JP7363037B2 - printers and computer programs - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD This disclosure relates to printers and computer programs.

Patent Document 1 discloses a variable printing system that performs variable printing in which a part of the paper surface is replaced for each page when printing print data. In this system, fixed portion data, which is data of a portion common to each page of print data, is printed in advance on a sheet, and the sheet on which the fixed portion data is printed is set in a paper feed tray. Then, variable portion data, which is data on portions of the print data that can change between pages, is printed on the sheet set in the paper feed tray.

JP2008-65526A

By the way, when printing print data that has fixed part data and variable part data, there are cases where it is desired to separate printing into printing a certain object in the print data and printing another object. Specifically, for example, when printing fixed portion data in print data and when printing variable portion data, etc.

In such cases, when instructing the printer to print, the user must specify the object to be printed, such as fixed part data or variable part data, which is not very convenient for the user. .

One aspect of the present disclosure aims to improve user convenience when instructing a printer to print print data having fixed portion data and variable portion data.

One aspect of the present disclosure is a printer that includes a paper feed tray, a printing section, and a control section. Sheets are stored in the paper feed tray. The control section includes a print data acquisition section, a determination section, and an execution section. The print data acquisition unit acquires print data having fixed portion data and variable portion data. Fixed portion data is data of a portion that is common between each page of print data, and variable portion data is data of a portion that can change between each page of print data. The determination unit determines a print target object, which is an object to be printed, among the objects in the print data, based on tray settings, which are settings of the paper feed tray, and print data acquired by the print data acquisition unit. . The execution unit prints the print target object determined by the determination unit on a sheet fed from the paper feed tray via the printing unit.

According to such a configuration, when the user instructs the printer to print print data having fixed part data and variable part data, even if the user does not specify the object to be printed, the printer side prints the print data based on the tray settings. The object to be printed is determined. Therefore, user convenience can be improved compared to a configuration in which the user has to specify objects to be printed, such as fixed portion data or variable portion data, when printing the print data.

A computer program for causing the control unit to function as described above, a control method for realizing the above printer, and a computer readable storage medium storing the above computer program are also new and useful.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a printing system. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining information included in an X object in PDF/VT data. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of an image shown by PDF/VT data. FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the first tray setting printing process. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the second tray setting printing process. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining metadata included in PDF/VT data. FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the third tray setting printing process.

Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings.
[1. First embodiment]
[1-1. composition]
Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings.

[Print system configuration]
A printing system 100 shown in FIG. 1 is a system configured so that a terminal device 1 and a printer 2 can communicate data.

The terminal device 1 is a general-purpose information processing device, such as a personal computer, a tablet terminal, or a smartphone. The terminal device 1 includes a control section 11, an input section 12, a display section 13, and a communication section 14.

The control unit 11 performs overall control of each unit of the terminal device 1, and includes a CPU 111 and a memory 112. The memory 112 is, for example, a semiconductor memory such as RAM, ROM, or flash memory. That is, the terminal device 1 includes a microcomputer including a CPU 111 and a semiconductor memory.

The input unit 12 is an input device for inputting commands by external operations from the user. For example, as the input unit 12, a keyboard, a pointing device such as a mouse, a touch pad, etc. are used.

The display unit 13 includes a display device capable of displaying images, such as a liquid crystal display or an organic EL display.
The communication unit 14 is a communication interface for connecting the terminal device 1 to a network. The terminal device 1 may be capable of wired or wireless data communication with an external device such as the printer 2 via the communication unit 14 . Further, the terminal device 1 may be connected to the Internet via the communication unit 14 and may be capable of data communication with an external device via the Internet. The terminal device 1 transmits print data indicating an image to be printed to the printer 2 via the communication unit 14.

The print data transmitted from the terminal device 1 is, for example, data written in a page description language (PDL). The print data includes printing conditions that are conditions related to printing.

The printing conditions include, for example, sheet type (plain paper, glossy paper, photo, etc.), sheet size, and the like. Further, the printing conditions may include other information such as color settings (color mode printing, monochrome mode printing, etc.), the number of copies to be printed, settings for double-sided printing or single-sided printing, and range settings for document pages. Further, as attributes of color printing, RGB settings, CMYK settings, special color settings, etc. may be included in the printing conditions.

On the other hand, the printer 2 includes a control section 21, an input section 22, a display section 23, a communication section 24, a reading section 25, a printing section 26, and paper feed trays 271 to 273.
The control unit 21 performs overall control of each unit of the printer 2, and includes a CPU 211 and a memory 212. The memory 212 is, for example, a semiconductor memory such as RAM, ROM, or flash memory. That is, the printer 2 includes a microcomputer including a CPU 211 and a semiconductor memory.

The control unit 21 implements various functions by executing programs stored in a non-transitional physical storage medium. In this embodiment, the memory 212 corresponds to a non-transitive physical storage medium that stores a program. The various functions of the printer 2 are basically realized by the CPU 211 executing programs stored in the memory 212. The memory 212 also stores print data and the like transmitted from the terminal device 1 and the like.

The input unit 22 is an input device for inputting commands by external operations from the user, and includes various operation buttons.
The display unit 23 includes a display device capable of displaying images, such as a liquid crystal display or an organic EL display.

The communication unit 24 is a communication interface for connecting the printer 2 to a network. The printer 2 may be capable of wired or wireless data communication with an external device such as the terminal device 1 via the communication unit 24 . Further, the printer 2 may be connected to the Internet via the communication unit 24 and may be capable of data communication with an external device via the Internet.

The reading unit 25 includes an image sensor, reads an image of a document, and generates image data of the read image.
The printing unit 26 has a printing mechanism using inkjet technology or electrophotography technology, and is capable of printing an image on a sheet-like recording paper.

The paper feed trays (first tray 271, second tray 272, and third tray 273) accommodate sheets used in printing processing.
In this embodiment, each of the paper feed trays 271 to 273 accommodates sheets of different types. For example, the first tray 271 stores plain paper, the second tray 272 stores preprint sheets, and the third tray 273 stores sheets for creating preprint sheets. Here, the preprint sheet is a sheet on which ruled lines, frames, a company logo, etc. are printed in advance. In other words, the preprint sheet is a sheet on which fixed portion data, which will be described later, is printed in advance. Further, the preprint sheet creation sheet is a sheet for creating a preprint sheet, in other words, a sheet on which fixed portion data is printed and becomes a preprint sheet.

[Printer functions]
<Variable printing function>
The printer 2 is capable of printing using a printing method called variable printing. Variable printing is printing in which part of the paper surface is replaced for each page when printing print data. Variable printing is used, for example, for direct mail or award certificates, where the background is the same but only the addressee is different.

The printer 2 acquires print data for variable printing from the terminal device 1 or the like. Print data for variable printing includes fixed part data and variable part data.
Fixed portion data is data of a portion common between each page of print data. Variable portion data is data of a portion of print data that can change between pages.

In this embodiment, the printer 2 acquires PDF/VT data as print data for variable printing. Note that PDF is an abbreviation for Portable Document Format, and VT is an abbreviation for Variable and Transactional. PDF/VT is a data format as a subset specification of PDF defined by Adobe Systems (registered trademark). PDF/VT is a technology that is being developed as a standard PDF format for variable printing by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) as ISO16612-2.

PDF/VT is characterized by having a concept regarding a drawing object called an X object. The X object defines a drawing object as a reusable object and allows the reusable object to be referenced multiple times from within a PDF file. In conventional PDF, a printer that performs print processing needs to perform drawing processing on a drawing object included in print data as many times as the drawing object appears in the print data. For example, if all 10,000 pages of print data include the same corporate logo, the printer needs to process the same logo data 10,000 times for each page.

On the other hand, in PDF/VT, by using the X object, the printer can refer to the reusable object that appears on the first page any number of times during the processing of PDF data. In other words, if the printer generates intermediate data based on a reusable object that appears on the first page, and a reference to this reusable object occurs on a subsequent page, a raster image is generated based on the generated intermediate data. Generate (rasterize). This eliminates the need for the printer to generate intermediate data again for the same reusable object on subsequent pages, making it possible to efficiently execute print processing. That is, according to PDF/VT, it is possible to speed up variable printing in which fixed portion data, which is the same drawing object, is printed multiple times.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, in PDF/VT, an X object can include GTS_Scope, GTS_Env, and GTS_XID.
GTS_XID is a unique identifier across all documents. This identifier can be utilized by caching implementations that need to identify equivalent X objects. For example, if it turns out that graphics that have been processed in the first job will be reused in the second job, it is possible to obtain the rasterized results from the cache without having to perform RIP (Raster Image Processor) processing again. Become.

GTS_Scope is information representing the range of pages or documents whose graphic content is reused, in other words, the scope of the X object. This allows the X object to have information about its useful life in the cache of rendered results. GTS_Scope includes Global, SingleUse, Record, File, Job, Global, and Unknown. Among these, the X object whose GTS_Scope is SingleUse can be determined to be variable part data. Unknown is an object whose lifetime is undefined. An X object whose GTS_Scope is Unknown is often processed as variable part data in a PDF RIP program. X objects whose GTS_Scope is other than SingleUse and Unknown can be determined to be fixed partial data.

FIG. 3 shows a list 3 of prices of products A, B, C, and D of a virtual company "Venture Systems, Inc." as an example of an image shown by the PDF/VT data. Among the print data related to this image, the GTS_Scopes of the X object representing the title 31, the X object representing the table 32, and the X object representing the corporate logo 33 are File, File, and Global, respectively. In other words, the data indicating these X objects is fixed partial data. On the other hand, the GTS_Scope of the X object representing character 34 is SingleUse. In other words, the data indicating the X object representing the character 34 is variable portion data.

The X objects indicating the title 31, table 32, and company logo 33 are printed on the sheet in normal color settings, for example. Normal color printing refers to printing in four colors: Y (yellow), M (magenta), C (cyan), and K (black). On the other hand, the X object representing the character 34 is printed in special color on a sheet on which a title 31, a table 32, and a company logo 33 are printed, for example. Special color printing refers to printing in a special color (for example, gold) other than yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), or black (K). For example, special color printing also includes printing that reproduces metallic colors using foil such as gold leaf or silver foil. Note that, hereinafter, settings for executing normal color printing will be referred to as "normal color settings," and settings for executing special color printing will be referred to as "special color settings."

<Tray settings>
The memory 212 of the control unit 21 of the printer 2 stores tray setting information representing tray settings that are settings for the paper feed trays 271 to 273. Specifically, the tray settings include settings for sheets accommodated in each of the paper feed trays 271 to 273.

The tray settings include, for example, settings for the sheet type (plain paper, photo, preprint sheet, preprint sheet creation sheet, etc.) and settings for the sheet size accommodated in each of the paper feed trays 271 to 273. It will be done. Further, as detailed settings, settings such as basis weight, sheet name, model number, whiteness, etc. may be included in the tray settings. These settings may be input by the user from the input unit 22, or may be automatically detected by a sensor (not shown) that identifies the sheets placed in the paper feed trays 271 to 273. Note that in the following, the sheet type setting among the tray settings will be referred to as "sheet type setting."

[1-2. process]
Next, the first tray setting printing process executed by the control unit 21 of the printer 2 will be described using the flowchart of FIG. 4. Note that the first tray setting printing process is started when the printer 2 receives PDF/VT data from the terminal device 1.

First, in S101, the control unit 21 acquires PDF/VT data from the memory 212. That is, when PDF/VT data is received from the terminal device 1, the PDF/VT data is temporarily stored in the memory 212. In S101, PDF/VT data is acquired from the memory 212.

Subsequently, in S102, the control unit 21 determines a tray to be printed. Specifically, the control unit 21 analyzes the PDF/VT data received from the terminal device 1 and acquires tray setting information from the memory 212. Then, based on the PDF/VT data and the tray setting information, the control unit 21 selects the paper feed trays containing sheets that meet the printing conditions of the PDF/VT data from among the paper feed trays 271 to 273 to the print target tray. Determine as.

Subsequently, in S103, the control unit 21 determines whether the sheet type setting of the tray to be printed is a sheet for preprint sheet creation.
If the control unit 21 determines in S103 that the sheet type setting of the tray to be printed is a preprint sheet creation sheet (S103: YES), the process proceeds to S104.

In S104, the control unit 21 determines the fixed portion data in the PDF/VT data acquired in S101 as an object to be printed, and proceeds to S106, which will be described later.
On the other hand, if the control unit 21 determines in S103 that the sheet type setting of the tray to be printed is not a preprint sheet creation sheet (S103: NO), the process proceeds to S105.

In S105, the control unit 21 determines both fixed portion data and variable portion data in the PDF/VT data acquired in S101 as objects to be printed, and proceeds to S106.
In S106, the control unit 21 prints the print target object determined in S103 on the sheet (preprint sheet creation sheet) accommodated in the print target tray via the printing unit 26.

Here, in S106, if it is determined in S103 that the sheet type setting of the print target tray is a sheet for preprint sheet creation, the fixed part data that is the print target object is printed with special color settings. . On the other hand, if it is determined in step S103 that the sheet type setting of the tray to be printed is not a sheet for preprint sheet creation, fixed portion data and variable portion data, which are objects to be printed, are printed with normal color settings.

After executing S106, the control unit 21 ends the first tray setting printing process of FIG. 4.

[1-3. effect]
According to the first embodiment described in detail above, the following effects can be obtained.
(1a) In the present embodiment, the control unit 21 determines which of the objects in the print data are to be printed based on the tray settings, which are the settings of the paper feed tray 27, and the print data acquired from the terminal device 1. Determine the object to be printed, which is an object. Then, the control unit 21 prints the determined object to be printed on a sheet fed from the paper feed trays 271 to 273 via the printing unit 26.

Therefore, even if the user does not specify the object to be printed when instructing the printer 2 to print print data having fixed part data and variable part data, the printer 2 can print the object to be printed based on the tray settings. is determined. Therefore, compared to a configuration in which the user has to specify the object to be printed when printing the print data, it is possible to improve convenience for the user.

(1b) In the present embodiment, the control unit 21 determines the object to be printed from only the fixed portion data or both the fixed portion data and the variable portion data, based on the tray settings.

Therefore, when the user instructs the printer 2 to print, the printer 2 can print based on the tray settings without having to specify whether to print only fixed portion data or both fixed portion data and variable portion data. On the second side, each of the above printings is dynamically switched. Therefore, user convenience can be improved.

(1c) In the present embodiment, the control unit 21 acquires PDF/VT data as print data having fixed portion data and variable portion data. Therefore, it is possible to improve the user's convenience when instructing the printer 2 to print PDF/VT data.

(1d) In the present embodiment, when the sheet type setting of the print target tray is a preprint sheet creation sheet, the control unit 21 determines the fixed portion data as the print target object.
Therefore, if the sheet type setting is a preprint sheet creation sheet, the object to be printed is automatically determined to be fixed part data, even if the user does not specify to printer 2 to print only fixed part data. The fixed portion data is then printed on the preprint sheet creation sheet. Therefore, user convenience can be improved compared to a configuration in which the user has to instruct the printer 2 to print only fixed portion data when instructing the printer 2 to print.

(1e) In the present embodiment, when the control unit 21 determines that the sheet type setting is a preprint sheet creation sheet in S103, and determines the fixed portion data as the print target object in S104, the control unit 21 Print the fixed part data on a sheet with special color settings.

Therefore, when printing fixed portion data on a preprint sheet creation sheet, the fixed portion data can be automatically printed with special color settings without the user specifying to the printer 2 that the fixed portion data be printed with special color settings. Therefore, the user's convenience can be improved compared to a configuration in which the user has to specify that the printer 2 prints using special color settings.

In this embodiment, S101 corresponds to processing as a print data acquisition unit, S104 and S105 correspond to processing as a determining unit, and S106 corresponds to processing as an execution unit.

[2. Second embodiment]
[2-1. Differences from the first embodiment]
Since the basic configuration of the second embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, the explanation of the common configuration will be omitted and the differences will be mainly explained. Note that the same reference numerals as those in the first embodiment indicate the same configurations, and refer to the preceding description.

In the first embodiment described above, the object to be printed is determined based on the determination result of whether the sheet type setting of the tray to be printed is a sheet for preprint sheet creation. In contrast, in the second embodiment, the tray settings for each of the paper feed trays 271 to 273 of the printer 2 include settings such as printing only fixed portion data and printing only variable portion data. This embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that the object to be printed is determined according to the settings of the tray to be printed. This will be explained in detail below.

The hardware configuration of the printing system 100 of the second embodiment is basically the same as that of the first embodiment. On the other hand, the tray settings of the printer 2 are partially different from the first embodiment.
In addition to the various tray settings of the first embodiment, the tray settings of the second embodiment further include settings called VT print settings. VT print settings can be set for each paper feed tray 271-273. VT print settings are configured to set only fixed portion data and variable portion data only when the printer 2 receives PDF/VT data or print data for variable printing and the paper source tray is determined to be the tray to be printed. , as well as both fixed part data and variable part data, to specify which of them is to be determined as an object to be printed. Specifically, the VT print settings include fixed part print settings that determine only fixed part data as print target objects, variable part print settings that determine only variable part data as print target objects, and fixed part data and variable part print settings that determine only variable part data as print target objects. Three settings are included: a both print setting that determines both partial data to be objects to be printed.

Further, in the second embodiment, the processing executed by the control unit 21 of the printer 2 is different from the first embodiment.
[2-2. process]
Next, using the flowchart of FIG. 5, the control unit 21 of the printer 2 of the second embodiment will explain the second tray setting printing process that is executed in place of the first tray setting printing process (FIG. 4) of the first embodiment. I will explain. Note that the second tray setting printing process is started when the printer 2 receives PDF/VT data from the terminal device 1.

Since S201 to S202 are the same processes as S101 to S102 in FIG. 4 described above, the explanation will be omitted.
Subsequently, in S203, the control unit 21 determines the tray settings (specifically, the VT print settings) of the tray to be printed.

If the control unit 21 determines in S203 that the tray setting of the print target tray is the fixed part print setting, the control unit 21 moves to S204 and sets the fixed part data of the PDF/VT data acquired in S201 to the print target object. decide. After that, the control unit 11 moves to S207, which will be described later.

On the other hand, if the control unit 21 determines in S203 that the tray setting of the tray to be printed is the variable part print setting, the control unit 21 moves to S205 and prints the variable part data of the PDF/VT data acquired in S201. Determine the object to be printed. After that, the control unit 11 moves to S207, which will be described later.

On the other hand, if the control unit 21 determines in S203 that the tray settings of the tray to be printed are both print settings, the control unit 21 moves to S206, and controls the fixed part data and the variable part data of the PDF/VT data acquired in S201. Determine both partial data as objects to be printed. After that, the control unit 11 moves to S207.

In S207, the control unit 21 prints the print target object determined in S204, S205, or S206 on the sheet accommodated in the print target tray.
Here, if the fixed portion data is determined to be the object to be printed in S204 described above, the control unit 21 prints the object to be printed (fixed portion data) on the sheet using special color settings.

On the other hand, if the control unit 21 determines the variable portion data to be the object to be printed in S205 described above, it prints the object to be printed (variable portion data) on the sheet with normal color settings. Furthermore, even when both the fixed part data and the variable part data are determined to be print target objects in S206 described above, the control unit 21 prints the print target objects (fixed part data and variable part data) on a sheet with the normal color setting. Print.

After executing S207, the control unit 21 ends the second tray setting printing process of FIG.
[2-3. effect]
According to the second embodiment described in detail above, in addition to the effects (1a) to (1c) of the first embodiment described above, the following effects can be obtained.

(2a) In this embodiment, the tray settings include VT print settings. Then, the control unit 21 determines the object to be printed according to the VT print settings of the tray to be printed.
Therefore, by appropriately setting the VT print settings for any paper feed tray, it is possible to print only fixed part data, only variable part data, or both fixed part data and variable part data with any paper feed tray. becomes. Therefore, compared to a configuration in which the tray settings do not include VT print settings, user convenience can be improved.

(2b) In the present embodiment, the control unit 21 determines the object to be printed from only the fixed part data, only the variable part data, and both the fixed part data and the variable part data, based on the tray settings. .

Therefore, when the user instructs the printer 2 to print, the user does not specify whether to print only fixed part data, only variable part data, or both fixed part data and variable part data. However, the above printing is dynamically switched on the printer 2 side based on the tray settings. Therefore, user convenience can be improved.

In this embodiment, VT print settings correspond to fixed variable settings, S201 corresponds to processing as a print data acquisition section, S204 to S206 correspond to processing as a determination section, and S207 corresponds to processing as an execution section. Corresponds to processing.

[3. Third embodiment]
[3-1. Differences from the first embodiment]
Since the basic configuration of the third embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, the explanation of the common configuration will be omitted and the differences will be mainly explained. Note that the same reference numerals as those in the first embodiment indicate the same configurations, and refer to the preceding description.

In the first embodiment described above, the object to be printed is determined based on the determination result of whether the sheet type setting of the tray to be printed is a sheet for preprint sheet creation. On the other hand, in the third embodiment, for each object in the print data, information specifying the tray settings of the print target tray when the object is printed is included as metadata in the print data. embedded. This embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that the object to be printed is determined based on the metadata and the tray settings of the tray to be printed. This will be explained in detail below.

The hardware configuration of the printing system 100 of the third embodiment is basically the same as that of the first embodiment. On the other hand, print data sent from the terminal device 1 to the printer 2 is different from the first embodiment.

The PDF/VT data transmitted from the terminal device 1 includes metadata as shown in FIG. This metadata is information indicating the correspondence between the tray settings and the attributes of each X object in the PDF/VT data. The tray settings included in the metadata are assumed to be sheet type settings, specifically, preprint sheet creation sheet (preprint), preprinted sheet (preprinted), and other (other). Furthermore, the above-mentioned GTS_Scope is assumed as the attribute of the X object included in the metadata.

In the metadata shown in FIG. 6, as indicated by reference numeral 61, a preprint sheet creation sheet (preprint) of sheet type setting is associated with GTS_Scope "Global" of the attribute of the X object. Further, as shown by reference numeral 62, the preprinted sheet (preprinted) of the sheet type setting is associated with the GTS_Scope "SingleUse", "File", "Job", and "Record" of the attributes of the X object. There is. Additionally, as shown by the reference numeral 63, the sheet type setting "other" and the X object attributes GTS_Scope "Global", "SingleUse", "File", "Job", and "Record" are associated with each other. It is being

Below, in the metadata, the attribute of the The attributes of the X object are referred to as "preprinted attributes," and the attributes of the X objects associated with "other" in the sheet type setting are referred to as "other attributes."

Note that, as shown in the metadata shown in FIG. 6, a certain tray setting (specifically, sheet type setting) is generally associated with a plurality of attributes of the X object. Further, at least one attribute of the X object (for example, Global) is commonly associated with different tray settings (specifically, sheet type settings). In this embodiment, one such metadata is included for each PDF/VT data.

Further, in the third embodiment, the processing executed by the control unit 21 of the printer 2 is different from the first embodiment.
[3-2. process]
Next, using the flowchart of FIG. 7, the control unit 21 of the printer 2 of the third embodiment will explain the third tray setting printing process that is executed in place of the first tray setting printing process (FIG. 4) of the first embodiment. I will explain. Note that the third tray setting printing process is started when the printer 2 receives PDF/VT data from the terminal device 1.

Since S301 to S302 are the same processes as S101 to S102 in FIG. 4 described above, the explanation will be omitted.
Subsequently, in S303, the control unit 21 obtains metadata from the PDF/VT data obtained in S301.

Subsequently, in S304, the control unit 21 determines whether the tray setting (sheet type setting) of the tray to be printed determined in S302 is a sheet for preprint sheet creation.
If the control unit 21 determines in S304 that the tray setting of the tray to be printed is a preprint sheet creation sheet (S304: YES), the control unit 21 moves to S305, acquires the preprint attribute from the metadata, and then The process moves to S309, which will be described later.

On the other hand, if the control unit 21 determines in S304 that the tray setting of the printing target tray is not a sheet for preprint sheet creation (S304: NO), the control unit 21 moves to S306, and the tray setting of the printing target tray (sheet type setting) is a preprint sheet.

If the control unit 21 determines in S306 that the tray setting of the tray to be printed is a preprint sheet (S306: YES), the control unit 21 proceeds to S307, acquires the preprinted attribute from the metadata, and then obtains the preprinted attribute as described below. The process moves to S309.

On the other hand, if the control unit 21 determines in S306 that the tray setting of the tray to be printed is not a preprint sheet (S306: NO), the control unit 21 proceeds to S308, acquires other attributes from the metadata, and then proceeds to S309. Move to.

S309 to S311 described below are repeated for the number of X objects in the PDF/VT data acquired in S301. Specifically, the control unit 21 first selects one X object from among the X objects included in the PDF/VT data, and sets that X object as a "target X object." When the processing of S309 to S311 is completed for the target X object, the next X object is set as the target X object, and S309 to S311 are executed again. In this way, the control unit 21 executes S309 to S311 for all the X objects in the PDF/VT data.

In S309, the control unit 21 acquires the attribute (GTS_Scope) of the target X object.
Subsequently, in S310, the control unit 21 determines whether the attributes of the target X object acquired in S309 are included in the attributes acquired from the metadata. Specifically, when the control unit 21 acquires the preprint attributes from the metadata in S305 described above, the control unit 21 determines whether the attributes of the target X object are included in the preprint attributes. Further, when the control unit 21 acquires the preprinted attributes from the metadata in S307 described above, the control unit 21 determines whether the attributes of the target X object are included in the preprinted attributes. Moreover, when the control unit 21 acquires other attributes from the metadata in S308 described above, the control unit 21 determines whether or not the attribute of the target X object is included in the other attributes.

When the control unit 21 determines in S310 that the attributes of the target X object are included in the attributes acquired from the metadata (S310: YES), the process proceeds to S311.
In S311, the control unit 21 determines the target X object as the print target object, and performs RIP processing on the target X object.

On the other hand, if the control unit 21 determines in S310 that the attributes of the target X object are not included in the attributes acquired from the metadata (S310: NO), it does not execute S311 described above. In this way, only X objects whose attributes are included in the attributes acquired from the metadata (that is, attributes corresponding to the tray settings of the print target tray) are determined to be print target objects.

After executing S309 to S311 for the number of X objects in the PDF/VT data, the control unit 21 moves to S312 and prints, via the printing unit 26, the X objects for which the RIP process was executed in S311. After that, the control unit 21 ends the third tray setting printing process in FIG. 7 .

[3-3. effect]
According to the third embodiment described in detail above, in addition to the effects (1a) to (1c) of the first embodiment described above, the following effects can be obtained.

In this embodiment, the control unit 21 acquires metadata indicating the correspondence between the tray settings and the attributes of the X object from the PDF/VT data. Then, in accordance with the acquired metadata, the control unit 21 determines, as the object to be printed, an X object having an attribute corresponding to the tray setting of the tray to be printed in the PDF/VT data.

Therefore, when sending PDF/VT data from the terminal device 1 to the printer 2, it is necessary on the terminal device 1 side to determine what tray settings (sheet type settings) and what attributes of the X object will be printed. Can be specified. Therefore, even if the user of the terminal device 1 does not know the tray settings of the printer 2, the X object intended by the user can be printed.

Further, in this embodiment, the user of the terminal device 1 can appropriately set the correspondence between the tray settings included in the metadata and the attributes of the X object. This allows the user to determine which object in the print data is to be printed in units of X objects according to the tray settings. In other words, it is possible to determine with a high degree of freedom which objects in the print data are to be printed.

Note that in this embodiment, the metadata corresponds to information indicating the correspondence between the tray settings and the attributes of objects in the print data, S301 corresponds to processing by the print data acquisition unit, and S303 corresponds to the process by the correspondence acquisition unit. S311 corresponds to processing as a determining unit, and S312 corresponds to processing as an execution unit.

[4. Other embodiments]
Although the embodiments for implementing the present disclosure have been described above, the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be implemented with various modifications.

(1) In each of the above embodiments, the print data may be print data for variable printing other than PDF/VT data.
(2) The first tray setting printing process, the second tray setting printing process, and the third tray setting printing process described above may be executed by the same printer. In this case, for example, the printer may be configured to be able to switch between a mode in which the first tray setting printing process is executed, a mode in which the second tray setting printing process is executed, and a mode in which the third tray setting printing process is executed. .

(3) In each of the above embodiments, when the fixed portion data is printed on a sheet, the fixed portion data is printed with special color settings, but the method of printing the fixed portion data is not limited to this. For example, the fixed portion data may be printed with settings other than special color settings, such as normal color settings.

(4) In each of the above embodiments, the number of paper feed trays may be one or more than three.
(5) In the third embodiment, the sheet type setting of the tray setting is associated with the GTS_Scope of the attribute of the X object in the metadata, but the information that is associated is not limited to this. For example, settings other than the sheet type setting among the settings included in the tray settings may be associated with the attributes of the X object. Furthermore, for example, attributes other than GTS_Scope among the attributes of the X object may be associated with the tray settings.

(6) In each of the above embodiments, part or all of the functions executed by the control unit 21 of the printer 2 may be configured in hardware using one or more ICs.
(7) Even if multiple functions of one component in each of the above embodiments are realized by multiple components, or one function of one component is realized by multiple components. good. Further, a plurality of functions possessed by a plurality of constituent elements may be realized by one constituent element, or one function realized by a plurality of constituent elements may be realized by one constituent element. Further, a part of the configuration of each of the above embodiments may be omitted. Furthermore, at least a part of the configuration of each of the above embodiments may be added to or replaced with the configuration of each of the other embodiments. Note that all aspects included in the technical idea specified by the words described in the claims are embodiments of the present disclosure.

1... Terminal device, 2... Printer, 11... Printer control unit, 16... Printing unit, 21... Control unit,
26...Printing section, 27...Paper feed tray, 100...Printing system.

Claims (13)

A printer,
a paper feed tray in which sheets are stored;
printing department and
comprising a control unit;
The control unit includes:
A print data acquisition unit that acquires print data having fixed part data and variable part data, wherein the fixed part data is data of a part common between each page of the print data, and the variable part data is , a print data acquisition unit that is data of a portion of the print data that can change between pages;
If the sheet type setting, which is the setting of the type of sheet accommodated in the paper feed tray, is a sheet for preprint sheet creation, the fixed portion of the print data acquired by the print data acquisition unit Objects corresponding to the fixed part data of the print data excluding the variable part data so that objects corresponding to the data are printed on the sheet and objects corresponding to the variable part data are not printed on the sheet. a determining unit that determines the object to be printed;
an execution unit that executes printing processing based on the print data so that the print target object determined by the determination unit is printed on the sheet fed from the paper feed tray via the printing unit; and,
A printer equipped with. The printer according to claim 1,
The determining unit is configured to print an object corresponding to the variable portion data included in the print data acquired by the print data acquisition unit on the sheet when the sheet type setting is not the preprint sheet creation sheet. A printer that determines the variable portion data as the object to be printed . A printer,
a paper feed tray in which sheets are stored;
printing department and
comprising a control unit;
The control unit includes:
A print data acquisition unit that acquires print data having fixed part data and variable part data, wherein the fixed part data is data of a part common between each page of the print data, and the variable part data is , a print data acquisition unit that is data of a portion of the print data that can change between pages;
If the tray setting, which is the setting of the paper feed tray, is a fixed portion print setting that specifies printing of the fixed portion data, the fixed portion data of the print data acquired by the print data acquisition unit Objects corresponding to the fixed part data, excluding the variable part data, of the print data are printed on the sheet, and objects corresponding to the variable part data are not printed on the sheet . a determining unit that determines the object to be printed;
an execution unit that executes printing processing based on the print data so that the print target object determined by the determination unit is printed on the sheet fed from the paper feed tray via the printing unit; and,
A printer equipped with. 4. The printer according to claim 3,
When the tray setting is not the fixed portion print setting, the determining unit sets the variable portion data to the print target so that an object corresponding to the variable portion data included in the print data is printed on the sheet. Printer determined for the object . The printer according to claim 3 or 4,
The determining unit is
If the tray setting is a variable part print setting that specifies printing of the variable part data, an object corresponding to the variable part data of the print data is printed on the sheet, and an object corresponding to the variable part data is printed on the sheet, and an object corresponding to the variable part data is printed on the sheet, and an object corresponding to the variable part data is printed on the sheet, and determining an object corresponding to the variable part data, excluding the fixed part data, as the object to be printed, so that the corresponding object is not printed;
If the tray settings are both print settings that specify printing of the fixed portion data and the variable portion data, an object corresponding to the fixed portion data and an object corresponding to the variable portion data included in the print data. The printer determines both the fixed part data and the variable part data as the print target object so that both of the fixed part data and the variable part data are printed on the sheet. A printer,
a paper feed tray in which sheets are stored;
printing department and
comprising a control unit;
The control unit includes:
a print data acquisition unit that acquires print data having a plurality of objects;
If the sheet type setting, which is the setting of the type of sheet to be accommodated in the paper feed tray, is a sheet for preprint sheet creation, the print data acquisition unit acquires the print data from the print data, an information acquisition unit that acquires information describing a preprint attribute that is an attribute of an object to be printed on a sheet;
If the sheet type setting, which is the setting of the type of sheet to be accommodated in the paper feed tray, is the sheet for preprint sheet creation, the sheet type setting, which is the setting of the type of sheet accommodated in the paper feed tray, is the sheet type that is acquired by the print data acquisition unit according to the information acquired by the information acquisition unit. Among the objects included in the print data, the objects having the preprint attribute are printed as print targets, so that among the objects included in the print data, the objects having the preprint attribute are printed on the sheet. a determining unit that determines the object;
an execution unit that executes printing processing based on the print data so that the print target object determined by the determination unit is printed on the sheet fed from the paper feed tray via the printing unit; and,
A printer equipped with. 7. The printer according to claim 6 ,
When the sheet type setting is a preprint sheet, the information acquisition unit acquires information describing a preprinted attribute that is an attribute of an object to be printed on the preprint sheet from the print data,
When the sheet type setting is a preprint sheet, the determining unit determines whether an object having the preprinted attribute among the objects included in the print data is a preprinted sheet, according to the information acquired by the information acquisition unit. A printer that determines an object having the preprinted attribute among objects included in the print data as an object to be printed so as to be printed on a print sheet . 8. The printer according to claim 7,
If the sheet type setting is neither the preprint sheet creation sheet nor the preprint sheet, the information acquisition unit may determine, from the print data, an attribute different from the preprint attribute and the preprinted attribute. Obtain information that describes some other attribute,
When the sheet type setting is neither the preprint sheet creation sheet nor the preprint sheet, the determination unit selects the other objects among the objects included in the print data according to the information acquired by the information acquisition unit. A printer that determines an object having the other attribute as an object to be printed among objects included in the print data so that the object having the attribute is printed on the sheet . The printer according to any one of claims 1 to 8,
The print data acquisition unit is a printer that acquires PDF/VT data as the print data. The printer according to claim 1 or claim 2,
When the sheet type setting of the paper feed tray is the preprint sheet creation sheet, the execution unit prints the fixed portion data , which is the print target object, on the sheet with special color settings. , a printer that executes print processing based on the print data. A computer program for a printer including a paper feed tray in which sheets are stored, a printing section, and a control section, the computer program comprising:
The control section,
A print data acquisition unit that acquires print data having fixed part data and variable part data, wherein the fixed part data is data of a part common between each page of the print data, and the variable part data is , a print data acquisition unit that is data of a portion of the print data that can change between pages;
If the sheet type setting, which is the setting of the type of sheet accommodated in the paper feed tray, is a sheet for preprint sheet creation, the fixed portion of the print data acquired by the print data acquisition unit Objects corresponding to the fixed part data of the print data excluding the variable part data so that objects corresponding to the data are printed on the sheet and objects corresponding to the variable part data are not printed on the sheet. a determining unit that determines the object to be printed;
an execution unit that executes printing processing based on the print data so that the print target object determined by the determination unit is printed on the sheet fed from the paper feed tray via the printing unit; A computer program that functions as A computer program for a printer including a paper feed tray in which sheets are stored, a printing section, and a control section, the computer program comprising:
The control section,
A print data acquisition unit that acquires print data having fixed part data and variable part data, wherein the fixed part data is data of a part common between each page of the print data, and the variable part data is , a print data acquisition unit that is data of a portion of the print data that can change between pages;
If the tray setting, which is the setting of the paper feed tray, is a fixed portion print setting that specifies printing of the fixed portion data, the fixed portion data of the print data acquired by the print data acquisition unit Objects corresponding to the fixed part data, excluding the variable part data, of the print data are printed on the sheet, and objects corresponding to the variable part data are not printed on the sheet . a determining unit that determines the object to be printed;
an execution unit that executes printing processing based on the print data so that the print target object determined by the determination unit is printed on the sheet fed from the paper feed tray via the printing unit; A computer program that functions as A computer program for a printer including a paper feed tray in which sheets are stored, a printing section, and a control section, the computer program comprising:
The control section,
a print data acquisition unit that acquires print data having a plurality of objects;
If the sheet type setting, which is the setting of the type of sheet to be accommodated in the paper feed tray, is a sheet for preprint sheet creation, the print data acquisition unit acquires the print data from the print data, an information acquisition unit that acquires information describing a preprint attribute that is an attribute of an object to be printed on a sheet;
If the sheet type setting, which is the setting of the type of sheet to be accommodated in the paper feed tray, is the sheet for preprint sheet creation, the sheet type setting, which is the setting of the type of sheet accommodated in the paper feed tray, is the sheet type that is acquired by the print data acquisition unit according to the information acquired by the information acquisition unit. Among the objects included in the print data, the objects having the preprint attribute are printed as print targets, so that among the objects included in the print data, the objects having the preprint attribute are printed on the sheet. a determining unit that determines the object;
an execution unit that executes print processing based on the print data so that the print target object determined by the determination is printed on the sheet fed from the paper feed tray via the printing unit; A computer program that makes it work.

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