JPH10228362A - Printing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printing system allowing a master device to specify a printing format to be used when a printer prints up each N pages of printing data transferred from the host device. SOLUTION: The host device 10 sends printing data for plural pages and printing format information. A printing format storage part 204 in the printer 20 stores the printing format information informed from the device 10 or a printing format specified or selected by an operator and accepted by a printing format accepting part 205. A layout means 201 layouts each N pages of the printing data transferred from the device 10 on the main face of recording paper. A printing face determination means 203 judges whether a printing face is a single face or both faces based on the printing format and informs a printer engine 202 of the judged result.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing system for N-up printing, in which a printing apparatus prints a plurality of pages of print data transferred from a higher-level device on a main surface of a recording medium by N pages. In particular, the present invention relates to a printing system that allows a printing apparatus to set a print format for N-up printing from a host device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, print data (page data) for one page transmitted from a host device is developed into a bitmap image in a printing device, and each page of each sheet (hereinafter, also referred to as a physical page). Is printed on each of them. However, such a printing method has a problem in that printing efficiency is low because it is necessary to prepare sheets for the number of prints and execute the printing operation for the number of prints.

In order to solve such a problem, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 5-177899 discloses a method using one of recording sheets.
2. Description of the Related Art An N-up printing apparatus that prints a plurality of (N) page data on a page has been proposed. When a plurality of page data are printed on one page, the method of designating the layout is problematic.
The number of pages, layout, and printing order of page data to be printed on a page have been defined in the printer device in advance.

For example, in two-up printing in which two page data are printed on one page, the page data input first is automatically laid out on the left side of the landscape paper, and the page data input later is automatically laid out on the right side and printed. Is done. Similarly, in 4-up printing in which four page data are printed on one page, the first input page data is the upper left side of the portrait paper, the next input page data is the upper right side, and the next input page data is the upper right side. The page data is automatically laid out and printed on the lower left side, and the last input page data is on the upper right side.

[0005]

As described above, if the number of page data to be printed on a physical page, the layout, and the printing order are uniquely defined in advance in the printer, the same printing is performed from the host. Even when data is transferred, there is a problem that the print format changes depending on the settings on the printer device side.

For example, even when performing 4-up printing on the front and back sides of one page, a printer apparatus that continuously prints four pages of page data on a physical page, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H10-163, is used. The input page data is sequentially laid out in the upper left column, upper right column, lower left column, and lower right column of the physical page, and, like the front surface, each page data is also laid out in the upper left column, upper right column of the physical page. , A lower left column and a lower right column.

[0007] On the other hand, in a printer device for printing postcards, only the addresses for four destinations are printed on the front side, and only the document for each destination is printed on the back side, and then the print medium is cut. Need to be able to use as postcard.
In this case, the page data transferred from the higher-level device is normally transferred in the order of “Destination of Party A”, “Document to Party A”, “Address of Party B”, “Document to Party B”, and so on. Page data for the first, third, fifth, and seventh destinations is laid out on the front side of the document, and a document for each destination is written on the back side of the physical page so as to correspond to each destination on the front side. You need to lay out.

Therefore, if data for printing a postcard is transferred to a printer device whose printing format is set for printing, such as a patent publication, the combination of the address and the document of each postcard is incorrect after cutting. There was a problem that the address was printed on the back and the document was printed on the front.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and a higher-level device can arbitrarily designate a print format when a printing device performs N-up printing of print data transferred from a higher-level device. It is another object of the present invention to provide a printing system as described above.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a printing apparatus for printing a plurality of pages of print data sent from a higher-level device on a main surface of a recording medium by N pages. In a printing system that supports N-up printing, the print data for a plurality of pages is transferred from the host device to the printing device, and the print format is notified. The printing apparatus performs N-up printing of the print data transferred from the higher-level device based on the print format also notified from the higher-level device.

[0011] According to the above-described configuration, the print format used when the printing apparatus performs N-up printing of the print data transferred from the higher-level device can be arbitrarily designated on the higher-level device side.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention, which includes a higher-level device 10 that sends print data and print format information for a plurality of pages,
A printing apparatus 20 that supports N-up printing and prints the input print data on the main surface of the recording paper by N pages based on the notified print format information.

In the host device 10, the print data transfer means 101 transfers print data for a plurality of pages to the printing device 20 via the network 30. The print format setting unit 102 sets a print format specified or selected by the operator. The print format notifying unit 103 notifies the printing device 20 of the print format via the network 30.

On the other hand, in the printing apparatus 20, the print format storage unit 204 stores the print format notified from the host device 10 or the print format specified or selected by the operator and received by the print format reception unit 205. It is memorized. The layout means 201 includes the print format storage unit 2
Based on the print format stored in the printer 04, the print data transferred from the host device 10 is developed into a bitmap image and laid out for N pages on the main surface of the recording paper.
The print surface determination unit 203 determines whether the print surface is one side or both sides based on the print format, and notifies the printer engine 202 of the determination. Printer engine 202
Prints an N-up print image laid out based on a print format on one or both main surfaces of a recording medium such as a recording sheet or an OHP sheet.

In the layout means 201, the page recognizing section 301 recognizes page breaks of print data for a plurality of pages continuously input from the host device 10. The developing unit 304 develops the print data into a bitmap image. The print image operation unit 302 includes an image rotation unit 401 and an image shift unit 402, and operates (rotates or shifts) a print image in page units based on a print format. N-up control unit 302
Lays out print images for a plurality of pages on a physical page based on a print format,
02.

The operation of this embodiment will be described below with reference to a flowchart. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a main operation of the printing apparatus 2. When data input is detected in step S101, it is determined in step S102 whether a print format has been notified from the higher-level device 10. If the print format has been notified, step S1
04, the notified print format is stored in the print format storage unit 204.
And the current print format. If the print format has not been notified, in step S103, a standard format registered in advance in the print format storage unit 204 or a format received by the print format reception unit 205 is selected as the current print format. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a print format, in which print surface information indicating whether a print surface is double-sided or single-sided, binding margin information for specifying a binding margin position, a shift amount of a print image, and N Up information, the presence or absence of cutting after printing, and the like are stored.

In step S105, it is determined whether or not the capture of the print data has been completed. At first, it is determined that it has not been completed, and the process proceeds to step S106. Step S1
In step 06, the acquired print data is stored in the developing unit 304.
Is expanded to a bitmap image. In step S107, the page recognition unit 301 determines whether the page boundary of the print data has been reached. If the page is in the middle of the page, the process returns to step S105. When the page boundary is reached, in step S108, various operations (rotation and shift) according to the print format are executed on the print image for one page.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the processing contents of the step S108. Here, FIGS.
As shown in FIGS. 5 and 11, a case where 4-up double-sided printing is performed vertically (landscape) with a short side as a binding margin, and FIGS.
As described above, the content of the processing in step S108 will be described by taking, as an example, the case where 4-sided double-sided printing is performed horizontally (portrait) using the long side as a binding margin.

In step S201, it is determined whether or not the print image needs to be rotated based on the print format. Here, as shown in FIG. 4, in portrait double-sided printing with a short side as a binding margin, even-numbered pages are back-side printed. Then, as shown in FIG. 10, it is necessary to rotate the print image for the even-numbered pages so that the even-numbered pages have the same orientation as the odd-numbered pages even when the paper is turned after the prepress. Therefore, it is determined that rotation is necessary for the even-numbered pages, and step S202 is performed.
Then, it is determined that rotation is unnecessary for odd pages, and the process proceeds to step S203. In step S202, the print image is rotated by 180 degrees by the image rotation unit 401. On the other hand, in the case of landscape double-sided printing with a long side as a binding margin as shown in FIG. 5, after plate making, the result is as shown in FIG. 11, and when the paper is turned without rotating even pages. The even page has the same orientation as the odd page. Therefore, it is determined that rotation is unnecessary regardless of the even page or the odd page, and the process proceeds to step S203.

In step S203, it is determined based on the print format whether or not the image needs to be shifted. If the binding margin is specified in the print format, the process proceeds to step S204. Here, in the example shown in FIG. 4, the binding margin is on the upper side for odd pages, and the binding margin is on the lower side for even pages. Therefore, in step S204, the print image is changed to the lower side for odd pages. , And upward for even pages, respectively.
Is shifted by On the other hand, in the example shown in FIG. 5, the binding margin is on the left side for the odd numbered pages and is on the right side for the even numbered pages. Pages are shifted to the left.

Returning to FIG. 2, in step S109, the N-up control unit 302 executes an N-up process of laying out a print image for a plurality of pages on one page (physical page) of the recording paper.

FIGS. 7 and 8 are diagrams schematically showing the N-up processing in step S109. Here, the 4-up processing will be described as an example. FIG. 7 shows processing in a case where a sheet is used without cutting after 4-up printing (hereinafter, referred to as publication printing), such as printing in a patent publication, and FIG. Thus, the processing in the case where the paper is cut and used after 4-up printing is shown.

In the case of publication printing, as shown in FIG.
The first to fourth pages of the print image are laid out on the front side of the physical page in this order, and the fifth to eighth pages of the print image are laid out on the back side in this order. On the other hand, in postcard printing, the back of the first page of the print image is the second page and the back of the third page is the fourth page.
Since the page number needs to be laid out, FIG.
As shown in the above, the first where the destination and address are recorded,
The third, fifth, and seventh pages are laid out on the front side of the physical page, and on the back side of the physical page, a print image for each back side is laid out.

Returning to FIG. 2, in step S110, it is determined whether the layout of one physical page has been completed. If not completed, the process returns to step S105.
A print image for the remaining print data is laid out on a physical page. When the layout of one physical page is completed, the print image is transferred from the N-up control unit 302 to the printer engine 202 in step S111. In step S112, a printing process is executed by the printer engine 202.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the operation of the printing process. In step S301, it is determined whether or not double-sided printing is to be performed by referring to the print format. If it is double-sided printing, in step S302, it is further determined whether or not printing on the front side has been completed. At first, it is determined that printing has not been completed, and the process proceeds to step S303. In step S303,
A new recording sheet is fed, and in step S304, N-up printing is performed on the front side. If it is determined in step S302 that the printing of the front side has already been completed, in step S305, the recording sheet having the front side printed is turned over and re-fed, and in step S304, the N-up printing for the back side is performed. Is performed.

On the other hand, in step S105 of FIG.
If the capture of the print data is completed before the print images for one page are prepared, the process proceeds to step S121.
In step S121, the data laid out halfway is transferred to the printer engine 202, and the flow advances to step S1.
Printed at 22.

In the above-described embodiment, the presence or absence of rotation and the rotation angle of the print image, or the presence or absence of a shift with respect to the print image are determined based on the presence or absence of a binding margin. Not limited to this, depending on the setting of the print format in the host device, it is possible to arbitrarily set the presence or absence of rotation and the rotation angle with respect to the print image, the presence or absence of shift, and the amount of shift separately from the presence or absence of the binding margin. it can.

[0028]

According to the present invention, the print format used when the printing device performs N-up printing of the print data transferred from the higher-level device can be arbitrarily specified on the higher-level device side. N-up printing can be performed in a desired format.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a printer system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the printer device.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an operation process.

FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically illustrating the contents of an operation process.

FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically illustrating the contents of an operation process.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the contents of a print format.

FIG. 7 is a diagram schematically illustrating a layout method of 4-up printing.

FIG. 8 is a diagram schematically illustrating a layout method of 4-up printing.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a printing process.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of plate making.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing another example of plate making.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Host apparatus, 20 ... Printing apparatus, 30 ... Network, 101 ... Print data transfer means, 102 ... Print format setting means, 103 ... Print format notification means, 201 ... Layout means, 202 ... Printer engine, 203 ... Printing surface determination Means, 204: print format storage unit, 205: print format reception unit

Claims (4)

[Claims] A printing apparatus sends print data for a plurality of pages transmitted from a host device to the main surface of a recording medium by N (N is 2
In the printing system for N-up printing that prints each page, the upper device includes a print data transfer unit that transfers print data for a plurality of pages to the printing device, and a print format setting unit that sets a print format. And a print format notifying unit for notifying the print device of the print format. The print device transmits an image of the transferred print data to the main surface of the recording medium based on the notified print format. A printing system, comprising: a layout unit for laying out a print sheet every time; a print surface determination unit for determining a print surface based on the notified print format; and a print unit for printing a laid-up N-up print image. . 2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a print format receiving unit configured to receive a designation of a print format by an operator,
2. The printing system according to claim 1, wherein one of the print format notified from the host device and the designated print format is adopted. 3. The layout means includes: a page recognition means for recognizing a page break of continuously input print data; a development means for developing print data into a bitmap image; A print image operating means for operating the print image on a page basis, and N-up means for laying out the print image for physical pages of the recording medium based on the notified print formats. Item 3. The printing system according to item 1 or 2. 4. The printing system according to claim 3, wherein the operation of the print image is at least one of rotation and movement of the print image.