JP3363794B2 - Print control method and apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing control method and apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, overlay printing is known in which a printer driver and a related utility add additional information to print data from an application and print it. Overlay printing is a technique in which overlay data is created in advance, and the overlay data and the print data are separately sent to the printer at the time of printing and combined in the printer. On the other hand, as a technique for synthesizing data on the host side, there are techniques called watermark printing and stamp printing. This is a technique in which additional information data other than print data is created on the host side (printer driver) and is sent to the printer as a printer command together with the print data. In these printings, for example, a character string such as "CONFIDENTIAL" can be combined with print data with an effect like a watermark.

[0003]

In the prior art, when a character string to be stamp-printed, for example, a character string such as "CONFIDENTIAL" is added to the print data, the character string is printed at a desired angle. There are things you can do.
However, in this case, since the inclination of the character string can only be uniformly specified by the angle, when a long character string is added to a document in which papers with different paper directions are mixed, there is a problem that the character string is out of the paper. May occur.

Further, in order to output a character string as long as possible, it is desirable to arrange the character strings in a diagonal direction. In order to incline the character string along the diagonal direction, the user also calculates the angle and calculates the angle value. Must be specified.

Further, since the position designation such as the binding margin is not taken into consideration, the user does not have to calculate and designate the printing position of the additional information or the angle of the character string according to the change of the effective printing area due to the binding margin. must not.

Further, in N-page printing in which N pages created by an application are put together on one sheet, two pages, a physical page (sheet) to be added with additional information and a logical page printed on the sheet, are used. There are various types, but it was not possible to add additional information to the physical sheet. In addition, it was possible to prepare a bitmap image such as the circled “secret” (“confidential”) that represents a secret document in advance, and paste it in the output, but the additional information is a character. In the case of columns,
It was not possible to print the character string with decorations such as boxes.

Further, it is not possible to specify the page for printing the additional information in a complicated format such as adding only even pages to logical pages or physical pages, or adding only the beginning and end of a document. .

The present invention has been made in view of the above conventional example, and an object of the present invention is to provide a print control apparatus and method capable of performing an optimum layout by conceptually designating a layout of additional information by an operator. .

Further, in the case of N-page printing in which a plurality of pages are collectively printed on one sheet, a print control apparatus and method are provided which can add additional information page by page or sheet by sheet. That is another purpose.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a print control apparatus and method for appropriately laying out additional information in an effective print area even when a binding margin is added.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a printing control apparatus and method capable of further specifying the modification of the specified character string when the character string is specified as the additional information.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a print control apparatus and method capable of adding additional information to a designated page of a document.

[0013]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has the following constitution. A print control device for generating print data to be printed out, wherein designating means for designating a tilting direction of additional information to be added to input data in a conceptual format, and the designating means for designating the additional information Determining means for acquiring paper size information to be output when the tilting direction is specified in a conceptual format, and for determining different tilt angles for portrait paper and landscape paper based on the paper size information; A printout based on addition means for adding the additional information to a page to which the input data is to be added at the tilt angle determined by the determination means, and data to be printed to which the additional information has been added Generating means for generating print data to be printed. More preferably, the designating unit designates not only a method of inclining the additional information but also a relative position within the page as a way of arranging the additional information. More preferably,
The determining means determines a tilt angle in a diagonal direction with respect to the vertically long sheet and the horizontally long sheet. More preferably, the designation means not only designates a conceptual format but also freely designates an angle at which the additional information is tilted as the tilting direction of the additional information. More preferably, it further comprises a page layout means for collecting a plurality of input logical pages into one physical page to be printed out, and the designating means adds the additional information in physical page units or in logical page units. Whether to add is also specified, and when the specifying unit specifies to add the additional information in logical page units, the determining unit acquires the size information of the logical page and determines the tilt angle. More preferably, when the binding margin is designated, the adding means sets a virtual page in the effective print area excluding the binding margin and adds the additional information to the virtual page. More preferably, when the method of arranging the additional information is specified by a relative position in the page, the adding means determines whether the character included in the additional information is a vertical writing font or a horizontal writing font. Accordingly, the additional information is arranged. More preferably, the adding means adds the additional information only to the designated page. More preferably, the designating unit further designates modification information that modifies the additional information, and the adding unit adds the additional information modified based on the modification information to a page to be added.

Another aspect of the present invention has the following configuration. Printer control for printing by printing device
Host computer that generates print data including commands
A print control apparatus that functions as a data, the print setting grayed
When printing via the Rafical User Interface screen
Of additional information to be added to pages and binding substitution during binding margin printing
Setting input means for inputting the setting and the setting input means.
If the binding margin setting is made in the input
Read the binding margin position and value, and bind from the binding margin position side.
Virtual by subtracting the margin value from the page size
Calculation means for calculating a page size, based on the calculated virtual page size by the calculation means,
The angle and position of the additional information input by the setting input means
Means for deciding the position, and adding the additional information to the data to be printed, and generating means for generating print data to be printed out based on the data to be printed to which the additional information is added. Equipped with. More preferably, further comprises a designation means to designate in conceptual form an inclined way of additional information to be added to the input data, it said adding device, before
The designation method allows the additional information to be tilted in a conceptual format.
In the virtual page size information
Different for portrait and landscape paper based on
The tilt angle is determined, and the additional information is added to the page to which the input data is added. More preferably,
The designating unit designates not only a method of inclining the additional information but also a relative position within the page as a way of arranging the additional information. More preferably, the adding means is vertically long.
Determine the diagonal tilt angle for paper and landscape paper
It More preferably, the designation means not only designates a conceptual format but also freely designates an angle at which the additional information is tilted as the tilting direction of the additional information. More preferably, it further comprises a page layout means for collecting a plurality of input logical pages into one physical page to be printed out, and the designating means adds the additional information in physical page units or in logical page units. Whether to add is also specified, and the adding means causes the specifying means to set a logical page.
When it is specified to add the additional information to each unit
To get the logical page size information and determine the tilt angle
To do .

[0015]

[0016]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment] First, the configuration of a printer control system according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. As long as the functions of the present invention are executed, a LAN (Local Area Network), WAN (Wide Area Network), whether a single device or a system composed of a plurality of devices, is used.
The present invention can be applied to a system in which processing is performed by connecting via a network such as rk: wide area network).

<Arrangement of Print Control System> The print control system according to the first embodiment comprises a host computer 3000 and a printer 1500. The host computer 3000 has a CPU 1 and a RAM
2, ROM 3 and keyboard controller (KBC) 5
, CRT controller (CRTC) 6, disk controller (DKC) 7, printer controller (PR)
A TC) 8, a keyboard (KB) 9, a CRT display (CRT) 10 and an external memory 11 are provided.

In FIG. 1, the host computer 300
Reference numeral 0 includes a CPU 1 for executing document processing in which graphics, images, characters, tables (including spreadsheets, etc.) are mixed based on a document processing program stored in the program ROM of the ROM 3 or the external memory 11. CPU1
It comprehensively controls each device connected to the system bus 4. The program ROM of the ROM 3 or the external memory 11 stores an operating system program (hereinafter referred to as OS) which is a control program of the CPU 1, a printer driver described later, and the like. Font data and the like used in processing are stored, and various data used in performing the document processing and the like are stored in the data ROM of the ROM 3 or the external memory 11.

The RAM 2 functions as a main memory, a work area, etc. of the CPU 1.

The keyboard controller (KBC) 5 is
Key input from the keyboard 9 or a pointing device (not shown) is controlled. CRT controller (CRTC)
Reference numeral 6 controls the display of a CRT display (CRT) 10. The disk controller (DKC) 7 is a boot program, various applications, font data,
Hard disk (HD), floppy disk (FD) that stores user files, edit files, printer control command generation programs (hereinafter printer drivers), etc.
Access to the external memory 11, etc. is controlled. The printer controller (PRTC) 8 uses the bidirectional interface (interface) 21 to print the printer 150.
0 to execute communication control processing with the printer 1500.

It should be noted that the CPU 1 executes WYSIWYG in which the same image as the image to be printed is displayed on the CRT 10 by executing the outline font rasterization process to the display information RAM set in the RAM 2, for example. There is. Further, the CPU 1 opens various windows registered based on a command designated by a mouse cursor (not shown) on the CRT 10 and executes various data processing. When executing printing, the user opens a window relating to print settings, and can make printer settings and print processing method settings for the printer driver including selection of print modes.

The printer 1500 is controlled by the CPU 12. The printer CPU 12 outputs an image as output information to the printing unit (printer engine) 17 connected to the system bus 15 based on a control program stored in the program ROM of the ROM 13 or a control program stored in the external memory 14. Output a signal. In addition, the program ROM of the ROM 13 includes the CPU 1
2 control programs and the like are stored. The font ROM of the ROM 13 stores font data and the like used when generating the above output information, and the data R of the ROM 13 is used.
In the case of a printer having no external memory 14 such as a hard disk, the OM stores information used on the host computer.

The CPU 12 can perform communication processing with the host computer via the input unit 18, and can notify the host computer 3000 of information in the printer. The RAM 19 is a RAM that functions as a main memory of the CPU 12, a work area, or the like, and is configured so that the memory capacity can be expanded by an optional RAM connected to an expansion port (not shown). RAM
Reference numeral 19 is an output information expansion area, environment data storage area, NV
Used for RAM etc. The hard disk (H
Access to the external memory 14 such as D) and IC card is controlled by the memory controller (MC) 20. The external memory 14 is connected as an option and stores font data, emulation programs, form data and the like. Reference numeral 18 denotes the above-mentioned operation panel, on which switches for operation, an LED display, and the like are arranged.

The above-mentioned external memory 14 is not limited to one, but a plurality of external memories can be connected, and in addition to a built-in font, an option 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, NVRAM not shown
The printer mode setting information from the operation panel 1501 may be stored.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of typical print processing in a host computer to which a printing device such as a printer is directly connected or is 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 they are executed, they are loaded into the RAM 2 and executed by a module that uses the OS or its modules. It is a program module. In addition, the application 201 and the printer driver 203 are
It is possible to add to the HD of the external disk 11 via the FD of the external memory 11, a CD-ROM (not shown), or a network (not shown).

The application 201 stored in the external memory 11 is loaded into the RAM 2 and executed.
Similarly, when printing is performed, the output (drawing) is performed using the graphic engine 202 that is similarly loaded in the RAM 2 and is executable.

The graphic engine 202 similarly loads the printer driver 203 prepared for each printing apparatus from the external memory 11 to the RAM 2, and the application 2
The output 10 is converted into a printer control command using the printer driver 203. The converted printer control command is output to the printer 1500 via the interface 21 via the system spooler 204 loaded in the RAM 2 by the OS.

The printing system of the present embodiment has a construction in which print data from an application is temporarily spooled as intermediate code data as shown in FIG. 3 in addition to the printing system consisting of the printer and the host computer shown in FIG. Have.

FIG. 3 is an extension of the system of FIG. 2, and has a configuration in which, when a print command is sent from the graphic engine 202 to the printer driver 203, a spool file 303 consisting of an intermediate code is once generated. In the system of FIG. 2, the application 201 is released from the print processing when the printer driver 203 finishes converting all the print commands from the graphic engine 202 into printer control commands. On the contrary,
In the system of FIG. 3, the spooler 302 converts all print commands into intermediate code data, and the spool file 30
It is the time of outputting to 3. The latter is usually faster. Further, in the system shown in FIG. 3, the contents of the spool file 303 can be processed. As a result, for print data from the application,
It is possible to realize functions that the application does not have, such as enlargement / reduction, reduction of plural pages into one page, and printing.

For these purposes, the system of FIG. 2 is spooled with intermediate code data as shown in FIG.
The system has been expanded. In order to process the print data, settings are normally made from a window provided by the printer driver 203, and the printer driver 203 stores the settings 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. Graphic engine 2 for dispatcher 301
Print command received from the application 20
In the case of a print command issued from the 1 to the graphic engine 202, the dispatcher 301 uses the external memory 11
The spooler 302 stored in is loaded into the RAM 2 and the 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. Further, the spooler 302 uses the printer driver 203.
The processing settings relating to the print data set for 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 RAM 2
It may be generated above. Further, the spooler 302 loads the spool file manager 304 stored in the external memory 11 into the RAM 2 and notifies the spool file manager 304 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 regarding 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 spool file 303 is sent to the despooler 305. It is instructed to perform the printing process of the intermediate code described in.

The despooler 305 is a spool file 30.
The intermediate code included in No. 3 is processed according to the contents of the processing setting included in the spool file 303, and is output again via the graphic engine 202.

The print command received by the dispatcher 301 from the graphic engine 202 is the despooler 305.
In the case of a print command issued to the graphic engine 202 by the dispatcher 301, the dispatcher 301 sends the print command to the printer driver 203 instead of the spooler 302.

The printer driver 203 generates a printer control command and outputs it to the printer 1500 via the system spooler 204.

<Structure of Color Laser Beam Printer> FIG. 12 is a sectional view of a color laser printer having a double-sided printing function, which is an example of the printer 1500. In this printer, laser light modulated by image data of each color obtained based on print data input from a host computer 3000 is reflected by a polygon mirror 31 on a photosensitive drum 15.
To form an electrostatic latent image. Then, this electrostatic latent image is toner-developed to obtain a visible image, and this is multiple-transferred to the intermediate transfer body 9 for all colors to form a color visible image.
Then, further, transfer this color visible image to the transfer material 2,
A color visible image is fixed on the transfer material 2. The image forming unit that performs the above control includes a drum unit having the photosensitive drum 15, a primary charging unit having a contact charging roller 17, a cleaning unit, a developing unit, an intermediate transfer member 9, a paper cassette 1, and various rollers 3, 4, 5 ,. Paper feed unit including 7, transfer roller 1
The transfer unit including 0 and the fixing unit 25 are included.

The drum unit 13 comprises a photosensitive drum (photosensitive member) 15 and a cleaner container 14 having a cleaning mechanism which also functions as a holder for the photosensitive drum 15 and are integrally formed. The drum unit 13 is detachably supported on the printer body, and 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 on the outer circumference 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), and the drive motor rotates the photosensitive drum 15 in a counterclockwise direction according to an image forming operation. An electrostatic latent image is formed by selectively exposing the surface of the photosensitive drum 15. In the scanner unit 30, the modulated laser light is reflected by a polygon mirror that rotates in synchronization with a horizontal synchronizing signal of an image signal by a motor 31a, and irradiates a photosensitive drum via a lens 32 and a reflecting mirror 33.

The developing section develops yellow (Y), magenta (M), and cyan (C) in order to visualize the electrostatic latent image, and three color developing devices 20Y and 20Y.
M, 20C and one black developing device 21B for developing black (B). The color developing units 20Y, 20M, 20C and the black developing unit 21B include sleeps 20YS, 20MS, 20CS and 21B.
S and these sleeps 20YS, 20MS, 20CS,
21BS Coating blade 20Y pressed against the outer periphery of each
B, 20 MB, 20 CB and 21 BB are provided respectively. In addition, three color developing devices 20Y, 20M, 20
C has coating 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 the developing rotary 23 which rotates about the rotary shaft 22. ing.

Sleep 21BS of the black developing device 21B
Are arranged with a minute gap of, for example, about 300 μm with respect to the photosensitive drum 15. Black developing device 21B
Is a sleeve 21B that rotates in a clockwise direction while conveying toner by a feeding member incorporated in the container.
A charge is applied to the toner by frictional charging so that the outer periphery of S is coated by the coating blade 21BB. Moreover, by applying a developing bias to the sleep 21BS,
The photosensitive drum 15 is developed according to the electrostatic latent image to form a visible image on the photosensitive drum 15 with black toner.

Three color developing devices 20Y, 20M, 20
C rotates with the rotation of the developing rotary 23 during image formation, and the predetermined sleeps 20YS, 20MS, 20
The CS faces the photosensitive drum 15 with a minute gap of about 300 μm. As a result, the predetermined color developing devices 20Y, 20M, 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, 1 of the intermediate transfer member 9 is used.
The developing rotary 23 rotates for each rotation, and the yellow developing device 20Y, the magenta developing device 20M, the cyan developing device 20C,
Next, the developing process is performed in the order of the black developing device 21B,
The intermediate transfer member 9 is rotated four times to sequentially form a visible image with yellow, magenta, cyan, and black toners, respectively, 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 come into contact with the photosensitive drum 15 and rotate with the rotation of the photosensitive drum 15. The intermediate transfer member 9 rotates in the clockwise direction during color image formation, and the photosensitive drums 15 to 4 are rotated. Receive multiple transfers of visible images. Further, the intermediate transfer body 9 simultaneously transfers multiple color visible images on the intermediate transfer body 9 to the transfer material 2 by contacting a transfer roller 10 which will be described later during image formation and carrying the transfer material 2 therebetween. At the outer peripheral portion of the intermediate transfer member, the intermediate transfer member 9
A TOP sensor 9a and an RS sensor 9b for detecting the position of the toner image in the rotation direction, and a density sensor 9c for detecting the density of the toner image transferred to the intermediate transfer member are arranged.

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

The transfer roller 10 is opened 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 the solid line in FIG. After the color visible images of four colors are formed on the intermediate transfer body 9, the color visible image is transferred to the transfer material 2
The transfer roller 10 is positioned above the dotted line in the drawing by a cam member (not shown) in accordance with the timing of transfer to the sheet. As a result, the transfer roller 10 is pressed against the intermediate transfer body 9 via the transfer material 2 with a predetermined pressing force, and a bias voltage is applied, so that the color visible image on the intermediate transfer body 9 is transferred to the transfer material 2.

The fixing unit 25 conveys the transfer 2 while
The transferred color visible image is fixed, and includes a fixing roller 26 for heating the transfer material 2 and a pressure roller 27 for bringing the transfer material 2 into pressure contact with the fixing roller 26. The fixing roller 26 and the pressure roller 27 are formed in a hollow shape, and have heaters 28 and 29 built therein. That is, the transfer material 2 holding the color visible image is conveyed 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 on which the visible image has been fixed is then discharged by the paper discharging rollers 34, 35 and 36 to the paper discharging section 37, and the image forming operation is completed. The cleaning unit is for cleaning the toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 15 and the intermediate transfer body 9, and is a waste toner after the visible image formed by the toner formed on the photosensitive drum 15 is transferred to the intermediate transfer body 9. The waste toner after transferring the four-color visible image formed on the intermediate transfer body 9 to the transfer material 2 is stored in the cleaner container 14.

The transfer material (recording paper) 2 to be printed is taken out from the paper feed tray 1 by the paper feed roller 3 and conveyed so as to be sandwiched between the intermediate transfer body 9 and the transfer roller 10 and color toner. An image is recorded, and the toner image is fixed by passing through the fixing unit 25. In the case of single-sided printing, the guide 38 forms a conveyance path so as to guide the recording paper to the upper paper discharge section, but for double-sided printing, a path is formed so as to guide it to the lower duplex unit.

The recording sheet guided to the double-sided unit is once fed to the lower part of the tray 1 (conveyance path indicated by the chain double-dashed line) by the conveyance rollers 40, and then conveyed in the opposite direction to the double-sided tray 39. On the double-sided tray 39, the front and back sides of the sheet are reversed from the state of being placed on the sheet feed tray 1, and the front and rear sides are reversed with respect to the transport direction. In this state, double-sided printing can be performed by transferring and fixing the toner image again.

<Print Data Output Processing> FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing general processing of the despooler 305.

In step 401, spool file 303
In step 402, the intermediate code included in is read and processed into print data according to the contents of the processing setting included in the spool file 303, and in step 403, it is output to the graphic engine 202 again. The printing control system of this embodiment implements a function of stamp printing or watermark printing by combining the additional information with the print data according to the procedure described below. The process for fulfilling this function is performed in step 403 of FIG.

When all the intermediate codes have been output, the process ends at step 404, and when there are still intermediate codes to be output, the process returns to step 401 and the process of the next intermediate code is repeated.

<Designation of Additional Information> FIG. 5 is an example of a screen for designating the layout when the additional information is added to the print data. Instead of designating the tilt angle of the additional information by a numerical value, it is possible to designate the tilt of the additional information in the diagonal direction in a conceptual form of "upward right" and "downward right".

In FIG. 5, a character string to be printed as additional information can be input in the field F1. In FIG. 5, the character string “DRAFT” is input. In the fields F2 to F5, the font used when drawing the character string input in the field F1 can be specified.
Here, font name, font bold / italic,
Character size and character color can be specified respectively.

CHK1, CHK2, and CHK3 columns below can be combined to specify whether to add a rectangular frame, a circled frame, or no boxed frame as a decoration of the additional information character string. .

In the field F6, the part of the page where the additional information is to be arranged is designated. Here, for example, the center of the sheet and the upper left of the sheet can be designated.

In CHK4 to CHK7, it is possible to designate the addition of an angle to the character string of the additional information. To specify the angle, you can check the CHK7 column and select the setting that allows you to freely specify the angle, enter the angle in the field F7 to specify the specific angle, or right of the CHK4 column. Upward diagonal direction, horizontal direction of CHK5 column, CH
It is also possible to specify the diagonally downward right direction in the K6 column.

As shown in FIG. 5, if the tilting angle can be conceptually specified instead of a numerical value, it is not limited to the diagonal direction, but for example, the long side direction or an angle of 1/2 of the diagonal line can be specified. May be possible.

Although the additional information designated by the graphical user interface of FIG. 5 is character string information, it may be image information such as a bitmap. Each of the above specified values is the printer driver 203
And are stored in the spool file. Also, the specification to add additional information to the document and print it is
Information may be stored in the spool file together with the designated items in FIG. 5, or if no designation is made, information regarding additional information may not be spooled.

<Layout of Additional Information> FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing method for laying out additional information. When the layout of the additional information is specified through the screen as shown in FIG. 5, the additional information is reflected in the procedure of FIG. The process of FIG. 6 is performed by the despooler 305 before sending the command to the graphic engine 202 in step 403 of FIG. The information acquired or created by the processing of FIG. 6 is transmitted to the graphic engine 202 as a command for stamp printing, and image data is generated there.

In FIG. 6, it is determined in step 601 whether the additional information is designated to be printed.
In a processing system in which print data is spooled as an intermediate code, a designation regarding additional information may be written in a spool file and the designation may be read when despooling. If you have not specified that additional information should be printed,
Only normal print processing is performed without performing processing related to additional information. If it is designated in step 601 to print additional information, the additional information is read in step 602.

Next, in step 603, information about the layout such as the angle of additional information is read. Next, the process proceeds to step 604, and it is determined whether the angle information read in step 603 is designated by a numerical value or is given by conceptual information such as a relative position or direction with respect to the contour of the page. When the numerical value is designated, the process proceeds to step 609, and the value is used as it is as the angle information. If not, it is necessary to calculate the angle. In step 605, first, the vertical and horizontal sizes of the currently used paper are acquired from the driver or the graphics engine, or the paper size information stored in the spool file is acquired. Next, in step 606, the angle at which the additional information is tilted is calculated from the vertical and horizontal sizes acquired in step 605. The angle Θ can be easily calculated from the vertical length and the horizontal length of the paper obtained in step 605 by the calculation formula of Θ = arctan (vertical / horizontal). When both the downward sloping and upward sloping diagonals can be specified, for the downward sloping diagonal direction, use the formula Θ = −Θ for the Θ obtained here.

After the angle is determined, in step 607, a drawing command for tilting the additional information and arranging it at the designated position is generated. After the angle information is acquired in step 606, it is possible to rotate and arrange using a conventional technique. The drawing command thus generated is transmitted to the graphic engine to generate an image.

FIG. 14 shows an output example when a document in which portrait paper and landscape paper are mixed is processed according to the flow of FIG. The character string is "CONFIDENTIAL", and the angle is diagonal to the right. Although it is a long character string, it can be printed without protruding by arranging it in the diagonal direction.
In addition, since the tilt angle is determined according to the vertical length and the horizontal length of the paper regardless of whether it is portrait or landscape, the additional information is arranged along the diagonal as shown in the figure, and the appearance is Beautiful output is obtained.

For sizes that are often used, such as A4 size and B5 size, the diagonal length and angle are prepared in advance, and the additional information is laid out according to the values to calculate the angle. You can save time. That is, in the standard plates such as the A plate and the B plate, the aspect ratio is constant regardless of the size, and the angle of the diagonal line is determined depending on whether it is portrait or landscape. for that reason,
When arranging the additional information along the diagonal line, the angle of the diagonal line depending on the vertical and horizontal lengths may be prepared in advance and used.

<Processing at N-Page Printing> Next, an example of a system capable of combining N-page printing and additional information printing will be described. The whole process is the same as the process of FIG. 6, but the process for printing N pages is added to the part of step 605. The processing flow of this additional processing is shown in FIG. In the print control system having the N-page printing function, FIG. 7 is executed instead of step 605 of FIG.

In N page printing, a physical page (sheet)
There is a concept of two types of pages, namely, logical page (page). Therefore, it is necessary to separate the processing of the physical page and the processing of the logical page in the step 605. In step 605 of FIG. 6, it suffices to simply take the vertical and horizontal sizes of the paper to be used. However, when combined with N page printing, this step 605 is subdivided into more detailed processing.

First, in step 701, it is determined whether or not N pages are printed. Step 6 if not printing N pages
Similarly to 05, in step 702, the vertical and horizontal values of the paper are acquired.
That is, when N pages are not printed, the process is performed in the same procedure as in FIG. On the other hand, when printing N pages,
In step 703, it is determined whether the additional information is additional information for a logical page or additional information for a physical page. Also in the case of the designation for the physical page, the size information of the paper may be acquired in step 702 as in the case of not printing N pages.

If it is determined in step 703 that the additional information is designated for the logical page, the process advances to step 704 to acquire the size information of the logical page instead of the paper size. The size information of the logical page can also be obtained by reading the paper size information stored in the spool file. For example, if the designated paper is A4 size and 4 pages are designated to be printed on one sheet (4 page printing), each logical page is arranged in a grid pattern, and the size is A6 size. It will be the size.

The N page printing is designated by the printer driver separately, but may be designated together with the designation in FIG.

<Layout of Additional Information Considering Binding Margin> Next, an example of a system capable of simultaneously specifying binding margin printing and additional information printing will be described. The whole process is shown in Figure 6.
The process of FIG. 8 is similar to that of step 6
It must be done between 05 and step 606. Figure 8
According to the procedure, the size adjustment process in which the binding margin is added is performed.

After the page size is acquired in step 605, it is determined in step 801 whether or not the angle and the position are changed in consideration of the binding margin value. This designation may be designated together with various designations in FIG. If the binding margin value needs to be added, the process proceeds to step 802, where the binding margin position and size are read from the spool file. These values may be designated together with the various designations in FIG. 5, but may be designated separately from them. Next, in step 803, the width of the binding margin is subtracted from the page size, and the obtained value is set as the virtual paper size, and the process proceeds to step 606. For example, if the binding margin is specified to be along the long side, the width of the binding margin is subtracted from the length of the short side, and if the binding margin is specified to be on the short side, the length of the long side is specified. Subtract the binding margin from.

Further, in step 607 of FIG. 6, based on the page size determined by the procedure of FIG.
The additional information is tilted to the angle calculated in step 606.

<Layout of Additional Information Using Vertical Writing Font> Next, an example of a system capable of designating a vertical writing font for additional information will be described. The vertical writing font is inclined 90 degrees with respect to the horizontal writing font. for that reason,
If the additional information in which the vertical writing font is used is subjected to exactly the same processing as that in the horizontal writing font, the additional information is tilted at an angle such that the characters are turned upside down. Therefore, if a vertical font is used, it is necessary to change the angle accordingly.

Although the overall processing is almost the same as the processing shown in FIG. 6, the above-mentioned processing needs to be performed immediately before step 607 in FIG. The processing is shown in FIG.

First, in normal processing, the process proceeds to step 606 or step 606 to obtain the angle. next,
In step 901, the font type is checked to determine whether a vertical writing font is used. If it is not a vertical font, use the same angle.

In case of vertical writing font, step 9 is further added.
Whether the angle is positive at 02 (that is, whether it is rising to the right)
Determine whether As shown in FIG. 10C, the vertical writing font is already in a state of lying horizontally in the normal state with respect to the horizontal writing font of FIG. for that reason,
When rotated by the same angle as the horizontal writing font of FIG. 10 (b), the characters are turned diagonally downward as shown in FIG. 10 (d). Therefore, in step 903, the angle is subtracted by 180 degrees and the additional information is inverted.

<Determination of page order for reading> FIG.
9 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of page number management necessary when a page for drawing additional information can be designated. The page designation is, for example, “print additional information only on even pages”, “print additional information only on first four pages”, or “do not print additional information on the last five pages”.
And so on. If the page number management, that is, the logical page number and the physical page number on one physical page can be grasped, it is possible to correspond to the page designation. In addition,
The process of FIG. 11 is performed when the intermediate code is read in step 401 of FIG.

First, in step 1101, the physical page number is initialized.

Steps 1102 to 1110 are repeated while incrementing the logical page number to be printed by one.

At step 1103, the logical page number is made the same as the counter i.

In step 1104, it is determined whether or not N page printing is performed, and if N page printing is performed, step 110 is executed.
5, otherwise go to step 1113.

In step 1105, the fact that the page currently being processed is the page to be printed on the current physical page number is recorded in the memory or the like.

Next, in step 1106, it is judged whether or not the number of logical pages to be arranged in one physical page has been processed.
When the processing for one physical page is completed, step 110
7 and increments the physical page number counter.

In step 1108, whether the print order is reverse order,
Alternatively, it is determined whether or not the additional information is designated to include the final page. In the case of reverse order printing, the process cannot be immediately performed on the spot. Therefore, a set of the current physical page number determined in the processes of steps 1102 to 1107 and the logical page number printed on the physical page is stored in the table. It is necessary to record it in. Also,
If the last page is specified to be involved, the process cannot be performed unless the last page is confirmed. In that case as well, information indicating the correspondence between the physical page number and the logical page number is stored.

In step 1109, a set of the physical page number and the logical page number arranged therein is recorded in the table.

In step 1114, since it is not the reverse order printing, only the processing for the current physical page needs to be performed. Therefore, the normal processing for one physical page is performed without performing the storage processing. In the processing of one physical page, the current physical page number and the logical page number to be printed on that physical page are known. Therefore, the intermediate code for each page is read from the spool file to specify which page to print the additional information. For a page for which additional information is specified, a drawing command is generated and sent to the graphic engine 202 so that the specified additional information is printed. At this time, as shown in FIGS. 6 to 9, a drawing command is generated from the additional information.

When the processing is completed for all pages in step 1110, the process exits the loop and proceeds to step 1111.
Go to.

At step 1111 it is judged again whether the reverse order printing is performed. If the reverse order printing is performed, the process proceeds to step 1112, and the set of the physical page number and the logical page number is read from the table stored in step 1109 in the order from the largest page number. In step 1117, the intermediate code for one physical page is read out and processed as in step 1114. If it is determined in step 1111 that the printing is not reverse order printing, it is further determined in step 1115 whether the final page is entangled. If the last page is entangled, the process proceeds to step 1116, the set of physical pages and logical pages is read from the table saved in step 1109 in ascending order of page number, and the process proceeds to step 1117 to process one physical page. To do.

In step 1117, step 1
Similar to 114, based on the relationship between the read physical page and the logical page, the print data of the logical page to be combined into the physical page to be output is read from the spool file and a drawing command is created. At this time,
If there is a logical page or physical page for which synthesis of additional information is designated, the additional information will also be described with reference to FIGS.
Generate a drawing command as follows.

By the above procedure, the additional information can be added to the designated page regardless of whether the additional information is a logical page or a physical page.

<Modification of Additional Information> FIG. 13 shows a process for adding decoration to additional information. In FIG. 13, processing is performed when either one of two types of enclosing frames, that is, rectangular enclosing and circle enclosing, which can be specified from the display window of FIG. 5, can be specified. This process is performed in step 403 of FIG. 4, like the process of FIG.

In step 1301, it is first determined whether a surrounding frame has been designated. If the enclosing frame is specified, go to step 1302, otherwise go to step 131.
Go to 0.

At step 1302, a rectangle circumscribing a character string is drawn in order to draw a surrounding frame. This rectangle can also be obtained from the operating system using the font information and the character string.

Next, in step 1303, it is determined whether the font is italic. This is because the circumscribed rectangle obtained from the system is the case of a normal typeface, so if the font is italic, the circumscribed rectangle must be corrected.

In step 1304, correction is performed in the case of italic font. Deformation due to italics can be calculated from the height and tilt angle of the font. You can think of the height of the font as the height of the bounding rectangle. If the tilt angle cannot be obtained from the font information, check a typical tilt angle and substitute it.

At step 1305, the position of the character string is corrected. The italic type causes the character string to extend horizontally, so the center position of the character string also extends to the right. To correct this,
Moves the character string to the left by half the deformation amount.

In step 1306, the circumscribed rectangle size is corrected. Since the character string is stretched by the amount of deformation, it is sufficient to stretch it to the left and right. When considering a character pattern such as “J” that extends laterally, it is necessary to extend the circumscribed rectangle size slightly larger than the deformation amount.

In step 1307, it is determined whether the frame is a circle or a rectangle, and the process proceeds to the process of determining each box figure.

Step 1308 is a process in the case of a circle, and the circle of the circle is a circle that passes through the four points of the circumscribed rectangle obtained in step 1306. Since the circumscribed rectangle is a rectangle, the circle can be uniquely obtained if four points are determined.

If it is a rectangular box, the process proceeds to step 1311. Since the circumscribed rectangle has been calculated, the rectangle as it is may be used.

At step 1309, the graphic obtained at step 1308 or step 1311 is drawn.
Next, in step 1310, a character string that is additional information is drawn. Since the drawing in these steps 1309 and 1310 is performed by the graphic engine, the despooler generates a command for causing the graphic engine to draw and sends it to the graphic engine. Regarding the character string that is the additional information, the drawing command is generated by the procedure described in FIGS. An example of the drawn frame is shown in FIG.

As described above, in the print control system according to the present invention, the additional information can be combined with the printed matter and output. At that time, the additional information can be designated to be tilted at a desired angle, or the additional information can be conceptually designated to be arranged along the diagonal line of the page on which the additional information is combined. it can. As a result, the additional information can be appropriately laid out without detailed designation.

Even in the case of outputting a document in which papers of various sizes are mixed, the specification is made by a description having commonality beyond the individual attributes such as the layout along the diagonal line and the page size and direction. It is possible to Therefore, it is possible to obtain the print result in which the additional information is appropriately laid out in the diagonal direction by calculating the diagonal direction for all the sheets in the document simply by designating the diagonal direction.

In addition, multiple pages of the application are
Even in the case of N-page printing in which printing is performed collectively on one sheet, either the logical page created by an application or the physical page that is the sheet actually output can be selected depending on the specification. However, the additional information can be combined. When the additional information is tilted, the additional information can be appropriately tilted by making a conceptual designation such as a diagonal direction, regardless of the page size or the aspect ratio.

Even when the binding margin is added, if it is set to incline the additional information along the diagonal with respect to each physical page and / or logical page, each page The effective print area excluding the binding margin is detected, the diagonal direction is appropriately calculated for the effective print area, and the print result appropriately laid out in the diagonal direction can be obtained.

When a standard size sheet is used, it is possible to obtain a print result in which additional information is laid out in a diagonal direction by utilizing predetermined angle information without performing unnecessary angle calculation.

Further, in the case of a conceptual layout designation,
It is possible to determine the designation of the vertical writing font / horizontal writing font and obtain a print result of an appropriate layout such that the top and bottom are not reversed.

When a character string is specified as the additional information, the character string can be printed with a decoration such as a box.

As a page for printing additional information,
It can be specified in a complicated format such as only even pages or only the first and last pages.

[Other Embodiments] Note that 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.), but is also an apparatus including one device. (Copier, printer, facsimile machine, etc.)

The present invention may be applied to a system for directly generating data to be transmitted to a printer without temporarily storing the data in the intermediate code format.

Further, an object of the present invention is to realize a system or a storage medium for storing the program code of the procedure shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 6 to FIG. Computer of device (or CPU or M
(PU) also 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 embodiments, 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, C
DR, magnetic tape, non-volatile memory card, ROM
Etc. can be used. Further, by executing the program code read by the computer, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also an OS (operating system) or the like running on the computer is executed based on the instruction of the program code. This also includes a case where a part or all of the actual processing is performed and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

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

[0119]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The operator conceptually specifies the layout of the additional information, which has an effect that an optimum layout can be performed.

In addition, in the case of N-page printing in which a plurality of pages are collectively printed on one sheet, there is an effect that additional information can be added page by page or sheet by sheet.

Further, even when the binding margin is added, the additional information can be appropriately laid out in the effective print area.

When a character string is designated as the additional information, there is an effect that the decoration of the designated character string can be further designated.

Further, there is an effect that the additional information can be added to the specified logical page or physical page of the document.

[0124]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a print control system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a typical printing system of a host computer to which a printer is connected.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a print system that temporarily spools an intermediate code before converting a print command from an application into a printer control command.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a procedure for converting spool file data into a printer control command.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for designating additional information and its layout.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a processing procedure for laying out additional information.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a part of a processing procedure for laying out additional information in a system capable of printing N pages.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a part of a processing procedure for laying out additional information when a binding margin is specified.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a part of a processing procedure for laying out additional information in a system capable of using a vertical writing font.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating the necessity of angle correction of a vertical writing font.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for performing page management.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view of a color laser beam printer.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for generating a surrounding frame of additional information.

FIG. 14 is an example of additional information printing in a document in which paper orientations are mixed.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating a printing example in which additional information is enclosed.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart of a processing procedure for using an angle table when obtaining an angle.

[Explanation of symbols]

1,12 CPU 2,19 RAM 3,13 ROM 4 system bus 7 Disk controller 12 CPU 13 ROM 19 RAM 3000 host computer 1500 printer

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Yasuhiro Whalei 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (56) Reference JP-A-9-86015 (JP, A) JP-A-4 -148422 (JP, A) JP-A-7-144459 (JP, A) JP-A-11-46297 (JP, A) JP-A-11-296335 (JP, A) JP-A-9-305576 (JP, A) ) JP-A-11-298717 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B41J 21/00 B41J 29/40 G06F 3/12 G06F 17/21 566 H04N 1/387

Claims (45)

(57) [Claims] 1. A print control device for generating print data to be printed out, and a designating means for designating in a conceptual format how to incline the additional information to be added to the input data, and the designating means. When the tilting method of the additional information is specified in a conceptual format by, the paper size information to be output is acquired, and different tilt angles are set for the portrait paper and the landscape paper based on the paper size information. Deciding means for deciding, adding means for adding the additional information to a page to which the input data is added at the tilt angle determined by the deciding means, and data to be printed to which the additional information is added A print control device comprising: a generating unit that generates print data to be printed out based on the print control device. 2. The designating means is capable of designating not only a method of inclining the additional information but also a relative position within the page as a way of arranging the additional information. 1. The print control device according to 1. 3. The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determining unit determines a tilt angle in a diagonal direction with respect to the vertically long sheet and the horizontally long sheet. 4. The designating means not only designates a conceptual format for designating a tilting direction of the additional information but also freely designates an angle at which the additional information is tilted. The print control device according to any one of claims. 5. The apparatus further comprises page layout means for collecting a plurality of input logical pages into one physical page to be printed out, and the designating means adds the additional information in physical page units or in logical page units. Whether the additional information is added to the logical page is specified, and the determining unit acquires the size information of the logical page and determines the tilt angle when the additional information is specified by the logical unit. The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print control apparatus is a print control apparatus. 6. The adding means, when a binding margin is designated, sets an effective print area excluding the binding margin as a virtual page, and adds additional information to the virtual page. The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print control apparatus is a print control apparatus. 7. When the method of arranging the additional information is specified by a relative position within the page, the adding means sets:
3. The print control device according to claim 2, wherein the additional information is arranged according to whether the character included in the additional information is a vertical writing font or a horizontal writing font. 8. The adding means adds the additional information only to a designated page.
8. The print control device according to any one of 7 to 7 . 9. The designating means further designates modification information for modifying the additional information, and the adding means adds the modified additional information to the page to be modified based on the modification information. the print control apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8. 10. A print control method for generating print data to be printed out, wherein a designating step of designating a tilting direction of additional information to be added to input data in a conceptual format, said designating means. When the tilting method of the additional information is specified in a conceptual format by, the paper size information to be output is acquired, and different tilt angles are set for the portrait paper and the landscape paper based on the paper size information. A determining step of determining, an adding step of adding the additional information to the page to be added of the input data at the tilt angle determined by the determining means, and a data to be printed to which the additional information is added A print control method for generating print data to be printed out based on the print control method. 11. The specifying step can specify not only a method of tilting the additional information but also a relative position within the page as a method of arranging the additional information. 10. The print control method according to item 10 . 12. The method of claim 11, wherein determining step, the print control method according to claim 10 or 11, wherein determining a diagonal inclined angle with respect to vertical sheet and landscape paper. Wherein said specifying step, a designation of tilting how additional information, not only the specification of a conceptual form of claims 10 to 12, characterized in that to freely specify the angle of tilting the additional information The print control method according to any one of claims. 14. A page layout step of collecting a plurality of input logical pages into one physical page to be printed out, wherein the designating means adds the additional information in physical page units or in logical page units. Whether the additional information should be added to the logical page is specified, and the determining step determines the tilt angle by acquiring the size information of the logical page when the additional information is specified in the logical page unit in the specifying step. the print control method according to any one of claims 10 to 13, characterized in that. 15. In the adding step, when a binding margin is designated, the effective print area excluding the binding margin is set as a virtual page, and additional information is added to the virtual page. the print control method according to any one of claims 10 to 14, wherein the. 16. In the addition step, when the method of arranging the additional information is specified by a relative position on the page, whether the character included in the additional information is a vertical writing font or a horizontal writing font. The print control method according to claim 11 , wherein the additional information is arranged in accordance with the above. 17. The additional information is added only to a designated page in the adding step.
17. The print control method according to any one of 10 to 16 . 18. The designating step further comprises designating modification information for modifying the additional information, and the adding step adds the modified additional information to the page to be modified based on the modification information. the print control method according to any one of claims 10 to 17. 19. A computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program for generating print data to be printed out, wherein the computer program is a concept of how to incline additional information to be added to input data. And a specifying step for specifying in a conceptual format the inclination of the additional information by the specifying means, to obtain the paper size information to be output, based on the paper size information, A determining step of determining different tilt angles for portrait-oriented paper and landscape-oriented paper, and an adding step of adding the additional information to a page to which the input data is added at the tilt angle determined by the determining means. And a generating step of generating print data to be printed out based on the data to be printed to which the additional information is added. A computer-readable storage medium characterized by. 20. In the computer program, the designating step enables designating not only a tilting direction of the additional information but also a relative position within the page as a way of arranging the additional information. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 19 , characterized in that: In method according to claim 19, wherein the computer program, wherein the determining step, claim 1, characterized in that to determine the tilt angle of the diagonal direction with respect portrait paper and landscape paper
The computer-readable storage medium according to item 9 or 20 . 22. In the computer program, the designating step includes designating a tilting method of the additional information,
Well specified conceptual form, according to claim 19 or 2, characterized in that to freely specify the angle of tilting the additional information
1. A computer-readable storage medium according to any one of 1 . 23. The computer program further comprises a page layout step of collecting a plurality of input logical pages into one physical page to be printed out, and the designating means adds the additional information in units of physical pages. Whether to add in logical page units, the determining step acquires the size information of the logical page when the additional information is specified in logical page units in the specifying step. the computer-readable storage medium according to any one of claims 19 to 22, characterized in that determining the angular tilt. 24. In the computer program, when the binding margin is specified in the adding step,
The effective print area excluding the binding margin is a virtual page,
The computer-readable storage medium according to any one of claims 19 to 23 , wherein additional information is added to the virtual page. 25. In the computer program, in the adding step, when the additional information is arranged in a relative position within a page, the character included in the additional information is a vertical writing font. 21. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 20 , wherein the additional information is arranged depending on whether the font is a horizontal writing font. In 26. The computer program, wherein the addition step, claims 19 to 25, characterized in that the addition of only the additional information to the specified page
A computer-readable storage medium according to any one of 1. 27. In the computer program, the designating step further designates modification information for modifying the additional information, and the adding step adds the additional information modified based on the modification information to a page to be added. the computer-readable storage medium according to any one of claims 19 to 26, characterized in that. 28. A print control device functioning as a host computer for generating print data including a printer control command to be printed by a printing device, which should be added at the time of printing via a graphical user interface screen of print settings. Setting input means for inputting additional information setting and binding margin setting at the time of binding margin printing, and when the binding margin setting is made by the setting input by the setting input means, the binding margin position and value are read. A calculation unit that calculates a virtual page size by subtracting the binding margin value from the binding margin position side from the page size; and the setting based on the virtual page size calculated by the calculation unit. An additional procedure for determining the angle and position of the additional information input by the input means and adding the additional information to the data to be printed. A print control device comprising: a stage; and a generation unit that generates print data to be printed out based on the data to be printed to which the additional information is added. 29. The apparatus further comprises designation means for designating, in a conceptual format, a method of tilting the additional information to be added to the input data, wherein the adding means is a concept of the method of tilting the additional information by the designating means. Specified in a conventional format, different tilt angles are determined for portrait paper and landscape paper based on the virtual page size information, and the additional information is added to the input data. 29. The print control device according to claim 28 , wherein the print control device is added to an appropriate page. 30. The designating means is capable of designating not only a method of inclining the additional information but also a relative position on the page as a method of arranging the additional information. 29. The print control device according to 29 . 31. The adding means, the print control apparatus according to claim 29 or 30, characterized in that determining a diagonal inclined angle with respect to vertical sheet and landscape paper. 32. The designating means, as a specification of tilting how additional information, not only the specification of a conceptual form of claim 29 or 31, characterized in that to freely specify the angle of tilting the additional information The print control device according to any one of claims. 33. A page layout means for collecting a plurality of input logical pages into one physical page to be printed out, wherein the designating means adds the additional information in physical page units or in logical page units. Whether to add the additional information to the logical page unit is specified by the specifying unit.
The print control apparatus according to any one of claims 29 to 32, characterized in that determining the angular tilt to obtain the size information of the logical page. 34. A print control method for generating print data including a printer control command to be printed by a printing device by a host computer, the additional information to be added at the time of printing via a graphical user interface screen of print settings. Setting input step for inputting the setting and the binding margin setting at the time of binding margin printing, and when the binding margin setting is made by the setting input by the setting input step, the position and value of the binding margin are read, A calculation step of calculating a virtual page size by subtracting the value of the binding margin from the binding margin position side, and the setting input step based on the virtual page size calculated by the calculation step. An addition step of determining the angle and position of the additional information input by, and adding the additional information to the data to be printed, Based on the serial additional information is added data to be printed were, printing control method, characterized by comprising a generation step of generating print data to be printed out. 35. The method further comprises a designating step of designating a tilting manner of the additional information to be added to the input data in a conceptual format, wherein the adding step is a concept of the tilting manner of the additional information by the designating step. Specified in a conventional format, different tilt angles are determined for portrait paper and landscape paper based on the virtual page size information, and the additional information is added to the input data. The print control method according to claim 34 , wherein the print control method is to add to a page to be printed. 36. The specifying step can specify not only a method of tilting the additional information but also a relative position within the page as a method of arranging the additional information. 35. The printing control method according to item 35 . 37. The addition step, the print control method according to claim 35 or 36, characterized in that to determine the tilt angle of the diagonal direction with respect portrait paper and landscape paper. 38. The specified process is a specification of tilting how additional information, not only the specification of a conceptual form of claims 35 to 37, characterized in that to freely specify the angle of tilting the additional information The print control method according to any one of claims. 39. A page layout step of collecting a plurality of input logical pages into one physical page to be printed out, wherein the designating step adds the additional information in physical page units or in logical page units. Whether to add the additional information to the logical page unit in the logical page unit by the specifying step.
The print control method according to any one of claims 35 to 38, characterized in that determining the angular tilt to obtain the size information of the logical page. 40. A computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program for generating print data to be printed out, said program being added at the time of printing via a graphical user interface screen of print settings. A setting input step of inputting additional information settings and binding margin settings at the time of binding margin printing, and reading the binding margin position and value when the binding margin setting is made by the setting input in the setting input step. A calculation step of calculating a virtual page size by subtracting the binding margin value from the binding margin position side from the page size; and the setting based on the virtual page size calculated by the calculation step. Addition processing for determining the angle and position of the additional information input in the input step and adding the additional information to the data to be printed And a generating step of generating print data to be printed out, based on the data to be printed to which the additional information is added, the computer-readable storage medium. 41. The program further comprises a designating step for designating a tilting direction of the additional information to be added to the input data in a conceptual format, and the adding step comprises the step of designating the additional information by the designating step. When the tilting method is specified in a conceptual format, different tilt angles are determined for portrait paper and landscape paper based on the virtual page size information, and the additional information is input. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 40 , comprising adding data to a page to be added. 42. In the program, the designating step enables designating not only a tilting direction of the additional information but also a relative position within the page as a way of arranging the additional information. 42. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 41 . In 43. The program, the additional step, or claim 41, characterized in that to determine the tilt angle of the diagonal direction with respect portrait paper and landscape paper 42
The computer-readable storage medium according to. 44. In the program, in the designating step, a tilting angle of the additional information is freely designated as the designation of the tilting direction of the additional information as well as the designation of the conceptual format. 44. The computer-readable storage medium according to any one of items 41 to 43 . 45. The program further comprises a page layout step of collecting a plurality of input logical pages into one physical page to be printed out, and the designating step adds the additional information in physical page units. , Whether to add in logical page units is also specified, and in the adding step, when it is specified in the specifying step that the additional information is added in logical page units,
The computer-readable storage medium according to any one of claims 41 to 44, characterized in that determining the angular tilt to obtain the size information of the logical page.