JPH09174955A - Print data processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a print data processor where the memory capacity can be reduced when a print data is stored in the memory while being converted into a printable image data. SOLUTION: The print data processor comprises means 1 for forming a printable image data from a print data written by a page describing language, means 3 for producing a data only of area designated by an area designation command from the image data thus formed, and a memory means 4 for storing the area designated data thus produced. Since the image data is stored with the are not designated by image data being discarded, the volume of data being stored can be reduced and a large volume of image data can be stored in the memory means 4 of same capacity and a memory means 4 having reduced capacity can be employed. Furthermore, the data of designated area can be reused easily because the print data is stored in the memory means 4 in the form of an image data which can be printed by a printer 2.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a print data processing device, and more particularly, it converts print data sent from a workstation or personal computer into printable image data and saves it in a storage device, and saves the saved image data. The present invention relates to a print data processing device that processes to read and print.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, print data written in a page description language sent from a workstation or a personal computer is converted into printable image data, passed to a printing device, and printing is performed there. The converted printable image data is printed as it is, so if you want to print the exact same page again, or if you want to edit and use a part of the print data, you can print it again page by page. Must be generated and printed. On the other hand, if the converted image data is stored in a storage device for reuse and is read when necessary, it can be reprinted without generating printable image data again. As such an apparatus, for example, a printing apparatus described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-301391 is known. According to this apparatus, a storage means for temporarily storing the output image data formed from the received data is provided, and the output image data is stored in the storage means in the format as it is or in the compressed format for reprinting. At this time, the stored output image data is output directly or while expanding the output image data for each predetermined unit page number. When the output image data is in a compressed format, the storage means stores a large number of pages with a small memory amount because the compressed image is stored.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-208442 discloses an apparatus having a storage means. The image processing system described in this publication stores the transferred document information and image information in a raster image storage section. The registered image can be cut out and combined with an input image from another device to be output.

[0004]

In the conventional apparatus, the printable image data generated is stored in the storage device as it is or after being compressed. However, in the stored image data, it is not always necessary to store the image data of the entire page, or only a part of a certain page may be necessary. It was very wasteful in terms of the capacity of the device. In particular, when the target page is color image data, the capacity per page is very large, and it is very wasteful to store even unnecessary parts. was there.

When compressed and stored, the storage capacity can be saved, but not only the stored printable image data cannot be viewed as an image, but also
There is a problem that it takes time to extend.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and in a print data processing apparatus having a function of storing and managing printable image data in a storage device,
When saving printable image data in a storage device,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a print data processing device that saves the storage capacity of a storage device by storing only a necessary area.

[0007]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the principle configuration of a print data processing apparatus according to the present invention. In the figure, when the print data processing device receives print data written in a page description language from an external device or the like, the print data is formed into image data printable by the image forming means 1, and the formed image data is formed. Is printing means 2
Is output to and printed. The print data processing apparatus according to the present invention further includes area designation data generation means 3 that cuts out the image data of the area designated by the area designation command from the image data formed by the image forming means 1 to generate the area designation data. , A storage means 4 for storing the area designation data generated by the area designation data generation means 3 and one or more arbitrary area designation data stored in the storage means 4 are combined to generate new image data, The layout means 5 for outputting the generated image data to the printing device is provided.

According to the above configuration, when the printable image data generated after the print data is appropriately processed is stored, the area designation data generating means 3 is used to store the area. Is specified and the image data other than the designated area is discarded, the amount of data stored in the storage unit 4 can be reduced, and a large amount of image data can be stored in the storage unit 4 having the same capacity. Alternatively, the capacity of the storage means 4 can be reduced. Furthermore, the layout means 5 can construct a new page using the stored image data. If necessary, the image data of the newly laid out page can be stored in the storage means 4.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram showing a configuration example of the print data processing apparatus of the present invention.

The print data processing device 10 of the present invention is connected to an external device 20 for producing print data described in a page description language on its input side and outputting the data, and a printable image on the output side. A printing device 30 that receives and prints data is connected.

The print data processing device 10 includes an external device 20.
A print request receiving unit 11 for receiving print data from the print data, a raster data creating unit 12 for creating printable image data from the print data, an internal storage area 13 for temporarily storing the created image data, From the page buffer 14 that stores image data in page units, the data transmission unit 15 that transmits page image data to the printing device 30, and the raster data creation unit 12 to the internal storage area 1
Job control unit 1 for managing transfer of image data to
6, a display device 17 that is a user interface of the print data processing device 10, and an external storage device 18 that stores image data created for printing. The display device 17 includes an image display part 17a for displaying image data stored in the internal storage area 13 or the external storage device 18, and an image data processing part 17b for editing the displayed image. And an input unit 17c for designating a region and a page image layout for an existing image. Here, the raster data creating unit 12 and the internal storage area 13 configure the image forming unit 1 of FIG. 1, the image data processing unit 17b configures the area designation data generating unit 3, and the external storage device 18 configures the storage unit 4. In addition, the image data processing unit 17b and the page buffer 14 constitute the layout means 5.

When the print data is transmitted from the external device 20, the print request receiving unit 11 receives the print data and transfers it to the raster data creating unit 12. The raster data creation unit 12 analyzes the passed print data, forms printable image data, and stores the image data in the internal storage area 13.

The job control unit 16 monitors the capacity of the internal storage area 13, and when the amount of image data reaches a threshold value, requests the print request reception unit 11 to interrupt the reception of print data. Image data is in internal storage area 1
Do not exceed the capacity of 3. Job control unit 1
If the internal storage area 13 has a free space, the request 6 again requests the print request receiving unit 11 to restart the reception of print data.

The internal storage area 13 temporarily stores image data in the order in which print requests are received, and the stored image data is sent page by page to the page buffer 14 and the image display section 17a of the display device 17. The image data sent to the display device 17 is subjected to data processing required by the image data processing unit 17b, that is, the input unit 1
When the image data designated by the area 7c is stored in the external storage device 18, the processed image data is erased from the internal storage area 13. When all the image data in the internal storage area 13 has been consumed, or when the image data in the internal storage area 13 has been consumed below a certain amount, it is determined that the internal storage area 13 has a free space. To notify.

The page buffer 14 has an internal storage area 13
A page image is created from the image data generated by the image data processing unit 17b, and the page image is created so that the printing device 30 can print. Data transmitter 15
Receives the page image from the page buffer 14 and transmits the data to the printing device 30.

In the display device 17, the image display unit 1
7a displays the image data from the internal storage area 13, the image data designated in the area, and the image data to be laid out to make a new page, and the instruction at that time is given from the input section 17c. Image display section 17a
The image data processing unit 17b actually processes the image data according to the instruction from the input unit 17c for the image displayed on the screen, stores the processed image data in the external storage device 18, or stores the image data in the page buffer 14. Send data.

Next, a flow of processing when an area is designated for a printable page image and the designated image data is stored in the external storage device 18 will be described. FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing a storage process of image data.

First, the image display unit 17a receives printable image data from the internal storage area 13 and displays it (step S1). Next, it is determined whether the displayed image data needs to be saved in whole or in part (step S2). here,
If there is no need to save the page, the save operation for this page is completed and the save operation for the next page is performed. If it is necessary to save, the value of the lower left coordinate of the rectangular area to be initially saved is input from the input unit 17c (step S
3) Next, enter the value of the upper right coordinate (step S
4). At this time, the coordinate value of the position pointed by the pointing device is displayed on the display device. Further, in order to input the lower left coordinate and the upper right coordinate of the rectangle, by not directly inputting the coordinate value, but by clicking the pointing device at the lower left position and the upper right position of the rectangle respectively, You may decide. The rectangular area thus determined is displayed on the displayed page (step S5). It is determined whether or not there is an area to store the image data, that is, whether there is another area to be stored within the page (step S6), and the other area to be stored. If it is within the page, the specified area can be expanded by repeating the operations of steps S3 to S5. If there is no more area to be specified for saving, only the area specified by the image data processing unit 17b is saved in the external storage device 18, and the image data outside the specified area is discarded (step S7). , The processing of the page ends.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a display example of a page image in the image data storage processing. Image display part 1 when specifying the area to save image data
Image data 41 of the entire page stored in the internal storage area 13 is displayed on the display screen 40 of 7a. When there is a rectangular area 42 to be saved for the displayed image data 41 and the rectangular area 42 is designated, first, the value of the lower left coordinate 43 is input to the input unit 17c.
Enter more. Then, in the coordinate display field 44, the coordinate value at the lower left of the rectangular area 42 is displayed, for example, "ll = 100,8
“0” is displayed, and these values are displayed as a set of x coordinate and y coordinate. Then, when the value of the coordinate 45 at the upper right of the rectangular area 42 is input, the coordinate value is displayed in the coordinate display field 46, for example, as a set of “ur = 1000,600” and x coordinate and y coordinate. The process of specifying the area of the page is completed,
By clicking the "next page" button 47, the rectangular area 42 designated as the area is stored in the external storage device 18, and the display screen 40 displays the image data of the next page. In this way, the image data temporarily stored in the internal storage area 13 is processed page by page.

Next, an example in which a new page is reconstructed using the image data stored in the external storage device 18 will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow when a new page is constructed from the saved image data.

When a part of the image data stored in the external storage device 18 is designated and a new page is created by combining them, first, the image stored in the external storage device 18 is selected. All the data are displayed on the image display unit 17a (step S1).
1). A page having necessary image data is designated from the image data displayed on the image display unit 17a (step S12). Image data is laid out on the image display unit 17a according to an instruction from the input unit 17c, and new image data is constructed by the image data processing unit 17b (step S13). Next, it is determined whether to print a page of the new image data that has been configured (step S14). If printing is to be performed, the newly configured image data is sent to the page buffer 14 (step S15). It is determined whether to save the newly configured image data (step S16),
When saving, the newly constructed image data is sent from the image data processing unit 17b to the external storage device 18 (step S17). Then, the external storage device 18
It is determined whether or not a new page is constructed with the image data stored in (step S18), and if another page is constructed, steps S12-S17.
The above process is repeated, and if a new page is not constructed, the process ends.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a display example of a print image when a new page is constructed from image data. When a new page is created by designating some of the area-designated image data stored in the external storage device 18, the image data stored in the external storage device 18 is displayed on the display screen 50 of the image display unit 17a. A frame 51 for displaying all of the above and a frame 52 for displaying a newly constructed image are displayed. A scroll bar is provided in the frame 51, and when there is image data that cannot be displayed in the frame 51, all the stored image data can be displayed by scrolling the image data with the scroll bar. it can. In the frame 51, 53 is one of the page images based on the stored image data, and 54 of the frames 52 is a page image newly formed by combining the image data in the frame 51. In addition,
Each page image displayed in the frame 51 is displayed in the frame of one page, and each image data has only the capacity of the designated area.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the flow of changes in image data. In this figure, 61 to 65 are image data when stored in the internal storage area 13, and each hold image data of the entire page. The image data 71 to 71 are stored in the external storage device 18 by designating only necessary areas of the image data 61 to 65.
75, which is image data displayed in the frame 51 of the display screen 50. Further, among the image data 71 to 75 stored in the external storage device 18, examples of image data newly created by combining arbitrary data are image data 81 and 82. The image data 81 is the image data 71 and 72. Image data 82 is created by combining image data 73 and 75.

As described above, since the image data to be stored in the external storage device 18 can be designated only in the area required for the storage, the image data can be stored without consuming the storage device capacity more than necessary. Can be saved. Also, a new page can be easily created using the stored image data.

Next, as another embodiment of the present invention, an example will be described in which, when image data is stored, the image is stored not in page units but in individual rectangular units.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the image data saving process in units of rectangles. When saving the designated area of the printable image data in the external storage device 18 in units of individual rectangles, the image display unit 17a first receives the printable image data from the internal storage area 13 and displays it (step S21). Here, it is determined whether or not there is an area to be saved (step S22), and if there is no need to save it, the operation of saving this page is finished and the operation of saving the next page is started. If there is an area to be saved, the value of the lower left coordinate of the rectangular area to be saved is input from the input unit 17c (step S23), and then the value of the upper right coordinate is input (step S24). At this time,
Display the coordinate value of the position pointed by the pointing device on the display screen. Further, in order to input the lower left coordinate and the upper right coordinate of the rectangle, by not directly inputting the coordinate value, but by clicking the pointing device at the lower left position and the upper right position of the rectangle respectively, You may decide. The rectangular area thus determined is displayed on the page of the display screen (step S25). It is determined whether or not the rectangular area to be saved is a displayed rectangular area (step S26), and if saving of the displayed rectangular area is stopped, step S22-
The process of S25 is redone again, and if the rectangular area to be saved is a displayed rectangular area, the specified rectangular area is saved (step S27).

Then, it is judged whether or not there is another area to be saved in the image data of the currently displayed page (step S28), and there is another area to be saved. In this case, steps S23 to S
The step 27 is performed again, and if there is no such step, the storage of the page ends. The state on the display screen when the rectangular area is designated for storing the image data is the same as the display screen of FIG.

A display example of a print image in the case where image data stored in rectangular units is formed to form a new page will be described. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a display example of a print image when a new page is constructed from image data in units of rectangles.

When a new page is created by designating some of the area-designated image data stored in the external storage device 18 in rectangular units, the image display section 17a.
On the display screen 50, a frame 51 for displaying all pages and image data in rectangular units stored in the external storage device 18 and a frame 52 for displaying a newly constructed image are displayed. The image data stored in the external storage device 18 that cannot be displayed in the frame 51 can be displayed by using a scroll bar. The stored image data has rectangular areas of different sizes. Here, as an example of constructing a new page, by designating image data 55, 56, 57 displayed in the frame 51 and designating their arrangement, the newly constructed image data is displayed in the frame 52. A print image by 58 is displayed.

As described above, by making the unit of the image data stored in the external storage device finer, the flexibility of layout is increased when a new page is created by the stored image data. .

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention, an area considered necessary in printable image data is designated and saved, so that the extra capacity of the storage device is not consumed.

Further, since the area for saving the image data can be arbitrarily specified, it is possible to specify and save not only the image portion but also an image area such as a character area, a figure, or a photograph as one area. .

Further, since only the necessary areas are stored, they can be laid out together to form a new page. Therefore, it is possible to perform layout while looking at the actual image, and since the image at the time of layout is image data that can already be printed, print data is constructed again and the data is processed. It is not necessary to perform the complicated work of constructing printable image data.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a basic configuration of a print data processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram showing a configuration example of a print data processing device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a storage process of image data.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a display example of a page image in an image data saving process.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a flow when a new page is constructed from saved image data.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a display example of a print image when a new page is constructed from image data.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a flow of changes in image data.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a rectangular unit image data storage process.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a display example of a print image when a new page is constructed from image data in units of rectangles.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Image Forming Means 2 Printing Means 3 Area Designating Data Generating Means 4 Storage Means 5 Layout Means 10 Print Data Processing Devices 11 Print Request Accepting Units 12 Raster Data Creating Units 13 Internal Storage Areas 14 Page Buffers 15 Data Sending Units 16 Job Control Units 17 Display device 17a Image display unit 17b Image data processing unit 17c Input unit 18 External storage device 20 External device 30 Printing device

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A print data processing device that receives print data written in a page description language, forms printable image data, and outputs the printable image data to a printing device. Image forming means for forming, area specifying data generating means for generating area specifying data by cutting out image data of only the area specified by the area specifying command from the image data, storage means for storing the area specifying data, A print data processing device comprising: 2. A layout in which new image data is generated by combining one or more arbitrary area designation data stored in the storage means, and the generated image data is output to a printing device or stored in the storage means. The print data processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means.