JPH10309841A - Apparatus and method for controlling printing - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To lighten an operator's labor, improve a degree of user's selection freedom and simplify bookbinding and printing, by arranging an output means which reads out print data from a memory means in an order conforming to an arrangement determined by an arranging means and prints out to a printing apparatus, etc. SOLUTION: A despooler 305 processes an intermediate code included in a spool file 303 in accordance with contents of a process-setting included in the spool file 303 and outputs again via a graphic engine 202. When a printing order received by a dispatcher 301 from the graphic engine 202 is one issued from the despooler 305 to the graphic engine 202, the dispatcher 301 sends the printing order to a printer driver 203. The printer driver 203 generates a printer control command in compliance with the printing order and outputs to a printer 1500 via a system spooler 204 and a two-way interface.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a print control apparatus and method, and more particularly to a print control apparatus and method for outputting a printable book in a system including an information processing device such as a personal computer and an output device such as a printer. It is about the method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when bookbinding printing is performed using a printer having a duplex printing unit, that is, when printing is performed so that the page order is aligned by folding the printed paper into two, the conventional technique is used. For example, pages to be printed are stored in the memory of the printer, and the pages are arranged and output by the printer. In this method, four continuous pages are arranged and printed so that when the paper on which the pages are printed is folded in two, the pages are continuous.

[0003]

In printing with such a conventional printer, the output printed matter is folded into two sheets one by one, and the two-folded printed matter is arranged in the page order for the entire document. You can't do bookbinding until after. Therefore, the user folds the sheet into two sheets one by one, and when the number of pages is large, the work increases. As described above, there is a disadvantage that the user is burdened with a great deal of labor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above conventional example, and provides a printing control apparatus and method capable of reducing the labor of an operator, improving the freedom of selection by a user, and easily performing bookbinding printing. With the goal.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has the following arrangement. That is, a print control device connected to a printing device, an input unit for inputting bookbinding settings indicating a page arrangement before bookbinding on a recording medium, and print data can be read in a desired order in page units. Storage means for storing, layout means for determining the layout of pages of the print data to be sent to the printing apparatus in accordance with the bookbinding settings, and print data from the storage means in an order according to the layout determined by the layout means Output means for reading out and printing out the data by the printing apparatus.

Alternatively, there is provided a printing control method for controlling a printing apparatus, wherein an inputting step of inputting a bookbinding setting indicating a page arrangement before bookbinding on a recording medium, and reading out print data in a desired order in page units. A storage step of storing the print data, a layout step of determining the layout of the pages of the print data to be sent to the printing apparatus according to the bookbinding setting, and the storage step in an order according to the layout determined by the layout step. An output step of reading print data and causing the printing device to print out the data.

Alternatively, there is provided a printing system in which a printing apparatus and a printing control apparatus are connected to each other, wherein input means for inputting bookbinding settings indicating a page arrangement before bookbinding on a recording medium;
Storage means for storing print data in a desired order in a page unit in a readable manner; layout means for determining the layout of pages of print data to be sent to the printing apparatus according to the bookbinding setting; and determination by the layout means. Output means for reading out print data from the storage means in an order according to the arrangement, and causing the printing device to print out,
The printing device prints out both sides of the recording medium in the order sent by the output unit.

Alternatively, there is provided a computer-readable memory for storing a print control program connected to a printing apparatus, the program comprising: input means for inputting bookbinding settings indicating a page arrangement before bookbinding on a recording medium; A storage unit for storing data in a desired order in a page unit in a readable manner; a layout unit for determining a layout of pages of print data to be sent to the printing apparatus according to the bookbinding setting; Output means for reading print data from the storage means in an order according to the arrangement, and causing the printing apparatus to print out the print data.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments to which the present invention is applied will be described. [First Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a printer control system showing an embodiment of the present invention. In addition, as long as the functions of the present invention are executed, whether a single device or a system including a plurality of devices, LAN,
The present invention can be applied to a system in which a connection is made via a network such as a WAN and processing is performed. <Configuration of Printing System> In the drawing, a host computer 3000 stores figures, images, characters, tables (including spreadsheets, etc.) and the like based on a program ROM stored in a ROM 3 or a document processing program stored in an external memory 11. A CPU 1 that executes mixed document processing is provided, and the CPU 1 controls each device connected to the system bus 4. An operating system program (hereinafter referred to as O) which is a control program of the CPU 1 is stored in the program ROM of the ROM 3 or the external memory 11.
S) and the like, the font ROM or the external memory 11 of the ROM 3 stores font data and the like used in the document processing, and the data ROM of the ROM 3 or the external memory 11 performs the document processing and the like. Various data used at the time are stored. The RAM 2 functions as a main memory, a work area, and the like for the CPU 1.

[0010] The keyboard controller (KBC) 5
It controls key input from a keyboard 9 or a pointing device (not shown). CRT controller (CRTC)
6 controls the display of a CRT display (CRT) 10. The disk controller (DKC) 7 includes a boot program, various applications, font data,
Hard disk (HD), floppy disk (FD) for storing user files, edit files, printer control command generation program (hereinafter, printer driver), etc.
Access to the external memory 11 is controlled. The printer controller (PRTC) 8 communicates with the printer 1 via a predetermined bidirectional interface (interface) 21.
500, and executes communication control processing with the printer 1500.

The CPU 1 executes, for example, a process of developing (rasterizing) an outline font in the display information RAM set on the RAM 2, and
YSIWYG is possible. In addition, the CPU 1
Various registered windows are opened based on a command specified by a mouse cursor or the like (not shown) on T10, and various data processes are executed. When performing printing, the user opens a window related to print settings, and can set a printer and a print processing method for a printer driver including selection of a print mode.

In the printer 1500, the printer C
The PU 12 sends an image signal as output information to a printing unit (printer engine) 17 connected to the system bus 15 based on a control program or the like stored in the program ROM of the ROM 13 or a control program or the like stored in the external memory 14. Is output. The program ROM of the ROM 13 stores a control program of the CPU 12 and the like. The font ROM of the ROM 13 stores font data and the like used when generating the output information. In the case of a printer having no external memory 14 such as a hard disk in the data ROM of the ROM 13, the font ROM is stored on the host computer. The information used is stored.

The CPU 12 is capable of communicating with a host computer via an input unit 18, and is configured to be able to notify the host computer 3000 of information in the printer and the like. The RAM 19 is a RAM that functions as a main memory, a work area, and the like for the CPU 12, and is configured so that the memory capacity can be expanded by an optional RAM connected to an extension port (not shown).
The RAM 19 is used for an output information development area, an environment data storage area, an NVRAM, and the like. The access to the external memory 14 such as a hard disk (HD) and an IC card is controlled by a memory controller (MC) 20. The external memory 14 is optionally connected,
It stores font data, emulation programs, form data, and the like. The operation unit 1501 is provided with switches for operation, an LED display, and the like.

The above-mentioned external memory is not limited to one, and at least one external memory can be connected. In addition to the built-in fonts, an optional card and a plurality of external memories storing programs for interpreting printer control languages of different languages can be connected. It may be configured as follows. Furthermore, NV (not shown)
A RAM may be provided to store printer mode setting information from the operation unit 1501.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a typical printing process in a host computer to which a printing device such as a printer is directly connected or connected via a network. The application 201, the graphic engine 202, the printer driver 203, and the system spooler 204 exist as files stored in the external memory 11, and when executed, are loaded into the RAM 2 and executed by the OS or a module using the module. It is a program module. Further, the application 201 and the printer driver 203
It can be added to the FD of the external memory 11, a CD-ROM (not shown), or the HD of the external disk 11 via a network (not shown).

The application 201 stored in the external memory 11 is loaded into the RAM 2 and executed.
When printing is performed on the image data, output (drawing) is performed using the graphic engine 202 which is similarly loaded into the RAM 2 and becomes executable. Graphic engine 2
02 is a printer driver 20 prepared for each printing device.
3 is similarly loaded from the external memory 11 to the RAM 2 and the output of the application 210 is
Is converted into a printer control command using The converted printer control command is output to the printer 1500 via the interface 21 via the system spooler 204 loaded into the RAM 2 by the OS.

The system according to the present embodiment includes a system for temporarily spooling print data from an application as intermediate code data, as shown in FIG. 3, in addition to the printing system including the printer and the host computer shown in FIG. It is assumed. <Structure of Print Control System> FIG. 3 is an extension of the system of FIG. 2, and when a print command is sent from the graphic engine 202 to the printer driver 203, a spool file 303 composed of an intermediate code is once generated. FIG.
In this system, the application 201 is released from the printing process when the printer driver 203 has converted all print commands from the graphic engine 202 into printer control commands. On the other hand, in the system of FIG. 3, the spooler 302 converts all print commands into intermediate code data and
03. Usually, the latter requires less time. Further, in the system shown in FIG. 3, the contents of the spool file 303 can be processed.
This makes it possible to realize functions that the application does not have, such as enlargement / reduction of print data from the application, reduction of a plurality of pages to one page, and printing.

For these purposes, the system shown in FIG. 2 is spooled with intermediate code data as shown in FIG.
The system has been extended. In order to process the print data, the operator normally makes settings on a setting screen provided by the printer driver 203, and the printer driver 203 stores the set contents in the RAM 2 or the external memory 11.

The details of FIG. 3 will be described below. As shown in the figure, in this extended processing method, the dispatcher 301 receives a print command from the graphic engine 202. Dispatcher 301 is graphic engine 2
02 received from the application 20
1 to the graphic engine 202, the dispatcher 301 uses the external memory 11
Is loaded into the RAM 2 and a print command is sent to the spooler 302 instead of the printer driver 203.

The spooler 302 converts the received print command into an intermediate code and outputs it to the spool file 303. In addition, the spooler 302 includes a printer driver 203.
The processing settings relating to the print data set for the printer driver 203 are acquired from the printer driver 203 and stored in the spool file 303. Although the spool file 303 is generated as a file on the external memory 11, the
2 may be generated. Further, the spooler 302
The spool file manager 304 stored in the external memory 11 is loaded onto the RAM 2, and the spool file manager 304 is notified of the generation status of the spool file 303. After that, the spool file manager 304 determines whether or not printing can be performed according to the contents of the processing settings related to the print data stored in the spool file 303. When the spool file manager 304 determines that printing can be performed using the graphic engine 202, the despooler 305 stored in the external memory 11 is loaded into the RAM 2, and the despooler 305 is described in the spool file 303. An instruction is issued to perform an intermediate code printing process.

The despooler 305 stores the spool file 30
3 is processed in accordance with the contents of the processing settings included in the spool file 303, and output again via the graphic engine 202.

The print command received by the dispatcher 301 from the graphic engine 202 is transmitted to the despooler 30.
In the case of a print command issued to the graphic engine 202 from the printer 5, the dispatcher 301
Instead, a print command is sent to the printer driver 203.

The printer driver 203 generates a printer control command according to the received print command, and outputs it to the printer 1500 via the system spooler 204 and the bidirectional interface 21. <Configuration of Printer> FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of a color laser beam printer having a double-sided printing function, which is an example of the printer 1500.

This printer is a host computer 300
The laser light modulated with the image data for each color obtained based on the print data inputted from 0
Scans the photosensitive drum 15 to form an electrostatic latent image.
Then, this electrostatic latent image is developed with toner to obtain a visible image,
This is multiplex-transferred for all colors to the intermediate transfer member 9 to form a color visible image. Further, the color visible image is transferred to the transfer material 2 and the color visible image is fixed on the transfer material 2. The image forming unit that performs the above control includes a drum unit having a photosensitive drum 15, a primary charging unit having a contact charging roller 17, a cleaning unit, a developing unit, an intermediate transfer body 9, a paper cassette 1 and various rollers 3, 4, 5, 7, a transfer unit including the transfer roller 10, and a fixing unit 25.

The drum unit 13 is formed integrally with a photosensitive drum (photosensitive member) 15 and a cleaner container 14 having a cleaning mechanism also serving as a holder for the photosensitive drum 15. The drum unit 13 is detachably supported by the printer main body, and is configured such that the unit can be easily replaced according to the life of the photosensitive drum 15. The photosensitive drum 15 is formed by applying an organic photoconductor layer to the outer periphery of an aluminum cylinder, and is rotatably supported by the cleaner container 14. The photosensitive drum 15 is rotated by transmitting a driving force of a drive motor (not shown). The drive motor rotates the photosensitive drum 15 in a counterclockwise direction according to an image forming operation. Exposure to the photosensitive drum 15 is performed by the scanner unit 3
The electrostatic latent image is formed by selectively exposing the surface of the photosensitive drum 15 to the laser beam sent from the laser beam 0. In the scanner unit 30, the modulated laser light is reflected by a polygon mirror that rotates in synchronization with a horizontal synchronization signal of an image signal by a motor 31a, and irradiates the photosensitive drum via a lens 32 and a reflecting mirror 33.

The developing section includes three color developing units 20Y, 20Y for developing yellow (Y), magenta (M), and cyan (C) in order to visualize the electrostatic latent image.
M, 20C, and one black developing device 21B for developing black (B). Sleeves 20YS, 20MS, 20CS and 21B are provided in the color developing units 20Y, 20M, 20C and the black developing unit 21B.
S and these sleeves 20YS, 20MS, 20CS,
Coating blade 20Y pressed against the outer periphery of each 20BS
B, 20 MB, 20 CB, and 21 BB, respectively. Further, three color developing units 20Y, 20M, 20
C is provided with application rollers 20YR, 20MR and 20CR.

The black developing device 21B is detachably attached to the printer main body, and the color developing devices 20Y, 20M, and 20C are detachably attached to a developing rotary 23 that rotates around a rotation shaft 22. ing.

Sleeve 21BS of black developing unit 21B
Are arranged at a minute interval of, for example, about 300 μm with respect to the photosensitive drum 15. Black developing unit 21B
Is a sleeve 21B rotating clockwise while conveying toner by a feeding member built in the container.
An electric charge is applied to the toner by frictional charging so that the toner is applied to the outer periphery of S by the application blade 21BB. Further, by applying a developing bias to the sleeve 21BS,
The photosensitive drum 15 is developed in accordance with the electrostatic latent image to form a visible image on the photosensitive drum 15 using black toner.

The three color developing units 20Y, 20M, 20
C rotates with the rotation of the developing rotary 23 during image formation, and the predetermined sleeves 20YS, 20MS, 20
The CS is opposed to the photosensitive drum 15 at a minute interval of about 300 μm. As a result, the predetermined color developing units 20Y, 20M, and 20C are stopped at the developing position facing the photosensitive drum 15, and a visible image is created on the photosensitive drum 15.

When forming a color image, one of the intermediate transfer members 9
The developing rotary 23 rotates with each rotation, and a yellow developing device 20Y, a magenta developing device 20M, a cyan developing device 20C,
Next, a developing process is performed in the order of the black developing device 20B,
The intermediate transfer member 9 rotates four times to sequentially form visible images using yellow, magenta, cyan, and black toners, and as a result, a full-color visible image is formed on the intermediate transfer member 9.

The intermediate transfer member 9 is configured to rotate in accordance with the rotation of the photosensitive drum 15 in contact with the photosensitive drum 15, and rotates clockwise at the time of forming a color image. Undergoes multiple transfers of visible images. Further, the intermediate transfer body 9 simultaneously transfers the color visible image on the intermediate transfer body 9 to the transfer material 2 by multiple transfer by nipping and transporting the transfer material 2 by contacting a transfer roller 10 described later during image formation. An intermediate transfer member 2 is provided on the outer peripheral portion of the intermediate transfer member.
And a density sensor 9c for detecting the density of the toner image transferred to the intermediate transfer member.

The transfer roller 10 is provided with a transfer charger which is supported so as to be able to contact and separate from the photosensitive drum 15, and is constituted by winding a metal shaft with a medium-resistance foam elastic body.

The transfer roller 10 is separated downward so as not to disturb the color visible image during the multiple transfer of the color visible image onto the intermediate transfer body 9 as shown by a solid line in FIG. After the four color visible images have been formed on the intermediate transfer member 9, the color visible images are transferred to the transfer material 2.
The transfer roller 10 is positioned above the transfer roller 10 by a cam member (not shown) at the timing shown in FIG. As a result, the transfer roller 10 is pressed against the intermediate transfer member 9 via the transfer material 2 with a predetermined pressing force, and a bias voltage is applied to transfer the color visible image on the intermediate transfer member 9 to the transfer material 2.

The fixing section 25 fixes the transferred color visible image while conveying the transfer material 2. The fixing section 25 heats the transfer material 2 and presses the transfer material 2 against the fixing roller 26. And a pressure roller 27. The fixing roller 26 and the pressure roller 27 are formed in a hollow shape, and have heaters 28 and 29 therein, respectively. That is, the transfer material 2 holding the color visible image is transported by the fixing roller 26 and the pressure roller 27, and the toner is fixed on the surface by applying heat and pressure.

The transfer material 2 after the fixing of the visible image is thereafter discharged to the paper discharge section 37 by the paper discharge rollers 34, 35 and 36, and the image forming operation is completed.

The cleaning means is for cleaning the toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 15 and the intermediate transfer member 9, and is provided after a visible image formed by the toner formed on the photosensitive drum 15 is transferred to the intermediate transfer member 9. The waste toner or the waste toner after transferring the four color visible images formed on the intermediate transfer body 9 to the transfer material 2 is transferred to the cleaner container 1.
4

A transfer material (recording paper) 2 to be printed is taken out of the paper feed tray 1 by a paper feed roller 3 and is conveyed so as to be sandwiched between the intermediate transfer body 9 and the transfer roller 10 to be transferred to a color toner image. Is recorded, and the toner image passes through the fixing unit 25 and is fixed. For one-sided printing, guidance 38
Forms a conveyance path so as to guide the recording paper to the upper paper discharge unit, but forms a path to guide the recording paper to the lower duplex unit for double-sided printing paper.

The recording paper guided to the duplex unit is once fed into the lower portion of the tray 1 (the transport path indicated by the two-dot chain line) by the transport rollers 40 and then transported in the opposite direction, and is transported to the duplex tray 39. On the double-sided tray 39, the sheet is turned upside down from the state of being placed on the sheet feed tray 1, and the sheet is turned upside down in the transport direction. By transferring and fixing the toner image again in this state, double-sided printing can be performed. <How to Perform Bookbinding Printing> FIG. 4 illustrates bookbinding printing and its realization results.

Bookbinding printing is printing in which the print result output on both sides of the paper is folded in two so that the page order is matched, and the following two methods are available.

1. In the case where all pages to be printed are set as the number of sheets for bookbinding In this case, an output like the printed material 41 in FIG. 4 is obtained, and the output is folded in two to form a book.

2. In a case where an arbitrary page is set as a unit of bookbinding In this case, an output such as the printed matter 42 of FIG. 4 is obtained, and it is folded in two for each unit of sheet, and further arranged to form a book.

The unit of bookbinding here indicates how many sheets of output paper should be bundled in two to perform bookbinding printing.

As shown in FIG. 5, the bookbinding format output by bookbinding printing includes the following cases.

1. 1. Arrange pages in ascending order from the left (left open) Pages are arranged in ascending order from the right (right-opening). Also, when the pages to be printed are in the horizontal direction, the page order is not changed just by rotating the pages.

In the printing system of the present embodiment, print output is performed in accordance with the various bookbinding printing methods described above. <Print Control Procedure> The bookbinding print processing will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 6 to 11 show control procedures executed by the spool file manager 304.

When the spool file manager 304 determines that printing can be started, the processing in FIG. 6 is started.

In step 601, if the user has set bookbinding printing, the process proceeds to step 602. If not, normal printing is performed and the process proceeds to step 607.

In step 602, the setting relating to the number of sheets for bookbinding printing and the setting relating to the print format are obtained.

The following options are available for setting the number of print units.

1. 1. Book binding printing with all pages to be printed together. Bookbinding printing by batching specified specified page units. The following options are available for setting the print style.

1. Open left 2. In step 603, if all pages have been selected in bookbinding printing units, the process proceeds to step 604. If not, the process proceeds to step 605.

In step 604, the unit of bookbinding is set to the entire print page, and bookbinding printing is performed. Details of this processing will be described later.

In step 605, if a specific number of sheets has been selected for bookbinding printing, the process proceeds to step 606, and if not, the process proceeds to step 607.

In step 606, bookbinding printing is performed in the designated number of sheets. Details of this processing will be described later.

In step 607, normal printing processing is performed.

Note that the setting of bookbinding printing and the setting of the number of sheets are performed by input from the host computer 3000 by an operator or the like.

The processing relating to step 604 in FIG. 6 will be described below in detail with reference to FIGS.

In step 701, a print format is obtained.

In step 702, the number of print pages is obtained. This print page can be acquired when all the print data from the application has been spooled.

In step 703, a bookbinding printing progress counter is set to zero. Pages printed when this counter is an even number are printed inside when folded, and pages printed when an odd number are printed are outside when folded.

In step 704, the number of sheets to be used is calculated by the following equation.

In step 705, the number of sheets printed on the inside of the innermost sheet when folded in half is calculated using the following equation. Based on the two pages, pages to be printed thereafter are calculated.

Basic page 1 = number of sheets × 2 Basic page 2 = number of sheets × 2-1 For example, when print data of 50 pages is sent from an application, the number of sheets used for bookbinding printing is 50 ÷. 4 = 13 sheets, and the basic pages printed on the folded sheet when folded in half are basic page 1 = 13 × 2 = 26 pages and basic page 2 = 3 × 2−
1 = 25 pages. In the example of FIG. 4, the eleventh page and the tenth page, which are the innermost surfaces of the printed material 41, correspond to these.

If it is determined in step 706 that the bookbinding printing process has been completed, the process ends. If not, the process proceeds to step 707.

In step 707, two pages to be printed side by side on one side of the recording paper are calculated by the following equation.

Print page 1 = Basic page 1 + Progress counter Print page 2 = Basic page 2—Progress counter For example, in the case of the above-described 50-page bookbinding print, the second print surface includes 26 + 1 = 27 pages and 25 pages -1 =
There are 24 pages. Thereafter, each time the progress counter is incremented, pages 28 and 23, 29 and 22... Since the progress counter is initially 0, the basic page is the first printing surface.

In step 708, it is determined whether or not the calculated print page 1 is larger than the number of print pages from the application. Step 7 if not big
Skip to 10.

In step 709, since a margin is arranged on the print page 1, for example, a page number 0 representing the margin is substituted.

In steps 710 and 711, the layout of two pages calculated from the print format (left or right) and the progress counter (inward or outward when folded) is determined.

Specifically, the inside / outside determination is made inside when the number of print requests issued so far is even, and outside when odd. As a result of the determination in steps 710 and 711, the processing proceeds as follows.

In the case of a page that opens leftward and is inside the fold, the process proceeds to step 712.

In the case of a page that is opened leftward and is outside the folding, the process proceeds to step 713.

In the case of a page that opens rightward and is outside the folding, the process proceeds to step 712.

In the case of a page that opens leftward and is inside the fold, the process proceeds to step 713.

At step 712, print page 1 is arranged on the left and print page 2 is arranged on the right.

In step 713, print page 1 is arranged on the right side, and print page 2 is arranged on the left side.

However, steps 712 and 713
In, if print page 1 = 0, a margin is arranged there.

The processes of steps 710 to 713 are processes for printing, for example, page 24 on the back side of page 25 and page 27 on the back side of page 26.

At step 714, the printing progress counter is incremented by one.

In step 715, the despooler 30
It is determined whether or not the next print request is possible for Step 5, and if possible, the process proceeds to Step 716;
Proceed to 7 and wait until the next print request becomes possible.

In step 716, a print request for one recording sheet is made for the printed pages that have been arranged.

At step 717, it is determined whether or not a next page output request is possible.
Proceed to step 6, if not, wait until it becomes possible.

The printed matter printed and output as described above can be bound simply by folding it in two in an overlapping state.

The processing relating to step 606 in FIG. 6 will be described below in detail with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10.

The number of sheets referred to here indicates how many sheets are to be folded and bound and printed. This unit is called a block. For example, in a case where bookbinding printing of 40 pages of print data from an application is performed in units of two sheets, two pages of folded paper are regarded as one block, and eight pages of data are arranged in one block. .
Therefore, bookbinding printing is performed by dividing the entire print data into five blocks.

In step 801, the print format and the number of sheets are obtained.

At step 802, the print end page is set to 0.

In step 803, it is determined whether or not the bookbinding printing process is completed. If the process is completed, the process is completed. If not, the process proceeds to step 804.

In step 804, a print page (bookbinding printability determination page) that enables bookbinding print processing is acquired. The number of bookbinding printable pages determined in step S804 is the maximum number of pages in the block.

The number of bookbinding printable pages in the first block is obtained as follows.

Bookbinding printability determination page = number of sheets × 4 For the second block and thereafter, the bookbinding printability determination page is obtained as follows.

Bookbinding printability determination page = bookbinding printability determination page of previous block + number of sheets × 4 For example, in the case of bookbinding printing of 40 pages per two sheets, the binding printability determination page in the first block is 2 × 4 = 8
And the next block has 8 + 2 × 4 = 16 pages. Thereafter, the number of pages becomes 24, 32, and 40 pages.

In step 805, the number of pages for which spooling has been completed is obtained.

In step 806, it is determined whether spooling has been completed up to a print page (bookbinding printability determination page) where bookbinding print processing can be performed, or whether spooling of all pages has been completed. Go to step 805 if not possible.

At step 807, the progress counter is set to 0.

In step 808, two basic pages to be printed inside the innermost sheet when folded in half are calculated using the following equation.

The pages to be printed thereafter are calculated based on the two pages.

Basic page 1 = bookbinding printability determination page−
In step 809, it is determined whether the print request for the current block has been completed. If so, the process proceeds to step 803.
If not, the process proceeds to step 810. Specifically, when the progress counter becomes equal to the number of sheets, it is determined that the print request has been completed.

In step 810, two pages for which a print request is made are calculated by the following equation.

Print page 1 = Basic page 1 + Progress counter Print page 2 = Basic page 2-Progress counter Initially, the progress page is 0, so the basic page is the first print page.

In step 811, it is determined whether or not the calculated print page 1 is larger than the number of print pages from the application. Step 8 if not
Skip to 13.

In step 812, since a margin is arranged on the print page 1, a page number 0 representing the margin is substituted.

In steps 813 and 814, the layout of the two pages calculated from the print format (left or right) and the progress counter (inward or outward when folded) is determined.

More specifically, the inside / outside determination is made inside when the number of print requests is even, and outside when the number of print requests is odd.

In the case of a page that opens leftward and is inside the fold, the process proceeds to step 815.

In the case of a page that is opened left and is outside the folding, the process proceeds to step 816.

In the case of a page that opens rightward and is outside the fold, the process proceeds to step 815.

In the case of a page that opens leftward and is inside the fold, the process proceeds to step 816.

At step 815, print page 1 is arranged on the left side, and print page 2 is arranged on the right side.

In step 816, print page 1 is arranged on the right side, and print page 2 is arranged on the left side.

However, steps 815 and 816
In, if print page 1 = 0, a margin is arranged there.

At step 817, the printing progress counter is incremented by one.

In step 818, it is determined whether the next print request is possible. If so, the process proceeds to step 819. If not, the process waits until the next print request becomes possible.

In step 820, a print request for one sheet of paper is made for the printed pages that have been arranged.

If the printer 1500 performs double-sided printing in response to the print request issued according to the above procedure, the bound printed matter can be obtained simply by folding and arranging the printed sheets in units of a desired number of sheets. Can be created. [Second Embodiment] In the case where bookbinding print processing of an arbitrary number of units is performed after all pages from an application are spooled, if the number of pages to be printed in the last block is small, only the last block is designated By performing bookbinding printing with a smaller number of sheets, it is possible to reduce the number of sheets used.

For example, if the number of remaining pages is 3 and the number of sheets is 2 for 2 pages, 5 pages will be margins. If this is changed to 1 page, the margins will be 1 page, The number of sheets can be reduced by one.

Hereinafter, the number adjustment processing of the last block will be described in detail with reference to FIG. This is also applied to a case where an unnecessarily large number of sheets is specified for a print page. For example, if bookbinding printing in units of 10 sheets is specified for print data of 30 pages from the application, the number of sheets actually required is eight, so the unit of sheets is adjusted from ten to eight. This is the same output result as when bookbinding printing is performed on the entire page.

The following processing is performed at step 806 in FIG.
The processing is performed when the determination in step 806 is YES between step 807 and step 807, whereby the above-described reduction in the number of sheets is achieved.

In step 901, it is determined whether or not spooling of all pages has been completed. If it has been completed, the process proceeds to step 902, and if not, the process exits.

In step 902, the number of remaining pages is calculated by the following equation.

Remaining page number = printed page from application−current bookbinding print determination page In step 903, the number of remaining pages is compared with the number of remaining pages in the block in the currently set number of sheets to determine the number of remaining pages. Step 90 if less
The process proceeds to step 4, and otherwise, the adjustment process is determined to be unnecessary and the process exits.

In step 904, the unit of the smallest number of bookbindings that can accommodate the remaining pages is obtained by the following equation.

New bookbinding unit = remaining page ÷ 4 (rounded up to the decimal point) If the last block is printed after step 807 using the new bookbinding unit obtained in this way, at most one blank page is required. Since the recording paper is not wasted and the number of recording surfaces is reduced, the time required for print output is also reduced. [Third Embodiment] In the case of performing bookbinding print processing in arbitrary units, when saving paper in the last block as in the above-described second embodiment, spooling of all pages from the application is ended. It is necessary to make a print request afterwards. On the other hand, when the paper saving of the last block is not performed, the print request can be started without waiting for the end of the spooling of all the pages in the block. Can be shortened. Also, by starting the print processing earlier, an improvement in the overall throughput can be expected compared to printing. In the second embodiment, saving of blank pages is determined depending on whether spooling of all pages has been completed. However, in the present embodiment, saving is instructed to be performed. If so, save a blank page.

FIG. 13 shows a flowchart of the procedure. In this processing, it is determined whether or not it is necessary to wait for the end of spooling of all pages in the block depending on whether or not to save the paper of the last block. When the paper saving of the last block is not performed, the print request is started without waiting for the end of the spooling of all the pages in the block. FIG. 13 shows steps S806 (-YES) and S80 in FIG.
7 is inserted. This is obtained by adding a step 1301 for determining whether or not to save paper to the head of the procedure shown in FIG. 11 in the second embodiment. That is, when saving paper, the same processing as in the second embodiment is performed, and otherwise, the same processing as in the first embodiment is performed. Step 13
The determination criterion in 01 may be specified by the operator from the keyboard 9 of the host computer 3000, for example, and may be stored in the RAM 2.

However, if the paper is not saved, the print request can be started without waiting for the end of the spooling of all the pages of the block. Therefore, in the first and second embodiments, the steps of FIG. In step S804, the binding printability determination page of the first block obtained in “number of sheets × 4” can be replaced with “number of sheets × 2 + 1”.

For example, in the case of bookbinding printing in units of 40 pages, if spooling of all pages of a block is to be waited,
While it is necessary to wait for the completion of spooling of 4 × 2 = 8 pages, if paper is not saved, the number of pages of bookbinding printability in the first block is 2 × 2 + 1 = 5 pages. That is, printing can be started three pages earlier. In any case, the subsequent blocks are “the bookbinding printable determination page of the previous block + the number of sheets × 4”, so that printing is completed three pages earlier.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart of a procedure for replacing step 804 in FIG. If it is not necessary to save paper, the number of printable pages is obtained in step 1403 as follows.

First block Bookbinding printable determination page = number of sheets × 2 + 1 Second block Bookbinding printable determination page = previous bookbinding printable determination page + = number of sheets × 4 FIG. 14 is a flowchart of FIG. 804 is a flowchart of a procedure for replacing 804. If paper is to be saved, the number of printable pages is determined in step 1402 as follows.

First block Bookbinding printable determination page = number of sheets × 4 Second block Bookbinding printable determination page = previous bookbinding printable determination page + = number of sheets × 4 By the above processing, the final block When paper saving is not performed, a print request can be started without waiting for spooling of all pages in a block, thereby shortening the printing time until the first recording medium is output. This effect increases as the number of sheets per block in bookbinding printing increases. Also, by starting the print request early, it is expected that the throughput of the entire print processing will be improved.

[0130]

[Other Embodiments] Even if the present invention is applied to a system including a plurality of devices (for example, a host computer, an interface device, a reader, a printer, etc.), an apparatus (for example, a copying machine) Machine, facsimile machine, etc.).

An object of the present invention is to supply a storage medium storing a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or an apparatus, and to provide a computer (or CPU) of the system or apparatus.
Or MPU) reads and executes the program code stored in the storage medium.

In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD
-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, or the like can be used.

When the computer executes the readout program code, not only the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized, but also the OS (Operating System) running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. ) Performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, based on the instruction of the program code, The case where the CPU of the function expansion board or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the function of the above-described embodiment is realized by the processing.

[0136]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to perform bookbinding printing according to a user's request, and to reduce the labor for binding printed output.

Further, the degree of freedom of the user's selection in bookbinding printing is improved.

In addition to saving paper,
Improve printing throughput.

[0139]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a printing system according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing typical print data generation in a host computer.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating print data generation that is an extension of FIG. 2 for generating an intermediate code.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining bookbinding printing and its realization result.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a bookbinding format output by bookbinding printing.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a plurality of bookbinding printing control procedures.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a method of performing bookbinding printing by combining all pages.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a method of performing bookbinding printing by combining all pages.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a method of performing bookbinding printing with an arbitrary number of sheets as one block.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a method of performing bookbinding printing with an arbitrary number of sheets as one block.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a paper saving method.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view of a laser beam printer having a duplex unit.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of a procedure for selecting whether to save paper in the third embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart of a procedure for setting a bookbinding printability determination page in the third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 CPU 2 RAM 3 ROM 4 System bus 12 CPU 13 ROM 19 RAM 3000 Host computer 1500 Printer

Claims (31)

[Claims] 1. A printing control device connected to a printing device, comprising: input means for inputting bookbinding settings indicating a page layout before bookbinding on a recording medium; and print data in a desired order in page units. Storage means for storing the data in a readable manner; layout means for determining the layout of pages of print data to be sent to the printing apparatus in accordance with the bookbinding settings; and storage means in an order according to the layout determined by the layout means Output means for reading out print data from the printer and causing the printing apparatus to print out the print data. 2. The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the arrangement unit determines the arrangement of the pages so that the minimum number of sheets on which bookbinding printing can be performed. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the arranging unit is configured to perform a first operation from the input unit.
The print control according to claim 1 or 2, wherein when the value of is input as the bookbinding setting, the pages are arranged on the recording medium such that the pages are arranged in order when the entire print output is overlapped and folded in two. apparatus. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the arranging unit is configured to receive a second command from the input unit.
3. When the value of is input as a bookbinding setting, pages are arranged on a recording medium such that when a predetermined number of print outputs are overlapped and folded in two, the pages are arranged in order. Print control device. 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising resetting means for changing the predetermined number of sheets to a number of blank pages at most when the number of remaining pages to be printed is less than the predetermined number of sheets. The print control device according to claim 4, wherein 6. The bookbinding setting further includes direction information for setting right-opening or left-opening, and the arranging unit determines an arrangement of pages according to the direction information. 6. The print control device according to any one of 5. 7. The printing control device according to claim 6, wherein the output unit causes the printing device to perform duplex printing. 8. The bookbinding setting further includes information on whether or not to save paper, and the resetting means resets the arrangement of pages when saving paper. 6. The print control device according to 5. 9. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the arranging unit arranges the pages to be printed out in order from a page corresponding to the innermost part of the fold, among the pages that can be arranged in a unit constituting the fold at the time of bookbinding. Item 9. The print control device according to any one of Items 1 to 8. 10. The bookbinding setting further includes information on whether or not to save paper, and in a case where paper is not saved, printout is started when inner pages are aligned. The print control device according to claim 1. 11. A printing control method for controlling a printing apparatus, comprising: an inputting step of inputting a bookbinding setting indicating a page arrangement before bookbinding on a recording medium; and reading out print data in a desired order in page units. A storage step of storing the data in a possible manner; an arrangement step of determining the arrangement of pages of the print data to be sent to the printing apparatus in accordance with the bookbinding setting; and a step of arranging the storage step in an order according to the arrangement determined by the arrangement step. An output step of reading print data and causing the printing device to print out the print data. 12. The print control method according to claim 11, wherein in the arranging step, the arrangement of the pages is determined so that the minimum number of sheets on which the bookbinding printing can be performed is determined. 13. The arranging step, when the first value is input as the bookbinding setting from the inputting step, arranging the pages on the recording medium such that the pages are arranged in order when all the print outputs are overlapped and folded in half. 13. The print control method according to claim 11, wherein 14. The arranging step, when a second value is input from the input step as a bookbinding setting, when a predetermined number of print outputs are overlapped and folded in two, the pages are arranged on a recording medium such that the pages are arranged in order. 13. The printing control method according to claim 11, wherein 15. The method according to claim 1, further comprising, when the number of remaining pages to be printed is less than the predetermined number, changing the predetermined number to a number of blank pages at most. The print control method according to claim 14, wherein: 16. The bookbinding setting further includes direction information for setting right-opening or left-opening, and the arranging step determines a page arrangement in accordance with the direction information. 16. The print control method according to any one of 15. 17. The print control method according to claim 16, wherein the output step causes the printing device to perform duplex printing. 18. The bookbinding setting further includes information on whether or not to save paper, and in the resetting step, when saving paper, the page arrangement is reset. 15. The print control method according to item 15. 19. The method according to claim 19, wherein, in the arranging step, the pages are arranged so as to be printed out in order from the page corresponding to the innermost part of the fold, among the pages that can be arranged in a unit constituting the fold at the time of bookbinding. Item 19. The print control method according to any one of Items 11 to 18. 20. The bookbinding setting further includes information on whether or not to save paper, and in a case where paper is not saved, printout is started when inner pages are aligned. The print control method according to claim 11. 21. A printing system in which a printing apparatus and a printing control apparatus are connected to each other, wherein input means for inputting bookbinding settings indicating a page arrangement before bookbinding on a recording medium; Storage means for readable storage in a desired order, a layout means for determining the layout of pages of print data to be sent to the printing apparatus in accordance with the bookbinding settings, and a layout determined by the layout means. Output means for reading print data from the storage means in order and causing the printing device to print out the print data, wherein the printing device performs print output on both sides of the recording medium in the order sent by the output means. A printing system characterized by the following. 22. A computer-readable storage medium storing a print control program connected to a printing device, comprising:
The program includes: an input unit configured to input a bookbinding setting indicating a page arrangement before bookbinding on a recording medium; a storage unit configured to store print data in a desired order in a page unit in a readable manner; Arranging means for arranging the pages of the print data to be sent to the printing apparatus; and reading the print data from the storage means in an order according to the arrangement determined by the arranging means, and outputting the print data to the printing apparatus for printing. Means. 23. The storage medium according to claim 22, wherein the arranging unit determines the arrangement of the pages so that the minimum number of sheets on which bookbinding printing can be performed. 24. When the first value is input as a bookbinding setting from the input unit, the arranging unit arranges the pages on the recording medium such that the pages are arranged in order when all the print outputs are overlapped and folded in two. The storage medium according to claim 22, wherein the storage medium is used. 25. The arranging means, when the second value is input as the bookbinding setting from the input means, when a predetermined number of print outputs are overlapped and folded in two, the pages are arranged on a recording medium such that the pages are arranged in order. The storage medium according to claim 22, wherein the storage medium is arranged. 26. The image forming apparatus further comprising resetting means for changing the predetermined number of sheets to a number of blank pages at most when the number of remaining pages to be printed is less than the predetermined number of sheets. The storage medium according to claim 25, wherein 27. The bookbinding setting according to claim 22, further comprising direction information for setting right-opening or left-opening, and wherein the arranging unit determines the arrangement of pages according to the direction information. 28. The storage medium according to any one of 26. 28. The storage medium according to claim 27, wherein said output means causes said printing apparatus to perform double-sided printing. 29. The bookbinding setting further includes information on whether to save paper, and the resetting means resets the arrangement of pages when saving paper. 27. The storage medium according to 26. 30. The arranging means arranging pages to be printed out in order from a page corresponding to the innermost part of the fold among pages arrangable in a unit constituting a fold at the time of bookbinding. Item 30. The storage medium according to any one of Items 22 to 29. 31. The bookbinding setting further includes information on whether or not to save paper, and in a case where paper is not saved, printout is started when inner pages are aligned. The storage medium according to any one of claims 22 to 30.