JPH09254445A - Printing controlling apparatus, printing system, printing controlling method, and memory - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow drawing a pattern with three or more colors efficiently, with easy optional two-tone color designation and drawing by providing a means for developing an image based on a many-value pattern generated by a generating means and a letter or graphic drawing command. SOLUTION: At a command executing portion 1104, a many-value image is developed for a page memory 1105 based on a many-value pattern set to be plain and a letter-graphic drawing command. After finishing the development, data analysis processing is repeated. In the case the judgment is made to be a paper discharging command, an image transmission is outputted after converting the content of the page memory 1105 into a video signal for a printer engine portion 1400 at an output controlling portion 1300. At the printer engine portion 1400, a permanent visual, image of the received video signal is formed and printed on a recording paper. When the printed paper is discharged, the printing controlling processing for one page is finished.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a print control device capable of printing an image, a print system, and a print control method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art PDL (Page Disc
In a printing device equipped with a ription language), a line or fill pattern can be specified when drawing a figure or a character. For example, by designating a heart-shaped pattern as a filling pattern before drawing a circle, a circle filled with the heart-shaped pattern is drawn. By such a method, it is possible to easily attach various patterns to characters and figures.

In a conventional printing apparatus, a pattern usually uses one pixel represented by one bit (hereinafter referred to as "binary"), and the pattern is drawn with color or gray scale. In some cases, the colors and gray scales were binarized and the patterns were ANDed for drawing.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, since only the ON bit of the pattern can be colored, only one color can be designated for the pattern. In recent years, more and more sophisticated application software uses patterns that use two or more colors, and it becomes difficult to print faithfully on the screen with patterns that can specify only one color. There is.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional example, and it is possible to easily specify and draw an arbitrary two-tone color pattern, and to efficiently draw a pattern of three or more colors. An object of the present invention is to provide a printing device that enables the above.

[0006]

In order to solve the above problems, a print control apparatus according to the present invention is a print control apparatus for controlling recording on a recording medium based on print data from an external device. Receiving means for receiving a command for designating pattern data, foreground color and background color, and generation for generating a multi-valued pattern based on the binary pattern data, command for designating foreground color, background color received by the receiving means. It is characterized in that it has a means and a developing means for developing an image based on the multi-valued pattern generated by the generating means and a character or graphic drawing command.

Further, the print control device of the present invention is a print control device for controlling recording on a recording medium based on print data from an external device, and a receiving means for receiving pattern data in an index format and an index number. A color table for storing a plurality of color data corresponding to the color data, a generation unit for generating multi-valued pattern data based on the index number forming the pattern and the color data registered in the color table; And a developing means for developing an image based on the multi-valued pattern and a character or graphic drawing command.

The printing system is an information processing device that converts drawing information from an application into print data and transfers the print data to the print control device, which is a command for specifying binary pattern data, foreground color, and background color. An information processing apparatus having a transmitting unit for transmitting the information to the print control apparatus, and the print control apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

The printing system is an information processing device for converting drawing information from an application into print data and transferring the print data to the print control device, and transmitting means for transmitting pattern data in the index format to the print control device. A printing system, comprising: an information processing apparatus having: and a print control apparatus according to claim 4.

Further, the printing system transfers the command for designating the binary pattern data, the foreground color and the background color based on the identification means for identifying the number of colors forming the pattern and the identification means. 1 mode, or
A mark characterized by selecting means for selecting the second mode for transferring the pattern data in the index format, and transferring the print data in the mode selected by the selecting means.

The print control method of the present invention is a print control method for controlling recording on a recording medium based on print data from an external device, and specifies binary pattern data, foreground color, and background color. A reception step of receiving a command, a generation step of generating a multi-valued pattern based on a command that specifies the binary pattern data, the foreground color, and the background color received by the reception step; and a multi-valued pattern generated by the generation step. A printing control method comprising: a developing process for developing an image based on a value pattern and a character or graphic drawing command.

The print control method is a print control method for controlling recording on a recording medium based on print data from an external device, and a receiving step of receiving pattern data in an index format and an index forming a pattern. Number and the color data registered in a color table storing a plurality of color data corresponding to the index number, a generation step of generating multi-valued pattern data, a multi-valued pattern and characters generated by the generation means, or And a development step of developing an image based on a graphic drawing command.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

(Embodiment 1 of the Invention) Before explaining the configuration of the embodiment of the present invention, a configuration of a laser beam printer (hereinafter referred to as "LBP") suitable for applying the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Will be described with reference to. Needless to say, the printer to which the embodiment of the present invention is applied is not limited to the laser beam printer, and may be a printer of another printing method. Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing the internal structure of a laser beam printer applied to an embodiment of the present invention. This LBP is for registering character patterns from a data source (not shown), fixed form (form data), etc. Can be registered. In the figure, reference numeral 1000 denotes an LBP main body, which inputs and stores character information (character code) supplied from an externally connected host computer, form information, or a macro command, and responds in accordance with those information. A character pattern, a form pattern, etc. are created, and an image is formed on a recording medium which is a recording medium. An operation panel 1012 is provided with switches for operation and an LED display, and a printer control unit 1001 controls the entire LBP 1000 and analyzes character information supplied from the host computer. The control unit 1001 mainly converts character information into a video signal of a corresponding character pattern and outputs the video signal to the laser driver 1002. The laser driver 1002 is a circuit for driving the semiconductor laser 1003, and the laser light 10 emitted from the semiconductor laser 1003 according to an input video signal.
04 is turned on and off.

A laser 1004 is swung right and left by a rotary polygon mirror 1005 to scan on an electrostatic drum 1006. As a result, an electrostatic latent image of a character pattern is formed on the electrostatic drum 1006. This latent image is developed by a developing unit 1007 around the electrostatic drum 1006 and then transferred to a recording sheet. A cut sheet is used as the recording paper. The cut sheet recording paper is stored in a paper cassette 1008 mounted on the LBP 1000, is taken into the apparatus by a paper feed roller 1009 and transport rollers 1010 and 1011, and is transferred to an electrostatic drum 1006. Supplied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the printing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 2000 is a printing apparatus 1000.
Is a host computer connected to the printer 1000, and prints information including print data and control codes.
Is output to The printing apparatus 1000 is roughly divided into a formatter control unit 1100 and an interface 1.
200, output control unit 1300, printer engine unit 14
It is composed of 00. Formatter control unit 1100
Represents a reception buffer 1101, a command discrimination unit 1102,
The command analysis unit 1103, the command execution unit 1104, the page memory 1105, and the pattern control unit 1106 are included. The reception buffer 1101 is a storage unit that temporarily holds the print information received from the host computer 2000. The command discrimination unit 1102 discriminates each print control command, and the print data is analyzed by the command analysis unit 1103 according to each command. The command analysis unit 1103 analyzes each print control command. The command analyzed by the command analysis unit 1103 is an intermediate result of analysis of print data, and is converted into an intermediate code in a format that is easier to process in the command execution unit 1104. When the command analyzed by the command analysis unit 1103 is a drawing that requires a pattern, the pattern control unit 11
In 06, the preprocessing of pattern drawing is performed. The command execution unit 1104 executes each command by the above intermediate code, and the commands related to drawing and printing are sequentially expanded in the page memory 1105. On the other hand, when the data format determination unit 1106 determines that the image data is a simple bitmap, the image data is expanded in the page memory 1105 as it is. Note that generally, the formatter control unit 1100 is configured by a computer system using a ROM that stores various control programs, a CPU that executes various control programs, and a RAM used as various work memories and the like.

The output control unit 1300 includes a page memory 11
The contents of 05 are converted into a video signal, and the image is transferred to the printer engine unit 1400. The printer engine unit 1400 is a printing mechanism unit for forming a permanent visible image of the received video signal on recording paper.

Next, an explanation will be given of the whole print control processing procedure in the embodiment of the present invention in the printing apparatus thus constructed with reference to the flow charts shown in FIGS. 3, 4, 5 and 6. . S301 to S30 in FIG.
4, S401 to S408 in FIG. 4, and S in FIG.
501 to S510, and S601 to S608 in FIG. 6 indicate processing steps. The programs according to the flowcharts of FIGS. 3, 4, 5, and 6 are stored in the ROM 13 of the printing apparatus 1000 and processed by the CPU 12.

FIG. 3 shows the main processing from the start to the end of the operation of the printing apparatus 1000. First, step S3
At 01, the print data sent from the host computer 2000 is received and stocked in the reception buffer 1101. Next, the print data stocked in the reception buffer in step S302 is read out, and then in step S
At 303, drawing processing is performed. Then, step S304
Then, it is judged whether or not the print end command is received, or whether or not the print data is ended. If the print is ended, the print operation is ended. If the printing is not completed, the processing from step S301 is repeated.

FIG. 4 shows the drawing process used in FIG. This process is a process for actually performing a printing process. First, in step S401, the command analysis unit 1103 checks whether or not the data is a discharge command. If the data is a discharge command, the process advances to step S406 to perform processing. If it is not the paper discharge command in step S401, it is determined whether or not the command analyzed next is a command for expanding the page memory such as character printing or graphic drawing (step S401).
402, otherwise to step S405, the command is immediately executed. When the process proceeds from step S402 to step S409, it is determined whether or not pattern drawing is necessary, and if necessary, step S402 is performed.
In step 410, pattern setting processing is performed. If the process proceeds from step S409 to step S403, an intermediate code in a form that facilitates command execution processing is generated. Upon receiving this intermediate code, the command execution unit 1104
Multi-valued pattern and characters set in the plane described later,
Based on the figure drawing command, the multivalued image is expanded in the page memory 1105 (step S404), and after the completion of the expansion process, the process returns to step S302 in FIG. 3 to repeat the data analysis process. If it is determined in step S401 that the instruction is a paper discharge instruction, the output control unit 1300 changes the contents of the page memory 1105 to the printer engine unit 14
The image signal is converted into a video signal corresponding to 00 and the image is transferred and output (step S406). The printer engine unit 1400 forms a permanent visible image on the recording paper based on the received video signal and performs printing (step S407). And step S
When the result printed at 408 is discharged, the print control process for one page ends. By such control, characters and figures can be printed by applying a color intermediate coating pattern.

The operation of the entire printing apparatus has been described above.
These processes are realized by the computer system of the formatter control unit 1100.

FIG. 5 shows the pattern setting process used in FIG. This process is a pre-process for pattern drawing. The embodiment of the present invention is an example of a case in which two colors are designated in a pattern, that is, a two-tone color pattern is drawn. First, in step S501, the foreground color (hereinafter referred to as FC) and the background color (hereinafter referred to as B) that are currently set.
Get C). Here, FC is the pattern ON
Pixel color, BC is the OFF pixel color of the pattern. These color designations are designated by the control command before drawing the pattern. Next, step S50
In 2, it is determined whether BC is white. The initial value of BC is white, and the initial value is set unless specified by the control command. If BC is white, the process proceeds to step S503, and it is determined whether there is a plane in which FC is placed. Here, the plane is a virtual space in which the drawing object before the drawing logic operation is placed,
Generally, due to hardware configuration restrictions,
It is a fixed number. Therefore, for example, if another drawing object (for example, an image) is already placed on the plane on which the color can be placed, the color cannot be placed. If the plane remains in step S503 (that is, FC
If it can be put), in step S504, F
Set C to the plane. That is, to set the color. On the other hand, if BC is not white in step S502, or if there is no plane in which FC is placed in step S503, the process proceeds to step S505.
The binary pattern registered in the printing device is managed by the ID, and in step S505, the ID of the currently specified binary pattern is acquired. Then, step S5
At 06, it is determined whether or not the FC, BC, and binary pattern IDs are the same as those designated in the previous drawing, that is, whether or not the pattern of the same condition is drawn. If F
If any of C, BC, or ID is different from the previously designated one, the process proceeds to step S507. Step 50
In 7, a color pattern is created by applying FC to ON pixels of a binary pattern and BC to OFF pixels (hereinafter, referred to as multi-valued). The multi-valued pattern is stored in the cache memory (temporary holding memory) in step S510. On the other hand, if it matches with the previously drawn pattern in step S506, the process advances to step S508 to take out the already multi-valued pattern from the cache memory. After that, the process advances to step S509 to set the pattern on the plane, and the process ends. In this way, the pattern set on the plane in this pattern setting process is a binary pattern in the flow of S504, S505
In the flow from S510 to S510, it is one of the multi-valued patterns.

FIG. 6 shows the pattern multi-value quantization processing used in FIG. This processing is processing for synthesizing the pattern and FC and BC to create a multi-valued (color) pattern. First, in step S601, one byte of the currently designated binary pattern data is acquired. Next, in step S602, it is determined whether or not the most significant bit is the ON bit, and ON
If it is a bit, the color data of FC (step S60
3) If the bit is an OFF bit, the BC color data (step S604) is written to the buffer (RAM) in the formatter control unit. Then, the pointer (write destination) is advanced by the amount of data written in the buffer in step S605, and the data is shifted by 1 bit in step S606. Then, in step S607, it is determined whether or not the bit shift for 8 bits, that is, 1 byte, is completed. If not completed, the processes from step S602 are repeated. On the other hand, if 8 bits have been completed, the process proceeds to step S608, and it is determined whether or not the series of processes from step S601 has been completed for the size (total number of bytes) of the binary pattern. If the size has been completed, the processing is ended, and if not, the processing from step S601 is repeated.

Next, a specific example of the pattern data in the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9. 8a
Is a binary pattern to be transferred and is represented by pattern data such as 8b. 8c is color data of designated FC and BC, and yellow is designated for FC and red is designated for BC.
The data format here is the RGB format. In the embodiment of the present invention, the pattern is multivalued from the binary pattern of 8b and the color designation of 8c, and pattern data such as 8e is created. 8e pattern data is in RGB format,
The data is 8 bits / pixel, and the print result is 8
It becomes like d. An example of the print control command transferred from the host in this case is illustrated in 9d.

(Second Embodiment of the Invention) Next, a pattern setting processing procedure in the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to a flow chart shown in FIG. This process is shown in FIG.
The process before and after step S410 is the same as that of the first embodiment of the invention, and therefore the description thereof is omitted here.

S701 to S707 in FIG. 7 indicate processing steps. The embodiment of the present invention is an example of drawing a pattern in which two or more colors are mixed in the pattern. In the first embodiment of the invention, the binary pattern is transferred from the host, but the pattern here is transferred from the host as multi-value (color) index data. The index data is data configured by registering a plurality of colors in the color table in advance and registering the bit corresponding to each pixel (by a plurality of bits). First, in step S701, 1 byte of the set multi-valued pattern is acquired. Here, since the colors used for the pattern are usually several colors, the data is 1 pixel 2-3.
Bits (ie 4-8 index numbers can be specified) are sufficient. Therefore, in step S702, the index number is extracted by the look-up table (LUT) method. Next, proceeding to step S703, the color data registered in the index number of the color table is acquired, and proceeding to step S704. Step S7
In 04, the acquired color data is written in the buffer and the buffer pointer is advanced. After that, it is determined whether or not the process here is completed by the size of the multi-valued pattern designated in step S705, and if not completed, the processes from step S701 are repeated. On the other hand, if it has ended, the process advances to step S706, and the pattern written in the buffer is set in the plane. When the multi-valued pattern is transferred from the beginning as in the embodiment of the present invention, FC and BC of the first embodiment of the invention are not necessary, so the color designation (F) of the pattern is performed in step S707.
A flag is set so as to invalidate C, BC), and the processing is ended.

Next, a specific example of pattern data in the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Reference numeral 9a is a multi-valued pattern to be drawn, which is composed of three colors of red, blue and yellow. This pattern is actually realized by registering a color table like 9b and transferring data like 9c. Reference numeral 9b is color data registered in the color table, in which index numbers 1 are yellow, 2 are red, and 3 is blue. The actual data format is RGB format. Reference numeral 9c denotes multi-valued pattern data to be transferred, and one pixel 2 bits designates any one of Nos. 1, 2, and 3 of 9b. An example of the print control command transferred from the host in this case is shown in 9e.

(Third Embodiment of the Invention) FIG. 10 is a block diagram for explaining the configuration of a printer control system showing an embodiment of the present invention. Here, a laser beam printer (FIG. 1) will be described as an example. The present invention may be applied to a system including a plurality of devices or an apparatus including a single device. Further, it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to the case where it is implemented by supplying a program to a system or an apparatus. In this case, the storage medium storing the program according to the present invention constitutes the present invention. Then, by reading the program from the storage medium to the system or device, the system or device operates in a predetermined manner.

In FIG. 10, reference numeral 3000 denotes a host computer, which performs document processing in which graphics, images, characters, tables (including spreadsheets, etc.) are mixed based on a document processing program stored in the program ROM of the ROM 3. A CPU 1 that executes is provided, and the CPU 1 generally controls each device connected to the system device 4. In addition, the program ROM of the ROM 3 includes the CPU 1 shown in FIG.
1. R for fonts in the ROM 3 for storing control programs including the program according to the flowchart shown in FIG.
The OM stores font data and the like used in the document processing, and the data ROM of the ROM 3 stores various data used in the document processing and the like. 2 is RAM
Then, it functions as a main memory, a work area, etc. of the CPU 1. A keyboard controller (KBC) 5 controls a key input from a keyboard 9 or a pointing device (not shown). 6 is a CRT controller (CRTC)
Controls the display of the CRT display (CRT) 10. A memory controller (MC) 7 controls access to an external memory 11 such as a hard disk (HD) or a floppy disk (FD) that stores a boot program, various applications, font data, user files, edit files and the like. A printer controller (PRTC) 8 is connected to the printer 1000 via a predetermined bidirectional interface (interface) 21 and executes communication control processing with the printer 1000.
The CPU 1 executes, for example, a process (rasterize) of the outline font to the display information RAM set in the RAM 2, and the WYSIWYG on the CRT 10 is executed.
Is possible. Further, the CPU 1 opens various registered windows based on commands specified by a mouse cursor or the like (not shown) on the CRT 10 and executes various data processing. In the printer 1000, 12 is a printer CPU, which accesses various devices connected to the system bus 15 based on a control program stored in the program ROM of the ROM 13 or a control program stored in the external memory 14. The overall control is performed, and the image signal as output information is output to the printing unit (printer engine) 17 connected via the printing unit interface 16. The program RO of the ROM 13
M is the first embodiment of the invention or the second embodiment of the invention.
The control program of the CPU 12 as shown in the flowchart of FIG. The font ROM of the ROM 13 stores font data and the like used when generating the above output information, and in the case of a printer in which the data ROM of the ROM 13 does not have an external memory 14 such as a hard disk, the host computer is used. -It stores information used on the computer. The CPU 12 is capable of performing communication processing with the host computer via the input unit 18, and is configured to notify the host computer 3000 of information in the printer and the like. Reference numeral 19 denotes a RAM that functions as a main memory, a work area, etc. of the CPU 12, and is configured so that the memory capacity can be expanded by an optional RAM connected to an expansion port (not shown). Note that RA
M19 is used as an output information expansion area, environment data storage area, and the like. The external memory 14 such as the hard disk (HD) and IC card described above is a memory controller (M
C) Access is controlled by 20. External memory 14
Is optionally connected to store font data, emulation programs, form data, and the like. Reference numeral 18 denotes the above-mentioned operation panel, on which switches for operation, an LED display, and the like are arranged. Further, the above-mentioned external memory is not limited to one, but at least one external memory is provided, and in addition to the built-in font, an optional font card and a plurality of external memories storing programs for interpreting printer control languages of different languages can be connected. It may be configured. Further, an NVRAM (not shown) may be provided to store the printer mode setting information from the operation panel 1012.

FIG. 11 shows the main processing from the start to the end of the printing operation of the host computer 2000. This processing is processing on the host computer side corresponding to the first embodiment of the invention. First, step S1101
In step S1102, drawing data is received from the application, and it is determined in step S1102 whether the drawing data requires a pattern. If the pattern is not necessary, the process advances to step S1108 to immediately convert it into a print control command and then transfer it to the printer. On the other hand, if a pattern is required, the process advances to step S1103 to determine whether the pattern is the same binary pattern as the pattern previously registered on the printer side. If the same pattern has been previously registered, the process proceeds to step S1105, and if not registered, the pattern data is transferred to the printer and registered in step S1104. In step S1105, a control command designating the pattern (that is, notifying that it will be used) is transferred to the printer. Up to this point, the command to the printer for the binary pattern has been completed. Next, in step S1106, the FC, BC pair of the specified binary pattern is the FC, BC previously specified.
It is determined whether or not it is the same as the pair. If they are the same, the process proceeds directly to step S1108, and if not, the control command designating FC and BC is transferred to the printer in step S1107. Step S110
In 8, the drawing data received from the application is converted into a print control command and transferred to the printing device. Then, in step S1109, it is determined whether or not the drawing data from the application has ended. If the drawing data has ended, the processing ends, and if not ended, the processing from step S1101 is repeated.

FIG. 13 shows a specific example of command transfer in the embodiment of the present invention. When the circles filled with the patterns 13a, 13b, and 13c are sequentially drawn, the control command transferred to the printer is as shown in 13d.

(Fourth Embodiment of the Invention) FIG. 12 shows the main processing from the start to the end of the printing operation of the host computer 2000. This process is a process on the host computer side corresponding to the second embodiment of the invention. First, in step S1201, drawing data is received from the application, and in step S1202, it is determined whether the drawing data requires a pattern. If the pattern is not required, the process advances to step S1208 to immediately convert it into a print control command and transfer it to the printer. On the other hand, if a pattern is required, step S1203
Then, it is determined whether the pattern received from the application is the same as the pattern previously registered on the printer side. Here, in the embodiment of the present invention, it is assumed that the pattern passed from the application is configured in an index format, and an arbitrary color is assigned to each index. If the same pattern has been previously registered, the process proceeds to step S1205,
If not registered, the pattern data is transferred to the printer and registered in step S1204. In step S1205, a control command for designating the pattern (that is, notifying that it will be used) is transferred to the printer. Up to this point, the command to the printer for the binary pattern has been completed. Next, step S1206.
Then, it is determined whether or not all the colors forming the specified pattern (that is, assigned to the index) are the same as the previous color structure. If they are the same, the process directly proceeds to step S1208. If not, the colors forming the pattern are sequentially transferred to the printer in step S1207 and registered in the color table on the printer side.

In step S1208, the drawing data received from the application is converted into a print control command and transferred to the printing device. After that, step S1209
In, it is determined whether or not the drawing data from the application is finished. If it is finished, the processing is ended, and if it is not finished, the processing from step S1201 is repeated.

FIG. 13 shows a specific example of command transfer in the embodiment of the present invention. When the circles filled with the patterns 13a, 13b, and 13c are sequentially drawn, the control command to be transferred to the printer is 13e.

(Other Embodiments of the Invention) In the first and second embodiments of the invention, the pattern data is transferred from the external device, but the pattern data stored in the program may be used. Good.

Furthermore, in the first and second embodiments of the present invention, an example is given of the pattern used for filling the figure, but the same processing can be performed on the image data. In general, the image data has a larger size than the pattern data. Therefore, in the first embodiment of the invention in this case, memory resources can be saved by omitting registration in the cache memory.

If a multi-valued pattern is designated in the first embodiment of the invention, the designations of FC and BC are ignored,
It goes without saying that an efficient process can be performed by switching to the process of the second embodiment of the invention.

Further, in the first embodiment of the invention, the bit shift is used for the pattern multi-valued processing, but the processing can be speeded up by using a lookup table instead.

On the contrary, in the second embodiment of the invention, the look-up table is used for extracting the index number. However, the program size can be reduced by using bit shift instead.

Further, although the index number is used for the pattern data in the second embodiment of the invention, a data format in which the color data registered in the color table are directly arranged may be used.

In the third embodiment of the invention, both FC and BC are transferred to the printer as a set, but if either one is the same as the previous one, the color transfer can be omitted.

Further, in the fourth embodiment of the invention, when the color forming the pattern is different from the previous one, the color is always registered in the color table. However, on the printer side, the index is converted into an immediate value (RGB or the like) in many cases. If the value pattern is cached, if the color set having the same configuration is registered in the color table even once, the pattern ID can be designated without registration.

Further, the number of colors forming the pattern is identified on the host side, and when the number of colors forming the pattern is two or less, the third embodiment of the invention is carried out. When the number of colors forming the pattern is three or more, the invention is carried out. It goes without saying that it is also possible to switch to the processing of mode 4.

[0045]

As described above, the two-tone pattern can be easily printed with a minimum data transfer amount by the command for designating the binary pattern and the foreground color and the background color, and the multi-valued pattern can be obtained. By processing the patterns in the index format, it is possible to efficiently print patterns of three or more colors. Therefore, the printing process can be speeded up.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing a structure of a laser beam printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the basic configuration of the printing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a print control procedure according to the first embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a procedure of the drawing process shown in FIG.

5 is a flowchart showing a procedure of pattern setting processing shown in FIG.

6 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the pattern multi-value quantization process shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a pattern setting process of the printing apparatus according to the second embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a specific example of pattern data according to the first embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a specific example of pattern data according to the second embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a printer control system according to a second embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a print control command transfer procedure according to the third embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a print control command transfer procedure according to the fourth embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a specific example of command transfer in the third and fourth embodiments of the invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 CPU 2 RAM 3 ROM 4 system bus 5 KBC 6 CRTC 7 MC 8 PRTC 9 KB 10 CRT 11 external memory 12 CPU 13 ROM 14 external memory 15 system bus 16 printing unit interface 17 printing unit 18 input unit 19 RAM 20 MC 1012 operation Part 1000 Printing device 1002 Laser driver 1003 Semiconductor laser 1004 Laser light 1005 Rotating polygon mirror 1006 Electrostatic drum 1007 Developing unit 1008 Paper cassette 1009 Paper feed roller 1010 Transport roller 1011 Transport roller 1012 Operation panel 1100 Formatter controller 1101 Receive buffer 1102 Command discrimination Part 1103 Command analysis part 1104 Command execution part 1105 Page memory 1106 Pattern control part 120 Interface 1300 output control unit 1400 printer engine unit 1500 secondary storage device 2000 host computer 3000 host computer

Claims (15)

[Claims] 1. Based on print data from an external device,
In a print control device for controlling recording on a recording medium, receiving means for receiving a command designating binary pattern data, foreground color, background color, and binary pattern data, foreground color received by the receiving means, It has a generation means for generating a multi-valued pattern based on a command designating a background color, and a development means for developing an image based on the multi-valued pattern generated by the generation means and a character or graphic drawing command. And a print control device. 2. A printing means for printing the image developed by the developing means.
The printing control device according to the above. 3. A storage unit for storing the generated multi-valued pattern, wherein the expansion unit stores the binary pattern data, the foreground color, and the background color if the received commands match each other. 2. The print control device according to claim 1, wherein a multi-valued pattern stored in the means is used. 4. Based on print data from an external device,
In a print control device that controls recording on a recording medium, a receiving unit that receives pattern data in an index format, a color table that stores a plurality of color data corresponding to index numbers, an index number that forms a pattern, and a color table It has a generation means for generating multi-valued pattern data based on the registered color data, and a development means for developing an image based on the multi-valued pattern generated by the generation means and a character or graphic drawing command. A print control device characterized by the above. 5. The printing control apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising a printing unit that prints the multi-valued image developed by the developing unit. 6. An information processing device for converting drawing information from an application into print data and transferring the print data to the print control device, wherein the print control command is a command for specifying binary pattern data, foreground color and background color. A printing system, comprising: an information processing apparatus having a transmission unit for transmitting to the apparatus; and the print control apparatus according to claim 1. 7. An information processing apparatus for converting drawing information from an application into print data and transferring the print data to the print control apparatus, the information processing apparatus having a transmission unit for transmitting pattern data in an index format to the print control apparatus. A printing system comprising: an apparatus; and the printing control apparatus according to claim 4. 8. A discriminating means for discriminating the number of colors forming a pattern, and a first mode for transferring a command for designating binary pattern data, a foreground color and a background color on the basis of discrimination by the discriminating means. Alternatively, the printing system is characterized by selecting means for selecting the second mode for transferring the pattern data in the index format, and transferring the print data in the mode selected by the selecting means. 9. Based on print data from an external device,
In a print control method for controlling recording on a recording medium, a receiving step of receiving a command designating binary pattern data, foreground color, and background color, and binary pattern data, foreground color received by the receiving step, It has a generation step of generating a multi-valued pattern based on a command designating a background color, and a development step of developing an image based on the multi-valued pattern generated by the generation step and a character or figure drawing command. Print control method. 10. The print control method according to claim 9, further comprising a printing step of printing the image developed by the developing means. 11. The storage means for storing the generated multi-valued pattern is used, and the expansion means stores the received binary pattern data, if the commands for designating the foreground color and the background color match. 10. The print control method according to claim 9, wherein a multi-valued pattern stored in the means is used. 12. A print control method for controlling recording on a recording medium based on print data from an external device, comprising: a receiving step of receiving pattern data in an index format, and an index number and an index number forming a pattern. A generating step of generating multi-valued pattern data based on color data registered in a color table storing a plurality of corresponding color data, and a multi-valued pattern and a character or figure drawing command generated by the generating step. And a developing step of developing an image based on the image. 13. The printing control method according to claim 12, further comprising a printing step of printing the image developed by the developing means. 14. A memory which is accessed by a microprocessor which stores a program for controlling recording on a recording medium based on print data from an external device, and which stores binary pattern data, foreground color and background color. A reception program for receiving a command to specify, a generation program for generating a multi-valued pattern based on a command for specifying binary pattern data, foreground color, and background color received by the reception program; and a generation program generated by the generation program. A memory accessed by a microprocessor, which stores a multi-valued pattern and a development program for developing an image based on a character or graphic drawing command. 15. A reception program for receiving pattern data in an index format, the memory being accessed by a microprocessor that stores a program for controlling recording on a recording medium based on print data from an external device, A generation program that generates multi-valued pattern data based on index numbers that form a pattern and color data registered in a color table that stores a plurality of color data corresponding to the index numbers, and a generation program that is generated by the generation program. A memory accessed by a microprocessor, which stores a development program for developing an image based on a value pattern and a character or graphic drawing command.