Information processing device, control method thereof, and program

Abstract

To provide a print control method which suppresses a switchover frequency in color modes of an image forming device and secures throughput without being affected by specifications of the image forming device or a PDL.SOLUTION: An information processing device acquires raster data of each page from print data, and determines whether an RGB value is print data which satisfies a predetermined condition in the raster data of two or more pages. When determining that it is the print data which satisfies the predetermined condition, the device converts the data from RGB data into monochrome data.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing device, a control method, and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] When an application running on a host PC instructs a printing device to print a job, the printer driver specifies whether the PDL (Page Description Language) data of the print job is color data or monochrome data, depending on the color mode specified in the application UI.

[0003] The printing device determines whether to operate the printing unit in color mode or monochrome mode according to the result of the color / monochrome determination process for each page based on the above-mentioned color / monochrome designation in the PDL data of the print job output from the host. Considering the printing throughput, it is desirable to minimize the switching between operating the printing device in color mode and monochrome mode.

[0004] In addition, even if color is specified as the PDL for a print job, the actual raster data may be monochrome image data such as line drawings, and monochrome image data may be printed in color mode. Printing data that should be printed in monochrome in color, for example in an electrophotographic printing device, will unnecessarily wear out parts such as developers and drums provided for each color toner such as CMY. In view of this issue, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for controlling printing so that color image data is printed in color and monochrome image data is printed in monochrome while ensuring throughput. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2015-181215 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] In the printing system disclosed in Patent Document 1, data for all pages of the PDL must be stored in the print data receiving memory of the image forming device, analyzed, and color / monochrome determination processing must be performed. Therefore, there are cases in which the above-mentioned method cannot be applied because the image forming device has a small memory for receiving print data, or the compression rate is low depending on the PDL data format, making it impossible to store data for all pages.

[0007] An object of the present invention is to provide a method that can reduce the frequency of color mode switching in a printing device while ensuring throughput, without being affected by the specifications of the printing device or the PDL format. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] A program for causing a computer of an information processing device to execute a control method for transmitting a print job including image data to a printing device that prints on a recording medium, the control method comprising: a raster data acquisition step of acquiring raster data for each page from the print data; a determination step of analyzing the raster data for each page acquired in the acquisition step and determining whether the RGB values ​​in the raster data for multiple pages are print data that satisfy predetermined conditions; a cache data generation step of generating a cache of the raster data for each page; a conversion step of converting the cache data generated by the cache data generation step from RGB data to monochrome data if it is determined in the determination step that the print data satisfies the predetermined conditions; and a print job generation step of generating the print job based on the data converted in the conversion step. Effect of the Invention

[0009] This makes it possible to reduce the frequency with which a printing device switches color modes while still ensuring throughput, without being affected by the specifications of the printing device or the PDL format. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] Block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the image forming system [Diagram 2] Block diagram showing the software configuration of the host computer [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 shows the process flow of the printer driver 203 during printing. [Figure 4] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a process flow for performing monochrome determination processing; [Diagram 5] A diagram showing the process flow for generating print data. [Figure 6] A diagram showing the structure of print data [Figure 7] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a UI display of a UI control unit according to the second embodiment; [Figure 8] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a process flow for generating print data according to the second embodiment. [Figure 9] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a process flow of monochrome determination according to the second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the configurations shown in the following embodiments are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to the configurations shown in the drawings.

[0012] (Embodiment 1) A first embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings.

[0013] The hardware configuration of the image forming system according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. 1. The figure shows an example of a printing system in which a host computer 11 can communicate with a printer 12 via a communication bus 121 such as Ethernet (registered trademark) or USB. The host computer 11 is an example of an information processing device, and may be a mobile terminal such as a smartphone or a tablet. An OS (operating system) equivalent to macOS (registered trademark) is installed in the host computer 11, and a CUPS printing system 202 introduced in macOS is assumed as the printing system. Although only one printer is illustrated in FIG. 1, any number of printers can be connected via the communication bus 121. The host computer 11 is, for example, a personal computer (PC), and has an interface (I / F) unit 107, a CPU 101, a ROM 102, a RAM 103, a display unit 104, an input unit 105, and an external storage device 106. The host computer 11 transmits instructions for controlling the printer 12, print data, setting commands, and the like to the printer 12.

[0014] The CPU 101 is a central processing unit that controls each part of the host computer 11, and executes control programs such as a printer driver, which will be described later. The ROM 102 controls the system operation using a stored OS. The RAM 103 is a random access memory in which the work area of ​​the CPU 101 is expanded. The external storage device 106 stores various control programs such as the printer driver. The input unit 105 is composed of a keyboard, a mouse, and the like for operating the host computer 11. The display unit 104 displays information input from the input unit 105 for confirmation, or displays user interface screens of the printer driver and applications, and displays messages. The I / F unit 107 transmits and receives data to and from the printer 12.

[0015] The printer 12 is, for example, an inkjet or electrophotographic printer, and includes an I / F unit 115, a CPU 111, a ROM 112, a RAM 113, and a print engine 114. The CPU 111 is a central processing unit that controls the following units. The ROM 112 is a read-only memory that stores a program that controls the print engine 114. The RAM 113 is a write-and-read memory that temporarily stores a program required for the operation of the print engine 114, setting values ​​received from the host computer 11, and the like. The print engine 114 prints on a recording medium based on print data sent from the host computer 11. The I / F unit 115 has a function of receiving print data from the host computer 11, a function of transmitting the current status of the printer 12 from the printer 12 to the host computer 11, and the like. The status here refers to status data that indicates the state of the printer 12 that the printer 12 can return in response to a request from the host computer 11 connected via the I / F unit. The status data is information for notifying the operating status of the printer 12, such as "printing" or "standby", or an error status of the printer 12, such as "out of paper", "cover open", or "no ink remaining".

[0016] 2 is a block diagram showing the software configuration of the host computer according to this embodiment. Each configuration is realized by one or more processors such as CPU 101 executing programs stored in ROM 102, external storage device 106, etc. The host computer 11 includes a CUPS (registered trademark) (Common UNIX (registered trademark) Printing System) printing system 202 and a printer driver 203, and converts print data of an application 201 through the CUPS printing system 202 and printer driver 203 into print data in a data format that can be interpreted by the printer 12 and outputs the print data. The host computer 11 accepts print settings such as image selection, color settings, and paper settings from the user, and transmits the generated print job to the printer 12.

[0017] An application 201 makes a print request to a CUPS printing system 202. When a print request is made, a print job including print setting information and drawing data is passed to the CUPS printing system 202. The print setting information includes information such as paper size, paper type, and which print queue to print in. The application here is software that runs on the OS, which is the basic software of the host computer 11. The application 201 has a function of printing created data, and examples of the application include word processing software for document creation, image editing software, and software for creating New Year's cards.

[0018] The CUPS printing system 202 performs various printing controls, such as spooling of drawing data sent from the application 201 and loading / executing of a printer driver 203. At this time, the format of the spool file generated by the CUPS printing system 202 is the OS standard PDF (Portable Document Format), and hereinafter the spool file will be referred to as PDF print data. The CUPS printing system 202 also has a raster data generation unit 211, and has a function of converting PDF print data into raster data according to print setting information. The CUPS printing system 202 also passes the print setting information passed from the application 201 to a subsequent processing unit.

[0019] Printer driver 203 is realized by software, and has a UI control unit 222, print data generation unit 221, monochrome determination unit 223, and PPD file unit 224, and receives raster data and print setting information from CUPS printing system 202 and performs processing required for printing operations. Note that control by each of these units is realized by CPU 101 executing printer driver 203.

[0020] The UI control unit 222 displays a user interface of the printer driver (hereinafter, driver UI) and accepts print settings and print execution instructions from the operator in order to cause the printer 12 to execute printing. The operator specifies various print settings at the time of printing (for example, color settings such as monochrome / color, type and size of paper as a recording medium, paper feeding method, whether to perform enlarged / reduced printing, etc.) via the driver UI displayed on the display unit 104 by the UI control unit 222.

[0021] The print data generation unit 221 receives the raster data generated by the CUPS printing system 202, and generates print data in an interpretable data format based on the print setting information passed from the CUPS printing system 202. When the print data generation unit 221 generates print data, it performs a conversion process of the raster data according to the result of the determination by the monochrome determination unit 223 as to whether the data is monochrome or not, and then generates the print data. The monochrome determination process and the raster data conversion process will be described in detail later in the flow of FIG. 4 and FIG. 5.

[0022] The PPD file section 224 describes a list of setting values ​​that the UI control section 222 reads and displays as setting items in the driver UI in a format compatible with the CUPS printing system 202. Furthermore, it also serves as a storage destination for print setting values ​​by the UI control section 222 and the print data generation section 221.

[0023] The print communication unit 204 transmits the print data generated by the print data generation unit 221 to the printer 12 and controls printing. It also acquires data such as status transmitted from the printer. The print communication unit used at this time depends on the print queue information included in the print setting information, and any number of print communication units can be loaded.

[0024] 3 shows a flowchart showing the processing of the printer driver 203 during printing in embodiment 1. When print processing is started from the application 201, the CUPS printing system 202 converts the PDF print data into raster data in the raster data generation unit 211 according to the print setting information and sends it to the printer driver 203. In the case of a multi-page document, the raster data is sent for each page. This flowchart starts when the printer driver 203 receives raster data from the CUPS printing system 202.

[0025] In S301, the printer driver 203 receives raster data sent from the CUPS printing system 202. This raster data is in a PDL format called CUPS raster.

[0026] In S302, the printer driver 203 converts the raster data received in S301. Specifically, the data is converted from the CUPS raster format to a PDL in the PWG raster format. In this embodiment, the data is converted to the PWG raster format, but the data may be converted to another PDL that can be interpreted by the printer 12.

[0027] In S303, the monochrome determination unit 223 analyzes the raster data converted in S302 and determines whether the data is monochrome or not. Details of this monochrome determination process will be described later in the flow of FIG.

[0028] In S304, the print data generation unit 221 performs print data generation processing in consideration of the monochrome determination result in S303. Details of this print data generation processing will be described later in the flow of FIG.

[0029] In S305, the print data generation unit 221 transmits the print data generated in S304 to the printer 12 via the print communication unit 204.

[0030] Fig. 4 shows the flow of monochrome determination processing by the monochrome determination unit 223 of the first embodiment, and corresponds to the processing of S303 in Fig. 3. This flow is processing for each page that is performed every time raster data for each page is transmitted from the CUPS printing system 202.

[0031] In S401, the monochrome determination unit 223 acquires print setting information passed from the CUPS printing system 202. The print setting information here is information on print settings set by the user using a UI or the like.

[0032] In S402, the monochrome determination unit 223 checks whether the print settings set by the application 201, i.e., the print settings acquired in S401, are monochrome print settings. In other words, it checks whether the user selected monochrome in the print settings. If it is a monochrome print setting, the process proceeds to S405. If it is not a monochrome print setting, the process proceeds to S403.

[0033] In S403, the monochrome determination unit 223 analyzes the raster data and determines whether it is monochrome data. In other words, even if the user selects color in the print settings, it is confirmed whether the data to be printed itself is monochrome. In this embodiment, the page BITMAP in the PWG raster data is analyzed to determine whether it is monochrome data. In S403, since the print settings of the page BITMAP are color, data in sRGB format is input to the printer driver 203. Conversely, if the print settings are monochrome, PGW raster data in Gray format is input to the printer driver 203. In this embodiment, if all pixels of the page BITMAP satisfy the condition of "Determination Formula 1": R=G=B=(0 to 255), it is determined that the data is monochrome data. In this embodiment, the determination is made using the determination formula 1 to determine whether the data is monochrome data, but the determination may be made using other determination formulas. For example, the "Determination Formula 2": R=G=B=(0 or 255), which allows only pure black and white, may be adopted. In addition, it is also possible to adopt "Determination Formula 3" that allows an error by a threshold value: |GB|≦X|GR|≦X|RB|≦X. In this way, the monochrome determination unit 223 determines whether the print data is monochrome data or not based on the RGB values ​​of the data.

[0034] In S404, the monochrome data determination unit 223 stores the monochrome determination result for each page performed in S403 in the monochrome data determination unit 223.

[0035] In S405 , the monochrome data determination unit 223 transmits the raster data to the print data generation unit 221 .

[0036] Fig. 5 is a flowchart showing a print data generation flow by the print data generation unit 221 of embodiment 1. The configuration of the print data 610 that is finally generated will be described later with reference to Fig. 6. This flowchart starts when the print data generation unit 221 receives the raster data transmitted in S405 of Fig. 4.

[0037] In S501 , the print data generation unit 221 receives the raster data transmitted from the monochrome data determination unit 223 .

[0038] In S502, the print data generation unit 221 stores the received raster data of each page within the print data generation unit 221 as cache data.

[0039] In S503, the print data generation unit 221 determines whether or not the raster data transmitted from the monochrome data determination unit 223 has been received up to the final page. If the raster data has been received up to the final page, the process proceeds to S504. If the raster data has not been received up to the final page, the process proceeds to S501.

[0040] In S504 , the print data generation unit 221 acquires the print setting information passed from the CUPS printing system 202 .

[0041] In S505, the print data generation unit 221 checks whether the print settings set via the application 201, that is, the print settings received in S504, are monochrome print settings. If they are monochrome print settings, the process proceeds to S507. If they are not monochrome print settings, the process proceeds to S506.

[0042] In S506, the print data generation unit 221 obtains the determination result of whether each page is monochrome data or not stored in the monochrome determination unit 223 in the process of S404 in Fig. 4, and determines whether the data of all pages is monochrome data or not. If the print data generation unit 221 determines that the data of all pages is monochrome data, it proceeds to the process of S507. If it determines that the data of all pages is not monochrome data, it proceeds to the process of S509.

[0043] In S507, the print data generation unit 221 acquires the cache data of the raster data of each page saved in the flow of S502. This cache data is composed of PGW raster data in sRGB format (3 channels). However, since all pages are determined to be monochrome in the flow of S506, it is converted to PGW raster data in Gray format (1 channel). By performing this conversion, the volume of raster data can be reduced and printing throughput can be improved.

[0044] In S508, the print data generation unit 221 generates print data set to monochrome. Details of the configuration of the print data 610 will be described in Fig. 6. The print data generation unit 221 sets the color mode of the vendor job header 611 to monochrome, and generates the print data 610 by adding vendor commands of the vendor job header 611 and the vendor page header 612 to the PWG raster data stored as cache data.

[0045] In S509, the print data generation unit 221 generates print data with color settings. Color is set in the color mode of the vendor job header 611. Print data 610 is generated by wrapping the PWG raster data stored as cache data in vendor commands such as the vendor job header 611 and the vendor page header 612.

[0046] When printing a print job that contains a mixture of color and monochrome data within a multi-page document, this embodiment generates print data with color settings, so that printer 12 does not need to switch between color and monochrome modes, thereby preventing a decrease in throughput.

[0047] 6 is a diagram showing the configuration of print data 610 generated by print data generation unit 221. The print data 610 is composed of a vendor job header 611, a vendor page header 612, a PWG raster page header 613, a PWG raster page BITMAP 614, a vendor page header_N 615, a PGW raster page header_N 616, and a PGW raster page BITMAP_N 617.

[0048] A vendor job header 611 stores vendor settings as job data, such as the job name, computer name, paper type, paper size, and color mode.

[0049] The vendor page header 612 stores the vendor settings for each page, and stores information such as a flag for determining whether or not the next page exists.

[0050] Setting information for the PWG raster data of each page is stored in the PWG raster page header 613. For example, color space information is stored, and it is possible to determine whether the data is color data in sRGB format or grayscale data (monochrome data) in sRGB format.

[0051] The PWG raster page BITMAP 614 stores the PWG raster data of each page, and the raster data is arranged in a format defined by the color space of the PWG raster page header 613.

[0052] The vendor page header_N 615 is a vendor page header corresponding to the raster data of the Nth page, and the data stored therein is similar to that of the vendor page header 612 .

[0053] The PGW raster page header_N 616 is a PGW raster page header corresponding to the raster data of the Nth page, and the data stored therein is the same as that of the PWG raster page header 613 .

[0054] The PGW raster page BITMAP_N 617 is a PGW raster page BITMAP corresponding to the raster data of the Nth page, and the stored data is the same as that of the PGW raster page BITMAP.

[0055] In this manner, in this embodiment, even if the print setting set by the user is a color setting, i.e., the monochrome setting is OFF, if the actual raster data is monochrome data for all pages, the print data is generated after performing one-channel conversion to reduce the volume of the raster data, thereby improving the print throughput. Also, if it is determined that the print job is a multi-page job containing a mixture of color and monochrome data, the print data is generated with a uniform color setting, so that the printer 12 can print without switching between color mode and monochrome mode, thereby suppressing a decrease in print throughput.

[0056] Second embodiment A second embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings.

[0057] In the system described in the first embodiment, the print job is always judged as monochrome, and if all pages are monochrome data, one-channel conversion is performed. However, since the host computer 11 takes time to convert, there are cases where the total throughput is not expected to improve much when the number of copies to be printed is small. In addition, in the case of the first embodiment, the monochrome judgment method is set to the case where the condition of "judgment formula 1": R = G = B = (0 to 255) is satisfied. However, depending on the printing environment, there may be cases where it is desired to improve throughput by allowing a little more leeway in the judgment of whether the data is monochrome or not and converting to one-channel data even if there is some error. Therefore, in the second embodiment, a system in which the judgment conditions for speeding up in monochrome and the judgment formula can be flexibly changed at the user's discretion depending on the printing environment will be described.

[0058] The basic operation of the processing system of the second embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, and only the differences will be explained.

[0059] FIG. 7 shows an example of the UI display of the UI control unit 222 of the second embodiment, which is composed of a dialog 700, a PageSetup tab 710, an Advanced tab 720, a check box 721, an edit box 722, and a drop-down list 723. When the print settings are opened from the application 201, the UI control unit of the printer driver starts and displays the dialog 700. The dialog 700 is composed of a PageSetup tab 701 and an Advanced tab 720, and the PageSetup tab 710 has general setting items such as paper size, paper type, number of copies, and double-sided printing settings. The Advanced tab 720 has a check box 721, an edit box 722, and a drop-down list 723, which are settings related to monochrome speed-up in this embodiment. If the check box 721 is checked, monochrome speed-up is performed by 1-channel conversion when it is determined that the data is monochrome. If the check box 721 is not checked, monochrome determination S804 of whether the data is monochrome is not performed. Details of this determination flow will be described later with reference to FIG. 8.

[0060] Edit box 722 is a print setting condition that determines whether to perform high-speed monochrome printing. If "10" is set as in FIG. 7, high-speed monochrome printing through 1-channel conversion will be performed when 10 or more copies are printed. If fewer than 10 copies are printed, high-speed monochrome printing through 1-channel conversion will not be performed. If check box 721 is not checked, edit box 722 is grayed out. In this embodiment, the number of copies to be printed is used as a condition in the print settings, but the determination may also be made based on other items, such as the number of pages of the document or the size of the print job.

[0061] The drop-down list 723 is an item for setting a judgment formula when the monochrome judgment unit 223 analyzes raster data, and a judgment condition can be selected from "Exact Match", "Error Tolerance", etc. from the drop-down list. If "Exact Match" is selected, monochrome judgment is performed using "Judgment Formula 1" in the first embodiment: R=G=B=(0 to 255). If "Error Tolerance" is selected, monochrome judgment is performed using "Judgment Formula 3": |GB|≦X|GR|≦X|RB|≦X. In this embodiment, X is set to a fixed value of 10, but this value may also be set as a setting item in the Advanced tab 720.

[0062] 8 shows a flowchart of print data generation in the printer driver 203 in embodiment 2. This flowchart starts when the printer driver 203 receives raster data from the CUPS printing system 202.

[0063] In S801, the printer driver 203 receives raster data sent from the CUPS printing system 202. This raster data is in a PDL format called CUPS raster.

[0064] In S802, the printer driver 203 converts the raster data received in S801. Specifically, the data is converted from the CUPS raster format to a PDL in the PWG raster format. In this embodiment, the data is converted to the PWG raster format, but the data may be converted to another PDL that can be interpreted by the printer 12.

[0065] In S803, the monochrome determination unit 223 acquires the print settings set via the application 201, and determines whether the print settings satisfy the conditions for high-speed monochrome printing. If the check box 721 is on and the number of copies to be printed is more than the "10" set in the edit box 722, it is determined that the conditions for high-speed monochrome printing are satisfied, and the flow proceeds to S804. If the check box 721 is off or the number of copies to be printed is less than the "10" set in the edit box 722, it is determined that the conditions for high-speed monochrome printing are not satisfied, and the flow proceeds to S805.

[0066] In S804, the monochrome determination unit 223 analyzes the raster data converted in S802 and determines whether the data is monochrome or not. Details of this monochrome determination process will be described later in the flow of FIG.

[0067] In S805, the print data generation unit 221 performs print data generation processing taking into account the monochrome determination result in S303. The flow of generating print data is the same as in the first embodiment.

[0068] In S806, the print data generation unit 221 transmits the print data generated in S304 to the printer 12 via the print communication unit 204.

[0069] FIG. 9 shows a flow of monochrome determination processing by the monochrome determination unit 223 in the second embodiment, which corresponds to the processing of S804 in FIG.

[0070] In S901 , the monochrome determination unit 223 acquires print setting information passed from the CUPS printing system 202 .

[0071] In S902, the monochrome determination unit 223 checks whether the print settings set via the application 201, i.e., the print settings acquired in S901, are monochrome print settings. If they are monochrome print settings, the process proceeds to S906. If they are not monochrome print settings, the process proceeds to S903.

[0072] In S904, the monochrome determination unit 223 acquires the monochrome determination method from the print settings set via the application 201. Specifically, the value set in the drop-down list 723 is acquired.

[0073] In S904, the monochrome determination unit 223 analyzes the raster data and determines whether it is monochrome data. In this embodiment, the page BITMAP in the PWG raster data is analyzed to determine whether it is monochrome data. In S903, since the print setting of the page BITMAP is color, data in sRGB format is input to the printer driver 203. Conversely, if the print setting is monochrome, PGW raster data in Gray format is input to the printer driver 203. If the monochrome determination method is "exact match", it is determined that the data is monochrome if the condition of "determination formula 1": R=G=B=(0 to 255) is satisfied. If the monochrome determination method is "error tolerance", it is determined that the data is monochrome if the condition of "determination formula 3": |GB|≦X|GR|≦X|RB|≦X is satisfied.

[0074] In S905, the monochrome data determination unit 223 stores the monochrome determination result of each page performed in S403 in the monochrome data determination unit 223.

[0075] In S906 , the monochrome data determination unit 223 transmits the raster data to the print data generation unit 221 .

[0076] In this way, in the second embodiment, the user can enable or disable the settings related to the monochrome speed-up from the dialog 700 displayed in the UI control unit 222, and if the conditions are not met, the monochrome speed-up is not performed. Therefore, for example, in an environment where only color data is printed, it is possible to control so that unnecessary processing does not occur by setting so that the monochrome speed-up processing is not performed. Therefore, even in a printing environment where the speed-up processing of the first embodiment is not suitable, care can be taken to prevent a decrease in print throughput.

[0077] (Other embodiments) The basic configuration of the present invention is not limited to the above. The above-mentioned embodiment is one means for obtaining the effects of the present invention, and even if a similar method or different parameters are used, if the same effects as those of the present invention can be obtained, it is included in the scope of the present invention.

[0078] In the above embodiment, the management information display program of the image processing apparatus has been taken as an example for explanation, but the present invention is not limited to this.

[0079] The present invention can also be realized by executing the following process. That is, software (programs) that realize the functions of the above-mentioned embodiments are supplied to a system or device via a network or various storage media, and a computer (or a CPU, MPU, etc.) of the system or device reads and executes the program. The program may be executed by one computer, or may be executed by multiple computers in cooperation with each other. It is not necessary to realize all of the above-mentioned processes by software, and some or all of the processes may be realized by hardware such as ASIC. The CPU is also not limited to one that performs all processes by one CPU, and multiple CPUs may perform processes in cooperation with each other as appropriate.

[0080] The present invention can also be realized by a process in which a program for implementing one or more of the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or device via a network or a storage medium, and one or more processors in a computer of the system or device read and execute the program. The present invention can also be realized by a circuit (e.g., ASIC) that implements one or more of the functions.

[0081] The disclosure of this embodiment includes the following configurations, methods, and programs.

[0082] (Configuration 1) A program for causing a computer of an information processing device to execute a control method for transmitting a print job including image data to a printing device that prints on a recording medium, the program comprising: The control method a raster data acquisition step of acquiring raster data for each page from the print data; a determination step of analyzing the raster data of each page acquired in the acquisition step and determining whether the raster data of the multiple pages is print data whose RGB values ​​satisfy a predetermined condition; a cache data generating step of generating a cache of the raster data of each page; a conversion step of converting the cache data generated by the cache data generation step from RGB data to monochrome data when the determination step determines that the print data satisfies the predetermined condition; a print job generating step of generating the print job based on the data converted in the converting step.

[0083] (Configuration 2) The program described in configuration 1, characterized in that if the determination process does not determine that the print data satisfies the specified conditions, the print job generation process generates the print job based on the color setting data generated in the cache data generation process.

[0084] (Configuration 3) 3. The program according to configuration 1 or 2, wherein the determining step determines that the print data satisfies the predetermined condition when R=G=B.

[0085] (Configuration 4) The program described in any one of configurations 1 to 3, characterized in that when the determination process determines that the raster data of all pages of the print data is monochrome data, the conversion process converts the cache data generated by the cache data generation process from RGB data to monochrome data.

[0086] (Configuration 5) 4. The program according to any one of configurations 1 to 3, further comprising a receiving step of receiving print setting information based on print settings accepted from a user.

[0087] (Configuration 6) 6. The program according to claim 5, wherein the determining step performs the determination when the print setting information indicates that color printing is to be performed.

[0088] (Configuration 7) The program according to claim 5, characterized in that, when the print setting information indicates that color printing is to be performed, if the judgment process determines that the print data satisfies the specified conditions, the print job generation process generates the print job based on monochrome data, and if the judgment process does not determine that the print data satisfies the specified conditions, the print job generation process generates the print job based on color data.

[0089] (Configuration 8) The program according to any one of configurations 1 to 7, characterized in that the determination step performs the determination when a setting for executing high-speed processing in monochrome is enabled in the information processing device.

[0090] (Configuration 9) 9. The program according to any one of configurations 1 to 8, wherein the determination is made when the number of printed copies exceeds a threshold value.

[0091] (Configuration 10) 10. The program according to any one of configurations 1 to 9, wherein the program is a printer driver.

[0092] (Configuration 11) The program according to any one of configurations 1 to 10, characterized in that the printing device that receives the print job generated based on the data converted in the conversion process executes printing in monochrome mode.

[0093] (Method 1) A control method executed by an information processing device that transmits a print job including image data to a printing device that prints on a recording medium, comprising: a raster data acquisition step of acquiring raster data for each page from the print data; a determination step of analyzing the raster data of each page acquired in the acquisition step and determining whether the raster data of the multiple pages is print data whose RGB values ​​satisfy a predetermined condition; a cache data generating step of generating a cache of the raster data of each page; a conversion step of converting the cache data generated by the cache data generation step from RGB data to monochrome data when the determination step determines that the print data satisfies the predetermined condition; a print job generating step of generating the print job based on the data converted in the converting step.

[0094] (device 1) An information processing apparatus that transmits a print job including image data to a printing apparatus that prints on a recording medium, a raster data acquisition means for acquiring raster data for each page from the print data; a determination means for analyzing the raster data of each page acquired by the acquisition means and determining whether the RGB values ​​of the raster data of the multiple pages are print data that satisfy a predetermined condition; a cache data generating means for generating a cache of the raster data of each page; a conversion means for converting the cache data generated by the cache data generation means from RGB data to monochrome data when the determination means determines that the print data satisfies the predetermined condition; a print job generating unit that generates the print job based on the data converted by the converting unit.

Claims

1. A program for causing a computer of an information processing device to execute a control method for transmitting a print job including image data to a printing device that prints on a recording medium, the program comprising: The control method a raster data acquisition step of acquiring raster data for each page from the print data; a determination step of analyzing the raster data of each page acquired in the acquisition step and determining whether the RGB values ​​of the raster data of the multiple pages are print data that satisfy a predetermined condition; a cache data generating step of generating a cache of the raster data of each page; a conversion step of converting the cache data generated by the cache data generation step from RGB data to monochrome data when the determination step determines that the print data satisfies the predetermined condition; a print job generating step of generating the print job based on the data converted in the converting step.

2. The program according to claim 1, characterized in that if the determination step does not determine that the print data satisfies the specified conditions, the print job generation step generates the print job based on the color setting data generated in the cache data generation step.

3. 2. The program according to claim 1, wherein said determining step determines that the print data satisfies the predetermined condition if R=G=B.

4. The program according to claim 1, characterized in that when the determination step determines that the raster data of all pages of the printing data is monochrome data, the conversion step converts the cache data generated by the cache data generation step from RGB data to monochrome data.

5. 2. The program according to claim 1, further comprising a receiving step of receiving print setting information based on print settings accepted from a user.

6. 6. The program according to claim 5, wherein the determining step performs the determination when the print setting information indicates that color printing is to be performed.

7. The program according to claim 5, characterized in that, when the print setting information indicates that color printing is to be performed, if the judgment process determines that the print data satisfies the specified conditions, the print job generation process generates the print job based on monochrome data, and if the judgment process does not determine that the print data satisfies the specified conditions, the print job generation process generates the print job based on color data.

8. 2. The program according to claim 1, wherein the determining step performs the determination when a setting for executing high-speed processing in monochrome is enabled in the information processing device.

9. 2. The program according to claim 1, wherein the determination is made when the number of printed copies exceeds a threshold value.

10. 2. The program according to claim 1, wherein the program is a printer driver.

11. 2 . The program according to claim 1 , wherein the printing device that receives the print job generated based on the data converted in the conversion step performs printing in a monochrome mode.

12. A control method executed by an information processing device that transmits a print job including image data to a printing device that prints on a recording medium, comprising: a raster data acquisition step of acquiring raster data for each page from the print data; a determination step of analyzing the raster data of each page acquired in the acquisition step and determining whether the RGB values ​​of the raster data of the multiple pages are print data that satisfy a predetermined condition; a cache data generating step of generating a cache of the raster data of each page; a conversion step of converting the cache data generated by the cache data generation step from RGB data to monochrome data when the determination step determines that the print data satisfies the predetermined condition; a print job generating step of generating the print job based on the data converted in the converting step.

13. An information processing apparatus that transmits a print job including image data to a printing apparatus that prints on a recording medium, a raster data acquisition means for acquiring raster data for each page from the print data; a determination means for analyzing the raster data of each page acquired by the acquisition means and determining whether the RGB values ​​of the raster data of the plurality of pages are print data that satisfy a predetermined condition; a cache data generating means for generating a cache of the raster data of each page; a conversion means for converting the cache data generated by the cache data generation means from RGB data to monochrome data when the determination means determines that the print data satisfies the predetermined condition; a print job generating unit that generates the print job based on the data converted by the converting unit.

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