JPH0976555A - Printer and its printing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To effectively grasp what kind of the printing quality level is the result in a printer which makes it possible to print information at a plurality of printing quality levels. SOLUTION: When resolution deciding means 106 decides the revolution of lithographic data to be printed by printing means from the development end state of the data to a frame buffer 105 at each page, revolution data forming means forms the resolution data to be printed together with the lithographic data based on the decided resolution, and develops it in the buffer 105.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus having a plurality of printing qualities and performing printing processing on each page of a print job with a unified quality, and a printing method of the printing apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a control configuration of a printing apparatus of this type.

In the figure, reference numeral 801 denotes a printing device, and 300
It is configured to be capable of printing at three types of resolutions of dpi (dpt / inch: the number of dots per inch), 600 dpi, and 1200 dpi. A host computer (host) 802 prints a series of input data (hereinafter referred to as a print job) from the start of printing to the end of printing by the printing device 8.
Send to 01. 803 is an interface unit (IF unit)
Then, it has a reception buffer, receives the input data sent from the host 802, and stores the received input data in the reception buffer.

Reference numeral 804 is a translating means, which translates the input data accumulated in the reception buffer of the IF unit 803 and creates drawing data for printing on a printing paper. A frame buffer 805 stores the drawing data output from the translation unit 804 for one page, and transmits the stored drawing data to the output unit 807 when the translation unit 804 issues a paper discharge instruction.

A resolution determining unit 806 analyzes the complexity of the drawing data stored in the frame buffer 805 and determines the resolution to be printed according to the analysis. An output unit 807 has three types of resolutions of 300 dpi, 600 dpi, and 1200 dpi, and outputs the drawing data accumulated in the frame buffer 805 to the print paper at the resolution designated by the resolution determination unit 806. Reference numeral 808 denotes a paper cassette that stores printing paper to be supplied to the output unit 807. Reference numeral 809 denotes a print sheet that has been drawn and output.

The print processing operation of the conventional printing apparatus will be described below with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an example of a print processing procedure of a conventional printing apparatus. Note that (1) to (1)
3) shows each step.

First, it is assumed that a three-page print job is sent from the host 802 to the printer 801.
When a series of input data is sent from the host 802, the printing apparatus 801 transfers the series of input data to the IF unit 803.
Receive at (1). When the IF unit 803 starts receiving a series of input data, the IF unit 803 sends a reception notification to the translating means 804 and accumulates the received data in a reception buffer in the IF unit 803 (2).

Next, when the translation unit 804 receives the reception notification from the IF unit 803, it issues a job start instruction to the resolution determination unit 806. Upon receiving the job start instruction, the resolution determination unit 806 sets the current resolution to the highest value 1
Set to 200 dpi (3).

Then, the translating means 804 has the IF unit 803.
The input data is read from the reception buffer of No. 1, translated, drawing data is created, and the drawing data is transmitted to the frame buffer 805. Upon receiving the drawing data, the frame buffer 805 stores the drawing data at the current resolution (4).

In this way, the frame buffer 805
Sequentially stores drawing data sent from the translation means 804. The drawing data accumulated in the frame buffer 805 requires a small amount of memory for data such as characters and graphics, but uses a large amount of memory for data such as images.

In this way, the frame buffer 8 to be used
The amount of memory 05 depends on the contents of the drawing data to be stored. The amount of memory used in the frame buffer 805 also differs depending on the resolution. Lower resolutions use less memory than higher resolutions. For example, the image data of 1200 dpi is 4 of 600 dpi.
Double, that is, a memory amount 16 times 300 dpi is required.

On the other hand, the print quality of the printed page should be high. High resolution prints finer than low resolution. For example, image data of 1200 dpi is printed with dots that are four times finer than 600 dpi and 16 times finer than 300 dpi. Therefore, the higher resolution prints better.

Now, it is assumed that the frame buffer 805 is filled with the drawing data output by the translating means 804. The resolution determining means 806 is always the frame buffer 8
05, and the frame buffer 805 is full (FUL
When it becomes L) (6), the current resolution is set to one step and set to 600 dpi (9), the drawing data accumulated in the frame buffer 805 until then is converted from 1200 dpi to 600 dpi (10), and the process goes to step (4). Returning, the drawing data output from the translating means 804 is stored in the frame buffer 805 at the current resolution of 600 dpi (4).

It should be noted that the frame buffer 805 requires a smaller amount of memory when the resolution is lower.

Then, the translating means 804 analyzes the input data and creates drawing data, and the frame buffer 805
Continues to store drawing data in. Then, when the frame buffer 805 becomes full in step (6), the resolution determining unit 806 further sets the current resolution to 300 dpi (9), and the drawing data accumulated in the frame buffer 805 until then is set. Converting from 600 dpi to 300 dpi (10), returning to step (4), the drawing data output from the translating means 804 is stored in the frame buffer 805 at the current resolution of 300 dpi (4).

Then, the translating means 804 analyzes the input data and creates drawing data, and the frame buffer 805
Continues to store drawing data in. Then, in step (6), when the frame buffer 805 becomes full,
In step (7), since the current resolution cannot be reduced this time, the processing ends as an error (8).

In this example, the current resolution is 300 dp.
It is assumed that it has fallen to i. In step (5), when the translating means 804 finds a paper ejection command such as <FF> (0CH) during the translation of the input data, it instructs the resolution determining means 806 to eject the page.

Next, when the resolution determining unit 806 receives a paper discharge instruction from the translating unit 804, the current resolution 30
The resolution used for printing is 0 dpi, and the output unit 807 is used.
Set the print resolution of the
5 is instructed to transmit drawing data. Upon receiving the drawing data transmission instruction from the resolution determining unit 806, the frame buffer 805 transmits the drawing data of the page accumulated up to that time to the output unit 807.

When the output means 807 receives the drawing data from the frame buffer 806, the paper cassette 8
The printing paper is taken in from No. 08, and the frame buffer 8 at the resolution of 300 dpi specified by the resolution determining unit 806.
The drawing data received from 06 is output to the print sheet and the page is ejected (11).

Next, when the paper discharge is completed, the memory of the frame buffer 806 is cleared (12). After that, the same processing is performed on the next page and thereafter, and the processing is performed up to the last page of the print job. Then, when the print job ends (13), the main print processing ends.

[0022]

Since the conventional printing apparatus is configured as described above, when printing each page of a print job, a page with a small amount of drawing data (simple page) is stored in the frame buffer. Since the amount of memory is not limited, a high resolution with good print quality is printed, and the page with a lot of drawing data (complex page) is printed with a resolution of poor print quality because it is limited by the memory amount of the frame buffer.

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, the user of the printing apparatus should not know the resolution of the page printed on the printing paper. Therefore, when the user of the printing apparatus sees the output printing paper, what he thinks was printed at high resolution is actually printed at low resolution. The reverse is also possible. This causes problems such as causing confusion for people who use the printing apparatus.

Further, when one print job is composed of a plurality of pages, all pages may not be printed at the same resolution, and the print processing may be performed during the print processing while trying to print at a high resolution. There is also a problem that when printing is performed with the print resolution reduced to a low resolution due to insufficient memory to be used, it takes an extra printing time compared to the case where the print processing is performed at a low resolution from the beginning.

Further, when one print job is composed of a plurality of pages, all the pages may not be printed at the same resolution, and if there are pages with different resolutions in one print job, the print quality is reduced. However, there is a problem in that people who use the printing device feel uncomfortable.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and the objects of the first to twelfth inventions of the present invention are output by printing resolution on printing paper. It is often possible to see at what resolution the print paper was printed, and the pages within a print job are often all pages of approximately the same complexity. Therefore, when the first page (first page) of the print job is printed with a low resolution, when printing the second and subsequent pages, the low resolution is used to reduce the processing time of the second and subsequent pages. To provide a printing apparatus and a printing method of the printing apparatus capable of printing a print job with the same resolution on all pages.

[0027]

A first aspect of the present invention is a printing apparatus capable of printing at least one or more resolutions for translating and printing input data input from a data source. Translation means for creating the drawing data, storage means for storing the drawing data in page units, printing means for printing the drawing data at any resolution, and drawing data expanded in the storage means. By determining the resolution of the drawing data to be printed by the printing means for each page by analyzing the complexity and the resolution data to be printed together with the drawing data based on the resolution determined by the determining means. A printing unit that prints the resolution data and the drawing data that are loaded in the storage unit on the recording medium. That.

A second invention according to the present invention is an instruction means for instructing whether or not to print the resolution data created by the creating means, a holding means for holding the instructed state of the instructing means, and a holding means held by the holding means. Further, there is provided control means for controlling the printing of the resolution data and / or the drawing data by the printing means based on the instruction state.

In a third aspect of the present invention, the instruction from the instruction means is an instruction input from an operation panel.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the instruction from the instruction means is input data from a data source.

A fifth invention according to the present invention is a printing apparatus capable of printing with high and low printing qualities, and translating input data input from a data source to create drawing data for printing. Means, a storage means for storing the drawing data on a page-by-page basis, a printing means capable of printing the drawing data with any one of print quality, and a complexity of the drawing data developed in the storage means. Stored in the quality storage means, a determination means for determining the print quality of the drawing data printed by the printing means in page units, a quality storage means for storing the print quality of the first page determined by the determination means, and the quality storage means. And a control unit for controlling the output quality of the printing unit so that the drawing data of the subsequent pages have the same print quality based on the print quality.

A sixth invention according to the present invention is a printing apparatus capable of printing in two high and low resolutions, and a translation means for translating input data input from a data source and creating drawing data for printing. A storage unit that stores the drawing data in page units; a printing unit that can print the drawing data at one of the resolutions; and a printing unit that analyzes the complexity of the drawing data expanded in the storage unit. Determining means for determining the resolution of the drawing data printed by the means for each page, resolution storing means for storing the resolution of the first page determined by the determining means, and following based on the resolution stored in the resolution storing means Control means for controlling the output resolution of the printing means so that the drawing data of each page have the same resolution.

A seventh invention according to the present invention is a printing apparatus capable of printing with a plurality of printing qualities, and translating means for translating input data input from a data source to create drawing data for printing. A storage unit that stores the drawing data in page units; a storage unit that sequentially stores the drawing data stored in the storage unit; and the drawing data stored in the storage unit in any print quality. Printable printing means, determining means for analyzing the complexity of the drawing data developed in the storage means to determine the print quality of the drawing data, and the print quality determined by the determining means can be set. Control for causing the printing means to sequentially print the drawing data of each page accumulated in the accumulating means as the lowest quality drawing data at a timing matching with the lowest printing quality. Those having a stage.

An eighth invention according to the present invention is a printing apparatus capable of printing at a plurality of resolutions, and a translating means for translating input data input from a data source to create drawing data for printing. , Storage means for storing the drawing data in page units, storage means for sequentially storing the drawing data stored in the storage means, and printing of the drawing data stored in the storage means at any resolution A printing means, a determining means for analyzing the complexity of the drawing data developed in the storage means to determine the resolution of the drawing data, and a minimum resolution at which the resolution determined by the determining means can be set. And a control unit that causes the printing unit to sequentially print the drawing data of each page stored in the storage unit as drawing data of the lowest resolution. It is intended to.

A ninth aspect of the present invention comprises notifying means for notifying the data source of the resolution of each page determined by the determining means.

A tenth aspect of the present invention is a translation means for translating input data input from a data source to create drawing data for printing, and a storage means for storing the drawing data in page units. A printing unit capable of printing the drawing data at any resolution, at least 1
A printing method of a printing apparatus capable of printing at one or more resolutions, wherein the resolution of the drawing data printed by the printing unit is analyzed for each page by analyzing the complexity of the drawing data developed in the storage unit. The method further includes a determining step of determining and a creating step of creating resolution data to be printed together with the drawing data based on the determined resolution and developing the resolution data in the storage means.

An eleventh aspect of the present invention is a translation means for translating input data input from a data source to create drawing data for printing, and a storage means for storing the drawing data in page units. A printing method of a printing apparatus having a printing unit capable of printing the drawing data at any resolution and capable of printing at two high and low resolutions, the complexity of the drawing data being expanded in the storage unit. Based on the written resolution, a determination step of determining the resolution of the drawing data to be printed by the printing means by page analysis, a writing step of writing the determined resolution of the first page in the storage means, and Setting step of setting the resolution of the drawing data of each subsequent page so that the resolution of the drawing data of each subsequent page becomes the same, and each page at the set resolution The drawing data is one having a printing step of printing on the printing unit.

A twelfth aspect of the present invention is a translation means for translating input data input from a data source to create drawing data for printing, and a storage means for storing the drawing data in page units. A printing method of a printing apparatus, which has a storage unit that stores the drawing data stored in the storage unit and a printing unit that can print the drawing data at any resolution, and that can print with a plurality of printing qualities. There is a determination step of determining the resolution of the drawing data printed by the printing unit in page units by analyzing the complexity of the drawing data expanded in the storage unit, and increasing the resolution based on the determination result. A changing step of changing the resolution to one step lower resolution, a judging step of judging whether the changed resolution is the lowest resolution, and a step of accumulating in the accumulating means based on the judgment result. Those having a printing step of printing on the printing unit as the drawing data based on the image data to the lowest resolution.

[0039]

In the first aspect of the invention, the determining means determines the resolution of the drawing data to be printed by the printing means for each page from the completion state of the expansion of the drawing data in the storage means, and based on the determined resolution. It is possible for the creating unit to create the resolution data to be printed together with the drawing data, expand the resolution data in the storage unit, and visually recognize the resolution at the time of printing together with the print result.

In the second invention, the holding means holds the instruction state of the instruction means for instructing the presence or absence of printing of the resolution data created by the creating means, and the control means operates based on the held instruction state. It is possible to control the printing of the resolution data and / or the drawing data by the printing unit, and select and perform a process of visually recognizing the resolution at the time of printing together with the print result by an instruction from the user. .

According to the third aspect of the present invention, it is possible to perform a process of visually recognizing the resolution at the time of printing together with the printing result by selecting from the printer side by an instruction from the operation panel from the user.

In the fourth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to perform a process of visually recognizing the resolution at the time of printing together with the print result by selecting from the data source side by an instruction from the input data from the data source.

In the fifth aspect of the invention, when the determining unit analyzes the complexity of the drawing data developed in the storage unit and determines the print quality of the drawing data printed by the printing unit in page units, The determined print quality of the first page is stored in the quality storage means, and based on the stored print quality, the control means outputs so that the print quality of the drawing data of each subsequent page is the same. By controlling the quality, it is possible to reduce the processing time of the second and subsequent pages of the print job and to make the print quality uniform within the print job.

In the sixth aspect of the present invention, when the determination unit analyzes the complexity of the drawing data developed in the storage unit and determines the resolution of the drawing data printed by the printing unit in page units, the determination is made. The resolution of the first page is stored in the resolution storage means, and the control means controls the output resolution of the printing means based on the stored resolution so that the resolution of the drawing data of each subsequent page becomes the same. Thus, it is possible to reduce the processing time for the second and subsequent pages of the print job and to make the resolution uniform within the print job.

In the seventh invention, when the deciding means analyzes the complexity of the drawing data developed in the storage means to determine the print quality of the drawing data, the control means determines the print product. The drawing data of each page accumulated in the accumulating unit is sequentially printed by the printing unit as the lowest-quality drawing data at the timing when the quality coincides with the lowest print quality that can be set, and the printing quality in the print job is changed. Allows for unity.

In the eighth invention, when the resolution of the drawing data is determined by analyzing the complexity of the drawing data developed in the storage means by the determining means, the control means determines the resolution. The drawing data of each page accumulated in the accumulating unit is sequentially printed by the printing unit as the lowest-quality drawing data at a timing that coincides with the lowest resolution that can be set, and the resolution is unified in the print job. It is possible.

In the ninth invention, the notifying means notifies the data source of the resolution of each page determined by the determining means, and the data source side can recognize the resolution of the print result.

In the tenth invention, the resolution of the drawing data printed by the printing unit is determined for each page by analyzing the complexity of the drawing data developed in the storage unit, and the resolution is set to the determined resolution. It is possible to automate the process of creating resolution data to be printed together with the drawing data based on the drawing data, developing the data in the storage means, and visually recognizing the resolution at the time of printing together with the printing result.

In the eleventh invention, the resolution of the drawing data printed by the printing unit is determined for each page by analyzing the complexity of the drawing data developed in the storage unit, and the determined first page Of the drawing data is written in the storage means, the resolution of the drawing data of each subsequent page is set so that the drawing data of each subsequent page has the same resolution based on the written resolution, and the set resolution is set. It is possible to cause the printing unit to print the drawing data of each page at a resolution, and to automate the process of reducing the processing time of the second and subsequent pages of the print job and the process of achieving uniformity of print quality in the print job. To do.

In the twelfth aspect, the complexity of the drawing data developed in the storage means is analyzed, the resolution of the drawing data printed by the printing means is determined in page units, and based on the result of the determination. Resolution from high resolution to 1
Change to a stepwise low resolution, determine whether the changed resolution is the lowest resolution, and print the drawing data accumulated in the accumulating means on the printing means as drawing data based on the lowest resolution based on the determination result. By doing so, it is possible to automate the process of making the resolutions uniform within the print job.

[0051]

【Example】

[First Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining the control arrangement of a printing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, 101 is a printing device, and 300
It is configured to be capable of printing at three types of resolutions of dpi, 600 dpi, and 1200 dpi. A host computer (host) 102 transmits a series of input data (hereinafter referred to as a print job) from the start of printing to the end of printing to the printing apparatus 101. 103 is an interface unit (IF
Part) has a receive buffer, receives input data sent from the host 102, and stores the received input data in the receive buffer.

Reference numeral 104 is a translating means which translates the input data accumulated in the reception buffer of the IF unit 103 and creates drawing data for printing on the printing paper. A frame buffer 105 stores one page of drawing data output from the translating means 104, and transmits the stored drawing data to the output means 107 when the translating means 104 issues a paper discharge instruction.

Reference numeral 106 is a resolution determining means, which analyzes the complexity of the drawing data stored in the frame buffer 105 and determines the resolution to be printed by the analysis. An output unit 107 has three types of resolutions of 300 dpi, 600 dpi, and 1200 dpi, and outputs the drawing data accumulated in the frame buffer 105 to the printing paper at the resolution designated by the resolution determining unit 106. A paper cassette 108 stores printing paper to be supplied to the output unit 107. Reference numeral 109 is a print sheet that has been drawn and output.

Reference numeral 110 denotes a resolution data creating means, which creates drawing data (resolution data) representing the resolution to be printed according to an instruction from the resolution determining means 106. An operation panel 111 is used to set whether to print resolution data on a print sheet. A storage unit 112 stores the contents set from the operation panel 111. In addition, 113 is a control means.

Correspondence between the present embodiment and each means of the first to fourth inventions and their functions will be described below with reference to FIG.

A first aspect of the present invention is a printing device capable of printing at least one or more resolutions, and a translation unit 104 that translates input data input from a data source and creates drawing data for printing. Storage means (frame buffer 105) for storing the drawing data in page units,
A printing means (output means 107) capable of printing the drawing data at any resolution, and a resolution of the drawing data printed by the printing means by analyzing the complexity of the drawing data developed in the storage means. A determination unit (resolution determination unit 106) that determines each page, and a creation unit (resolution data creation) that creates resolution data to be printed together with the drawing data based on the resolution determined by the determination unit and expands it in the storage unit. 110) and the resolution determining means 106 determines the resolution of the drawing data to be printed by the printing means for each page from the completion state of the drawing data development in the frame buffer 105, based on the determined resolution. Then, the resolution data creating means 110 creates resolution data to be printed together with the drawing data to create a frame buffer. Expand 105, together with the print result makes it possible to visually recognize the resolution at the time of the print.

The second aspect of the present invention is directed means (operation panel 11
1), holding means (storage means 112) for holding the instruction state of the instruction means, and printing of the resolution data and / or the drawing data by the printing means based on the instruction state held by the holding means. And an operation panel 1 for controlling whether to print the resolution data created by the resolution data creating means 110.
11 instruction states are held in the storage means 112, and the control means 113 controls the printing of the resolution data and / or the drawing data by the printing means based on the held instruction states to obtain a print result. In addition, it is possible to select and perform a process of visually recognizing the resolution at the time of printing according to an instruction from the user.

According to the third aspect of the invention, it is possible to perform a process of visually recognizing the resolution at the time of printing together with the printing result by selecting from the printer side according to an instruction from the operation panel 111 from the user.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to perform a process of visually recognizing the resolution at the time of printing together with the print result by selecting from the data source side by an instruction from the input data from the data source (host 102). To do.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an output example output from the output means 107 shown in FIG.

In the figure, D1 is drawing data, which is stored in the frame buffer 105. D2 is resolution data, which is created by the resolution data creating means 110 and is superimposed and developed in the frame buffer 105 together with the drawing data D1. D2-1 is a resolution data section, for example, "3
This corresponds to the case where "00 dpi" is created. The drawing position, size, description method, etc. of the resolution data portion D2-1 of the resolution data D2 may be appropriately determined, and may be represented by a symbol instead of a number.

The print data processing operation of the printing apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the flow chart shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the first embodiment of the printing method of the printing apparatus according to the present invention. In addition,
(1) to (14) show each step.

First, it is assumed that a 3-page print job is sent from the host 102 to the printing apparatus 101.
When a series of input data is sent from the host 102,
In the printing device 101, the series of input data is transferred to the IF unit 10
Received at 3 (1). When the IF unit 103 starts receiving a series of input data, the IF unit 103 sends a reception notification to the translation unit 104 and accumulates the received data in the reception buffer in the IF unit 103 (2). When the translation unit 104 receives the reception notification from the IF unit 103, it issues a job start instruction to the resolution determination unit 106. Upon receiving the job start instruction, the resolution determination means 106 sets the current resolution to the highest value 1200 dpi (3). Then, the translation unit 104 reads the input data from the IF unit 103 reception buffer, translates the input data, creates drawing data, and transmits the drawing data to the frame buffer 105. Upon receiving the drawing data, the frame buffer 105 stores the drawing data at the current resolution (4). In this way,
The frame buffer 105 sequentially accumulates the drawing data sent from the translating means 104. The drawing data accumulated in the frame buffer 105 requires a small amount of memory for data such as characters and graphics, but uses a large amount of memory for data such as images.

In this way, the frame buffer 1 to be used
The amount of memory 05 depends on the contents of the drawing data to be stored. The amount of memory used by the frame buffer 105 also differs depending on the resolution. Lower resolutions use less memory than higher resolutions. For example, 1200 dpi image data requires a memory amount four times that of 600 dpi and 16 times that of 300 dpi.
On the other hand, the print quality of the printed page should be high. High resolution prints finer than low resolution.

For example, image data of 1200 dpi is printed with fine dots 4 times as large as 600 dpi and 16 times as large as 300 dpi. Therefore, higher resolution prints better.

Now, it is assumed that the frame buffer 105 is filled with the drawing data output by the translating means 104. The resolution determining means 106 is always the frame buffer 10.
5 is monitored, and when the frame buffer 105 is full (6), if the determination in step (7) is NO, the current resolution is set to one step and 600 dpi (9),
The drawing data accumulated in the frame buffer 105 until then is converted from 1200 dpi to 600 dpi (1
0), returning to step (4), the drawing data output from the translating means 104 is accumulated in the frame buffer 105 at the current resolution of 600 dpi. The lower the resolution of the frame buffer 105, the smaller the amount of memory used. Then, the translation unit 104 analyzes the input data, creates drawing data, and continues to store the drawing data in the frame buffer 105.

When the frame buffer 105 becomes full (6) and the determination in step (7) is NO, the resolution determining means 106 further reduces the current resolution by one step and sets it to 300 dpi (9). , The drawing data accumulated in the frame buffer 105 until then is 60
Converting from 0 dpi to 300 dpi (10), returning to step (4), the drawing data output from the translating means 104 is stored in the frame buffer 105 at the current resolution of 300.
Accumulate in dpi.

Then, the translating means 104 analyzes the input data and creates drawing data, and the frame buffer 105
When the frame buffer 105 becomes full (6), the determination in step (7) becomes YES, and the resolution cannot be reduced any more, and the print processing ends as an error. (8).

At this time, in the present embodiment, it is assumed that the current resolution has dropped to 300 dpi. When the translating means 104 finds a paper ejection command such as <FF> (0CH) during the translation of the input data (5), it instructs the resolution determining means 106 to eject the page.

When the resolution determining means 106 receives the paper discharge instruction from the translating means 104, the current resolution 30
With 0 dpi as the resolution to be used for printing, the resolution data creating unit 110 is instructed to create drawing data (resolution data) representing the current resolution (14).

The user of the printing apparatus 101 can set whether or not to print the resolution data on the printing paper, and the user of the printing apparatus 101 makes the setting from the operation panel 111. When the setting is made from the operation panel 111, the set contents are stored in the storage unit 112.

Next, when the resolution data creating means 110 receives an instruction to create the resolution data, it refers to the storage means 112 to create the resolution data if set to "print the resolution", and creates the resolution data in the frame buffer. 1
No. 05, the resolution determination unit 106 is notified of the end of the resolution data, and if “resolution is not printed” is set, the resolution determination unit 106 is notified without the resolution data being created. I do. In addition,
In the present embodiment, it is assumed that "print resolution" is set.

Next, when the resolution determining means 106 receives the resolution data end notification, it sets the print resolution of the output means 107 to the current resolution of 300 dpi, and instructs the frame buffer 105 to transmit drawing data. When the frame buffer 105 receives the drawing data transmission instruction from the resolution determining unit 106, the frame buffer 105 transmits the drawing data of the page accumulated so far to the output unit 107.

When the output means 107 receives the drawing data from the frame buffer 106, the paper cassette 1
The printing paper is loaded from 08, and the frame buffer 10 at the resolution of 300 dpi designated by the resolution determining unit 106.
The drawing data received from 6 is output to the print sheet and the page is ejected (11). Printed paper 10 discharged
On the page 9, data D3 representing the resolution is printed together with the data of the first page of the print job (see FIG. 2).

When the paper discharge is completed in this way, the memory of the frame buffer 106 is cleared (12). Thereafter, until the print job is completed (13), the same process is performed on the next page and subsequent pages, the process is performed up to the last page of the print job, and when the print job is completed, the main print process is completed.

Correspondence between the present embodiment and each step of the tenth invention and its action will be described below with reference to FIG.

A tenth aspect of the present invention is a translation means 104 for translating input data input from a data source to create drawing data for printing, and a storage means (frame buffer 105 for storing the drawing data in page units. ) And a printing means (output means 107) capable of printing the drawing data at any resolution, and a printing method of a printing device capable of printing at at least one resolution, A determination step of analyzing the complexity of the rendered drawing data and determining the resolution of the drawn data printed by the printing unit for each page (step (4) to FIG. 3).
(10)) and a creating step (step (14) in FIG. 3) of creating resolution data to be printed together with the drawing data based on the determined resolution and developing the resolution data in the storage means, At the same time, it is possible to automate the process of visually recognizing the resolution at the time of printing.

[Second Embodiment] FIG. 4 is a block diagram for explaining the control arrangement of a printing apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, 401 is a printing device, and 300
It is configured to be able to print at two types of resolutions, dpi and 600 dpi. 402 is a host computer (host)
Then, a series of input data (hereinafter referred to as a print job) from the start of printing to the end of printing is transmitted to the printing apparatus 401.

Reference numeral 403 is an interface section (IF section).
It has a reception buffer, receives input data sent from the host 402, and stores the received input data in the reception buffer. A translation unit 404 translates the input data accumulated in the reception buffer of the IF unit 403 and creates drawing data for printing on the printing paper.

Reference numeral 405 denotes a frame buffer, which is a translation means 4
The drawing data output from 04 is accumulated for one page, and when the translating means 404 issues a paper discharge instruction, the accumulated drawing data is transmitted to the output means 407. A resolution determination unit 406 analyzes the complexity of the drawing data accumulated in the frame buffer 405 and determines the resolution to be printed by the analysis.

Reference numeral 407 is an output means, which is 300 dpi, 60
It has two resolutions of 0 dpi, and has a frame buffer 4
The drawing data stored in 05 is output to the printing paper at the resolution designated by the resolution determining unit 406. A paper cassette 408 stores paper to be supplied to the output unit 407.

Reference numeral 409 denotes a print sheet on which drawing is output, 410
The storage means stores the resolution of the first page of the print job. A control unit 411 refers to the storage unit 410 when printing the second and subsequent pages of the print job, and controls the second and subsequent pages to be printed at the low resolution when the first page is printed at the low resolution. .

Correspondence between the present embodiment and each means of the sixth invention and its operation will be described below with reference to FIG.

A sixth aspect of the present invention is a printing device capable of printing in two high and low resolutions, and translating means 404 for translating input data input from a data source to create drawing data for printing. A storage unit (frame buffer 405) that stores drawing data in page units, a printing unit (output unit 407) that can print the drawing data at any one of the resolutions, and a drawing unit that stores the drawing data expanded in the storage unit. A determination unit (resolution determination unit 406) that analyzes the complexity and determines the resolution of the drawing data printed by the printing unit in page units, and a resolution storage unit that stores the resolution of the first page determined by the determination unit ( The storage means 410) and the drawing data of each subsequent page are set to have the same resolution based on the resolution stored in the resolution storage means. A resolution determining unit 406 analyzes the complexity of the drawing data developed in the frame buffer 405 to determine the resolution of the drawing data printed by the output unit 407. When the resolution is determined for each page, the determined resolution of the first page is stored in the storage unit 410, and the control unit 411 sets the resolution of drawing data of each subsequent page to be the same based on the stored resolution. By controlling the output resolution of the output unit 407, the print job 2
It is possible to shorten the processing time after the page and to make the resolution uniform within a print job.

The print data processing operation of the printing apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing a second embodiment of the printing method of the printing apparatus according to the present invention. In addition,
(1) to (16) show each step. Also, host 4
It is assumed that the 3-page print job is sent from 02 to the printing apparatus 401.

When a series of input data is sent from the host 402, the printing apparatus 401 receives the series of input data in the IF section 403 (1). Next, the IF unit 40
When 3 starts receiving a series of input data, the translation means 4
04 to the reception notification, and the received data to IF
The data is accumulated in the reception buffer in the unit 403 (2).

Next, when the translating means 404 receives the reception notification from the IF section 403, it issues a job start instruction to the resolution determining means 406. Upon receiving the job start instruction, the resolution determination unit 406 changes the current resolution to the high resolution 600d.
Set to pi (3). Then, the translation means 404 uses I
The input data is read from the reception buffer of the F unit 403, translated, the drawing data is created, and the frame buffer 405
Send the drawing data to.

Next, when the frame buffer 405 receives the drawing data, the drawing buffer stores the drawing data at the current resolution (4). In this way, the frame buffer 405 successively accumulates the drawing data sent from the translating means 404. Next, it is determined whether or not it is a paper discharge command (5), and since the answer is NO, it is assumed that the frame buffer 405 is full due to the drawing data output by the translating means 404.

At this time, the resolution determining means 406 constantly monitors the frame buffer 405,
When the frame buffer 405 is full (6) and the determination in step (7) is NO, the current resolution is set to the low resolution 300.
Set to dpi (9) and until then frame buffer 40
Drawing data accumulated in 5 to 600d from 600dpi
Converting to pi (10), returning to step (4), the drawing data output from the translating means 404 is stored in the frame buffer 405 at the current resolution of 300 dpi. The lower the resolution of the frame buffer 405, the smaller the amount of memory used.

Then, the translating means 404 analyzes the input data and creates drawing data, and the frame buffer 405
When the frame buffer 405 becomes full (6), it is determined that the resolution cannot be reduced any more (7), and the printing process ends as an error (8). In this embodiment, it is assumed that the current resolution has dropped to the low resolution of 300 dpi.

On the other hand, when the translating means 404 finds a paper ejection instruction such as <FF> (0CH) during the translation of the input data in step (5), it instructs the resolution determining means 406 to eject the page. . When the resolution determining unit 406 receives a paper discharge instruction from the translating unit 404, the current resolution 300
The dpi is set as the resolution used for printing the first page, and the resolution is notified to the control unit 411.

In response to this, the control means 411 determines whether or not the discharged page is the first page (14). If NO, the process proceeds to step (11) and thereafter, and when the resolution notification of the first page is received, The content is stored in the storage means 410 (1
5).

At this time, when the resolution determining means 406 notifies the resolution, the print resolution of the output means 407 is set to the current resolution of 300 dpi, and the frame buffer 405 is set.
A drawing data transmission instruction is issued to Frame buffer 4
When 05 receives the drawing data transmission instruction from the resolution determining unit 406, the drawing data of the page accumulated so far is transmitted to the output unit 407. Upon receiving the drawing data from the frame buffer 406, the output unit 407 takes in the printing paper from the paper cassette 408 and outputs the drawing data received from the frame buffer 406 at the resolution of 300 dpi instructed by the resolution determining unit 406 to the printing paper. The page is discharged (11).

When the paper discharge is completed in this way, the memory of the frame buffer 406 is cleared (12). Then, it is judged whether or not the job is finished (13), and if NO, the control means 41 performs the printing process for the second and subsequent pages.
1 is the resolution of the first page 30
Since it is performed with the same resolution as 0 dpi, 1 from the storage means 410
After reading the facial image degree of the page and setting the current resolution to that value (16), the process returns to step (4), and then the translating means 404 translates the input data to create drawing data, and the frame buffer 405. The drawing data is accumulated in. Then, the frame buffer 405 stores the drawing data at the current resolution of 300 dpi (4), and thereafter performs the same print processing as the first page, and prints the second page at the low resolution of 300 dpi. Then, the printing process for the third page is performed in the same manner as for the second page, and printing is performed at a low resolution of 300 dpi. And 3
When the print processing of the page is completed and the print job is completed in step (13), the actual printing operation is completed. In this way, since the printing processing is performed at the low resolution from the beginning on the second page and the third page, the processing time is shorter than the processing at the high resolution first and the low resolution halfway.

Correspondence between the present embodiment and each step of the eleventh invention and its action will be described below with reference to FIG.

An eleventh aspect of the invention is a translation means 404 for translating input data input from a data source to create drawing data for printing, and a storage means (frame buffer 405) for storing the drawing data in page units. ) And a printing unit (output unit 407) capable of printing the drawing data at any resolution, and a printing method of a printing apparatus capable of printing at two high and low resolutions, which is expanded in the storage unit. Determining step of analyzing the complexity of the drawing data according to the page size and determining the resolution of the drawing data to be printed by the printing unit (steps (3) to (10) in FIG. 5).
And the resolution of the determined first page is stored in the storage means 41.
Writing process to write 0 (steps (14) and (1 in FIG. 5
5)) and the setting step of setting the resolution of the drawing data of each subsequent page so that the resolution of the drawing data of each subsequent page becomes the same based on the written resolution (step (6 in FIG. 5). )) And a printing step (step (11) in FIG. 5) of causing the printing unit to print the drawing data of each page at the set resolution, and the processing time of the second and subsequent pages of the print job is It is possible to automate the process for shortening and the process for ensuring uniformity of print quality in a print job.

[Third Embodiment] FIG. 6 is a block diagram for explaining the control arrangement of a printing apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, reference numeral 601 denotes a printing device, and 300
It is configured to be able to print at three types of resolutions of dpi, 600 dpi, and 1200 dpi. A host computer (host) 602 transmits a series of input data (hereinafter referred to as a print job) from the start of printing to the end of printing to the printing apparatus 601.

Reference numeral 603 denotes an interface section (IF section).
It has a reception buffer, receives input data sent from the host 602, and stores the received input data in the reception buffer. A translation unit 604 translates the input data stored in the reception buffer of the IF unit 603 and creates drawing data for printing on the printing paper.

Reference numeral 605 denotes a frame buffer, which is the translation means 6
The drawing data output from 04 is stored for one page, and when the translation unit 604 issues a paper discharge instruction, the stored drawing data is transmitted to the output unit 607. A resolution determining unit 606 analyzes the complexity of the drawing data stored in the frame buffer 605 and determines the resolution to be printed by the analysis.

Reference numeral 607 denotes an output means, which is 300 dpi, 60
It has three types of resolutions of 0 dpi and 1200 dpi, and the drawing data accumulated in the frame buffer 605 is output to the printing paper at the resolution designated by the resolution determining unit 606. A paper cassette 608 accommodates print paper to be supplied to the output unit 607. Reference numeral 609 denotes a print sheet that has been drawn and output, and 610 is a control unit that analyzes the resolution of all pages of a print job, and if even one page of low resolution is included in the print job, the print job is processed from the first page to all pages of low resolution. Control to print with.

Reference numeral 611 denotes a page storage memory, which is a control means 6
The frame buffer 60 according to the memory transfer instruction from 10.
5 pages are stored, or the stored pages are transferred to the frame buffer 605.

Correspondence between the present embodiment and each means of the eighth and ninth inventions and their functions will be described below with reference to FIG. 6 and the like.

An eighth aspect of the present invention is a printing apparatus capable of printing at a plurality of resolutions, and a translation unit 604 that translates input data input from a data source to create drawing data and prints the drawing data. A storage unit (frame buffer 605) that stores data in page units, a storage unit (page storage memory 611) that sequentially stores the drawing data stored in the storage unit, and the drawing data stored in the storage unit And a determination unit (resolution determination unit 606) that determines the resolution of the drawing data by analyzing the complexity of the drawing data expanded in the storage unit. ), And the resolution of each page stored in the storage unit at the timing when the resolution determined by the determination unit matches the lowest resolution that can be set. Control means 610 for causing the printing means to sequentially print the drawing data as the drawing data of the lowest resolution, and the complexity of the drawing data developed in the storage means by the determining means is analyzed to analyze the drawing data. When the resolution is determined, the control means sequentially uses the drawing data of each page accumulated in the accumulating means as the lowest quality drawing data at the timing when the determined resolution coincides with the lowest resolution that can be set. By making the printing unit print, it is possible to achieve uniformity of resolution within a print job.

In the ninth invention, the notifying means notifies the data source of the resolution of each page determined by the determining means, and the data source side can recognize the resolution of the print result.

The print data processing operation of the printing apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing a third embodiment of the printing method of the printing apparatus according to the present invention. In addition,
(1) to (19) show each step. Also, host 6
It is assumed that a 3-page print job is sent from 02 to the printing apparatus 601.

When a series of input data is sent from the host 602, the printing apparatus 601 receives the series of input data by the IF unit 603 (1). When the IF unit 603 starts receiving a series of input data, the IF unit 603 sends a reception notification to the translating means 604, and the received data is transferred to the IF unit 603.
The data is accumulated in the internal reception buffer (2). Upon receiving the reception notification from the IF unit 603, the translation unit 604 issues a job start instruction to the resolution determination unit 606. Upon receiving the job start instruction, the resolution determining unit 606 sets the current resolution to the highest value 1200 dpi (3).

Then, the translating means 604 has the IF unit 603.
The input data is read from the reception buffer of No. 3, translated, drawing data is created, and the drawing data is transmitted to the frame buffer 605. Upon receiving the drawing data, the frame buffer 605 stores the drawing data at the current resolution (4). In this way, the frame buffer 60
5 sequentially stores the drawing data sent from the translation means 604.

Then, it is judged whether or not it is a paper discharge command (5), and if NO, it is judged whether or not the frame buffer is in the FULL state (6).

Now, it is assumed that the frame buffer 605 is filled with the drawing data output by the translating means 604. The resolution determining means 606 is always the frame buffer 6
05, and when the frame buffer 605 becomes full, the determination in step (7) becomes NO, the current resolution is lowered by one step and set to 600 dpi (9), and the drawing data accumulated in the frame buffer 605 until then is set. The conversion from 1200 dpi to 600 dpi is performed (10), the process returns to step (4), and the drawing data output from the translating means 604 is stored in the frame buffer 605 at the current resolution of 600 dpi. The frame buffer 60
For 5, the lower the resolution, the smaller the amount of memory used.

Then, the translating means 604 analyzes the input data and creates drawing data, and the frame buffer 60
Continue to store drawing data in 5. Then, in step (6), when the frame buffer 605 becomes full, the resolution determining means 606 further reduces the current resolution by one step to 300 dpi (9), and the drawing data accumulated in the frame buffer 605 until then. 600d
Converting from pi to 300 dpi (10), returning to step (4) again, the drawing data output from the translating means 604 is stored in the frame buffer 605 at the current resolution of 300.
Accumulate in dpi.

Then, the translating means 604 analyzes the input data and creates drawing data, and the frame buffer 60
When the frame buffer 605 is full in step (6) and the drawing data is continuously stored in step 5, the step (7) is YES, that is, the resolution cannot be reduced any more, and the print processing is regarded as an error. Is completed (8). In this embodiment, it is assumed that the current resolution has dropped to 300 di at this stage.

On the other hand, in step (5), the translation means 604
When it finds a paper discharge command such as <FF> (0CH) during the translation of the input data, it instructs the resolution determining unit 606 to discharge the page. When the resolution determining unit 606 receives the paper discharge instruction, the resolution determining unit 606 notifies the control unit 610 of paper discharge. When the control means 610 receives the discharge notification, the frame buffer 6
The drawing data accumulated in 05 is transferred to the page storage memory 611 as drawing data for one page (11). When the transfer of the drawing data from the frame buffer 605 to the page storage memory 611 is completed, the frame buffer 60
The memory of 5 is cleared (12).

Then, the processing of the second page is performed with the current resolution as it is, and the drawing data of the second page is transferred to the page storage memory 611 in the same manner. Then, the processing of the third page is performed with the current resolution at the time when the processing of the second page is completed, and similarly,
The drawing data of the page is transferred to the page storage memory 611. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the current resolution is 300 dpi when the third page is finished.

In this way, when the processing up to the third page is finished and the translation means 604 finishes the processing of the print job, the resolution decision means 606 is instructed to finish the job.

Then, it is judged whether the job is completed (1
3) When the resolution determining unit 606 receives the job end instruction, it notifies the control unit 610 of the job end. Upon receiving the job end notification, the control unit 610 determines whether there is a page stored in the page storage memory 611 (14), and determines the youngest page stored in the page storage memory 611 (first page). The drawing data of () is transferred to the frame buffer (15), and the transferred drawing data is deleted from the page storage memory 611 (16).

Then, the resolution determining means 606 sets the drawing data in the frame buffer 605 to the current resolution 30.
It is converted to 0 dpi (17), and the frame buffer 605 is instructed to transmit drawing data. Frame buffer 60
When receiving the drawing data transmission instruction from the resolution determining unit 606, the fifth unit 5 transmits the drawing data of the first page to the output unit 607. Upon receiving the drawing data from the frame buffer 606, the output unit 607 takes in the printing paper from the paper cassette 608 and outputs the drawing data received from the frame buffer 606 at the resolution of 300 dpi specified by the resolution determining unit 606 to the printing paper. The first page is discharged (18). Next, the frame buffer 606 is cleared (19), the process returns to step (14), the second and third pages are printed in the same manner, and it is determined that there are no more pages stored in the page storage memory 611. Then (14), the present printing process ends.

Correspondence between the present embodiment and each step of the twelfth invention and its action will be described below with reference to FIG. 7 and the like.

A twelfth aspect of the present invention is a translating means 604 for translating input data input from a data source to create drawing data for printing, and a storage means (frame buffer 605) for storing the drawing data in page units. ), A storage unit (page management memory 611) for storing the drawing data stored in the storage unit, and a printing unit (output unit 607) capable of printing the drawing data at any resolution.
And a resolution of the drawing data printed by the printing unit by analyzing the complexity of the drawing data developed in the storage unit. Determination step for determining page by page (see FIG. 7).
Step (4) to (7)), and a changing step (step (9) in FIG. 7) of changing the resolution from the high resolution to the one-step lower resolution based on the determination result, and the changed resolution is the minimum. Judgment step for judging whether or not the resolution (step (6) in FIG. 7 which is not shown in the case of NO)
And a printing step for causing the printing means to print the drawing data accumulated in the accumulating means as the drawing data based on the lowest resolution based on the determination result (step (1 in FIG. 7
By executing steps 4) to 19), it is possible to automate the process for achieving the uniformity of resolution in the print job.

In the first embodiment, an example is shown in which resolution data is created and stored in the frame buffer at the stage when the print resolution of each page of the print job is determined, but the resolution data is held in advance. It may be configured to store the data in the frame buffer when the print resolution of each page of the alternate print job is determined.

Further, in the first embodiment, the example in which the instruction as to whether or not to print the resolution data on the printing paper is given from the operation panel has been shown. However, the instruction or not to print the resolution data on the printing paper is given. May be specified in a print job sent from the host.

Further, in the first embodiment, an example in which the drawing data and the resolution data of each page of the print job are printed on the same page is shown. However, the resolution data is printed on another page, or double-sided printing is performed. The drawing data of each page may be printed on the front surface and the resolution data may be printed on the back surface.

In the second and third embodiments, the resolution has been described as an example of the print quality, but what if the print quality has a plurality of levels such as the character development method and the image drawing method? The present invention can be applied to anything. Hereinafter, the correspondence between the embodiment and each step of the fifth and seventh inventions and the operation thereof will be described. The basic device configuration is the same as in FIGS. 4 and 6.

A fifth aspect of the present invention is a printing apparatus capable of printing with high and low print qualities, and translating means 404 for translating input data input from a data source to create drawing data for printing. A storage unit (frame buffer 405) for storing the drawing data in page units, a printing unit (output unit 407) capable of printing the drawing data with one of the print qualities, and the drawing expanded in the storage unit. There are a plurality of determining means (character expansion method, image drawing method (dither method, density diffusion method, etc.)) for analyzing the complexity of data and determining the print quality of the drawing data printed by the printing means in page units. If you have a level of
Which level), the quality storage means (storage means 410) for storing the print quality of the first page determined by the determination means, and the print quality stored in the quality storage means. And a control unit 411 for controlling the output quality of the printing unit so that the drawing quality of the drawing data of each page is the same, and the resolution determining unit 406.
When the print quality of the drawing data printed by the output unit 407 is determined for each page by analyzing the complexity of the drawing data expanded in the frame buffer 405 by the storage unit 410, the determined print quality of the first page is stored in the storage unit 410. The control means 41 is stored and stored on the basis of the stored print quality.
By controlling the output quality of the output unit 407 so that the drawing data of each page following 1 is the same, the processing time for the second and subsequent pages of the print job can be shortened and the print product can be printed within the print job. It is possible to achieve unity of rank.

A seventh aspect of the present invention is a printing device capable of printing with a plurality of print qualities, and a translation unit 604 that translates input data input from a data source to create drawing data for printing. A storage unit (frame buffer 605) that stores drawing data in page units, a storage unit (page management memory 611) that sequentially stores the drawing data stored in the storage unit, and the drawing stored in the storage unit. A printing unit (output unit 607) capable of printing data with any print quality, and a print quality of the drawing data (character expansion method, image) by analyzing the complexity of the drawing data expanded in the storage unit. Determining method for determining the drawing method (dither method, concentration diffusion method, etc.) having a plurality of levels), Control means for causing the printing means to sequentially print the drawing data of each page accumulated in the accumulating means as the lowest quality drawing data at the timing when the printing quality determined by If the print quality of the drawing data is determined by analyzing the complexity of the drawing data expanded in the frame buffer 605 by the determining means, the control means 610 sets the determined print quality. At the same timing as the lowest possible print quality, the drawing data of each page stored in the page storage memory 611 is sequentially printed by the output means 607 as the lowest quality drawing data, and the print quality is unified within the print job. It is possible to achieve

Further, in the third embodiment, the drawing data of all pages of the print job are created, the drawing data is stored in the page storage memory, and then each page stored in the page storage memory using the lowest resolution. Although the example in which the resolution of the drawing data is converted and printing is performed has been described, another method may be used as long as the printing is performed using the lowest resolution among all pages of the print job.

The present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices or an apparatus composed of a single device. Further, it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to the case where it is achieved by supplying a program to a system or an apparatus. In this case, by reading a storage medium storing a program represented by software for achieving the present invention into the system or apparatus, the system or apparatus can enjoy the effects of the present invention. .

Further, by downloading and reading a program represented by software for achieving the present invention from a database on a network by a communication program, the system or apparatus can be
It is possible to enjoy the effects of the present invention.

[0134]

As described above, the first aspect of the present invention
According to the invention, when the determining unit determines the resolution of the drawing data printed by the printing unit for each page from the completion state of the expansion of the drawing data in the storage unit, the creating unit determines the resolution based on the determined resolution. Since the resolution data to be printed together with the drawing data is created and expanded in the storage means, it is possible to visually recognize the resolution at the time of printing together with the printing result.

According to the second invention, the instruction state of the instruction means for instructing whether to print the resolution data created by the creating means is held in the holding means, and the control means is based on the held instruction state. Controls the printing of the resolution data and / or the drawing data by the printing means, so that the process of visually recognizing the resolution at the time of printing together with the print result can be selected and performed by an instruction from the user.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the process of visually recognizing the resolution at the time of printing together with the print result can be selected and performed from the printer side by an instruction from the operation panel from the user.

According to the fourth invention, the process of visually recognizing the resolution at the time of printing together with the printing result can be selected from the data source side by the instruction from the input data from the data source.

According to the fifth aspect, when the determining unit analyzes the complexity of the drawing data developed in the storage unit and determines the print quality of the drawing data printed by the printing unit in page units, The determined print quality of the first page is stored in the quality storage means, and based on the stored print quality, the control means sets the print quality of the drawing data of each subsequent page to be the same. Since the output quality is controlled, the processing time after the second page of the print job can be shortened and the print quality can be made uniform within the print job.

According to the sixth aspect of the invention, when the determination unit analyzes the complexity of the drawing data developed in the storage unit and determines the resolution of the drawing data printed by the printing unit in page units, The determined resolution of the first page is stored in the resolution storage means, and the control means controls the output resolution of the printing means based on the stored resolution so that the resolution of the drawing data of each subsequent page becomes the same. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the processing time of the second and subsequent pages of the print job and to make the resolution uniform within the print job.

According to the seventh invention, when the deciding means analyzes the complexity of the drawing data developed in the storage means to decide the print quality of the drawing data, the control means decides the printing quality. Since the drawing data of each page accumulated in the accumulating means is sequentially printed by the printing means as the lowest quality drawing data at the timing when the printing quality coincides with the lowest print quality that can be set, the printing quality within the print job The unity of rank can be achieved.

According to the eighth aspect, when the resolution of the drawing data is determined by analyzing the complexity of the drawing data expanded in the storage means by the determining means, the control means determines the resolution. Since the drawing data of each page accumulated in the accumulating unit is sequentially printed by the printing unit as the lowest-quality drawing data at a timing that coincides with the lowest resolution that can be set, the uniformity of resolution within the print job Can be achieved.

According to the ninth invention, since the notifying means notifies the data source of the resolution of each page determined by the determining means, the data source can recognize the resolution of the print result.

According to the tenth aspect, the resolution of the drawing data printed by the printing unit is determined for each page by analyzing the complexity of the drawing data developed in the storage unit, and the determined resolution is determined. Since the resolution data to be printed together with the drawing data is created based on the above and developed in the storage means, the process of visually recognizing the resolution at the time of printing together with the printing result can be automated.

According to the eleventh aspect, the resolution of the drawing data printed by the printing unit is determined in page units by analyzing the complexity of the drawing data developed in the storage unit, and the determined head is determined. The resolution of the page is written in the storage means, the resolution of the drawing data of each subsequent page is set based on the written resolution so that the resolution of the drawing data of each subsequent page is the same, and the resolution is set. Since the drawing data of each page is printed by the printing means at different resolutions, it is possible to automate the process of reducing the processing time of the second and subsequent pages of the print job and the process of ensuring the uniformity of print quality within the print job. it can.

According to the twelfth aspect, the complexity of the drawing data developed in the storage means is analyzed, the resolution of the drawing data printed by the printing means is determined in page units, and the determination result is used. On the basis of the resolution, the resolution is changed from the high resolution to one step lower resolution, it is determined whether the changed resolution is the lowest resolution, and the drawing data accumulated in the accumulating unit is based on the lowest resolution based on the determination result. Since the printing means prints the drawing data, it is possible to automate the process of making the resolutions uniform in the print job.

Therefore, in the printing apparatus capable of printing the print information with a plurality of print qualities, it is possible to surely grasp what kind of print quality the print result is.

Further, in a printing apparatus capable of printing print information with two different print qualities, even if the complexity of the print information of each input page is different, it is possible to obtain a print result with uniform print quality at high speed. You can

Further, in a printing apparatus capable of printing print information with different print quality, even if the complexity of the print information of each input page is different, it is possible to obtain a print result with uniform print quality. Play.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a control configuration of a printing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an output example output from the output means shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a first embodiment of a printing method of a printing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a control configuration of a printing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a second embodiment of the printing method of the printing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a control configuration of a printing apparatus according to a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a third embodiment of the printing method of the printing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a control configuration of a printing apparatus of this type.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a print processing procedure of a conventional printing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 101 printing device 102 host 103 IF unit 104 translation means 105 frame buffer 106 resolution determination means 107 output means 108 paper cassette 109 printing paper 110 resolution data creation means 111 operation panel 112 storage means

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A printing device capable of printing at least one or more resolutions, and translating means for creating drawing data for translating and printing input data input from a data source, and the drawing data. Storage means for storing in page units, printing means capable of printing the drawing data at any resolution, drawing for printing by the printing means by analyzing the complexity of the drawing data developed in the storage means A determination means for determining the resolution of the data for each page, and a creation means for creating resolution data to be printed together with the drawing data based on the resolution determined by the determination means and developing the resolution data in the storage means, A printing apparatus, wherein the printing means prints the resolution data and the drawing data developed in the storage means on a recording medium. 2. An instruction means for instructing whether or not to print the resolution data created by the creating means, a holding means for holding an instructed state of the instructing means, and the instructing state held by the holding means. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a control unit that controls printing of the resolution data and / or the drawing data by a printing unit. 3. The printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the instruction from the instruction unit is an instruction input from an operation panel. 4. The printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the instruction from the instruction unit is input data from a data source. 5. A printing device capable of printing with high and low printing quality, and translating means for translating input data input from a data source to create drawing data for printing.
A storage unit that stores the drawing data in page units, a printing unit that can print the drawing data with one of the print qualities, and a printing unit that analyzes the complexity of the drawing data that is expanded in the storage unit. Determining means for determining the print quality of the drawing data printed by the means for each page, quality storing means for storing the print quality of the first page determined by the determining means, and print quality stored in the quality storing means. And a control unit that controls the output quality of the printing unit so that the drawing data of the subsequent pages have the same print quality. 6. A printing device capable of printing in high and low resolutions, and translating means for translating input data input from a data source to create drawing data, and the drawing data in page units. Storage means for storing the drawing data, a printing means capable of printing the drawing data at one of the resolutions, and the drawing data printed by the printing means by analyzing the complexity of the drawing data developed in the storage means. Of the resolution of the first page determined by the determining unit, a resolution storing unit that stores the resolution of the first page determined by the determining unit, and drawing data of each subsequent page based on the resolution stored in the resolution storing unit. And a control unit that controls the output resolution of the printing unit so that the resolutions are the same. 7. A printing device capable of printing with a plurality of print qualities, a translation means for translating input data input from a data source to create drawing data, and the drawing data in page units. A storage unit for storing the drawing data stored in the storage unit, a storage unit for sequentially storing the drawing data stored in the storage unit, a printing unit capable of printing the drawing data stored in the storage unit with any print quality; A determination unit that analyzes the complexity of the drawing data developed in the storage unit to determine the print quality of the drawing data, and the print quality determined by the determination unit matches the lowest print quality that can be set. Control means for causing the printing means to sequentially print the drawing data of each page accumulated in the accumulating means as the lowest quality drawing data at a timing. Printing device. 8. A printing device capable of printing at a plurality of resolutions, and translating means for creating drawing data for translating and printing input data input from a data source, and the drawing data in page units. Storage means for storing, storage means for sequentially storing the drawing data stored in the storage means, printing means capable of printing the drawing data stored in the storage means at any resolution, and the storage means Deciding means for deciding the resolution of the drawing data by analyzing the complexity of the drawing data developed in, and the accumulating means at the timing when the resolution decided by the deciding means coincides with the lowest resolution that can be set. And a control unit that causes the printing unit to sequentially print the drawing data of each page stored as the drawing data of the lowest resolution. apparatus. 9. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising notifying means for notifying the data source of the resolution of each page determined by the determining means. 10. A translation means for translating input data input from a data source to create drawing data for printing, a storage means for storing the drawing data in page units, and the drawing at any resolution. A printing method of a printing apparatus having a printing unit capable of printing data and capable of printing at at least one resolution, wherein the printing is performed by analyzing the complexity of the drawing data developed in the storage unit. A determining step for determining the resolution of the drawing data to be printed by the means for each page, and a creating step for creating resolution data to be printed together with the drawing data based on the determined resolution and expanding the resolution data in the storage means. A printing method for a printing apparatus, comprising: 11. A translation means for translating input data input from a data source to create drawing data for printing, a storage means for storing the drawing data in page units, and the drawing at any resolution. A printing method of a printing apparatus having a printing unit capable of printing data and capable of printing at high and low resolutions, wherein the printing unit analyzes the complexity of the drawing data developed in the storage unit, A determining step of determining the resolution of the drawing data to be printed on a page basis, a writing step of writing the determined resolution of the first page in the storage means, and drawing data of each subsequent page based on the written resolution. Setting step of setting the resolution of the drawing data of each subsequent page so that the resolution of each page becomes the same, and the drawing data of the drawing data of each page at the set resolution. A printing method for a printing device, comprising: 12. A translation means for translating input data input from a data source to create drawing data for printing, a storage means for storing the drawing data in page units, and a storage means stored in the storage means. A printing method for a printing apparatus, which has a storage unit for storing drawing data and a printing unit capable of printing the drawing data at any resolution, and is capable of printing with a plurality of print qualities, and is developed in the storage unit. A step of analyzing the complexity of the drawing data to determine the resolution of the drawing data printed by the printing unit in page units, and changing the resolution from high resolution to one step lower resolution based on the determination result. Change step, a determination step of determining whether the changed resolution is the lowest resolution, and the drawing data accumulated in the accumulating unit based on the determination result based on the lowest resolution. And a printing step of causing the printing means to print the drawing data as drawing data.