JPH02289349A - Printing control system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To conduct printing invariably with a fixed size regardless of the resolving power of a printer by converting the size of printing data in magnification in accordance with a ratio of a virtual resolving power to a resolving power of a printer to be used actually. CONSTITUTION:Based on each status information of a printer 13 and a scanner 14, an X-axis resolving power and a Y-axis resolving power of each are recognized. In the execution of the printing action of the printer, a ratio V x1 of the X-axis resolving power of the printer to an X-axis virtual resolving power (= an X-axis resolving power / an X-axis virtual resolving power) is calculated, and the result is stored in a memory 12b. In the execution of the image input processing by the scanner 14, a ratio V x2 of the X-axis resolving power of the scanner 14 to an X-axis virtual resolving power (= an X-axis resolving power / an X-axis virtual resolving power) is calculated, and the result is stored in the memory 12b. The calculated resolving power ratios Vx, Vy are issued to a character/graphic reducing or enlarging circuit 12d or an image reducing or enlarging circuit 12e as magnification information.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a print control system, and particularly to a print control system for controlling the operation of a mark 91 of various printers with different resolutions.

(Prior Art) Generally, a printer has its own resolution, and is configured to print according to that resolution. The printing operation of this printer is controlled by a printer control device provided between the printer and the host computer. The printer control device supplies print data from the host computer to the printer.
In this case, the resolution of the print data must match the resolution of the printer.

If the resolution of print data from the host computer does not match the resolution of the printer, the characters printed by the printer may become extremely large or small. For this reason, the host computer needs to recognize the resolution of the printer and send out print data commensurate with that resolution. In other words, in the past, it was not possible to print at a desired size unless the host computer program was changed to match the resolution of the printer being used.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) Conventionally, it was necessary to send print data from a host computer that matched the resolution of the printer, and unless the program of the host computer was changed, it was possible to print the same size for various printers with different resolutions. It had the disadvantage that it could not be executed.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a print control method that allows various printers to print the same size without changing the program of the host computer.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) A print control method according to the present invention includes a host computer that sends print data and a virtual resolution command that specifies a resolution for printing the print data, and a predetermined resolution command. a printer that has a resolution and prints the print data at that resolution, and converts the size of the print data by a ratio according to the ratio of the resolution of this printer to the virtual resolution specified by the virtual resolution command from the host computer; The present invention is characterized in that it includes a print control means for supplying the converted print data to the printer, and allows various printers with different resolutions to execute printing of the same size.

(Function) In this print control method, the size of print data is scaled according to the ratio between the virtual resolution and the resolution of the printer actually used. Therefore, it is possible to always print at a constant size regardless of the resolution of the printer. Therefore, it becomes possible to print the same size on various printers with different resolutions without changing the program.

(Example) Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a system configuration for realizing a print control method according to an embodiment of the present invention. The host computer 11 issues to the controller 12 various commands for causing the printer 13 to execute a printing operation and various commands for causing the scanner 14 to execute an image input operation. The controller 12 controls each operation of the printer 13 and scanner 14 under the control of the host computer.

This controller 12 includes a main processor 12a.
, memory 12b.

Font ROM 12c, character/figure reduction/enlargement circuit 12d
, image reduction/enlargement circuit 12e % and page memory 1
2r is provided.

The main processor 12a performs an interface between the host computer 11 and the controller 12 according to a program stored in the memory 1211, and also interfaces each unit in the controller 12, that is, the font ROM1.
2c, the character/figure enlarging circuit 12d1 controls the operation of the image reduction/enlargement circuit 128, and the page memory L2r.

The font ROM 12c generates character patterns corresponding to character codes given from the host computer 11 via the main processor 12a. This font R
The pattern generated by OM 12c is e.g. 24 x
It consists of 24 or 32x32 dots. The character/figure reduction/enlargement circuit 12d converts the character pattern generated in the font ROM 12c and the figure data pattern (
lines, circles, etc.). The image reduction/enlargement circuit 12e reduces/enlarges the image data provided from the host computer 11 via the main processor 12a or the image data input by the scanner 14, and also reduces/enlarges the image data provided from the host computer 11 when it is compressed data. performs the corresponding scale conversion. The page memory 12r is for storing data for one page to be sent to the printer 13, and the pattern converted by the character/figure reduction/enlargement circuit 12d and the image reduction/enlargement circuit 12e is written in this page memory 12r. be included.

The magnification for reducing and enlarging the pattern executed by the character/figure reduction/enlargement circuit 12d and the image reduction/enlargement circuit 12e is determined by the ratio of the virtual resolution sent from the host computer 11 and the resolution of the printer 13, or by the ratio of the virtual resolution sent from the host computer 11 to the resolution of the printer 13, or The resolution is determined according to the ratio between the virtual resolution sent from the scanner 14 and the resolution of the scanner 14. That is,
The main processor 12a verifies each resolution of the printer 13 and the scanner 14, determines the magnification according to the ratio of the printer resolution and the virtual resolution when the printer 13 executes a printing operation, and converts the magnification information into text.・Graphic reduction/enlargement circuit 12d and image reduction/enlargement circuit 12
Give to e. On the other hand, when the scanner 14 executes an image input operation, the main processor 12a determines the magnification according to the ratio between the resolution of the scanner 14 and the virtual resolution, and provides the magnification information to the image reduction/enlargement circuit 12e.

The virtual resolution command sent from the host computer 11 includes virtual resolution in the X-axis direction and virtual resolution in the Y-axis direction, as shown in FIG. Therefore, the calculation process of the resolution ratio for magnification conversion by the main processor 12a is actually performed in both the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction.

The operation of this magnification conversion process by the main processor 12a will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, the main processor 12a receives a virtual resolution command from the host computer 11, and recognizes its X-axis virtual resolution and Y-axis virtual resolution (step AI
). Next, based on the status information of the printer 13 and scanner 14, the respective X radiation image and Y radiation image are verified (step A2). When executing the printing operation of the printer, the ratio Vxl (-X radiation image degree/X-axis virtual resolution) between the X-axis resolution and the X-axis virtual resolution of the printer is calculated and stored in the memory 12b. Store (step A3). In addition, when performing image input processing using the scanner 14, the scanner 14's
A ratio Vx2 (-X radiation image/X-axis virtual resolution) between the radiation image and the X-axis virtual resolution is calculated and stored in the memory 12b. Similarly, the ratio vyt between the printer's Y radiation image intensity and the Y-axis virtual resolution, or the ratio Vy2 between the Y-axis image intensity and the Y-axis virtual resolution of the scanner 14, is calculated and stored in the memory 12b (step A4).

Next, the resolution ratio V calculated in steps A3 and A4
X, VA1 to character/figure reduction/enlargement circuit L2d.

Alternatively, it is issued as magnification information to the image reduction/enlargement circuit 12c (step A5).

For example, the X-axis and Y-axis virtual resolution are both 240DPI.
(dots/inch), and if both the X-axis and Y radiation image resolution of the printer 13 are 400 DPI, then the resolution ratio V
Both XI and Vyl are 1;:1.667.

When a character code or a graphic code is sent as print data from the host computer 11, the resolution ratio VXI calculated in step 83 and A4.

vyt is given as magnification information to the character/figure reduction/enlargement circuit 12d, and its character code or figure code is given to the font ROM 12c. Then, a corresponding character pattern is output from the font ROM 12c, and the pattern is converted into the character/figure reduction/enlargement circuit 12d.
The magnification is converted by and stored in the page memory 12f.

Further, when the image data is sent as print data from the host computer 11, the resolution ratio V xi calculated in steps A3 and A4.

vyt is given to the image reduction/enlargement circuit 12c as magnification information, and the image data is converted into compressed data (
MH, M, R in CCITT code.

MMR, etc.) is determined.

In the case of compressed data, the reduction/enlargement ratio is determined based on both the corresponding magnification and the magnification based on the resolution ratios V XI and V yl. On the other hand, if the data is not compressed data, the reduction/enlargement ratio is determined only by the magnification based on the resolution ratios V Xi and V yl. The pattern scaled by the image reduction/enlargement circuit 12e is stored in the page memory 12r.

When the scanner 14 performs an image input operation, the image reduction/enlargement circuit 12e performs the magnification conversion process in the same manner, and the pattern subjected to the magnification conversion is stored in the page memory 12f. And the host computer 11
The data in the page memory 12r is manually input to the host computer 11, or the data is transferred to the printer 13 according to instructions from the page memory 12r.
is sent to and printed.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, print data is scaled according to the ratio between the virtual resolution and the resolution of the printer actually used, so the font size is always constant regardless of the resolution of the printer. It becomes possible to print.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a system configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the contents of a virtual resolution command issued from a host computer provided in the system shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the magnification conversion operation of the system shown in FIG. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11... Host computer, 12... Controller, f2a... Main processor, 12b... Memory, 12c... Font ROM, 12d... Character
Graphic reduction/enlargement circuit, 12e... Image reduction/enlargement circuit, 12r... Page memory, 13... Printer, 14... Scanner.

Claims (1)

[Claims] a host computer that sends a virtual resolution command that specifies print data and a resolution for printing the print data; a printer that has a predetermined resolution and prints the print data at that resolution; printing control means for converting the size of the print data according to the ratio with the virtual resolution specified by the virtual resolution command from the host computer and supplying the converted print data to the printer; A print control method characterized by causing a printer to print the same size.