of the selected paper name. When the content application 42 receives the image selection and print instruction, it passes the image data and print settings of the selected image to the print management program 43 (arrows C and D).

The print management program 43 rasterizes the received image data to generate print data. The print management program 43 generates a print job based on the generated print data and the print settings received from the content application 42, and transmits the generated print job to the printer 2 via the communication IF 30 (arrow E). As a result, the printer 2 executes printing based on the print job, and a label is created.

Depending on the print management program 43, when rasterizing, the size relationship between the vertical length and horizontal length of the paper specified in the print settings, and the vertical length and horizontal length of the image data are determined. When the magnitude relationships of and are different, there are methods that rotate the image to match these magnitude relationships. The print management program 43 of this embodiment has this function, and matches the vertical and horizontal size relationship between the image and the paper, that is, matches the longitudinal direction of the image with the longitudinal direction of the paper. For example, when receiving a print instruction to print a horizontally long image on a vertically long sheet of paper, the print management program 43 rotates the image by 90 degrees or 270 degrees so that the longitudinal direction of the image becomes the longitudinal direction of the paper.

As described above, the default value of the label length of the long tape is greater than the label width. That is, the default paper size of the long tape is, for example, a vertically long paper size P, as shown in FIG. 5(A). For example, if paper information including paper size P shown in FIG. 5(A) is selected and printing of a horizontally long image is instructed as shown in FIG. 5(B), the print management program of this embodiment 43 rotates and prints the image, as shown in FIG. 5(C). Specifically, if you instruct to print an image with width X of the image>height of the image on a paper whose size is label length L>label width W, then the width X of the image will be in the direction of the label length L. , the image is printed rotated 90 degrees or 270 degrees. The length Y of the image is an example of the size in the first direction, and the width X of the image is an example of the size in the second direction. Note that the arrow in the figure indicates the transport direction of the label paper.

When the paper registration application 44 of this embodiment receives designation of image data at the time of paper registration, if the longitudinal size of the image is equal to or less than the label width, the paper registration application 44 sets the length of the paper size to the transverse size of the image. For example, as shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, if the width of the image is Register information. When paper information including paper size Q is set and an instruction to print a horizontally long image is received, the print management program 43 rotates the image because the vertical and horizontal sizes of the image and the paper match. As shown in FIG. 6(C), the image is printed in landscape orientation. In other words, when printing an image of the same size as the image data specified in the paper registration application 44, by selecting paper information for paper size Q, the default paper size is used as shown in FIG. 6(C). Compared to the case (FIG. 5C), printed matter is produced with less wasted label paper.

Note that labels are usually used by cutting out the printed portion from label paper. Therefore, the length and width at the time of printing are irrelevant to the length and width at the time of use. Therefore, if the longitudinal size of the image is less than or equal to the label width, by setting the label length to the width of the image, the amount of label paper used can be saved regardless of the length and width of the image. If the longitudinal size of the specified image is less than or equal to the label width, the paper registration application 44 of this embodiment registers the paper size with the transverse size of the image as the label length. For example, if the vertical size of a vertically long image is less than or equal to the label width, the horizontal size is set as the label length. By using the paper information in which this paper size is registered, the print management program 43 automatically rotates a portrait image by 90 degrees or 270 degrees and prints it in landscape format, thereby reducing the amount of label paper wasted. is created.

As described above in detail, according to the paper registration application 44 of the first form, when designation of image data is accepted, the vertical and horizontal size relationship between the image indicated by the designated image data and the paper match. The length of the paper size is determined as follows. Therefore, when printing on label paper, when using the print management program 43 that rotates the image so that the vertical and horizontal size relationships are the same, by using a paper size that matches the vertical and horizontal size relationship with the image, the print management program 43 Automatic image rotation is avoided. If a horizontally long image is printed horizontally on a roll paper, the feed amount of the roll paper can be reduced, and problems can be reduced, compared to when the image is automatically rotated and printed vertically.

Next, a second embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. This embodiment discloses a PC having a configuration similar to that of the first embodiment, but in which a part of the processing of the paper registration application 44 and the print management program 43 is different from that of the first embodiment. It is. The same configurations and operations as in the first embodiment are given the same reference numerals as in the first embodiment, and the description thereof will be omitted.

The print management program 43 of this embodiment specifies a printer to execute printing based on the print execution instruction received from the content application 42. Furthermore, if the print management program 43 of this embodiment has registered the processing of the program corresponding to the identified printer, it outputs an execution command for the processing of the program before executing rasterization. In this embodiment, the size determination process of the paper registration application 44 is registered as a process to be executed when the printer specified in the print instruction is the printer 2. Therefore, when the print management program 43 of this embodiment receives a print instruction to cause the printer 2 to print from the content application 42, the paper registration application 44 executes the size determination process before executing rasterization.

The procedure for causing the printer 2 to print using each program of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Similarly to the first embodiment, when the content application 42 receives a print instruction from the user (arrow F), the content application 42 sends the image data of the selected image and the selected print settings to the print management program 43 along with the print instruction. Pass it (arrow G). When the print management program 43 of this embodiment receives a print instruction to print to the printer 2 from the content application 42, it starts the paper registration application 44 (arrow H) and executes the size determination process of the paper registration application 44 ( Arrow I).

The procedure for size determination processing by the paper registration application 44 will be explained with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 8. The size determination process is executed by the CPU 11 of the PC 1 based on an execution instruction from the print management program 43. Note that in the size determination process in FIG. 8, the same steps as in the paper registration process shown in FIG. 2 are given the same reference numerals.

In this embodiment, the paper registration application 44 receives image data and print settings from the print management program 43 at the time of starting execution of the size determination process. The process in which the paper registration application 44 receives image data from the print management program 43 is an example of an acquisition process.

In the size determination process, the CPU 11 determines whether a long tape is set based on the print settings received from the print management program 43 (S103). If it is determined that the tape is a long tape (S103: YES), the CPU 11 obtains the vertical and horizontal sizes of the image based on the image data received from the print management program 43 (S106).

Then, the CPU 11 determines whether the longitudinal size of the image is less than or equal to the label width of the paper (S107). If it is determined that it is less than or equal to the label width (S107: YES), the CPU 11 sets the label length to the short side size of the image (S108). If it is determined that the length is larger than the label width (S107: NO), the CPU 11 sets the label length to the longitudinal size of the image (S109). Note that the CPU 11 can obtain label width information from the print settings.

The CPU 11 returns paper size information including the determined label length to the print management program 43 (S201), and ends the size determination process. S201 is an example of output processing. The paper size returned to the print management program 43 in S201 is an example of a specific size. Note that the paper registration application 44 of this embodiment does not update the setting information 431. In other words, the paper size returned to the print management program 43 in S201 is not registered in the setting information 431.

Returning to the explanation of FIG. 7. When the size determination process (arrow I) is completed, the paper registration application 44 passes paper size information to the print management program 43 (arrow J). The paper size information may be only label length information, or may be paper size information including label width information and label length information. The print management program 43 executes rasterization (arrow K) using the paper size information received from the paper registration application 44 and the image data received from the content application 42 at arrow G to generate print data. do.

Furthermore, the print management program 43 transmits a print job including the generated print data to the printer 2 (arrow L). Thereby, the printer 2 executes printing based on the image selected by the content application 42 and generates printed matter.

In this embodiment as well, the paper size is determined based on the image data so that the vertical and horizontal size relationships of the image match the paper, and printing is performed with print settings that include the determined paper size. In other words, in the first form, a horizontally long image is printed horizontally, similar to the example shown in FIG. Note that in the size determination process by the paper registration application 44 of this embodiment, an input screen like the paper registration screen 61 of the first embodiment is not displayed. That is, in this embodiment, the size is automatically determined without requesting input from the user.

As described above in detail, according to the second form of paper registration application 44, image data is received from the print management program 43, and the vertical and horizontal size relationship between the image indicated by the received image data and the paper matches. The length of the paper size is determined as follows. Therefore, similarly to the first embodiment, automatic rotation of the image by the print management program 43 is avoided, the amount of feed of the roll paper can be reduced, and problems are reduced.

Note that in the first form, the paper information is registered in the setting information 431 by executing the paper registration application 44 in advance, so if the user has image data of the same size, the user can specify the registered paper information. good. The print management program 43 does not need to execute the paper registration application 44 after receiving a print instruction, and the processing load during printing is small. On the other hand, in the second embodiment, since the paper size is determined based on the size of the image data to be printed, a paper size that can definitely accommodate the image data to be printed is used.

Furthermore, in the first and second embodiments, the length of the paper size is changed but the width is not changed, so the possibility of a paper error occurring in the printer 2 is small. Furthermore, since the length is changed when the paper type is a long tape, the possibility of a paper error occurring in the printer 2 is small. Furthermore, since the length of the paper size is changed when the longitudinal size of the image is less than or equal to the label width, there is a high possibility that the image will fit on the label paper.

Note that the first and second embodiments are merely examples, and do not limit the present invention in any way. Therefore, the present invention is naturally capable of various improvements and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof. For example, the number of PCs and printers is not limited to the illustrated example. Further, the printing method of the printer 2 is not limited to the thermal transfer method, and may be, for example, a thermal method, an inkjet method, or an electrophotographic method. Further, the print medium is not limited to label paper, and may be, for example, a simple roll paper, and the printer is not limited to a label printer.

Further, the paper registration application 44 of the PC 1 may include both the first form of paper registration processing and the second form of size determination processing, or may include only one of them.

Further, for example, in each embodiment, the content application 42 passes a print instruction to the print management program 43 to send a print job to the printer 2, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the print management program 43 may be included in the OS 41. In that case, the content application 42 passes a print instruction to the OS 41, and the OS 41 generates a print job and sends it to the printer 2. Further, the content application 42 may also have the functions of the print management program 43. In that case, the content application 42 generates a print job by itself and sends the print job directly to the printer 2. Any of the above examples corresponds to a configuration in which the content application 42 outputs print data to the printer 2.

Further, in each embodiment, the setting information 431 is included in the print management program 43, and the paper information storage area 441 is included in the paper registration application 44, but it may not be included. Any data may be stored in a format that can be referenced from each program.

Further, the paper registration screen 61 shown in FIG. 3 in the first form is an example of a method of accepting input, and the screen for accepting input as shown in this figure does not need to be displayed. The paper registration application 44 may receive an instruction to register paper information based on input from a command line or the like, for example.

Further, in the second embodiment, the determined paper size is not registered in the setting information 431, but it may be registered. For example, the CPU 11 may display a message indicating that the paper size has been determined on the user IF 20 after S108 or S109 and before S201, accept the selection of the paper name, and register it in the setting information 431. good.

Furthermore, in each embodiment, the content application 42 displays printing paper options based on the paper information registered in the setting information 431; Paper information based on the information may also be displayed as an option.

Further, in each embodiment, the printer 2 has an automatic deletion function for removing blank spaces, but it does not need to have this function. In this case, if the label length is longer than the image length, a printed matter with a blank space at the trailing edge will be produced, but there is a high possibility that the desired printed matter will be obtained by cutting out the blank area. Alternatively, the print management program 43 may have a function to remove blank areas. In this case, the print management program 43 may generate print data with blank portions removed and pass it to the printer 2.

Further, for example, a print data creation program created by the vendor of the printer 2 may be installed on the PC 1, and the print management program 43 may cause the print data creation program to generate print data. In that case, the print data creation program may generate print data with blank portions removed and pass it to the print management program 43. Furthermore, in that case, the print management program 43 may rotate and print the image indicated by the print data generated by the print data creation program.

Furthermore, in any flowchart disclosed in each embodiment, the execution order of multiple processes in any multiple steps can be arbitrarily changed or executed in parallel as long as there is no inconsistency in the processing contents. .

Furthermore, the processing disclosed in each embodiment may be executed by a single CPU, multiple CPUs, hardware such as an ASIC, or a combination thereof. Further, the processes disclosed in the embodiments can be realized in various forms such as a recording medium recording a program for executing the processes, or a method.

1 PC
2 Printer 11 CPU
20 User IF
30 Communication IF
44 Paper registration app

Claims (8)

A program executable by a computer of an information processing device,
to the computer;
A print management program built into the information processing apparatus executes an output process for outputting the paper size to be received according to the paper type settings, and the print management program receives the print settings and image data, and outputs the received image data. The print management program outputs print data based on the image indicated by to the printer, and further determines whether the size relationship between the length direction size and the width direction size of the paper size included in the received print settings is If the size in the first direction corresponding to the length direction of the paper size of the image shown in the image data is different from the size in the second direction corresponding to the width direction of the paper size, the image may be rotated 90 degrees or 270 degrees,
Furthermore, in the output processing, the computer
causing the print management program to execute an acquisition process to acquire the image data to be received;
When the paper type setting is a setting indicating roll paper, the paper size to be received by the print management program is the size relationship between the length direction size and the width direction size of the paper size, and outputting a specific size in which the size in the first direction and the size in the second direction of the image shown by the image data acquired in the acquisition process match;
A program characterized by: In the program according to claim 1,
Furthermore, in the output processing, the computer
When the paper type setting is a setting indicating roll paper, by adjusting the length direction size of the paper size, the size of the length direction size and width direction size of the specific size can be changed. making the relationship match the size relationship between the size in the first direction and the size in the second direction of the image;
A program characterized by: In the program according to claim 2,
Furthermore, in the output processing, the computer
Adjusting the lengthwise size of the paper size to a size that is greater than or equal to the widthwise size of the image and shorter than the width of the roll paper;
A program characterized by: The program according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
Furthermore, in the output processing, the computer
If the paper type setting is a setting indicating a long tape among the roll paper, the specific size is output, and if the setting is not a setting indicating the long tape among the roll paper, the specific size is output. do not output,
A program characterized by: The program according to any one of claims 1 to 3 ,
Furthermore, in the output processing, the computer
When the paper type setting is a setting indicating roll paper, and the size in the longitudinal direction of the image indicated by the image data acquired in the acquisition process is less than or equal to the width of the roll paper, outputting a specific size, and not outputting the specific size when the longitudinal size of the image indicated by the image data acquired in the acquisition process is longer than the width of the roll paper;
A program characterized by: The program according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
Furthermore, the computer, in the acquisition process,
receiving a readout instruction for reading image data through an input interface of the information processing device, and obtaining the image data that is a readout target in the readout instruction;
Furthermore, in the output processing, the computer
If the paper type setting is a setting indicating roll paper, the specific size is output to a database that stores paper information in which paper sizes are defined, the specific size is stored in the database, and the specific size is stored in the database. The specific size stored in the information processing apparatus can be accepted as a print setting by an application program installed in the information processing apparatus, and the print management program receives the print setting from the application program.
A program characterized by: The program according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
Furthermore, the computer, in the acquisition process,
When an application program built into the information processing device receives a print instruction and the print management program receives from the application program the image data including the image to be printed according to the print instruction, the print management program causing a program to acquire the image data received from the application program from the print management program;
Furthermore, in the output processing, the computer
causing the print management program to output the specific size, and the print management program determines whether to rotate the image using the specific size output by the output process;
A program characterized by: a communication interface;
computer and
An information processing device comprising:
The computer includes:
Execute output processing to output a paper size to be received by a print management program incorporated in the information processing device according to paper type settings, and the print management program receives print settings and image data, and outputs the received image data. The print management program outputs print data based on the image indicated by to the printer via the communication interface, and the print management program also outputs the length direction size and width direction size of the paper size included in the received print settings. The size relationship between the size in a first direction corresponding to the length direction of the paper size of the image shown in the received image data and the size in a second direction corresponding to the width direction of the paper size The image may be rotated by 90 degrees or 270 degrees if the
Furthermore, in the output processing, the computer
executing an acquisition process to acquire the image data to be received by the print management program;
When the paper type setting is a setting indicating roll paper, the paper size to be received by the print management program is the size relationship between the length direction size and the width direction size of the paper size, and outputting a specific size in which the size in the first direction and the size in the second direction of the image indicated by the image data acquired in the acquisition process match;
An information processing device characterized by:

Images