JP4760255B2 - Network printing system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a network print system, and more particularly to setting of an output format when a printing apparatus prints image data in response to a print request from a mobile terminal device.

  In recent years, multifunction devices have become more multifunctional, such as an electronic mail function that sends image data such as scanned documents to specified destinations in addition to the print function, copy function, scanner function, etc. Yes. On the other hand, in mobile terminal devices such as mobile phones and PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants), models equipped with short-range wireless communication functions such as infrared communication in addition to the conventional electronic mail function have become widespread. Convenience is further improved. Various usage forms, services, and the like have been proposed by effectively utilizing the high functionality of such multifunction devices and portable terminal devices.

  For example, in the electronic document transfer service, when an electronic document is stored in the multi-function peripheral A by scanning the document, the multi-function peripheral A uses the electronic document or identification information (hereinafter, “document ID”) of the electronic document as an electronic document. Send to mobile phone by e-mail. The user of the mobile phone transmits the electronic document or the document ID of the electronic document to the nearby multifunction peripheral B using infrared communication or the like. The MFP B prints the electronic document as it is when the electronic document is sent, and acquires the electronic document from the MFP A using the document ID as a key when the document ID of the electronic document is sent. The acquired electronic document is printed as it is. Using this service, when you want to send a document to a person who has gone out with a mobile phone, an e-mail containing the document ID is sent to the person who has gone out, and the person who uses the service uses a nearby multifunction device. By doing so, it becomes possible to obtain the document as a paper document.

  By the way, when printing an electronic document from a PC or the like to a multifunction device, it is output in the output format desired by the user by inputting various attribute information related to output from the screen using a printer driver. To do. The attribute information to be set includes, for example, a setting for assigning a plurality of documents to one sheet, a setting for printing on both sides, and a setting for paper size by enlargement / reduction.

JP 2001-28569 A JP 2003-296066 A JP 2004-280600 A JP 2004-058341 A JP 2004-038556 A

  However, in a mobile terminal device such as a mobile phone, there are restrictions on the user interface in order to ensure portability. In particular, the screen size of a mobile phone is limited, and the input means is based on a numeric keypad, so that it takes time to set attribute information and the like compared to PC keyboard input. Therefore, when printing is performed by transferring an electronic document from a mobile phone to the multifunction device, setting the print attribute from the mobile phone is troublesome even if the attribute information can be set.

  Also, when the document ID is transferred from the mobile phone to the multi-function peripheral and the multi-function peripheral acquires an electronic document, the attribute information cannot be set from the mobile phone.

  Therefore, when an electronic document is printed from a multifunction device, it is output with the print attribute set at the time of document creation, etc. Even if the output format by this print attribute is not the format desired by the user, Could not be changed. For this reason, for example, depending on the attribute set in the electronic document, the character is printed in a state where the character is too small and the visibility is deteriorated, or conversely, the character is too large and printed unnecessarily. In some cases, printed materials could not be obtained in the format.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to effectively perform network printing for setting printing attributes when printing is performed by a printing apparatus using a mobile terminal device. To provide a system.

In order to achieve the above object, a network print system according to the present invention includes an image forming apparatus that holds image data therein, and a portable terminal device that receives image data sent from the image forming apparatus. In a network print system having a printing device for printing image data sent from the mobile terminal device and an information processing device , each of which is connected so as to be able to exchange information, the information processing device is set as image data A setting change condition for changing the print attribute set to a print attribute for causing the user of the mobile terminal device to print the image data in a desired output format on the printing apparatus, and the image data The reference attribute information including the attribute value of the print attribute to be changed when the set print attribute matches the setting change condition Setting means for setting, and transmission means for transmitting reference attribute information to the portable terminal device or the printing apparatus, and the portable terminal device or the printing apparatus that has received the reference attribute information transmitted by the transmission means When the print attribute set in the image data to be printed matches the setting change condition included in the reference attribute information, the attribute value of the print attribute associated with the matched setting change condition is set. has a print attribute setting processing means for setting change, the printing apparatus is characterized that you have a printing means for printing the image data follows the set printing attributes by the print attribute setting processing means.

Further, the reference attribute information is set as the setting change condition, and the reference print attribute value to be compared with the print attribute set in the image data to be printed and the print attribute deviating from the reference print attribute value are the image data. And the attribute value of the print attribute to be changed when it is set to be configured.

A network print system according to another invention is an image forming apparatus that holds image data therein, a mobile terminal device that receives image data identification information transmitted by the image forming device, and a mobile terminal device that is sent from the mobile terminal device In response to a print request including image data identification information, the image data specified by the image data identification information is acquired from the image forming apparatus, and has a printing apparatus and an information processing apparatus that can exchange information with each other. In the connected network print system, the information processing apparatus prints the print attributes set in the image data so that the user of the mobile terminal device prints the image data in the print apparatus in a desired output format. The setting change condition for changing the setting to the attribute and the print attribute set for the image data match the setting change condition. Setting means for setting reference attribute information including the attribute values of the print attributes to be changed in association with each other, and transmission means for transmitting the reference attribute information to the portable terminal device or the printing apparatus. The portable terminal device or the printing apparatus that has received the reference attribute information transmitted by the transmission unit includes a setting change condition in which the print attribute set in the image data to be printed is included in the reference attribute information The print attribute setting processing means for changing the setting to the attribute value of the print attribute associated with the matched setting change condition, and the printing apparatus sets the printing set by the print attribute setting processing means. in that it has printing means for printing image data specified by the image data identification information included in the print request sent from the mobile terminal device in accordance with attributes And butterflies.

The network print program according to the present invention includes an image forming apparatus that holds image data therein, a portable terminal device that receives image data sent from the image forming apparatus, and an image sent from the portable terminal device. In a network print system having a printing device for printing data and an information processing device , each of which is connected so as to be able to exchange information, the information processing device has a print attribute set in image data, and the portable terminal device The setting change condition for changing the setting of the image data to a printing attribute for causing the printing apparatus to print the image data in a desired output format, and the printing attribute set in the image data as the setting change condition Setting means for setting reference attribute information including an association with an attribute value of a print attribute to be changed when matched, the portable terminal Or transmitting means for transmitting the reference attribute information to the printing apparatus, to function as, the mobile terminal device or the printing device receives the reference attribute information transmitted by said transmitting means, is set to the image data to be printed print attribute there are sometimes matching the setting change condition included in the reference attribute information, to function as a print attribute setting processing means for setting change to the attribute values of printing attributes associated with the setting change conditions the matches , the printing device is intended to function as a printing means for printing the image data subject to the print attribute set by the print attribute setting processing means.

A network print program according to another invention is transmitted from an image forming apparatus that holds image data therein, a mobile terminal device that receives image data identification information transmitted by the image forming device, and the mobile terminal device In response to a print request including image data identification information, the image data specified by the image data identification information is acquired from the image forming apparatus, and has a printing apparatus and an information processing apparatus that can exchange information with each other. In the connected network print system, the information processing apparatus is configured to print the print attributes set in the image data so that the user of the mobile terminal device prints the image data in the output format desired by the user. The setting change condition for changing the setting to the attribute and the print attribute set in the image data are the setting change condition. A setting means for setting reference attribute information including the attribute value of the print attribute to be changed in association with the function, a transmission means for transmitting the reference attribute information to the portable terminal device or the printing apparatus, The mobile terminal device or the printing apparatus that has received the reference attribute information transmitted by the transmission unit is configured so that the print attribute set in the image data to be printed is a setting change condition included in the reference attribute information. When they match, the print attribute setting processing unit is configured to change the setting to the attribute value of the print attribute associated with the matched setting change condition, and the printing apparatus sets the print attribute set by the print attribute setting processing unit. printing means for printing image data specified by the image data identification information included in the printing sent from the mobile terminal device requests in accordance with It is intended to function with.

  According to the present invention, when the print attribute and its reference value and the print attribute value set in the image data are out of the reference value so that the user of the portable terminal device can print in the desired output format. If the reference attribute information that associates the print attribute value to be changed is generated and the print attribute value of the image data to be printed is out of the reference value, the print attribute of the image data is set as the reference attribute information. Since the print attribute value is changed, the image data can be printed in an output format desired by the user of the mobile terminal device.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a network print system according to the present invention. FIG. 1 shows a mail server 3, a firewall 4, a PC 5, and a multifunction device 10 installed in a certain business office 2, a multifunction device 20 installed outside the business office, and a portable terminal device 30 taken out of the business office. Is shown. The devices 2 to 5 and 10 installed in the office 2 are connected to the LAN 6. The MFPs 10 and 20 are image forming apparatuses equipped with a wireless communication function for performing infrared communication or the like with a device having a communication function such as a print function, a copy function, a scanner function, an electronic mail function, and the portable terminal device 30. It is. In the present embodiment, a mobile phone is assumed as the mobile terminal device 30.

  The multifunction machine 10 includes a document registration processing unit 11 and an electronic mail function processing unit 12. The document registration processing unit 11 registers an electronic document read using the scanner function or an electronic document sent from the PC 5 via the LAN 6 in the electronic document storage unit 13. At this time, the document registration processing unit 11 generates identification information (hereinafter referred to as “document ID”) for identifying the electronic document, and registers it in association with each electronic document. The e-mail function processing unit 12 transmits and receives e-mails using the e-mail function of the multifunction machine 10. Unlike the above-described electronic document transfer service that transmits the document ID to the mobile terminal device 30, in the present embodiment, the electronic document is directly transmitted to the mobile terminal device 30. In the present embodiment, an electronic document is attached to an e-mail and transmitted by the process of the e-mail function processing unit 12. The components 11 and 12 included in the multifunction device 10 are realized by a cooperative operation of a software program that exhibits a processing function of each component and hardware resources of the multifunction device 10.

  The PC 5 is a computer used by a document provider registered in the multifunction machine 10. The PC 5 can be realized with a general-purpose hardware configuration and software configuration. In the present embodiment, a reference attribute information setting processing unit 51 and a reference attribute information transmission processing unit 52 are provided. The reference attribute information is information necessary when the mobile terminal device 30 sets a print attribute when the electronic document is printed using the multifunction device 20. Although details of the reference attribute information will be described later, the reference attribute information setting processing unit 51 sets the reference attribute information in accordance with the setting operation by the user, and the reference attribute information transmission processing unit 52 sets the set reference standard. The attribute information is transmitted to the mobile terminal device 30. It is assumed that the e-mail function is used for information transmission in the reference attribute information transmission processing unit 52.

  The multi-function device 20 includes a print request receiving unit 21 and a print processing unit 22. The print request receiving unit 21 receives a print request sent from the mobile terminal device 30. The print processing unit 22 prints the acquired electronic document with designated print attributes. The components 21 and 22 included in the multifunction device 20 are realized by a cooperative operation of a software program that exhibits a processing function of each component and hardware resources of the multifunction device 10.

  As described above, the mobile terminal device 30 is assumed to be a mobile phone. The mobile phone used in this embodiment has a wireless communication function such as infrared communication in addition to an electronic mail function. The mobile terminal device 30 includes an e-mail function processing unit 31, a print request unit 32, and a print attribute setting processing unit 33. The e-mail function processing unit 31 is a means that uses an e-mail function, and receives an e-mail sent from the multifunction machine 10. If the received e-mail contains reference attribute information, the reference attribute information is registered in the reference attribute information storage unit 34. The print request unit 32 generates a print request including an electronic document and a print attribute, and transmits the print request to the multi-function device 20 using a wireless communication function. When the print attribute set in the electronic document does not conform to the print attribute set for the mobile terminal device 30, the print attribute setting processing unit 33 changes the setting to the print attribute set in the reference attribute information.

  The output format when an electronic document is printed is basically determined by the attribute information held by the document. However, when printing from a computer such as the PC 5, the print attribute is appropriately set and changed using an installed printer driver. Printing can be performed. When the electronic document acquired by the mobile terminal device 30 is printed using the multi-function device 20 as in the present embodiment, since the printer driver is not installed in the mobile terminal device 30, the electronic document is normally stored. The print attribute settings cannot be changed. That is, the user of the mobile terminal device 30 (hereinafter “mobile user”) cannot execute printing in a desired output format. Therefore, the present embodiment is characterized in that the electronic document can be printed in the output format desired by the portable user. For this purpose, the reference attribute information is set in advance for the portable user. It is necessary to keep it. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the reference attribute information setting screen in the present embodiment. Here, the reference attribute information and information setting process will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 2 shows reference attributes such as reference font size, reference character number, reference page number, and extension, and reference values “10”, “400”, “20”, and “.xdw” set respectively. It is shown. This setting screen is generated and displayed using a dedicated application or browser. Then, it is shown that the print attribute to be changed when the print attribute of the electronic document is out of the reference value can be selected. For example, in the case of the reference font size, “10” is set as the reference value, and “imposition 2Up” is selected as the print attribute to be changed. Therefore, if the print attribute of the electronic document is greater than 10 positive, the electronic document In this case, an instruction to change the print attribute of “Imposition 2Up” is set. That is, the user inputs and sets the reference value for each reference attribute and the print attribute to be changed when it is out of the reference value from the setting screen. As is clear from the example of FIG. 2, even if the print attribute deviating from the reference value is the font size, the print attribute to be changed need not be the font size.

  Here, the above-mentioned “out of the reference value” has a different meaning depending on the reference attribute, and is larger than the set reference value, such as the reference font size, or not illustrated, but smaller than the set reference value. Furthermore, there are cases where they are not equal, such as extensions. In short, it means that the setting value of the print attribute set in the electronic document may be changed to obtain the output format desired by the portable user. It is also synonymous with the expression that the print attribute set in the electronic document does not conform to the reference attribute information.

  In the present embodiment, for convenience, double-sided, imposition 2Up, and imposition 4Up are illustrated as print attributes to be changed and are selected from these. However, different print attributes may be changed. The reference attributes are not limited to the example shown in FIG. 2, such as the reference font size.

  The mobile terminal device 30 needs to set reference attribute information before printing a document using the external multifunction device 20. The setting of the reference attribute information using this setting screen may be performed by the MFPs 10 and 20 or the mobile terminal device 30 other than the PC 5. However, it is appropriate to perform the operation on the PC 5 or the multifunction device 10 because the multifunction device 20 is installed outside the office 2 and the setting operation of the mobile terminal device 30 is troublesome due to restrictions on the user interface. It is believed that there is. In the present embodiment, since it is assumed that the portable user sets his / her own reference attribute information in the portable terminal device 30 using his / her PC 5, the reference attribute information setting processing unit 51 is set in the PC 5. Provided. In order to transmit the set reference attribute information to the mobile terminal device 30, the reference attribute information transmission processing unit 52 is also provided in the PC 5. That is, when the reference attribute information is set in the PC 5, the reference attribute information transmission processing unit 52 transmits the reference attribute information to the mobile terminal device 30. In this embodiment, it is transmitted by electronic mail. When receiving the reference attribute information, the e-mail function processing unit 31 in the portable terminal device 30 registers the reference attribute information in the reference attribute information storage unit 34.

  As described above, the preliminary preparation for changing the setting of the print attribute of the electronic document is completed. Next, an electronic document printing process according to the present embodiment will be described.

  First, a user who wants to send a document to the mobile terminal device 30 (hereinafter, “document owner”) scans the document using the scanner of the multifunction device 10 or sends the electronic document to the multifunction device 10 via the LAN 6. The document to be transmitted is sent to the multifunction device 10 by doing so. The document registration processing unit 11 of the multifunction machine 10 registers the electronic document input by the operation of the document owner in the electronic document storage unit 13. A document ID is added to the electronic document to be registered by the document registration processing unit 11, and this document ID is generated including a code for identifying the document and a code for specifying the MFP 10 that stores the document. Is done. The mail address of the PC 5 may be input and designated by the user via an operation panel (not shown) of the multifunction machine 10 or the LAN 6, or may be selected from a mail address list registered in advance in the system.

  As described above, the electronic document is transmitted to the mobile terminal device 30 when the electronic document is registered in the electronic document storage unit 13 or according to an instruction from the document owner after the electronic document is registered. In this embodiment, it is transmitted as an attached file of an e-mail. In other words, the electronic mail function processing unit 12 attaches the electronic document to be transmitted to the mail body and transmits the mail. The destination of the e-mail is designated by the user in advance or at the time of e-mail transmission.

  The e-mail function processing unit 31 in the mobile terminal device 30 receives an e-mail sent from the multifunction machine 10. Thereafter, the portable user prints the document at a desired timing. The print attribute setting process performed when the user wants to print the document will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  When the portable user wants to print the acquired electronic document, the portable user locally connects the portable terminal device 30 to the nearby multifunction device 20. Here, the local connection is assumed to use near field communication such as infrared communication or Bluetooth as described above. However, it is not necessary to limit to wireless communication. For example, a wired connection such as USB or a connection using a card reader or the like may be used.

  Subsequently, when the electronic document to be printed is specified by the selection operation by the user, the print attribute setting processing unit 33 acquires the print attribute from the header information of the electronic document (step 110). Then, the print attribute setting is changed according to the comparison result with the reference value of each reference attribute registered in the reference attribute information storage unit 34. In the above description, it is described that the reference attribute information needs to be registered in the reference attribute information storage unit 34 in advance. However, since the reference attribute information is used for the first time at this time, It only needs to exist on the terminal device 30 side. Accordingly, the multifunction device 10 may send the reference attribute information by e-mail together with the electronic document, for example.

  Here, the specific procedure of the print attribute setting process will be described. The print attribute setting processing unit 33 compares the font size of the electronic document with the reference value (10) set to the reference font size (step 120). If the font size set in the electronic document is larger than the reference value, the print attribute set corresponding to the reference font size is changed to “imposition 2Up” in the setting example shown in FIG. (Step 160). Of course, if “imposition 2Up” has already been set, the setting remains unchanged. On the other hand, if the font size set in the electronic document is within the reference value, the process proceeds to the next reference attribute comparison process. That is, the print attribute setting processing unit 33 counts the number of characters included in the electronic document, compares the number of characters with the reference value (400) set as the reference number of characters (step 130), and is included in the electronic document. If the number of characters is larger than the reference value, the setting is changed to “duplex” in the print attribute set corresponding to the reference number of characters, in the setting example shown in FIG. 2 (step 160). On the other hand, if the number of characters included in the electronic document is within the reference value, the process proceeds to the comparison process of the next reference attribute. That is, the print attribute setting processing unit 33 compares the number of pages constituting the electronic document with the reference value (20) set as the reference page number (step 140), and if the number of pages constituting the electronic document Is larger than the reference value, the print attribute set corresponding to the number of reference characters is changed to “imposition 4Up” in the setting example shown in FIG. 2 (step 160). On the other hand, if the number of pages constituting the electronic document is within the reference value, the process proceeds to the comparison process of the next reference attribute. That is, the print attribute setting processing unit 33 compares the extension of the electronic document with the reference value (.xdw) set as the reference extension (step 150), and if the extension of the electronic document is equal to the reference value. If not, the setting is changed to the printing attribute set corresponding to the reference extension (step 160). However, in the setting example shown in FIG. 2, since the print attribute to be changed to the reference extension is not selected, the print attribute setting is not changed. Thus, it is possible not to change the print attribute.

  As described above, when the print attribute of the electronic document is changed according to the comparison result with the reference value, the print request unit 32 sends the print request including the electronic document selected according to the user operation and the print attribute to the multifunction peripheral. 20 is transmitted.

  In the multifunction device 20, when the print request reception unit 21 receives a print request sent from the mobile terminal device 30, the print processing unit 22 sends the acquired electronic document to the print attribute sent together with the electronic document. Print with the specified attributes.

  According to the present embodiment, an electronic document can be printed in an output format desired by a portable user as described above. According to the above example of the reference attribute information, if the font size of the document is sufficiently large, even if it is printed with a smaller character by imposing 2up and changing the output format, the character becomes too small to be readable. Absent. In other words, the reference value may be set so as not to be illegible. As a result, the number of printed sheets can be reduced while maintaining the legibility of the characters, so that the convenience of carrying can be improved, and the usage fee is charged when the multifunction device 20 is charged (pay-as-you-go). Can be reduced.

  In the print attribute setting process according to the present embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the print attributes set in the electronic document are compared in the order of the reference attributes of the reference font size, the reference character number, the reference page number, and the extension. It was. That is, it can be said that the priority is set in the order of the reference font size, the reference character number, the reference page number, and the extension. Therefore, the order of each comparison process may be changed. Alternatively, after all the comparisons have been made, the print attributes may be determined by, for example, majority determination with reference to each comparison result.

  Further, the reference attribute information is information set for printing a document in an output format desired by the portable user, and it is sufficient that only one exists in the portable terminal device 30. It may be set so that the portable user can use it properly.

  In the present embodiment, the print attribute setting processing unit 33 is provided in the mobile terminal device 30 as a print attribute setting processing unit. However, the print attribute setting processing unit 33 is provided in the multifunction device 20 and is sent from the mobile terminal device 30 or acquired from the PC 5. The MFP 20 may be configured to change the print attribute of the electronic document with reference to the reference attribute information.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the network print system according to the present invention. The overall configuration of the network print system in the present embodiment is the same as that in the first embodiment. However, while the electronic document is transmitted to the mobile terminal device 30 in the first embodiment, the present embodiment is configured by the difference that the document ID is transmitted to the mobile terminal device 30 as in the conventional electronic document transfer service. Etc. are slightly different. Note that the same components as those in Embodiment 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted as appropriate.

  The multifunction machine 10 includes a document registration processing unit 11, an electronic mail function processing unit 12, and an electronic document distribution unit 14. The electronic document distribution unit 14 transmits an electronic document in response to a document acquisition request from the multifunction device 20.

  The PC 5 has a unique print attribute setting processing unit 53 and a unique print attribute transmission processing unit 54. In the case of the present embodiment, since the electronic document is not sent to the mobile terminal device 30, the setting of the print attribute of the electronic document is unknown. Therefore, it is impossible to refer to the setting value of the print attribute of the electronic document and change the print attribute according to the set value as in the first embodiment. For this reason, in the PC 5, the print attribute to be changed is fixedly set. The unique print attribute setting processing unit 53 sets a fixed print attribute according to the setting operation by the user, and the unique print attribute transmission processing unit 54 transmits the set print attribute to the mobile terminal device 30. It is assumed that the e-mail function is used for the transmission of information in the unique print attribute transmission processing unit 54.

  The multi-function device 20 includes a print request receiving unit 21, a print processing unit 22, and a document acquisition processing unit 23. The document acquisition processing unit 23 transmits a document acquisition request including the document ID included in the print request received by the print request reception unit 21 to the multifunction device 10 and acquires the corresponding electronic document from the multifunction device 10.

  The mobile terminal device 30 includes an e-mail function processing unit 31 and a print request unit 32. When the received e-mail includes a print attribute, the e-mail function processing unit 31 registers the print attribute in the print attribute storage unit 35.

  Next, the operation in the present embodiment will be described. First, the PC 5 sets print attributes from a predetermined setting screen (not shown) so that a document is printed in an output format desired by the portable user. . The unique print attribute transmission processing unit 54 transmits the set print attribute to the mobile terminal device 30. When receiving the print attribute, the e-mail function processing unit 31 registers the print attribute in the print attribute storage unit 35. It should be noted that whether or not the print attribute is included in the received mail can be determined from the fact that the transmission source of the electronic mail is the multifunction machine 10 and the subject name.

  Thereafter, the processing until the electronic document is registered in the electronic document storage unit 13 of the multi-function device 10 is the same as that in the first embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted. When the electronic document is registered in the electronic document storage unit 13 or in response to an instruction from the document owner after the electronic document is registered, the electronic mail function processing unit 12 reads the document attached to the electronic document to be transmitted. The ID is included in the mail body and sent to the destination specified by the user. The destination of the e-mail is designated by the user in advance or at the time of e-mail transmission. The e-mail function processing unit 31 in the mobile terminal device 30 receives an e-mail sent from the multifunction machine 10.

  Next, after that, the portable user prints the document at a desired timing. A print attribute setting process performed when the user wants to print the document will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  When the portable user wants to print the acquired electronic document, the portable user locally connects the portable terminal device 30 to the nearby multifunction device 20. The print request unit 32 transmits a print request including the document ID included in the body of the received e-mail and the print attribute stored in the print attribute storage unit 35 to the multi-function device 20 in response to a user operation. (Step 210).

  In the multifunction device 20, when the print request reception unit 21 receives a print request output from the locally connected mobile terminal device 30, the document acquisition processing unit 23 issues a document acquisition request including the document ID included in the print request. It is generated and transmitted to the multifunction machine 10 (step 220). Since the document ID includes a code that identifies the multifunction device 10, the multifunction device 20 identifies the multifunction device 10 that is the transmission destination of the document acquisition request with reference to the code.

  In the multifunction device 10, upon receiving the document acquisition request transmitted from the multifunction device 20, the electronic document distribution unit 14 searches the electronic document storage unit 13 using the document ID included in the document acquisition request as a key, and transmits the document acquisition request. The electronic document is taken out and transmitted to the MFP 20 as the request transmission source.

  In the multifunction device 20, when the document acquisition processing unit 23 acquires the electronic document sent from the multifunction device 10 in response to the document acquisition request (step 230), the print processing unit 22 prints the acquired electronic document. At this time, printing is executed according to the print attributes sent from the mobile terminal device 30 instead of the print attributes set in the electronic document.

  According to the present embodiment, as described above, the print attribute set for the mobile terminal device 30 is transmitted to the multi-function device 20 at the time of the print request, and the electronic document acquired from the multi-function device 10 according to the print attribute is transmitted. Since printing is performed, the electronic document can be printed in an output format desired by the portable user.

  Note that it may be possible to change the print attribute setting for the mobile terminal device 30 executed on the PC 5 by specifying the input from the operation panel of the multifunction device 20 or the like when executing printing. Certainly, in the present embodiment, since the multifunction device 20 equipped with an operation panel and a computer is used as a printing apparatus, a dedicated interface may be easily prepared for the multifunction device 20. However, a normal printer that cannot be equipped with an arbitrary application is not realistic because it is difficult or expensive to set the print attribute.

  Further, in each of the above embodiments, the print attribute of the electronic document is changed on the condition that the print attribute of the electronic document and the reference value set in advance are used as a condition. Other information such as user context information may be used as the change condition. In the context, the user's preference, the visual acuity state, or the like is set, and the output format setting may be defined based on this information. Specifically, user preferences may be registered in advance as setting conditions, for example, a double-sided printing is not set for a presentation document, and an imposition specification is used for a text-only document.

1 is a block configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a network print system according to the present invention. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a setting screen for reference attribute information used in Embodiment 1. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating print attribute setting processing according to the first embodiment. It is the block block diagram which showed other embodiment of the network print system which concerns on this invention. 10 is a flowchart illustrating print attribute setting processing according to the second embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

  2 offices, 3 mail servers, 4 firewalls, 10, 20 multifunction devices, 11 document registration processing units, 12 electronic mail function processing units, 13 electronic document storage units, 14 electronic document distribution units, 21 print request reception units, 22 printing Processing unit, 23 Document acquisition processing unit, 30 Mobile terminal device, 31 E-mail function processing unit, 32 Print request unit, 33 Print attribute setting processing unit, 34 Standard attribute information storage unit, 35 Print attribute storage unit, 51 Standard attribute information A setting processing unit, 52 a reference attribute information transmission processing unit, a 53 unique printing attribute setting processing unit, and a 54 unique printing attribute transmission processing unit.

Claims (5)

An image forming apparatus that holds image data therein;
A mobile terminal device that receives image data sent from the image forming apparatus;
A printing device for printing image data sent from the portable terminal device;
An information processing device;
In a network print system that is connected so as to exchange information,
The information processing apparatus includes:
A setting change condition for changing the print attribute set in the image data to a print attribute for causing the user of the mobile terminal device to print the image data in the printing apparatus in a desired output format; and A setting unit that sets reference attribute information including a print attribute attribute value to be changed when the print attribute set in the image data matches the setting change condition;
Transmitting means for transmitting reference attribute information to the portable terminal device or the printing device;
Have
The portable terminal device or the printing apparatus that has received the reference attribute information transmitted by the transmission unit uses a setting change condition in which the print attribute set in the image data to be printed is included in the reference attribute information. sometimes matched, has the print attribute setting processing means for setting change to the attribute values of printing attributes associated with the setting change conditions the match,
The printing apparatus has a printing means for printing the image data subject to the print attribute set by the print attribute setting processing means,
Network print system comprising a call. The network print system according to claim 1 ,
The standard attribute information is set as the setting change condition, and the standard print attribute value to be compared with the print attribute set in the image data to be printed and the print attribute deviating from the standard print attribute value are set in the image data. A network print system characterized by being associated with an attribute value of a print attribute that should be changed if it has been done. An image forming apparatus that holds image data therein;
A portable terminal device that receives image data identification information transmitted by the image forming apparatus;
A printing apparatus that acquires and prints image data specified by image data identification information from the image forming apparatus in response to a print request including image data identification information sent from the mobile terminal device;
An information processing device;
In a network print system that is connected so as to exchange information,
The information processing apparatus includes:
A setting change condition for changing the print attribute set in the image data to a print attribute for causing the user of the mobile terminal device to print the image data in the printing apparatus in a desired output format; and A setting unit that sets reference attribute information including a print attribute attribute value to be changed when the print attribute set in the image data matches the setting change condition;
Transmitting means for transmitting reference attribute information to the portable terminal device or the printing device;
Have
The portable terminal device or the printing apparatus that has received the reference attribute information transmitted by the transmission unit uses a setting change condition in which the print attribute set in the image data to be printed is included in the reference attribute information. sometimes matched, has the print attribute setting processing means for setting change to the attribute values of printing attributes associated with the setting change conditions the match,
The printing apparatus includes a print processing unit that prints image data specified by image data identification information included in a print request sent from the portable terminal device in accordance with a print attribute set by the print attribute setting processing unit. A network print system characterized by that. An image forming apparatus that holds image data therein, a portable terminal device that receives image data sent from the image forming apparatus, a printing device that prints image data sent from the portable terminal device, and information In a network print system that has a processing device and is connected to be able to exchange information,
The information processing apparatus;
A setting change condition for changing the print attribute set in the image data to a print attribute for causing the user of the mobile terminal device to print the image data in the printing apparatus in a desired output format; and A setting means for setting reference attribute information including a print attribute attribute value to be changed when the print attribute set in the image data matches the setting change condition;
Transmitting means for transmitting reference attribute information to the portable terminal device or the printing apparatus;
Function as
The mobile terminal device or the printing apparatus that has received the reference attribute information transmitted by the transmission unit is configured so that the print attribute set in the image data to be printed is a setting change condition included in the reference attribute information. sometimes it matches, to function as a print attribute setting processing means for setting change to the attribute values of printing attributes associated with the setting change conditions the match,
Printing means for the printing apparatus performs printing of the image data subject to the printing attributes that set by the print attribute setting processing means,
Network print program to function as. In response to a print request including an image forming apparatus that holds image data therein, a portable terminal device that receives image data identification information transmitted from the image forming apparatus, and image data identification information sent from the portable terminal device In a network printing system that has image data specified by image data identification information acquired from the image forming apparatus and has a printing apparatus that prints the information, and an information processing apparatus connected to each other so that information can be exchanged,
The information processing apparatus;
A setting change condition for changing the print attribute set in the image data to a print attribute for causing the user of the mobile terminal device to print the image data in the printing apparatus in a desired output format; and A setting means for setting reference attribute information including a print attribute attribute value to be changed when the print attribute set in the image data matches the setting change condition;
Transmitting means for transmitting reference attribute information to the portable terminal device or the printing apparatus;
Function as
The mobile terminal device or the printing apparatus that has received the reference attribute information transmitted by the transmission unit is configured so that the print attribute set in the image data to be printed is a setting change condition included in the reference attribute information. When they match, it functions as a print attribute setting processing means for changing the setting to the attribute value of the print attribute associated with the matched setting change condition ,
Print processing means for printing the image data specified by the image data identification information included in the print request sent from the portable terminal device in accordance with the print attributes set by the print attribute setting processing means;
Network print program to function as.

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