JPH08118731A - Printer and printing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To prevent the deviation, the protrusion, the superposition or the extension of characters of an entire print on one sheet when a font is replaced. CONSTITUTION: A printer driver 5 has a character width calculator 8 for calculating the width of the character row of a font before replacing and the width of the character row of a font after replacing, a moving amount calculator 9 for calculating the moving amount of each character of the font after replacing from the character width, and a moving unit 10 for moving the characters of the font after replacing to match the moving amount.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus which outputs print data to a printing mechanism to print.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a printing apparatus that outputs print data to a printing mechanism to perform printing, replaces the print data with a font by a printer driver, develops coordinates into print image data, and outputs the image data. Also, there is a method in which a print command is designated separately from the font provided in the output device itself, and the coordinates are expanded into a print image and printed. Hereinafter, such a conventional printing apparatus will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a printing example by a conventional printing apparatus.

The print data input from the keyboard or the like and stored in the print data memory is transferred from the application in the host to the printer driver, where it is developed into dots indicating a print image. Further, here, the dot font at the time of input provided in the printing apparatus itself is replaced with the outline font. For example, if printing is performed with the dot font at the time of input, as shown in FIG. 10A, the diagonal lines and rounded portions of the characters are expressed in a staircase pattern, which results in unsightly printing. . Therefore,
The dot font, which is the font at the time of input, is replaced with the outline font expressed by the outline,
High-quality printing is performed with smooth lines as shown in (b).

[0004]

In the conventional printing apparatus, when the dot font at the time of input is replaced with the outline font and printing is performed, the character width in each font and the space width between characters are different. However, there is a problem in that the printing quality is poor as a result of misalignment or protrusion of the entire printing on one sheet of paper, overlapping or spreading of characters.

[0005]

In order to solve the above problems, in the printing apparatus of the present invention, the width of the character string of the font before replacement and the width of the character string of the font after replacement are calculated. Within the printer driver, the character width calculation unit, the movement amount calculation unit that calculates the movement amount of each character of the replaced font from the character width, and the movement unit that moves each character of the replaced font according to the movement amount Set up in.

[0006]

When the print data is transmitted to the printer driver of the printing apparatus configured as described above, the character width calculation unit determines the width of the character string of the font before replacement and the width of the character string of the font after replacement. The moving amount calculation unit calculates the moving amount of each character of the font after replacement from the character width, and every time one character is printed, the moving unit moves each character of the font after replacement according to the moving amount.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The elements common to the drawings are designated by the same reference numerals. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing print data and print images.

In FIG. 1, a printing apparatus 1 is composed of a host 2 for controlling printing and a printer 3 as a printing mechanism for actually printing. The host 2 has an application program 4 for editing print data, a character data memory 4a for storing print data input from a keyboard and the like, and a printer driver 5 for controlling print driving of the printer 3.

The printer driver 5 includes a drawing command unit 6, a character data drawing unit 7, a character width calculation unit 8, a movement amount calculation unit 9,
It is composed of a moving unit 10 and a font memory 31. The application program 4 is connected to the drawing command section 6,
A character data drawing unit 7 and a character width calculating unit 8 are connected to the drawing command unit 6. The character data drawing unit 7 includes a counter 1
Have two. As shown in FIG. 2, the character data drawing unit 7 develops the print data (a) received from the application program 4 into print image data (b) by coordinates and stores it in the developed data memory 13.

A movement amount calculation unit 9 and a movement unit 10 are sequentially connected to the character width calculation unit 8. The font memory 31 is
It is connected to the character data drawing unit 7 and the character width calculation unit 8.
The character data drawing unit 7 and the moving unit 10 are connected to the printer 3 via the expanded data memory 13. The expanded data memory 13 collectively outputs the image data for one page, which has been subjected to coordinate expansion, to the printer 3.

For each element as described above, "pri"
A case of printing the word "nter" will be described as an example. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a print image before correction, and FIG.
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a print image after correction. The drawing command unit 6 receives the “print” command from the application program 4.
Upon receiving the print command of the word "ter", the drawing command signal is transmitted to the character data drawing unit 7 and the character width calculation unit 8.
The character data drawing unit 7 expands the print data received from the drawing instruction unit 6 into print image data. Further, the character data drawing unit 7 replaces the dot font, which is the font when the print data is input, with the outline font based on the data stored in the font memory 31.

In FIG. 3, (a) shows a dot font print image before replacement, and (b) shows an outline font print image after replacement. The character width calculation unit 8 receives and calculates word width data of font a and font b before and after replacement from the font memory 31. The word width is represented by the number of coordinates from the beginning to the end of each word. In this case, the word width of font a is 250 and the word width of font b is 286.

The movement amount calculation unit 9 receives the word width data of the font a and the font b described above from the character width calculation unit 8 and calculates the movement amount of the leading coordinates of each character of the font b. To match the start coordinates of each character in font b with the start coordinates of each character in font a, respectively,
The space between each character is moved by {word width of font b-word width of font a} ÷ (number of characters-1). In this case, (286-250) ÷ (7-1) = 6 ... (1), each character is moved by filling the space between each character by 6 coordinates and printed as shown in FIG. Correct the image.

The moving unit 10 stores the moving amount data of each character calculated by the moving amount calculating unit 9 every time the character data drawing unit 7 writes the print image data in the expanded data memory 13 character by character. Write to 13. The expanded data memory 13 outputs the image data for one page to the printer 3 when the image data is stored, and the printer 3 prints according to the image data.

The printing operation of the printing apparatus 1 as described above will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the printing operation of the first embodiment. In FIG. 5, when the drawing command unit 6 issues a print command in step 1,
In step 2, the character data drawing unit 7 calculates the word width of font a, and in step 3, the word width of font b is calculated. Next, the movement amount calculation unit 9 calculates the movement amount of each character in step 4. In step 5, the nth print character is set to 1 in the counter 12 of the character data drawing unit 7.

In step 6, the character data drawing unit 7 writes the print image data of the nth character having the character number s in the expanded data memory 13. In step 7, the moving unit 10 writes the moving amount data in the expanded data memory 13. In step 8, n ← n + 1 is set in the counter 12. In step 9, it is determined whether n ≦ the number of characters s. If n ≦ s, writing of print image data and movement amount data is repeated from step 6. When n> s, the writing of the print image of the word is completed.

In this embodiment, the case where the word width is expanded by replacing the font has been described as an example, but when the word width is reduced, the word width of each font is calculated and replaced. The space between each character of the font after replacement is widened by the coordinates obtained by dividing the difference between the word width of the font before replacement and the word width of the font after replacement by the number of spaces, and the leading coordinates of each character are adjusted.

In this way, the word width of each font is calculated, the head coordinates of each character in the font after replacement are adjusted to the head coordinates of each character in the font before replacement, and each character is moved and printed. Even if the fonts are replaced, it is possible to prevent the misalignment or protrusion of the entire print on one sheet of paper, and the overlapping and spreading of characters.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 6, the printing device 11
It is composed of a host 12 that controls printing and a printer 33 as a printing mechanism that actually performs printing. Host 12
Has an application program 14 for editing print data, a print data memory 14a for storing print data input from a keyboard and the like, and a printer driver 15 for controlling print driving of the printer 33.

The printer driver 15 includes a drawing command section 1
6, a character data drawing unit 17, a character width calculation unit 18, a movement amount calculation unit 19, a holding unit 20, a movement unit 21, and a font memory 32. Application program 14
Is connected to the drawing command unit 16, and the drawing command unit 16 is connected to the character data drawing unit 17 and the character width calculating unit 18. The character data drawing unit 17 has a counter 22. Similar to the first embodiment, the character data drawing unit 17 develops the print data received from the application program 4 into print image data by coordinates and stores it in the developed data memory 23.

The character width calculator 18 includes a movement amount calculator 19
And the holding unit 20 are connected, and the moving unit 21 is connected to the movement amount calculation unit 19 and the holding unit 20. The movement amount calculation unit 19 and the movement unit 21 are sequentially connected to the character width calculation unit 18. The font memory 32 is connected to the character data drawing unit 17 and the character width calculation unit 18. Printer 33
The character data drawing unit 17 and the moving unit 21 are connected to each other via the expanded data memory 23. The expanded data memory 23 collectively outputs the image data for one page, which has been subjected to coordinate expansion, to the printer 33.

For each element as described above, "pri
A case of printing the word "nter" will be described as an example. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a print image before correction, and FIG.
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a print image after correction. The drawing command unit 16 uses the “pri
In response to the print command of the word "nter", the drawing command signal is transmitted to the character data drawing unit 17 and the character width calculation unit 18. The character data drawing unit 17 prints the print data received from the application program 14 into print image data. In addition, the character data drawing unit 17 replaces the dot font, which is the font when the print data is input, with the outline font based on the data stored in the font memory 22.

In FIG. 7, (a) is a dot font print image before replacement, and (b) is an outline font print image after replacement. The character width calculation unit 18 determines, based on these data, the font a before replacement.
The width from the beginning of the word to the tail of each character and the character width of the font b after replacement are calculated.

The width from the beginning of the word of font a to the tail of the nth character is Wa (n), the width of the nth character of font b is Wb (n), and the current position is the beginning coordinate position of the word of font a. The point is (cp). The movement amount calculation unit 19 receives the word width data of the font a and the font b described above from the character width calculation unit 18. Further, the movement amount calculation unit 19 in the second embodiment calculates the movement amount by which each character of the font after replacement is moved so as to be aligned with the center coordinate of each character of the font before replacement corresponding thereto. That is, each character after replacement is counted from the current point (cp) and is {Wa (n) + Wa (n-1)-.
Wb (n)} / 2 distance number h (n),
Move from (cp).

For example, for the first character "P",
Wa (1) = 49, Wa (1-1) = 0, Wb (1) =
Since it is 56, h (1) = 49 + 0−56 ÷ 2 = −3.5 ... (2) From the formula (2), the character “P” of the font b after replacement is 3.5 coordinates from (cp). Move to the left. This allows
As shown in FIG. 8, the center coordinates of the character in the font b are aligned with the center coordinates of the character in the font a. Also, 2
For the th character "r", Wa (2) = 79, Wa
Since (2-1) = 49 and Wb (2) = 34, h (2) = 79 + 49-34 / 2 = 47 (3) From the formula (3), the character "r" of the font b is changed to (Cp)
When shifted to the right by 47 coordinates, the font b is the same as "P".
The central coordinates of the character in the font a are aligned with the central coordinates of the character in the font a. Similarly, the movement amount is calculated also for the nth character, and the print image is corrected.

The holding unit 20 stores the current point (cp) which is the leading coordinate position of the word of the font a. Every time the character data drawing unit 17 outputs the print image data to the printer 3 by the character data drawing unit 17, the moving unit 21 calculates the moving amount h (n) calculated by the moving amount calculating unit 19 and the current point stored in the holding unit 20. The movement amount data of each character calculated by (cp) is output to the printer 33. The printer 33 prints according to the print image data and the movement amount data.

The printing operation of the printing apparatus 11 as described above will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the printing operation of the second embodiment. In FIG. 9, when the drawing command unit 16 issues a print command in step 11, the character data drawing unit 7 causes the font a in step 12.
Wa (n) of the font b is calculated in step 13
Calculate b (n). Next, in step 14, the current point (cp) is stored in the holding unit 20, and in step 15, n ← 1 is set in the counter 22 of the character data drawing unit 17.

In step 16, the movement amount calculation unit 19 calculates the movement amount h (n) = {Wa (n) + Wa (n-1) -W.
b (n)} / 2 and h (n) + (cp). Based on this numerical value, the moving unit 21 writes the moving amount data in the expanded data memory 23 in step 17. Step 1
In step 8, the character data drawing unit 17 writes the print image data of the nth character having the number of characters s in the expanded data memory 23. In step 19, the counter 12 is set to n ← n + 1. In step 20, it is determined whether n ≦ the number of characters s. n
If ≤s, the calculation of the movement amount and the writing of the movement amount data and the print image data are repeated in step 16. n>
In the case of s, the writing of the print image of the word is completed.

In the second embodiment as well, similar to the first embodiment, the case where the word width is expanded by replacing the font has been described as an example. However, when the word width is reduced, the replacement is similarly performed. Calculate the number of coordinates, which is the width from the beginning of the word in the previous font to the end of each character, and the number of coordinates, which is the width of each character in the replaced font, calculate the word width of each font, and calculate as described above. The amount of movement is calculated by the formula, each character in the replaced font is moved, and the center coordinates of the corresponding characters are adjusted.

In this way, the coordinate number which is the width from the beginning of the word in the font before replacement to the tail of each character and the coordinate number which is the character width in the font after replacement are calculated, and the word width of each font is calculated. When the font is replaced by calculating and calculating the amount of movement using the above formula and moving and printing each character in the font after replacement, the center coordinates of each character are adjusted, so It is possible to prevent misalignment or protrusion of the entire print on the paper and overlapping or spreading of characters compared to the first embodiment.

[0031]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, it has the following effects.

That is, the character width calculator that calculates the width of the character string of the font before replacement and the width of the character string of the font after replacement as the number of coordinates, and the amount of movement of each character of the font after replacement from the number of coordinates. A movement amount calculation unit that calculates
The printer driver has a moving unit that moves each character of the font after replacement according to the amount of movement, so that even if the font is replaced, the entire print is misaligned or sticking out on one sheet of paper, or the characters overlap. Spreading can be prevented, and print quality can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing print data and a print image.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a print image before correction.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a print image after correction.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a printing operation of the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a print image before correction.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a print image after correction.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a printing operation of the second embodiment.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of printing by a conventional printing device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 11 printing device 5, 15 printer driver 8, 18 character width calculation unit 9, 19 movement amount calculation unit 10, 20 movement unit

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. In a printing device that replaces print data with a font by a printer driver and develops coordinates into print image data and prints, the width of the character string of the font before replacement and the width of the character string of the font after replacement. A character width calculation unit that calculates, a movement amount calculation unit that calculates the movement amount of each character of the font after replacement from the character width, and a movement unit that moves each character of the replaced font according to the movement amount. And a printer provided in the printer driver. 2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the head coordinates of each character of the font after replacement are moved in accordance with the head coordinates of each character of the font before replacement corresponding to the respective characters. 3. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the center coordinates of each character of the font after replacement are moved in accordance with the center coordinates of each character of the font before replacement corresponding to the respective characters. 4. A printing method in which print data is replaced by a font by a printer driver, coordinates are expanded into print image data and output, and predetermined coordinates of each character of the replaced font are replaced with corresponding pre-replacement characters. A printing method characterized by outputting print data according to predetermined coordinates of each character of a font. 5. The printing method according to claim 4, wherein the predetermined coordinates are start coordinates. 6. The printing method according to claim 4, wherein the predetermined coordinates are center coordinates.