KR100396567B1 - Method and apparatus for driving printer - Google Patents

Abstract

A print drive method and apparatus are disclosed. This method performed in a print driving apparatus having a memory for storing bitmap data includes determining whether to print image data in black and white or color, and when it is determined that the image data is printed in black and white, Allocating a black region storing only bitmap data for the memory to the memory; and if it is determined that the image data is to be printed in color, allocating the color regions storing the bitmap data for at least three colors to the memory. And after allocating the region, converting the image data into bitmap data and storing the image data in the allocated region. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the use of unnecessary memory areas in advance, thereby improving the speed of printing and reducing the burden on the host, thereby increasing the efficiency of the print driving operation.

Description

Print driving method and apparatus {Method and apparatus for driving printer}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to printing a document, and more particularly, to a print driving method and apparatus that operates differently according to a printing mode selected by a user.

When using a printing apparatus such as a color printer, the user can select various printing modes, for example, mono, CMY, CMYK, or CMYcm. Where CMY represents cyan, magenta and yellow, and CMYK represents cyan, magenta, yellow and black.

Graphic Device Interface (GDI) The printer driver generates bitmap data on the host for printing. In this case, the printer driver performs rendering for converting image data into bitmap data. In this case, in order to render image data, an independent area for each color plane must be maintained in the memory. However, a conventional print drive device that does not know which print mode the user selects allocates the largest number of planes, '4', that is, four areas in memory as areas to store bitmap data.

For example, if the user has set up an application to print a document in gray, the conventional print driver allocates memory to each CMYK plane to render image data as bitmap data. We then generate the bitmap data by rendering the data on the K plane. At this time, the generated bitmap data is transmitted to the print engine.

Since the above-described conventional print driving apparatus allocates memory to the largest number of planes, for example, '4', when printing image data in black and white or in three colors, an unnecessary area of memory is consumed. I have a problem. For this reason, since the space of the memory used becomes large, the conventional print drive apparatus has a problem which burdens a host.

The technical problem to be achieved by the present invention is to allocate the area to store the bitmap data in the memory according to the print mode selected by the user to prevent the excessive use of the memory of the host to improve the printing speed and reduce the burden on the host It is to provide a print driving method.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a print driving apparatus for performing the print driving method.

1 is a flowchart for explaining a print driving method according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a preferred embodiment of a print drive device according to the present invention for carrying out the method shown in FIG.

In order to achieve the above object, the print driving method according to the present invention carried out in a print driving apparatus having a memory for storing bitmap data, the step (a) of determining whether to print the image data in black and white or color And (b) allocating a black region storing only the bitmap data for black to the memory if it is determined that the image data is to be printed in black and white, and if it is determined that the image data is to be printed in color. After (c) and (b) or (c) assigning color regions storing the bitmap data for at least three colors to the memory, the image data is converted into the bitmap data. (D) storing in the allocated area is preferable.

In order to achieve the above another object, the print driving apparatus according to the present invention which performs the print driving method is operated by a user, and outputs a first mode signal indicating whether to print image data in black and white or in color. Storing the bitmap data for the black address or at least three colors of the memory indicating a black region storing only the bitmap data for black in response to the first key operation unit and the first mode signal. An area allocator for generating color addresses of the memory representing the color areas, and converting the image data into the bit map data, and converting the bit map data into the black or the color address of the memory; It is preferable that it consists of parts.

Hereinafter, a print driving method according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a flowchart illustrating a print driving method according to the present invention, in which different areas of a memory are differently set according to whether image data is printed in black and white or in color (steps 10 to 18). And storing the bitmap data converted from the image data in the allocated area (step 20).

Referring to FIG. 1, a print driving method according to the present invention performed in a print driving apparatus (not shown) having a memory (not shown) for storing bitmap data, firstly, an image data corresponding to a document to be printed. It is determined whether RGB (Red Green Blue) data is printed in black and white or in color (step 10). If it is determined that the image data is to be printed in black and white, a black area for storing only bitmap data for black is allocated to the memory (step 12).

However, if it is determined that the image data corresponding to the document to be printed is to be printed in color, the color areas for storing bit map data for at least three colors are allocated to the memory (steps 14-18). Hereinafter, the 14th to 18th steps will be described in detail.

If it is determined that the image data is to be printed in color, it is determined whether to print the image data using three colors or four colors (step 14). According to the present invention, three colors may correspond to cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y), and four colors may correspond to cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (K). .

At this time, if it is determined that the image data is to be printed using three colors, color areas for storing bit map data for the three colors are allocated to the memory (step 16). However, if it is determined that the image data is to be printed using four colors, the color areas for storing bit map data for the four colors are allocated to the memory (step 18).

On the other hand, after the twelfth, sixteenth or eighteenth steps, the image data is converted into printable bitmap data, and the converted bitmap data is stored in the allocated area of the memory (step 20).

Hereinafter, a configuration and an operation of a print driving apparatus according to the present invention for performing the above-described print driving method will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a preferred embodiment of a print driving apparatus according to the present invention for performing the print driving method shown in FIG. 1, which includes a first key operating unit 40, an area allocating unit 42, and a bit map converting unit ( 44 and a memory 46.

The first key operation unit 40 performing the tenth step shown in FIG. 1 is operated by a user to generate a first mode signal indicating whether to print image data in black and white or in color, and generate the generated first mode signal. The first mode signal is output to the area allocator 42. That is, the user selects the print mode by operating the first key manipulation unit 40. Here, the first key manipulation unit 40 may use a dialog box displayed on a monitor (not shown). In this case, when the user selects whether to print the image data in black and white or color in the dialog box, the first mode signal corresponding to the selected result is generated from the key operation unit 40.

The area allocator 42 that performs the twelfth to eighteenth steps, in response to the first mode signal input from the first key operation unit 40, displays a black area that stores only the bitmap data for black. Color addresses of the memory 46 representing the black addresses or the color regions for storing bit map data for at least three colors, and output the generated black addresses or color addresses to the bit map converter 44. do.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the area allocator 42 may be performed in software. In this case, the area allocator 42 corresponds to an operating system (OS).

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the area allocator 42 may be implemented by the second key operation unit 60, the first, second and third address generation units 62, 64, and 66.

Here, the first address generator 62 performing the twelfth step generates a black address of the memory 44 in response to the first mode signal input from the first key manipulation unit 40, and generates the generated black address. Output to bitmap converter 44. For example, when it is recognized that the user wants to print the image data in black and white through the first mode signal, the first address generator 62 generates a black address.

At this time, the second key operation unit 60 performing the fourteenth step is operated by a user's operation and displays three colors of image data in response to the first mode signal input from the first key operation unit 60. Generate a second mode signal indicating whether to print using the four colors or to print using the four colors, and output the generated second mode signal to the second and third address generators 64 and 66. That is, the user may select the print mode by operating not only the first key manipulation unit 40 but also the second key manipulation unit 60.

The second address generator 64 performing the sixteenth step may respond to the first mode signal input from the first key operation unit 40 and the second mode signal input from the second key operation unit 60. Color addresses representing color areas for storing bit map data for the colors of C are generated, and the generated color address is output to the bit map converter 44. For example, the second address generator 64 recognizes that the user wants to print the image data in color through the first mode signal, and the user wants to print the image data using the three colors through the second mode signal. When recognized, a color address representing color regions that stores bit map data for three colors is generated.

The third address generator 66 performing the eighteenth step may respond in response to the first mode signal input from the first key operation unit 40 and the second mode signals input from the second key operation unit 60. Color addresses representing color regions for storing bit map data for the colors of the branch are generated, and the generated color address is output to the bit map converter 44. For example, the third address generator 66 recognizes that the user wants to print the image data in color through the first mode signal, and the user wants to print the image data using the four colors through the second mode signal. If recognized, a color address is generated that represents color regions that store bitmap data for the four colors.

Meanwhile, the bit map converter 44 and the memory 46 perform the twentieth step. Here, the bitmap converter 44 converts the image data input through the input terminal IN into bitmap data, and stores the converted bitmap data in the black addresses or the color addresses of the memory 46. . For example, the bitmap converter 44 outputs the converted bitmap data and the black address or the color addresses to the memory 46, and the memory 46 receives the black address or the color address input from the bitmap converter 44. Store bitmap data in The bitmap data stored in the memory 46 may be output through an output terminal OUT such as a printing unit (not shown) for printing an image. To this end, the memory 46 may be implemented as a black region (K) 50, a cyan region (C) 52, a magenta region (M) 54, and a yellow region (Y) 56.

As described above, the print driving method and apparatus according to the present invention allocates only the memory area as necessary according to the printing mode selected by the user, thereby preventing unnecessary use of the memory area in advance, thereby improving printing speed, By reducing the burden on the host, it is possible to increase the efficiency of the print driving operation.

Claims (6)

A print driving method performed in a print driving apparatus having a memory for storing bit map data, the print driving method comprising: (a) determining whether to print the image data in black and white or in color; (b) if it is determined that the image data is to be printed in black and white, allocating a black area for storing only the bitmap data for black to the memory; (c) if it is determined that the image data is to be printed in color, allocating color regions for storing the bitmap data for at least three colors to the memory; And (d) after the step (b) or (c), converting the image data into the bitmap data and storing the image data in the allocated area. The method of claim 1, wherein step (c) If it is determined that the image data is to be printed in color, determining whether to print the image data using three colors or four colors; If it is determined that the image data is to be printed using three colors, allocating color regions for storing the bitmap data for the three colors to the memory; And And if it is determined that the image data is to be printed using four colors, allocating color regions for storing the bitmap data for four colors to the memory. The method of claim 2, wherein the three colors correspond to cyan, magenta, and yellow. The method of claim 2, wherein the four colors correspond to cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. The print driving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print driving method is performed. A first key operation unit operated by the user and outputting a first mode signal indicating whether to print the image data in black and white or in color; In response to the first mode signal, a black address of the memory representing only a black region storing only the bitmap data for black or color regions storing the bitmap data for at least three colors; An area allocator for generating color addresses; And And a bit map converting unit which converts the image data into the bit map data and stores the converted bit map data in the black or the color address of the memory. The method of claim 5, wherein the area allocator A second key operation unit manipulated by a user and outputting a second mode signal indicating whether to print the image data using three colors or four colors in response to the first mode signal ; A first address generator configured to generate the black address in response to the first mode signal; A second address generator for generating the color addresses indicative of color regions storing the bit map data for the three colors in response to the first and second mode signals; And And a third address generator for generating the color addresses in response to the first and second mode signals, the color addresses representing the color areas storing the bitmap data for the four colors. drive.