JPH0263866A - Color document printing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To print enlarged characters covering another line with a specified color by separately storing the presence/absence of a character enlarging printing and the specified printing color when character enlargement assignment is applied to a character in printing target lines. CONSTITUTION:A RAM 11 is provided with an input buffer temporarily storing a character string and a command inputted from a keyboard 16, a document memory area for document character strings, a color digit table area 31, a color line table area 32, and an enlarged character table area 33, and therein each printing color specifying code is stored in the same column as a character code. With respect to an enlarged character, in a character string only 'the presence/absence of character modification' and 'a pointer indicating a storage position where the content of modification is stored' are stored, and 'the content of modification' is stored in a storage position indicated by the 'pointer' in the character modification table provided in the RAM 11. Then, the specified printing color has been stored until the printing of all the patterns of enlarged characters is completed, whereby the replacement of a ribbon is requested when a loaded ribbon is of the color other than a specified color in the printing of the patterns. Therefore, an enlarged character covering two or more lines can be printed with a required color.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention specifies an ink ribbon to be used when printing a character string using a printing color specification code present in a document character string, and This invention relates to a method for color printing.

(Prior art) A code specifying a printing color is embedded in a character string of a document consisting of multiple lines, and the character string following this code is used to print the document in color using the ink ribbon specified by the code. There is a configured document production device. With this document creation device, it was not possible to color print a document with an image such as that shown in FIG. 2, for example. In Figure 2, the characters "black,""blue," and "red" are written, but this indicates that there are printing color designation codes for each color, and when actually printed, "black" is written. ” “Blue” “Red”
The part where the characters are written will be blank. When printing a line, the code of each character is the sentence f! The ribbon is being read from the F storage unit, but if the read color is a print color specification code and the currently set ribbon color is not the color specified by this print color specification code, the ribbon of the specified color is After prompting the operator to change the color, the character string until the print color specification code appears is printed in the specified color.

In the example shown in FIG. 2, enlarged character printing is specified for the character "C" and the character rEJ in the character string on the first line. and,
The letter "C" is specified to be printed in blue, and the letter rEJ is specified to be printed in red. Also, the letter "C" and the letter rE
The area where J is printed extends from the second line onward as a result of character enlargement. . Now, when printing the area where the first line exists, the character to be printed (or part of the enlarged character) appears after each print color specification code, so the specified ribbon (
If necessary, the character (or a portion of the enlarged character) can be printed by replacing the ribbon with a designated ribbon. However, when printing advances from the line spacing to the next line, there is another print color specification code for that line, so the part of the enlarged character that has entered this line is affected by the print color specification code for this line and is actually The image is printed in a different color than the one specified. For example, in the example shown in Figure 2, the print color is specified as blue for the enlarged character rCJ and red for the enlarged character rEJ, but in the second line, the print area for the enlarged character "C" and the partial pattern of the enlarged character rEJ is specified. Since there is a black print color specification code before this part, this part will be printed in "black". Therefore, enlarged characters extending to other lines can only print in a mottled pattern.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, in the conventional document creation device configured to specify the printing type of a character string using a print color specification code, enlarged characters that extend over other lines are printed in a desired color. There was a drawback that it could not be printed.

In order to solve the above problem, the present invention prints enlarged characters that extend over other lines in a specified print color without being affected by the print color specification code existing in the other lines. The purpose is to provide a color printing method for documents obtained.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problem) In order to achieve the above object, the color printing method of the present invention has the following features:
Document creation configured to embed a code specifying the print color in a character string of a document consisting of multiple lines, and use the ink ribbon specified by the code to print the document in color using the character string that follows this code. In the device, character enlargement information for specifying enlarged printing of characters in the character string is stored together with the character string, and character enlargement information is attached to characters in a line to be printed in printing the stored character string. separately stores the presence or absence of enlarged printing of the character and the printing color specified for this character by the printing color designation code,
When printing this line or other lines, it is detected whether or not enlarged characters are printed in these lines based on the information on the presence or absence of enlarged printing, and the ink ribbon currently being used is checked before printing the enlarged characters. is different from the print color specified for this enlarged character, prompts you to change to an ink ribbon of the specified color, and even when the area where the enlarged character is printed extends to another line, the print color existing in that other line will be removed. The feature is that enlarged characters can be printed in color without being affected by color specification codes.

(Operation) According to the above configuration, even if the print area of the enlarged character extends to other lines, the print color specified for this enlarged character is memorized, so that the print area of this enlarged character in the other line is When the specified print color and the set ribbon color are different, the user is prompted to change the ribbon to the specified color ribbon, and the enlarged characters can be printed in the desired color.

(Example) Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a document creation device in which the color printing method of this embodiment is implemented.

In FIG. 1, 10 is a microprocessor (CPU) that executes instructions of an internally stored program and controls the entire device, 11 is a RAM that is accessed by CPU 10, and is used to store data programs, etc.;
(are provided with an area 13 that is accessed by the CPUIG and stores a program for controlling the device, an area 14 that stores patterns for displaying and printing characters, and an area 15 that stores a dictionary for kana-kanji conversion). The program that controls the device includes drive routines for input/output devices (keyboard IG, display 18, printer 23, floppy disk 21), etc., and converts kana character strings input from keyboard IB to kanji. There are kana-kanji conversion routines that convert into mixed sentences, print control routines (routines that print documents in formats and fonts set by the operator) that include color print control processing (described later), etc.Color related to the present invention The program is well known to those skilled in the art except for print control processing, so detailed explanation will be omitted.

RAMII stores character strings input from the keyboard 16, an input buffer that temporarily stores commands, and document character strings (
A document storage area (including a print color designation code to be described later), a color digit table area 311, a color line table area 32, and an enlarged character table area 33 are provided.

The RAM 11 also contains parameters used by various programs (for example, the document form such as the number of digits in one line and the number of lines in one page, the type of character font used by the print program,
Line pitch, character pitch values, and character size) are also stored.

Each input/output device is provided with an interface circuit with CPU10. The keyboard 1B has a keyboard interface (KB-IF) 17, the display 1B has a display controller (display CNT) 19, and a display in which one bit corresponds to one dot on the display screen and stores on/off information for each dot. A dot memory 20 is also provided. In addition, the FDD21 has an FDD interface (FDD-I
F) 22 is provided, and the printer (PRT) 23 is provided with a printer ink face (PRT-IF) 24. The PRT 23 is a type of printer that uses an ink ribbon (dot impact printer or thermal transfer printer), and by selecting the ink color of the ink ribbon attached to the printer 23, printing can be performed in a desired color. Further, the print head installed in the printer can print 24 dots in the vertical direction at one time, and one line is printed by scanning this print head in the horizontal direction. Note that one line of a document may exceed 24 vertical dots depending on the print font and character size settings, so it does not necessarily correspond to one print line. The PRT-IF 24 is provided with a line buffer in which a pattern to be printed on one line is stored. 2 vertically from this line buffer
Print information of four dots at a time is read out and supplied to the print head.

Next, with reference to FIGS. 2 to 6, a color printing method implemented by the document creation apparatus shown in FIG. 1 will be described.

It is assumed that the document to be printed has the image shown in FIG. In other words, the first line is the character rAJ designated to be printed in red.
and rBJ, the character "C" designated as "blue", the character rDJ designated as "black", the character rEJ designated as "red", and the second line consists of the characters rFJ and rGJ designated as "black". . Then, the character rCJ in the first line is specified as an enlarged character that is 4 times larger than the full-width character in the vertical direction and 4 times larger than the full-width character in the horizontal direction, and the character rEJ is specified as an enlarged character that is twice the size of the full-width character in the vertical direction and The character is specified to be twice as large as a full-width character.

In addition, in this example, full-width characters rAJ rBJ rD
JrFJ rGJ has a size of 24 dots vertically by 24 dots horizontally. Also, "red", "blue", and "black" indicate that a print color specification code exists at this digit position, but
When displayed on the display 18, a corresponding print color designation mark is displayed at this digit position. Note that mark patterns corresponding to each code are prepared in the character pattern area 14. However, when printing, the digit position where the print color designation code exists is replaced with a space.

FIG. 3 shows how the document having the image shown in FIG. 2 is stored in the document area. Each print color designation code is stored in the same column as the character code. For enlarged characters, only "the presence or absence of character modification" and "a pointer indicating the storage location where the content of the modification is stored" are stored in the character string. The "details of modification" are stored in the storage location specified by the "pointer" in the character modification table provided in the RAM 11. For example, in the example shown in Figure 2, the "Character code for C" and the rx-y magnification (4x each) correspond to the digit position of the character rCJ.
"Character code of E" and r corresponding to the digit position of the character rEJ
xy magnification (2x each)" is stored in the character modification table.

FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of the color printing control routine.

A print page and print start line n are specified, and a color printing routine is started.

First, the character string (including the print color designation code) of the line to be printed (n) is read out, and the color digit table (shown in Figure 4) and enlarged character table (shown in Figure 6 (a)) are read out. is created (step 51).

The color digit table shown in Figure 4 is a table that shows which printing color is specified in which digit position of the line to be printed.Characters specified in the same printing color are printed at once, and each time the color specification code is This is provided to reduce the number of ribbon replacements compared to when the ribbon is replaced. The enlarged character table is a table that stores printing information of enlarged characters that span multiple lines. The color digit table reads out the print color specification code and character code in the row, and uses the digits specified by the previous print color specification code until the next print color specification code arrives, corresponding to the digit position after the print color specification code. Set up colored flags. In addition, if an enlarged character exists on this line, the printing start X coordinate of this enlarged character (can be calculated from the summation of the character pitch and the width of the previous character), the printing start Y position (when the line is determined), (calculated from line pitch and vertical character size), enlarged character code, vertical/horizontal enlargement ratio, specified print color (specified by print color specification code), print zone number (current print line The number of the enlarged character part to be printed: In the initial state, each piece of information (1) is written in the enlarged character table (see Figures 4 and 6 (a).
) shows the creation state of each table when printing starts from the first line of the document shown in FIG. In this line, the character rCJ (5th column) and the character rEJ (9th column) have enlarged character specifications of 4 times the height and width and 2 times the height and width, respectively, so the enlarged character pattern for both is expanded in the enlarged character table. Information for (X-Y drift, code, magnification, zone number) and information on the printing color of this character are registered. Now, the 1st line (coordinate y,: coordinates with the origin at the beginning of the page)
Since the printing starts from , the initial value of the printing start position of both wave capital letters is Yl.

Next, the printing position of the first line (yl in this case) is set as the printing position (Py) (step 52).

Subsequently, the enlarged character table is checked to see if there is any enlarged character printing information having a print Y drift smaller than the value of Py. This step 53 is an omitted test step for printing a partial pattern of enlarged characters between lines. If there is enlarged character printing information with print Y drift smaller than the value of py in the enlarged character table, it means that there is a partial pattern of enlarged characters that must be printed between the previous line and the previous line. Therefore, after the routine from step 54 to step 84 is executed, steps 85 to 119 are executed to print the line to be printed. Conversely, if there is no enlarged character printing information in the enlarged character table that has print Y drift smaller than the pyO value, the target line must be printed first, so steps 85 to 11 are performed.
9 is executed.

This is the printing of the first line (coordinate y+) shown in Figure 2, and the minimum value of the printing Y drift in the enlarged character table is also yl
Therefore, the process proceeds to step 85.

First, the printing color candidate is set to "black", the color digit table is referred to, and it is determined whether there is a digit to be printed in "black". Then, the character code of only the designated digits for "black" printing is converted into a pattern, and this pattern is stored in the line buffer of the PRT-IF 24 (step 85). The storage position of each character pattern in the line buffer is determined from the enlarged character information in the line, the character pitch, and the size of full-width characters. Note that all other digits are spaces.

In addition, the printing color is specified as "black", and the printing Y position is Py(
It is checked whether there is enlarged character printing information at the current printing position (step 86). In order to print these enlarged characters at once, if any, out of the enlarged character pattern (enlarged to the magnification specified by the character enlargement program), a partial pattern corresponding to the print zone is expanded into the line buffer (step 87). . This partial pattern is stored at the position in the line buffer specified by the print X coordinate stored in the table. Then, the print Y position of the enlarged character that has been expanded is updated (24 dots) and the zone number is updated (+1) (step 88). Although the maximum value of the zone number is uniquely determined by the vertical magnification of the character, it is checked whether the zone number exceeds the maximum value of this enlarged character to confirm that all patterns of this enlarged character have been printed (step 89 ). If the zone number exceeds the maximum value of this enlarged character, the print information of the enlarged character is deleted from the enlarged character table (step 90). Then, the process proceeds to step 91.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step 86 that there is no enlarged character printed on this print line, the process jumps directly from step 86 to step 91. In the case of the first line in FIG. 2, the process proceeds to step 85, step 86, step 91, and
Only the pattern J is developed in the line buffer.

In step 91, it is checked whether the line buffer has a character pattern developed. This step exists because there are cases in which a line does not have a "black" designation. If no pattern is developed in the line buffer, the process proceeds to step 96 to try printing "blue" on the same line. If a pattern has been developed, steps 92 to 95 are performed, and the PRT 23 prints only the pattern in the line buffer (in this case, the pattern of the character rDJ). Steps 92 to 94 are steps for checking whether ribbon replacement is necessary (step 92) and displaying a message to prompt the operator to replace the ribbon with a designated ribbon (step 93). Further, the print control routine includes steps 94 (step 105, step 116,
The same applies to steps 59, 68, and 77), the operator is prompted to replace the ribbon, and each time the ribbon is replaced, the state of the currently installed ribbon is memorized. In step 94, which is not shown, upon inputting the "execute key", the operator returns a response of "ribbon replacement OKJ".

The ribbon is assumed to have been replaced (although the operator may attach a different ribbon), and the color displayed in the message is remembered as the currently attached ribbon color. Steps 92 to 94 (Steps 103 to 105, Steps 114 to 116, Step 5
7 to 59, steps 66 to 68, and steps 75 to 77) are steps provided to avoid unnecessary ink ribbon replacement. In the steps up to this point, only the characters rDJ on the first line have been printed.

Next, in steps 96 to 106, the printing color candidate is set to "blue".
The same operation is repeated. Here, since the character "C" is specified as "blue" and the printing Y drift is also equal to py, proceed to steps 97, 98, 99, 100, and 102, and the pattern of the character "C" is 4 times the height and 4 times the width. The pattern of the first zone (the pattern between yl and y2 in FIG. 2) is developed in the line buffer. Then, the contents of the enlarged character table change from the state shown in FIG. 6(a) to the state shown in FIG. 6(b). That is, in the print information of the enlarged character rCJ, the print Y drift becomes Y 2 (y + + 24), and the print zone changes from 1 to 2. Then, in steps 104 and 105, the printing ribbon is changed to a "blue" ribbon, and in step 106, the enlarged character "C" is printed with the blue ribbon in the first zone.

Then, this time, the same operation is repeated with the print color candidate set to "red". Note that even when there is no pattern development for "blue", the step (step 10) for the printing color candidate "red" is performed.
7) (step 102).

The steps for the printing color candidate "red" are shown in steps 107 to 117, and by executing these steps, the characters "A" and "B" designated as "red" and the first zone of the enlarged character rEJ are Printing is done. Further, the contents of the enlarged character table change from FIG. 6(b) to FIG. 6(C).

By executing the above steps, color printing of the first line sandwiched between yl and y2 in FIG. 2 is completed. Then, the line to be printed is updated by one line (step 118), and if the page is not at the end, the process returns to step 51.

Here, the line to be printed becomes the second line, and a color digit table for the second line is created. Further, if enlarged characters are specified in the second line, new enlarged character printing information is added to the table in the state shown in FIG. 6(c).

Then, in step 52, the value of Py is set to y3.

Next, in step 53, this time there is enlarged character printing information with the printing Y coordinate of y2 (see Figure 6(C)).
The process proceeds to steps 54 to 84. By executing these steps 54 to 84, from y2 to (Y2
A partial pattern of enlarged characters with line spacing up to +24-Y4) is printed. First, in step 54, py is changed to the Y coordinate value of the enlarged character to be printed (Y2 in this case), and then steps 54 to 63, steps 64 to 72,
In steps 73 to 81, the same operation is repeated using "black,""blue," and "red" as printing color candidates. In the example shown in FIG. 2, since there is no enlarged character designated as "black", the process advances from step 56 to step 64. And the enlarged text “
The pattern of the second zone (the part between Y2 and y4) of "C" is at the specified position of the line buffer (specified by the printing X coordinate)
(step 64), and after attaching the "blue" ribbon (
Steps 66-68), and the pattern is printed (Step 69). Then, the print information for the enlarged character rCJ is updated from the state shown in FIG. 6(C) to the state shown in FIG. 6(d) (step 70). Next, the enlarged letter "C"
A check is made based on the zone number to see if all patterns of `` have been printed (step 71). If all the patterns have been printed, the print information of this enlarged character is deleted from the table (step 72). Thereafter, the routine proceeds to step 73 and subsequent steps in which the print color candidate is set to "red".

By executing the routine from step 73 onwards, "
The pattern of the second zone (portion sandwiched between Y2 and y4) of the enlarged character rEJ designated as "Red" is printed with the "Red" ribbon. Further, by executing step 79, the contents of the enlarged character table shift from the state shown in FIG. 6(d) to the state shown in FIG. 6(e).

By executing the above routine, the enlarged character pattern between lines is printed in the specified color. Subsequently, the value of py is advanced by 24 dots (step 82), and it is checked whether there is still pattern printing between lines (step 83).
, the line to be printed must be printed first (Py
>9th line printing position), py is set to the 9th line printing position (Y3 in this case) and the process moves to step 85. If it is determined in step 83 that a pattern is to be printed between lines, the operations from step 54 are repeated.

In the printing example shown in FIG. 2, the process now proceeds to step 85, in which only the characters [.FJ rGj in the second line are printed with a "black" ribbon according to the previously created color digit table. Then, the process returns to step 51 again (the line to be printed has been updated), and in step 53, the process branches to step 54, and the third zone of the enlarged characters rcJ rEJ (the part sandwiched between y4 and y5 in FIG. 2) patterns are printed sequentially in the colors registered in the enlarged character table. There is no specification of "black" for the enlarged character, but the enlarged character "C" is "blue".
" is first printed with the "blue" ribbon, and the contents of the enlarged character table change from the state shown in FIG. 6(e) to the state shown in FIG. 6(e).

The subsequent operations are as described above.

As you can see from the above explanation, the printing color specified for this character is stored as print information for the enlarged character until all enlarged character patterns are printed, and when printing this pattern, the attached ribbon changes to the specified color. If the ribbon is different, you will be prompted to replace the ribbon, so even enlarged character patterns that close the print area over multiple lines can be colored in the desired color without being affected by print color specification codes that exist in other lines. Can print.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the color printing method of the present invention, a printing color specification code is embedded in a character string, prompting the attachment of a ribbon of a specified color based on the printing color specification code, and printing color Even when a character string following a designated code is printed with a ribbon of a designated color, enlarged characters spanning multiple lines can be printed in a desired color without being affected by the printing color designation code existing in each line.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of a document creation device implementing a color printing method according to an embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a document printed using a color printing method according to an embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the storage format of document information, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the contents of a color digit table used in the color printing method of the embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the color printing method of the embodiment. FIG. TS6, a flowchart showing the operation of the print control program, is a diagram showing the contents of the enlarged character information table used in the color printing method of the embodiment and the transition of the contents accompanying printing. 31...Color digit table 33...Enlarged character information table area Applicant's agent Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue Figure Figure Digit enlarged character table Figure (a) Figure (b) Figure 1m (c) Figure (d) Figure (e) Procedure Ne City - Equipment October 7, 1988 '4? I
Display of the matter 1!1 Application No. 1983-216838 2, Title of invention Bunki color printing method 3, ? di Relationship with one person creating JE Patent applicant (307) Toshiba Corporation 4, agent 3-7-2 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Oa [Building 6°7° Contents Engraving of the Mei 18 book originally attached to the application form

Claims (1)

[Claims] A code specifying a print color is embedded in a character string of a document consisting of multiple lines, and the character string following this code is printed in color using an ink ribbon specified by the code. In a document creation device configured as shown in FIG. When enlarged information is attached, the presence or absence of enlarged printing of a character and the print color specified for this character by the print color specification code are separately stored, and when printing this line or other lines, the print color in these lines is Detects whether or not enlarged characters are printed on the page from the information on the presence or absence of enlarged printing, and specifies if the ink ribbon currently being used is different from the printing color specified for this enlarged character before printing this enlarged character. Encourages changing to a colored ink ribbon, and even when the area where enlarged characters are printed extends to other lines, the enlarged characters can be printed in color without being affected by the print color specification code existing in the other lines. A color printing method for documents characterized by performing the following steps.