JP4238722B2 - Image formation control device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a control device that controls an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a copier, or a multifunction peripheral.

  In recent years, with the spread of hardware for copying, document processing such as scanners and printers, copying of documents has become easier. On the other hand, even a document describing contents that should be kept secret is easily copied, and there is a possibility that information may leak due to such copying. Also, it has been pointed out that even documents that require confirmation of the original such as a resident's card are copied with high accuracy, so that it is not easy to guarantee so-called originality.

  Therefore, conventionally, it is not easily visible in normal times, but information leakage occurs by using paper (hereinafter referred to as special paper) prepared so that character strings such as “copy prohibited” and “COPY” appear when copied. Attempts have also been made to solve the problem of guaranteeing originality.

Further, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for forming a pattern for checking such a copying act (copying check pattern) together with an image without using this special paper. In Patent Document 1, for example, a first pattern including isolated pixels and a second pattern including pixel blocks are used, and the density of each isolated pixel and pixel block is set so that the first and second patterns have substantially the same density. The background is drawn with one of the patterns, and a character string or the like is drawn on the background with the other pattern. In this way, at the time of copying, the portion formed with the first pattern disappears, and the portion formed with the second pattern is reproduced. For this reason, only the character string appears (when the character string portion is drawn with the second pattern), or only the character string disappears and the background appears (when the background portion is drawn with the second pattern). And so on.
JP 2001-197297 A

  However, in the system including the above-described conventional image forming apparatus, when the user issues a print instruction, for example, it is determined whether the document should be concealed or the originality needs to be confirmed. Based on this judgment, it is necessary to set whether or not a copy check pattern is to be attached. For example, every time a document having contents to be kept secret is to be printed, it is necessary to instruct to synthesize the copy check pattern disclosed in Patent Document 1. Therefore, the user must be careful not to forget instructions, which is not convenient.

  In addition, when other image data is combined with the image data to be processed like the copy check pattern, the generation condition of the other image data to be combined (the copy check pattern density, that is, the black pixel density, etc. ) And image forming conditions (printing printer, color presence / absence conditions, etc.), image data that is a processing target may be difficult to see, and image quality may be degraded. For this reason, if the user makes a mistake in the density adjustment setting of the image data to be combined, a low-quality image is formed, which is not convenient.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an image forming control apparatus capable of improving convenience.

  The present invention for solving the problems of the conventional example described above is a control device that instructs the image forming apparatus to form an image. Among the image data that has been formed in the past, the image data History holding means for holding history information including information for specifying image data obtained by synthesizing another synthesized image data, means for receiving an image formation instruction including image data to be formed, and held by the history holding means And means for determining whether to synthesize composite image data with the image data to be formed based on the history information.

  The present invention for solving the problems of the conventional example is a control device for instructing an image forming apparatus to form an image, and among the image data to be formed in the past, the image data A history holding unit for holding history information including information for specifying image data obtained by combining different composite image data, a unit for receiving an image formation instruction including image data to be formed, and the history holding unit. Means for retrieving history information relating to other image data that is identical to the image data included in the image formation instruction, and as a result of the search, is identical to the image data included in the image formation instruction. When history information relating to another image data is found, it is determined that the synthesized image data is to be synthesized with the image data to be formed.

  The present invention for solving the problems of the conventional example is a control device for instructing the image forming apparatus to form an image, and is synthesized with the past image data forming conditions and the image data. Based on the history holding means for associating and holding the generation conditions of the composite image data as history information, the means for accepting an image formation instruction including the image data to be formed, and the history information held in the history holding means Generating image data and combining the image data to be formed with the image data to be formed.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for controlling an image forming apparatus including: specifying information specifying image data obtained by combining synthesized image data different from the image data, among image data to be formed in the past. A step of holding history information including, and an image forming instruction including image data to be formed are received, and the image data to be formed is determined based on the history information held in the history holding unit. And a step of determining whether to synthesize the composite image data.

  An image forming apparatus control method according to another aspect of the present invention is an image forming apparatus control method for forming an image on a recording medium, wherein the past image data forming conditions are combined with the image data. A step of associating the generated generation condition of the composite image data and holding it as history information, accepting an image formation instruction including image data to be formed, and based on the history information held in the history holding unit, Generating synthesized image data and synthesizing it with the image data to be formed.

  Furthermore, an image forming program according to another aspect of the present invention is an image forming program for forming an image on a recording medium by using a computer, and the holding unit stores image data to be formed in the past. Among them, a procedure for holding history information including information for specifying image data obtained by combining synthesized image data different from the image data, a procedure for receiving an image formation instruction including image data to be formed, and the history And a procedure for determining whether or not to synthesize composite image data with the image data to be formed based on the history information held in the holding means.

  Furthermore, an image forming program according to another aspect of the present invention is an image forming program for forming an image on a recording medium by using a computer, the holding unit is configured to form past image data forming conditions, and the image The procedure for associating the generation conditions of the combined image data combined with the data and holding it as history information, and accepting an image formation instruction including the image data to be formed, and storing the history information held in the history holding means On the basis of this, it is characterized by causing the computer to execute a procedure of generating composite image data and compositing with the image data to be formed.

  A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The image forming control apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment can be implemented as a printer server connected to a printer 2 as an image forming apparatus, for example. The image forming control device 1 is connected to a personal computer 3 via a network. The image forming control apparatus 1 includes a communication unit 11, a control unit 12, a storage unit 13, and a storage unit 14.

  The communication unit 11 outputs an image formation instruction received from the personal computer 3 via the network to the control unit 12. The communication unit 11 is connected to the printer 2 via a signal line such as a USB (Universal Serial Bus), for example, and in accordance with an instruction input from the control unit 12, image data to be formed is transmitted to the printer 2. Output. The control unit 12 operates according to a program stored in the storage unit 13, and performs a process of controlling the printer 2 to print an image on a sheet based on an image formation instruction input from the communication unit 11. Yes. The control unit 12 also generates composite image data to be combined when predetermined predetermined conditions are satisfied, and uses the generated composite image data as image data ( Image data to be printed) and the printer 2 prints the combined image data. The specific processing contents of the control unit 12 will be described in detail later.

  The storage unit 13 holds a program executed by the control unit 12. The storage unit 14 is a fixed recording medium such as a hard disk or a memory card, for example, and holds history information (described later) generated by the control unit 12.

  Here, the contents of the processing of the control unit 12 will be described. When receiving an image formation instruction including image data (hereinafter referred to as “target image data” for distinction) from the personal computer 3, the control unit 12 starts the process illustrated in FIG. 2. Then, it is checked whether or not an instruction to synthesize the composite image data (composite instruction) is included in the image formation instruction (S1). If the composite instruction is included, the composite image data is generated. (S2) The generated composite image data is combined with the target image data (S3). Further, the control unit 12 generates information for specifying the target image data, associates the synthesized image data generated in the process S2 with this information, generates history information, and stores the history information in the storage unit 14 (S4). . Then, the control unit 12 outputs the image data combined in step S3 to the image forming apparatus 2 (S5), and ends the process.

  With this process, when an instruction to synthesize composite image data is explicitly issued from the user, the history information is accumulated in the storage unit 14 in a state as shown in FIG. Here, the information for specifying the target image data may be the target image data itself or a feature value such as a hash value generated based on the target image data.

  Further, when the compositing instruction is not included in the process S1, the control unit 12 generates information for specifying the target image data, and searches whether the generated information is included in the history information (S6). . If no history information including the generated information is found as a result of the search, the target image data is output to the printer 2 as it is (S9), and the process is terminated. Further, when history information including the generated information is found as a result of the search, it is determined that the synthesized image data is to be synthesized with the target image data, the history information is read from the storage unit 14, and the associated synthesized image data Is acquired (S7). In this way, the other image data having the same information for specifying the target image data (printed in the past) is the image data having the same identity as the target image data according to the present invention.

  The control unit 12 proceeds to the process S3, and synthesizes the composite image data acquired in the process S7 with the target image data. Then, the control unit 12 proceeds to process S4, generates history information by associating the information for specifying the target image data with the composite image data acquired in process S7, and stores it in the storage unit 14 (process S4). The processed image data is output to the image forming apparatus 2 (process S5), and the process is terminated.

  Here, the composite image data may be a copy check pattern or a code image. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 4, the code image may represent a bit value of “0” or “1” by combining a pattern image of “\” and a pattern image of “/”. Further, using a background pattern (FIG. 4C) having substantially the same density (number of black pixels) as those pattern images, the background pattern is arranged in a portion other than the code image to generate composite image data. May be.

  The image forming control apparatus according to the present embodiment has the above-described configuration, and performs the following operations. The image formation control apparatus 1 that has received a document print instruction (image formation instruction) from a personal computer on the user side has a history of combining and printing composite image data with image data of the document in the past. If there is such a history, the composite image data is combined with the image data (target image data) related to the received image formation instruction and output to the image forming apparatus 2 for printing.

  As a result, even if the user forgets the compositing instruction for the document to be synthesized with the synthesized image data, if the synthesized image data is synthesized with the document in the past, Based on this, the synthesized image data is synthesized, and convenience can be improved.

  In addition, here, an example has been described in which synthesized image data synthesized in the past is used as it is as synthesized image data for this time, but synthesized image data to be synthesized may be generated again at the time of the synthesis. In this case, the history information is associated not with the composite image data itself but with a generation condition (for example, the density of the composite image data) for generating the composite image data, and the composite image data is generated based on the generation condition. It is good as well.

  The image forming control apparatus 1 according to the second embodiment of the present invention has the same configuration and connection state as those according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. The operation at 12 is different.

  That is, in the present embodiment, the control unit 12 receives an image formation instruction including image data (hereinafter also referred to as “target image data” for distinction) from the personal computer 3. Then, the process shown in FIG. 5 is started, and it is checked whether or not an instruction to synthesize composite image data (composition instruction) is included in the image formation instruction (S1).

  Here, the image formation instruction includes formation condition information such as information for specifying the image forming apparatus (printer) 2 on which the image is to be formed and color settings (tone curve setting, etc.), and includes a composition instruction. If it is, the setting relating to the generation condition of the composite image data such as the density of the composite image data to be combined is further included. In the present embodiment, when the control unit 12 has combined image data to form an image in the past, the storage unit 14 stores information on the generation condition of the combined image data in association with the formation condition information. Accumulate as information.

  When the control unit 12 determines in step S1 that no compositing instruction is included, the control unit 12 outputs the target image data as it is to the printer 2 (S9), and ends the process. On the other hand, when the control unit 12 determines in step S1 that a compositing instruction is included, the control unit 12 searches the storage unit 14 for history information related to the formation condition information included in the received image formation instruction, and finds such history information. It is determined whether or not it has been made (S11). When history information is found here, information on the generation conditions included in the history information is acquired (S12), and the information on the generation conditions included in the image forming instruction received this time is compared with the acquired information. Then, it is determined whether or not the generation condition information included in the image formation instruction received this time is within a predetermined range compared to the generation conditions based on the acquired past history (S13). Specifically, if this information is a density, the absolute value of the difference between the density specified by the image formation instruction received this time and the acquired density is calculated, and the absolute value of the difference is a predetermined threshold. Determine if it is below the value.

  If it is determined that it is within the predetermined range, composite image data is generated under the generation conditions included in the image formation instruction received this time (S14), and the information on the generation conditions is associated with the formation condition information. It is stored and stored in the storage unit 14 as history information (S15). In this case, if there is history information in which the composite image data has been generated under the same formation conditions in the past, the control unit 12 obtains a statistical calculation result of information on the past generation conditions and information on the current generation conditions. (For example, an average value of density) may be generated as information on a new generation condition, and may be overwritten and accumulated in the history information.

  Then, the control unit 12 combines the combined image data generated in step S14 with the target image data (S16), and outputs the combined image data to the printer 2 as the image forming apparatus (S17). The process is performed and the process is terminated.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S13 that the generation condition information included in the image formation instruction received this time is not within the predetermined range compared to the generation conditions based on the acquired past history, the generation acquired in step S12 The composite image data is generated under the conditions (S18), and the process proceeds to S16. Here, the process may proceed to step S15, and history information may be generated and stored using the current formation condition and the acquired generation condition. Furthermore, although synthetic image data is generated here, instead of this, or together with this, the fact that the generation conditions are greatly different from the past history is displayed on the personal computer 3, for example. It is good also as notifying a user.

  If no history information is found in process S11, the control unit 12 proceeds to process S14 and continues the process.

  As a result, in the present embodiment, even if the user makes a mistake in setting the generation conditions (density, etc.) of the image data to be combined, the current setting is significantly different from the generation conditions of the composite image data from the past history. In some cases, instead of the setting, a generation condition based on the past history is used, so that convenience for the user can be improved.

  In the first and second embodiments described so far, the image forming control device 1 has been described as a printer server or the like separate from the printer 2 as the image forming device. It may be. That is, the history information may be held in the printer 2. When history information is held in the printer 2 as described above, the history information according to the second embodiment may not include information for specifying the printer 2. In addition, in the case of holding in a memory in the printer 2 instead of a hard disk such as the storage unit 14, in view of its capacity, for example, history information according to the second embodiment depends on the formation conditions. Instead, it may only hold information such as the average value of the generation conditions.

  Further, the image forming control apparatus 1 may be realized as a unit with the personal computer 3, that is, as a program executed by the personal computer 3. In this case, the storage unit 14 or the like uses a hard disk or the like connected to a personal computer.

1 is a configuration block diagram of an image formation control device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing of the image formation control apparatus according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. It is explanatory drawing showing the example of log | history information. It is explanatory drawing showing an example of synthetic | combination image data. FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a processing example of an image formation control device according to a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image formation control apparatus, 2 Printer, 3 Personal computer, 11 Communication part, 12 Control part, 13 Storage part, 14 Storage part.

Claims (7)

A control device for instructing an image forming apparatus to form an image,
History holding means for holding history information including information for specifying image data obtained by synthesizing synthesized image data different from the image data among image data to be formed in the past,
Means for accepting an image formation instruction including image data to be formed;
Means for retrieving history information relating to another image data having the same identity as the image data to be formed from the history holding means ;
As a result of the search, when finding history information regarding another image data having the same identity as the image data to be formed, even if the received image formation instruction does not include a compositing instruction, A synthesis means for synthesizing the synthesized image data with the image data to be formed;
The control apparatus characterized by including. The history information includes composite image data synthesized with the image data in association with image data that has been the object of formation in the past,
2. The control according to claim 1, wherein the synthesizing unit acquires composite image data included in history information found as a result of the search, and combines the acquired composite image data with the image data to be formed. Equipment . A control device for instructing an image forming apparatus to form an image,
History holding means for holding the past image data formation conditions and the generation conditions of the combined image data combined with the image data as history information;
Means for receiving an image formation instruction including image data to be formed, formation condition information, a combination instruction, and a generation condition of the combined image data ;
Means for retrieving history information relating to formation condition information included in the accepted image formation instruction from the history holding means ;
As a result of the search, when the history information related to the formation condition information included in the accepted image formation instruction is found, the generation condition information included in the accepted image formation instruction is included in the found history information. It is determined whether or not it is within a predetermined range compared to the generation condition, and if it is determined that it is not within the predetermined range, it is included in the found history information with respect to the image data to be formed Synthesis means for generating and synthesizing the composite image data under the generation conditions
The control apparatus characterized by including. A control method for an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording medium, comprising:
A step of holding history information including information for specifying image data obtained by synthesizing synthesized image data different from the image data among image data to be formed in the past;
A step of Ru receiving an image forming instruction including the image data to be formed,
A step of searching history information relating to another image data having the same identity as the image data to be formed from the history information held;
As a result of the search, when finding history information regarding another image data having the same identity as the image data to be formed, even if the received image formation instruction does not include a compositing instruction, a step of synthesizing the synthesized image data to the subject to the image data of the formation,
A control method for an image forming apparatus. A control method for an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording medium, comprising:
A step of associating a past image data formation condition with a generation condition of composite image data combined with the image data and retaining it as history information;
A step of Ru receiving an image formation instruction including the subject to the image data and forming condition information forming synthesis instruction and the generation conditions of the synthesized image data,
Searching the history information related to the forming condition information included in the accepted image forming instruction from the held history information;
As a result of the search, when the history information related to the formation condition information included in the accepted image formation instruction is found, the generation condition information included in the accepted image formation instruction is included in the found history information. It is determined whether or not it is within a predetermined range compared to the generation condition, and if it is determined that it is not within the predetermined range, it is included in the found history information with respect to the image data to be formed Generating and synthesizing composite image data under the generation conditions
A control method for an image forming apparatus. A program for causing a computer to instruct the image forming apparatus to form an image ,
Computer
History holding means for holding history information including information for specifying image data obtained by synthesizing synthesized image data different from the image data among image data to be formed in the past ,
Means for accepting an image formation instruction including image data to be formed ;
Means for retrieving history information relating to another image data having the same identity as the image data to be formed from the history holding means;
As a result of the search, when finding history information regarding another image data having the same identity as the image data to be formed, even if the received image formation instruction does not include a compositing instruction, A synthesis means for synthesizing the synthesized image data with the image data to be formed ;
A program characterized by functioning as A program for causing a computer to instruct the image forming apparatus to form an image ,
Computer
History holding means for holding the past image data formation conditions and the generation conditions of the combined image data combined with the image data as history information ;
Means for receiving an image formation instruction including image data to be formed, formation condition information, a combination instruction, and a generation condition of the combined image data ;
Means for retrieving history information relating to formation condition information included in the accepted image formation instruction from the history holding means ;
As a result of the search, when the history information related to the formation condition information included in the accepted image formation instruction is found, the generation condition information included in the accepted image formation instruction is included in the found history information. It is determined whether or not it is within a predetermined range compared to the generation condition, and if it is determined that it is not within the predetermined range, it is included in the found history information with respect to the image data to be formed Synthesis means for generating and synthesizing the composite image data under the generation conditions
A program characterized by functioning as

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