JPH04264915A - Form overlay printing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To generate a multi-gradation overlay pattern at low cost in respect of a form overlay printing system. CONSTITUTION:The title system is provided with a means 1 to separate printing data sent form a host computer into character data and overlay data, the means 2 to generate a printing character pattern from the character data, the means 3 to separate pattern data from the overly data, the means 4 to generate a gradation pattern on the basis of a designated gradation value, and the means 5 to generate a printing overlay pattern by taking the logical product of the gradation pattern and the pattern data, and it is constituted so as to print the printing character and the printing overlay pattern as overlaying them each other.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a form overlay printing method, and more particularly to a form overlay printing method in which characters and multi-gradation overlay patterns are printed in a superimposed manner.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Form overlay printing is a process in which variable information such as letters or numbers is superimposed and printed on a format having a predetermined document format, such as an invoice or a statement of delivery. For example, as shown in Figure 4, by printing the letters "invoice" and a graphic pattern represented by diagonal lines overlapping each other, the letters can be made to stand out or the difference from other letters can be made clear. used for a purpose.

[0003] When performing form overlay printing,
First, print data consisting of character data and overlay data is created on the host computer side, an identifier is added to the beginning of each piece of data, and the data is sent to the printing device. On the printing device side, these data are separated using the identifier as a mark. Then, a character pattern from the character data and graphic data from the overlay data are generated and recorded in a bitmap memory, and these data are read out from the bitmap memory and printed as necessary.

[0004] As described above, form overlay printing prints characters and figures overlapping each other, so if a dot printer capable of only black and white binary printing is used, the printed content will be complicated and difficult to distinguish, making the characters stand out. There is a risk that it will no longer be suitable for that purpose. Therefore, in form overlay printing, it is necessary to print the graphic pattern represented by the hatched area in FIG. 4 with gradation.

Conventionally, therefore, the host side performs gradation processing on overlay data using a dither method or the like in advance, and then sends these data to the printing device to perform gradation printing.

[0006]

However, gradation processing requires time and man-hours, which increases the cost of form overlay printing. Furthermore, when changing the gradation of a graphic pattern, it is necessary to perform gradation processing on the host side each time, which further increases printing costs. It is also possible to use a printing device that can express gradation using one dot without performing gradation processing on the host side, but this poses a problem in that the cost of the device increases.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to perform multi-gradation form overlay printing at low cost.

[0008]

[Means for Solving the Problem] The above problem is solved by means 1 for separating printing data sent from a host computer into character data and overlay data, and means for generating a printing character pattern from the character data. 2 and
Means 3 for separating graphic data from the above overlay data
, means 4 for generating a gradation pattern based on specified gradation values, and means 5 for generating an overlay pattern for printing by performing a logical product of the gradation pattern and the graphic data; This is achieved using a form overlay printing method, which is characterized by printing text data and printing overlay patterns in a superimposed manner.

[0009]

[Operation] In the present invention, graphic data is separated from overlay data, and a gradation pattern is generated based on gradation values specified on the host side or the printing device side. By performing a logical product of the graphic data and the gradation pattern, a printing overlay pattern having a specified gradation is generated. Thereafter, since the overlay pattern for printing and the character pattern are printed in a superimposed manner, a multi-gradation overlay pattern can be easily obtained without performing gradation processing on the overlay pattern on the host computer side.

As described above, according to the present invention, gradation printing can be easily performed simply by specifying gradation values, and it is also possible to quickly change gradation levels as necessary.

[0011]

[Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, in which 1 is a character data separation section, 2 is a character pattern generation section,
3 is an overlay data separation section, 4 is a gradation pattern generation section, 5 is an overlay data generation section for printing, 6 is a bitmap memory, and 7 is a printing section.

FIG. 2 shows an example of print data sent from the host computer to the character data separation unit 1. This data consists of character data and overlay data, each of which is prefixed with an identifier to identify it. Character data separation section 1 sends character data to character pattern generation section 2 and overlay data to overlay data separation section 3 using this identifier.

The overlay data consists of gradation values, coordinate values, and graphic data as shown in FIG. 2, and each is separated in the overlay data separation section 3. Then, the graphic data a is sent to the printing overlay pattern generation section 5, the gradation values are sent to the gradation pattern generation section 4, and the coordinate values are sent to the bitmap memory 6.

In the gradation pattern generating section 4, for example,
It has a built-in gradation pattern based on the area gradation method. The area gradation method displays gradations by changing the area ratio of white areas and black areas, and FIG. 3 shows an example of a gradation pattern with four gradations. The gradation pattern generation section 4 selectively generates one of the gradation patterns b corresponding to the input gradation value and sends it to the printing overlay pattern generation section 5. Then, a printing overlay pattern c is generated by performing a logical product for each bit between the area indicated by the dotted line of the graphic data a and the gradation pattern b in the printing overlay pattern generating section 5, and the bitmap memory 6
send to

In the bitmap memory 6, the printing overlay pattern c is written and stored at the position specified by the coordinate values sent from the overlay data separation section 3. On the other hand, a character pattern d corresponding to the character data is generated from a character generator built in the character pattern generating section 2, and is written and saved in the bitmap memory 6 at the designated coordinates.

Thereafter, the character pattern d and the printing overlay pattern c are read out from the bitmap memory 6 and sent to the printing section 7 for printing.

[0017]

As described above, according to the present invention, multi-gradation printing can be performed at low cost, which is advantageous in expanding the scope of use of form overlay printing.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention;

[Fig. 2] A diagram showing print data,

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing gradation patterns built into the gradation pattern generation section;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of form overlay printing;

[Explanation of symbols]

Claims (1)

[Claims] Claim 1: means (1) for separating print data sent from a host computer into character data and overlay data; means (2) for generating a print character pattern from the character data; and the overlay data. means (3) for separating graphic data from the data; and means (4) for generating a gradation pattern based on specified gradation values.
and means (5) for generating a printing overlay pattern by performing a logical product of the gradation pattern and the graphic data, and printing the printing character data and the printing overlay pattern in a superimposed manner. Form overlay printing method.