JP2011086121A - Printing system and printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To rapidly obtain printed matters as desired by a user after a plurality of trial printings. <P>SOLUTION: A print control device 1 sets a combination of printing requirements which can be set with setting items designated by a user operation, out of various setting items for printing requirements used in printing at a printer 2, and generates trial print data for output to the printer 2, the trial print data corresponding to each set combination of settings. The printer 2 performs trial printing while adding identification information to an image in each trial print data from the print control device 1, and each trial print data is stored in association with the identification information in a storage part 27. A selection screen for letting a user select the trial print data for use in main printing from each trial print data according to the identification information is displayed on a display/input panel 281. When a signal for selecting the trial print data for use in the main printing out of each trial print data according to a user operation is input, the trial print data selected is read from the storage part 27 and the main printing is performed based on the trial print data read. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing system and a printing apparatus having a function of performing trial printing.

  When printing by the printing apparatus, the user can set various setting items of the printing conditions. For example, conditions can be set for items relating to image processing such as color mode and character smoothing processing, and items relating to layout such as N-up and continuous shooting.

  In order to obtain a desired printing result, it is necessary to set appropriate printing conditions. However, it is difficult for the user to know what kind of print result can be obtained with the specified settings before printing is executed.

  Therefore, conventionally, a function called “trial printing” is known in which only one copy is printed first under the set conditions, and the user confirms the print result. Yes.

  In this regard, in Patent Document 1, a plurality of parameter values are set for a predetermined print parameter, a plurality of test images respectively corresponding to the plurality of parameter values are printed for the same image, and the parameters of the test image selected by the user A technique for performing actual printing based on a value is disclosed. Here, in the trial printing, the identification information is printed together with the trial image, and the user can select the trial image based on the identification information.

JP 2004-25750 A

  In the technique of Patent Document 1, when a test image is selected by a user, image data to be printed is acquired, and after performing image processing based on a parameter value corresponding to the selected test image, actual printing is performed. . For this reason, after the trial printing, the printed material of the main printing could not be obtained quickly.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object of the present invention is to provide a printing system and a printing apparatus that can quickly obtain a printed matter desired by a user after trial printing.

  In order to achieve the above object, a printing system according to claim 1 is a printing system comprising: a printing device; and a printing control device that is connected to the printing device and outputs printing data to the printing device to perform printing. The printing control device includes a printing condition setting unit that sets a combination of printing conditions that can be set by setting items specified by a user operation among various setting items of printing conditions used for printing in the printing device; A print data generation unit that generates test print data that is print data corresponding to each combination setting set in the print condition setting unit, and each test print data generated by the print data generation unit is output to the printing apparatus. A communication processing unit, and the printing apparatus adds identification information to the image of each test print data input from the print control apparatus and performs a test. A printing unit that performs printing, a storage unit that stores each of the test print data in association with the identification information, and a user that selects test print data to be used for actual printing from the test print data based on the identification information. When a signal for selecting a test print data to be used for actual printing is input from the test print data according to a user operation, the selected test print data is read from the storage unit. And a print control unit that controls the printing unit to perform the main printing based on the read test print data.

  The printing system according to claim 2 is the printing system according to claim 1, wherein the print data generation unit assigns the identification information corresponding to each of the test print data when generating the test print data, and the printing unit Is characterized in that trial printing is performed by adding the identification information given by the print data generation unit to the image of each trial print data.

  A printing apparatus according to claim 3 includes: a printing condition setting unit that sets a combination of printing conditions that can be set by setting items specified by a user operation among various setting items of printing conditions used for printing; and the printing condition setting unit A print data generation unit that generates test print data that is print data respectively corresponding to the setting of each combination set in the step, a print unit that adds identification information to the image of each test print data, and performs test printing; and A storage unit that stores each test print data in association with the identification information, and a display unit that displays a selection screen for allowing the user to select test print data used for actual printing from the test print data based on the identification information. In response to a user operation, when a signal for selecting trial print data to be used for actual printing from the respective trial print data is input, the selected trial print data is selected. Reading out data from the storage unit, characterized in that it comprises a print control unit that controls the print unit to perform the printing based on the trial print data thus read out.

  According to the printing system and the printing apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to quickly obtain a printed matter as desired by the user after trial printing.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a print condition setting screen. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of a detailed setting screen. It is a figure which shows an example of a combination setting. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation at the time of printing of the print control apparatus in the printing system illustrated in FIG. 1. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation at the time of printing of the printing apparatus in the printing system illustrated in FIG. 1. It is a figure for demonstrating the printed matter by test printing. It is a figure which shows an example of a selection screen. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a detailed setting screen for combination test printing in the printing apparatus.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the printing system according to the present embodiment includes a printing control device 1 and a printing device 2. The connection form between the print control apparatus 1 and the print apparatus 2 is typically a LAN (Local Area Network) connection in which a plurality of print control apparatuses 1 share the print apparatus 2, but the print control apparatus 1 May be a local connection in which the printing apparatus 2 and the printing apparatus 2 are connected one-on-one.

  The print control apparatus 1 includes an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer (PC), and a printer driver program developed for the printing apparatus 2 is installed. The printer driver unit 10 is formed by a CPU (Central Processing Unit) (not shown) executing this printer driver program.

  The printer driver unit 10 includes a print condition setting unit 11, a print data generation unit 12, and a display control unit 13.

  The printing condition setting unit 11 sets printing conditions when printing is performed by outputting print data from the printing control apparatus 1 to the printing apparatus 2 in accordance with a user operation. The document mode designation and character smoothing processing are performed. Various setting items such as designation and screening processing designation are set.

  The printing system according to the present embodiment has a function of combination test printing. This combination trial printing is a function for setting a combination of print conditions that can be set by setting items designated by the user among various setting items of the print conditions, and performing trial printing according to the setting of each combination. The print condition setting unit 11 sets whether or not combination trial printing is performed according to a user operation, and sets a combination of print conditions that can be set by a setting item designated by the user.

  The print data generation unit 12 generates print data based on an image to be printed created by an application program (not shown) and the setting contents of various setting items set by the print condition setting unit 11. When combination trial printing is designated, the print data generation unit 12 generates trial print data that is print data corresponding to each combination setting set by the print condition setting unit 11. For one image to be printed, the same number of test print data as the number of combinations is generated.

  The display control unit 13 performs display control of the display unit 14 described later.

  The print control apparatus 1 includes a liquid crystal display and the like, and includes a display unit 14 that displays various screens, a keyboard and a mouse, and the like, and is connected to the operation input unit 15 that receives a user operation and the printing apparatus 2. A communication processing unit 16.

  The printing apparatus 2 includes a control unit 20 including a CPU, a memory, and the like, and the CPU performs processing according to a program stored in the memory, thereby performing a print condition setting unit 21, a print data generation unit 22, a print A control unit 23 and a display control unit 24 are formed.

  The printing condition setting unit 21 sets printing conditions when printing is performed by the copy function of the printing apparatus 2 according to a user operation, and sets various setting items such as image position and density.

  In the present embodiment, the printing apparatus 2 itself also has a function of combination test printing when performing printing by the copy function, and the printing condition setting unit 21 includes the printing condition setting unit 11 of the printing control apparatus 1 described above. Similarly, whether or not to perform combination test printing is set in accordance with a user operation, and a combination of print conditions that can be set by setting items designated by the user is set.

  The print data generation unit 22 generates print data based on the image to be printed read by the image reading unit 25 described later and the setting contents of various setting items set by the print condition setting unit 21. When the combination test printing is designated, the print data generation unit 22 generates test print data corresponding to the setting of each combination set by the print condition setting unit 21.

  The print control unit 23 performs print control of the print unit 26 described later.

  The display control unit 24 performs display control of the display / input panel 281 in the operation input unit 28 described later.

  The printing apparatus 2 includes a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) image sensor, and includes an image reading unit 25 that optically reads a document, a printing unit 26 that has a printing mechanism such as an inkjet method, and performs printing on paper. A storage unit 27 for storing test print data; an operation input unit 28 for receiving user operations; and a communication processing unit 29 for connecting to the print control apparatus 1.

  The operation input unit 28 includes a display / input panel 281 having both a function as a display unit and a function as an input unit, and various operation keys (not shown), accepts user operations, and is based on user operations. An operation signal is output to the control unit 20.

  The display / input panel 281 has a pressure-sensitive or electrostatic transparent touch panel (not shown) disposed on the front surface and a liquid crystal display panel (not illustrated) disposed on the back surface of the touch panel. The user can perform an input operation by directly touching the surface of the touch panel with a finger or the like while viewing the display screen of the liquid crystal display panel.

  Next, the operation of the printing system according to the present embodiment will be described. First, the operation of the print control apparatus 1 will be described.

  When executing printing, the display control unit 13 causes the display unit 14 to display a print condition setting screen 30 as shown in FIG. On the print condition setting screen 30, the user can perform setting operations for various setting items such as document mode designation, character smoothing process designation, and screening process designation. A setting operation for selecting whether or not to perform combination test printing is also possible.

  When the combination test print is selected by the user's operation input unit 15 on the print condition setting screen 30 and a signal for selecting the “detailed setting” button 31 is input, the display control unit 13 is shown in FIG. Such a detailed setting screen 40 is displayed on the display unit 14. Various setting items that can be set on the printing condition setting screen 30 are displayed on the detailed setting screen 40, and the user can select an item to be designated by combination test printing from these items.

  The printing condition setting unit 11 sets a combination of printing conditions that can be set by setting items specified in accordance with a user operation on the detailed setting screen 40. For example, it is assumed that “character smoothing processing” and “screening” are designated. Character smoothing processing is set to ON or OFF, and screening includes error diffusion processing or halftone processing. By combining these, four combinations can be set as shown in FIG.

  For items that can be set from a large number of values, such as “Print Density”, some preset values are automatically selected and combined with the settings of other specified items. It may be created, or a user can set some values so that a combination is created between the setting value by this user and the setting of other specified items. Good.

  The operation of the printing control apparatus 1 during printing will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  In step S <b> 10, the printing condition setting unit 11 accepts input of various setting items by the operation of the user operation input unit 15 on the printing condition setting screen 30, and sets various setting items according to the input contents. When the setting for performing the combination test printing is performed, the printing condition setting unit 11 performs the above-described combination setting.

  Next, in step S20, the printing condition setting unit 11 determines whether or not the setting for performing the combination test printing is performed. If the setting for performing the combination test printing is set (step S20: YES), the process proceeds to step S30. If the setting for performing the combination test printing is not set (step S20: NO), the process proceeds to step S40.

  In step S <b> 30, the print data generation unit 12 generates test print data according to the combination setting set by the print condition setting unit 11. In the example of FIG. 4, four test print data are generated for one image to be printed. At this time, the current setting is used for items other than those specified on the detailed setting screen 40. Information indicating that the test print data is test print data in the combination test print is added to the test print data.

  In step S <b> 40, the print data generation unit 12 generates print data with the current settings set by the print condition setting unit 11.

  In step S50, the print data generation unit 12 transmits the test print data generated in step S30 or the print data generated in step S40 to the printing apparatus 2 via the communication processing unit 16.

  Next, the operation of the printing apparatus 2 during printing will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  In step S110, when print data from the print control apparatus 1 is received via the communication processing unit 29, in step S120, the print control unit 23 determines whether or not the received print data is trial print data. As described above, since information indicating this is added to the test print data, the print control unit 23 determines whether or not it is test print data. If it is test print data (step S120: YES), the process proceeds to step S130. If it is not test print data (step S120: NO), the process proceeds to step S160.

  In step S <b> 130, the print control unit 23 controls the printing unit 26 to perform one trial print for each received trial print data. In the example of FIG. 4, four images with different settings are printed for one image to be printed. At this time, the print controller 23 adds identification information to the image of each test print data and prints it.

  The identification information is, for example, a number for identifying the combination setting for each test print data. As shown in FIG. 7, character strings such as “No. 1”, “No. 2”,. It is printed in a position, size, and font that the user can easily recognize.

  In addition, the print control unit 23 stores each test print data in the storage unit 27 in association with the identification information.

  Next, in step S140, the display control unit 24 causes the display / input panel 281 to display a selection screen for allowing the user to select trial print data used for actual printing from each trial print data based on the identification information.

  An example of the selection screen displayed here is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 8, a selection button group 51 is displayed on the selection screen 50. In the selection button group 51, buttons corresponding to the identification information of the trial print data (combination setting) are displayed. In FIG. 8, No. 2 corresponding to the example of FIG. 1-No. A button for selecting 4 is displayed.

  The user can confirm the image of the printed matter that has been trial printed in step S130 and can select a desired one on the selection screen 50.

  When a signal for selecting one of the selection button groups 51 and selecting the “confirm” button 52 is input by a user operation, in step S150, the print control unit 23 corresponds to the selected button. The test print data of the identification information is read from the storage unit 27, and the printing unit 26 is controlled to perform the main print based on the read test print data. In the main printing, the identification information is not printed.

  In step S160, the print control unit 23 controls the printing unit 26 to perform the main printing based on the received print data.

  In the above description, the identification information is given on the side of the printing apparatus 2 that has received the trial print data. However, the identification information may be given to the trial print data on the print control apparatus 1 side.

  In this case, the print data generation unit 12 of the print control apparatus 1 assigns identification information corresponding to each test print data when generating each test print data in step S30 of FIG. 5, and outputs image data for printing the identification information. Generate. When transmitting the test print data to the printing apparatus 2 in step S50, the print data generation unit 12 transmits the image data of the identification information in association with each test print data.

  On the printing apparatus 2 side, when performing the trial printing in step S130 of FIG. 6, the print control unit 23 adds the image data of the identification information to each trial print data and prints it.

  By doing so, the processing load on the printing apparatus 2 side can be reduced.

  In the present embodiment, the printing apparatus 2 itself also has a function of combination test printing when printing is performed using a copy function.

  At the time of this combination test printing, the display control unit 24 of the printing apparatus 2 displays a detailed setting screen 60 as shown in FIG. 9 on the display / input panel 281. A button group 61 for selecting various setting items that can be set in the printing apparatus 2 is displayed on the detailed setting screen 60, and the user can select an item to be specified by combination test printing from these buttons.

  The printing condition setting unit 21 of the printing apparatus 2 sets a combination of printing conditions that can be set by setting items specified in accordance with a user operation on the detailed setting screen 60. A method for creating a combination is the same as that for creating a combination by the print condition setting unit 11 of the print control apparatus 1 described above.

  When an instruction signal for executing combination test printing is input after the combination is set, the print data generation unit 22 causes the image reading unit 25 to read the original, and the read condition is set by the print condition setting unit 21. Test print data corresponding to each combination setting is generated, and identification information is assigned to the test print data.

  Then, the print control unit 23 performs test printing for each test print data, and controls the printing unit 26 to print the image of each test print data with identification information added thereto. In addition, the print control unit 23 stores each test print data in the storage unit 27 in association with the identification information.

  Thereafter, the main printing according to the user's wish is performed by the same processing as in steps S140 and S150 of FIG.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the test print data is stored in the storage unit 27 of the printing apparatus 2 in association with the identification information, so that the actual print is performed according to the combination setting selected by the user. Since the print data is read out from the storage unit 27 and the main print is executed without generating the print data again, it is possible to quickly obtain a printed matter desired by the user after the trial print.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Print control apparatus 2 Printing apparatus 10 Printer driver part 11 Print condition setting part 12 Print data generation part 13 Display control part 14 Display part 15 Operation input part 16 Communication processing part 20 Control part 21 Print condition setting part 22 Print data generation part 23 Print control unit 24 Display control unit 25 Image reading unit 26 Printing unit 27 Storage unit 28 Operation input unit 29 Communication processing unit 30 Print condition setting screen 40 Detailed setting screen 50 Selection screen 60 Detailed setting screen

Claims (3)

A printing system comprising: a printing device; and a printing control device that is connected to the printing device and outputs printing data to the printing device to perform printing,
The print control device includes:
A printing condition setting unit that sets a combination of printing conditions that can be set by setting items specified by a user operation among various setting items of printing conditions used for printing in the printing apparatus;
A print data generation unit that generates test print data that is print data corresponding to each combination setting set in the print condition setting unit;
A communication processing unit that outputs each test print data generated by the print data generation unit to the printing apparatus;
The printing apparatus includes:
A printing unit for performing test printing by adding identification information to the image of each test print data input from the print control device;
A storage unit that stores the test print data in association with the identification information;
A display unit for displaying a selection screen for allowing the user to select trial print data used for actual printing from the trial print data based on the identification information;
When a signal for selecting trial print data to be used for actual printing is input from each of the trial print data according to a user operation, the selected trial print data is read from the storage unit, and based on the read trial print data And a printing control unit that controls the printing unit to perform main printing. The print data generation unit assigns the identification information corresponding to each of the test print data when generating the test print data,
The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the printing unit performs test printing by adding the identification information given by the print data generation unit to an image of each test print data. A print condition setting unit for setting a combination of print conditions that can be set by a setting item specified by a user operation among various setting items of print conditions used for printing;
A print data generation unit that generates test print data that is print data corresponding to each combination setting set in the print condition setting unit;
A printing unit for performing test printing by adding identification information to the image of each test print data;
A storage unit that stores the test print data in association with the identification information;
A display unit for displaying a selection screen for allowing the user to select trial print data used for actual printing from the trial print data based on the identification information;
When a signal for selecting trial print data to be used for actual printing is input from each of the trial print data according to a user operation, the selected trial print data is read from the storage unit, and based on the read trial print data A printing apparatus comprising: a printing control unit that controls the printing unit to perform main printing.

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