Information processing device, control method of information processing device, and program

Abstract

To allow a user's intention to be reflected in a more suitable mode in control relating to printing, even under conditions where printing utilized by various print media is conducted.SOLUTION: A printing mode information acquisition section 602 receives specification of a printing mode. Paper feeding stage determination section 603 receives specification of a paper feeding port. A printing mode / print medium determination section 606 determines whether or not a first print medium associated with a printing mode specified according to correspondence information, matches with a second print medium set in a specified paper feeding port. An input / output control section 608 receives an instruction on whether or not to continue the printing from a user, in the case that the first print medium and the second print medium are determined to be non-matching. A corresponding table update section 609 updates correspondence information, so that the specified printing mode and the second print medium are associated with each other in the correspondence information, when printing is continued according to an instruction received by the input / output control section 608.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical field]

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

[0002] Among image forming devices that form images (i.e., print) on recording media such as paper, there are some that can use a variety of recording media (hereinafter also referred to as print media).Furthermore, among such image forming devices, there are some that are provided with an operation mode (hereinafter also referred to as print mode) for switching the setting values ​​(print parameters) for the printing process according to the characteristics of the printing media used, such as the thickness, surface unevenness, and moisture absorption. Conventional office image forming devices are primarily used to print so-called office documents (e.g., reports, etc.), so the print media used is limited to plain paper, thick paper, etc., and the print mode applied tends to be limited to one corresponding to the print media. Therefore, even if the print media associated with a print mode differs from the print media actually applied for printing, the effect on the print quality of the printed matter (e.g., character quality, etc.) is small, and printing can often be performed without being aware of the difference in print media.

[0003] On the other hand, in recent years, in addition to the above-mentioned office use, multi-purpose image forming apparatuses are sometimes required for use in vertical markets (use cases specialized for certain industries such as finance, insurance, transportation, and medicine). Therefore, in addition to the above-mentioned print media often used in office use, a wider variety of print media such as glossy paper, medicine envelopes, and advertisements may be used, and print modes corresponding to these print media may be able to be specified. Under such circumstances, for example, the possibility of a situation occurring in which the print cassette is switched due to the depletion of print media, and as a result, the print media used for printing is switched, tends to be higher than in cases of office use only. To address this issue, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for determining whether the print media associated with a print mode matches the print media placed in a print cassette to be used for printing. By applying this technique, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of a situation in which printing is performed when an incorrect print mode is specified, or when the print media associated with the specified print mode is not placed in the specified print cassette, etc. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 11-217131 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] On the other hand, in the technology of Patent Document 1, if the print media associated with the print mode and the print media placed in the print cassette do not match, the continuation of printing is suppressed. Therefore, even if the user can tolerate a decrease in print quality due to only some print parameters being different, the printing process is stopped and the user is required to instruct the user to print again after making correct settings, which is troublesome for the user. On the other hand, since it is possible to imagine a situation in which the standard for an acceptable decrease in print quality differs from user to user, it is desired to realize a mechanism that can reflect the intention of the target user in the control of the image forming device.

[0006] In consideration of the above problems, the present invention aims to make it possible to reflect the user's intentions in a more suitable manner in the control of printing, even in situations where printing may be performed using a variety of print media. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The information processing device of the present invention is characterized in having a first reception means for receiving a designation of one of a plurality of printing modes and a designation of one of a plurality of paper feeding means for feeding the printing media used for printing, a determination means for determining whether a first printing medium associated with the designated printing mode matches a second printing medium installed in the designated paper feeding means based on correspondence information indicating the correspondence between the printing mode and the printing medium, a second reception means for receiving an instruction from a user as to whether or not to continue printing when the determination means determines that the first printing medium and the second printing medium do not match, and an update means for updating the correspondence information so that the designated printing mode and the second printing medium are associated in the correspondence information when printing is continued based on the instruction received by the second reception means. Effect of the Invention

[0008] According to the present invention, even in a situation where printing using a variety of print media may be performed, it is possible to more appropriately reflect the user's intentions in the control of the printing. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a hardware configuration of an image forming apparatus. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a software configuration of an image forming apparatus. [Diagram 3] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process performed by an image forming apparatus. [Figure 4] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a correspondence table. [Diagram 5] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a screen related to notification of information and acceptance of input. [Figure 6] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process performed by an image forming apparatus. [Figure 7] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a screen related to notification of information and acceptance of input. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In this specification and the drawings, components having substantially the same functional configurations are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted.

[0011] <Hardware configuration> An example of a hardware configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to Fig. 1. The image forming apparatus according to this embodiment includes a controller unit 100, a print engine unit 200, and a scanner engine unit 300. The image forming apparatus can be connected to a host device 400 via a host IF (Interface) 102 or a wireless IF 103.

[0012] The controller unit 100 has a main controller 101, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 105, and a ROM (Read Only Memory) 106. The controller unit 100 also has a print engine IF 104, a scanner engine IF 109, an image processing unit 107, and an operation panel 108. The controller unit 100 further has a host IF 102 and a wireless IF 103 for external connection. The components of the controller unit 100 are connected to each other via a system bus 110.

[0013] The main controller 101 is configured with a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and executes various processes and performs various controls using a RAM 105 as a work area in accordance with programs and various parameters stored in a ROM 106. For example, the main controller 101 executes processes related to printing and maintenance, and controls the operation of the entire image forming apparatus. As a more specific example, when print data is input as a job from the host device 400 via the host IF 102, the main controller 101 instructs the image processing unit 107 to generate image data based on the print data. In response to this instruction, the image processing unit 107 generates image data by performing predetermined image processing on the received print data. The main controller 101 then transmits the image data that has been subjected to the image processing to the print engine unit 200 via the print engine IF 104. As another example, when a read command is input as a job from the host device 400 via the host IF 102 , the main controller 101 transmits the command to the scanner engine unit 300 via the scanner engine IF 109 .

[0014] The RAM 105 is used as a work area for the main controller 101, a storage area for temporarily storing various received data, a storage area for storing various setting data, and the like. The ROM 106 stores programs executed by the main controller 101 and various data used for various operations of the image forming apparatus.

[0015] The image processing unit 107 executes various types of image processing, examples of which are given below. For example, image processing unit 107 may execute input image processing for performing color correction or the like on image data input from scanner engine unit 300 via scanner engine IF 109. Image processing unit 107 may also execute output image processing for performing color conversion, quantization processing, or the like on target image data in order to output the image data to print engine unit 200 via print engine IF 104. The image data obtained by these image processes is stored in the RAM 105, for example.

[0016] The operation panel 108 includes an input unit such as a hard key or a panel for receiving various operations from the user, and a display unit for displaying (notifying) various information to the user. The operation panel 108 may also notify the user of various information by outputting a sound (buzzer, voice, etc.) based on acoustic information from a sound generator.

[0017] The print engine unit 200 is a printing section that forms an image on a recording medium such as paper (hereinafter also referred to as a print medium). The print engine unit 200 has a controller IF 201, a print controller 202, a ROM 203, a RAM 204, and an image processing controller 205. The print engine unit 200 also has a maintenance control section 210, an ink supply control section 209, a head carriage control section 208, a transport control section 207, and a head IF 206 as components for performing various controls. The components of the print engine unit 200 are connected to each other via a system bus 211. The print engine unit 200 is also connected to a recording head 500 via the head IF 206.

[0018] The print controller 202 is configured by a CPU, and controls the operation of each component of the print engine unit 200 in accordance with programs and various parameters stored in a ROM 203 and using a RAM 204 as a work area. As a specific example, when various commands and image data are received via the controller IF 201 , the print controller 202 stores the various commands and image data in the RAM 204 . Furthermore, the print controller 202 causes the image processing controller 205 to convert the stored image data into print data that the print head 500 uses for the printing operation. When the image processing controller 205 generates the recording data, the print controller 202 causes the recording head 500 to perform a recording operation based on the recording data. At this time, the print controller 202 requests the transport control unit 207 to transport the print medium (e.g., paper, etc.). As a result, the recording operation is performed by the recording head 500 in conjunction with the transport operation of the print medium according to the instructions of the print controller 202, and the print process is executed.

[0019] The head carriage control unit 208 changes the orientation and position of the print head 500 depending on the operating state of the image forming apparatus, such as the maintenance state or the printing state. The ink supply control unit 209 controls the pressure of the ink supplied to the print head 500 so that it falls within an appropriate range. The maintenance control unit 210 controls operations related to cleaning of the transport rollers and the print head 500 controlled by the transport control unit 207 .

[0020] The recording head 500 is a printing unit that prints images, and prints images on a printing medium such as paper based on image data. The recording head 500, for example, has a plurality of print heads for a plurality of colors, and ejects ink in synchronization with the transport of a print medium such as paper to form an image on the print medium.

[0021] In the present embodiment, the image forming apparatus is described as an inkjet printer using ink as a recording material, but the configuration of the image forming apparatus is not limited to this. As a specific example, the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment may be realized as an image forming apparatus using various printing methods such as an electrophotographic method, such as a thermal printer (sublimation type, thermal transfer type, etc.), a dot impact printer, an LED printer, a laser printer, etc.

[0022] The scanner engine unit 300 includes a controller IF 301, a RAM 303, a scanner controller 302, a transport control unit 304, and a sensor 305. The components of the scanner engine unit 300 are connected to each other via a system bus 306.

[0023] The main controller 101 controls the hardware resources of the scanner controller 302 in accordance with the programs and various parameters stored in the ROM 106, using the RAM 105 as a work area, thereby controlling the operation of each component of the scanner engine unit 300. For example, the main controller 101 controls hardware resources in the scanner controller 302 via the controller IF 301 to transport an original document set by a user via the transport control unit 304 and read the original document with a sensor 305. Then, the scanner controller 302 stores data corresponding to the results of reading the original document (hereinafter also referred to as read data) in the RAM 303. In addition, the sensor 305 may be arranged to face both the front and back sides of the document, so that the sensor 305 can simultaneously obtain scan data for the front and back sides of the document (scan data for two sides) each time the transport control unit 304 transports the document once.

[0024] In this embodiment, the operation panel 108 is built into the image forming apparatus, but this is not intended to limit the configuration of the image forming apparatus. For example, a component equivalent to the operation panel 108 may be realized by an external device connected via the host IF 102. As another example, the host device 400 may also function as the operation panel 108. In addition to the operation panel 108, the image forming apparatus may be capable of connecting other input / output devices via the host IF 102, etc. In addition, in this embodiment, the print data, image data, and read data are stored in RAM 105, RAM 303, and RAM 204, but instead of these storage areas, they may be stored in a non-volatile device such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive).

[0025] The host device 400 is an external device that serves as a supply source of print data, and is realized, for example, by a PC on which a printer driver is installed, a server device, or the like. Moreover, instead of the host device 400 exemplified above, a data providing device that can be a supply source of print data, such as a digital camera or a smartphone, may be provided.

[0026] The connection between each device and the image forming apparatus is not limited to via the host IF 102. For example, each device and the image forming apparatus may be directly connected by wireless communication via the wireless IF 103. The program for implementing the functions of the present embodiment may be supplied to a system or device via a network or various storage media. Also, a computer (CPU, MPU, etc.) of the system or device may read the program and execute the functions, or may cause various mechanisms to execute the functions. Furthermore, the above program may be executed by one computer, or may be executed by multiple computers in cooperation with each other. In addition, it is not necessary that all of the above-described processing is implemented in software, but rather that some or all of the processing may be implemented in hardware such as an ASIC. Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to a configuration in which all processes are executed by one CPU, but may be a configuration in which processes are executed by multiple CPUs working together as appropriate. Also, any of the processes in the series of processes may be executed by one CPU, and the other processes may be executed by multiple CPUs working together with each other.

[0027] <First embodiment> As a first embodiment of the present disclosure, we will explain an example of control when printing is performed based on instructions from a user and the settings of the print mode applied in the previous image processing do not match the print media in the cassette applied to supply the print media.

[0028] An example of the software configuration of the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 2. Note that in the example shown in Fig. 2, the series of software configurations of the image forming apparatus are mainly shown with a focus on components characteristic to the present invention, and other components are omitted from the illustration. As a specific example, operating systems and various middleware running on each device and server, applications for maintenance, etc. are omitted from the illustration.

[0029] The image forming apparatus has an image generation unit 601, a print mode information acquisition unit 602, a paper feed stage determination unit 603, a print media information acquisition unit 604, a correspondence table storage unit 605, a print mode / print media determination unit 606, a print data transfer unit 607, and an input / output control unit 608. These components are realized by processes executed by the controller unit 100. The image forming apparatus also has an engine image processing unit 701 and a print execution unit 702. These components are realized by processes executed by the print engine unit 200. In this embodiment, an example of a case where the controller unit 100 and the engine unit 200 are integrally configured as an image forming apparatus will be described, but this does not necessarily limit the configuration of the image forming apparatus according to this embodiment. As a specific example, the controller unit 100 and the engine unit 200 may be realized by different devices. Also, a portion corresponding to the controller unit 100 corresponds to an example of an information processing device that controls the operation of the engine unit 200 that actually executes processing related to printing.

[0030] The image generation unit 601 is a module that generates print data (image data used for printing) by performing image processing on target data based on print image information and print settings input from the outside. At this time, the image generation unit 601 executes, as the image processing, image processing according to the print mode of the medium selected when the user instructs printing.

[0031] The print mode information acquisition unit 602 is a module that acquires print mode information (print mode ID for identifying each print mode) in which the image processing (hereinafter also referred to as pre-stage image processing) was executed from information corresponding to the result of image processing executed by the image generation unit 601.

[0032] The paper feed stage determination unit 603 is a module that determines the print data that the print data transfer unit 607 will next send to the print engine unit 200 from the print data generated by the image generation unit 601. In addition, the paper feed stage determination unit 603 selects the paper feed port to which the print media is to be supplied when printing the print data based on the print settings corresponding to the print data to be sent to the print engine unit 200.

[0033] The print media information acquisition unit 604 is a module that acquires media type information (print media ID) of the paper feed tray selected by the paper feed stage determination unit 603. The print media information acquisition unit 604 notifies a print mode / print media determination unit 606 of the acquired media type information (print media ID for identifying each print medium).

[0034] The correspondence table holding unit 605 is a module that holds a correspondence table indicating the correspondence between the print media determined after image processing in each print mode and the print media (media that can be placed in the paper feed port) associated with each paper feed port (paper feed cassette). The correspondence table holding unit 605 passes the held correspondence table to a print mode / print media determination unit 606. Details of the correspondence table will be described separately below with reference to FIG. 4. The correspondence table corresponds to an example of correspondence information indicating the correspondence between print modes and print media.

[0035] The print mode / print media determination unit 606 is a module that determines whether the print media associated with the print mode in the correspondence table matches the print media installed in the paper feed port selected for printing based on the target print data. Depending on the result of the above determination by the print mode / print media determination unit 606, control related to printing based on the target print data is switched. Details of this control will be described separately below with reference to FIG. 3.

[0036] The print data transfer unit 607 is a module that transfers the print data generated by the image generation unit 601 to the engine image processing unit 701 of the print engine unit 200 .

[0037] The input / output control unit 608 is a module that notifies a user of information by outputting the information via a predetermined output device (for example, by displaying a message on a screen, etc.) and accepts input from the user according to the situation at hand. As a specific example, the input / output control unit 608 may notify a user of information indicating that printing quality will be impaired if printing is continued under a situation in which the situation is such that the printing quality is impaired, and may display a screen in a predetermined display area for accepting input from the user as to whether or not to continue printing. As another example, the input / output control unit 608 may display a message requesting feedback on the printing quality of the printed matter, and may display a screen in a predetermined display area for accepting input related to the feedback from the user.

[0038] The correspondence table update unit 609 is a module that updates the correspondence table stored in the correspondence table storage unit 605 based on an input received from a user by the input / output control unit 608. Details of the process related to updating the correspondence table by the correspondence table update unit 609 will be described separately later.

[0039] The engine image processing unit 701 is a module that receives print data from the print data transfer unit 607, performs image processing on the print data to execute printing, and then transfers the print data after the image processing to the print execution unit 702. The print execution unit 702 is a module that executes printing based on the print data transferred from the engine image processing unit 701 .

[0040] An example of processing of the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 3. Fig. 3 shows an example of a flow of a series of processing that starts, for example, when an instruction for executing printing is received from a user, and that continues until the image forming apparatus transitions to a standby state after processing corresponding to the selected print mode and print media is executed.

[0041] In S101, the image generating unit 601 generates print data by performing image processing on data to be printed, based on the print mode and print medium selected by the user when issuing an instruction related to the execution of printing.

[0042] In S102, the print mode information acquisition unit 602 acquires a print mode ID as information indicating a print mode corresponding to the image processing (pre-stage image processing) from information corresponding to the execution result of the image processing executed by the image generation unit 601 in S101. The print mode information acquisition unit 602 passes the acquired print mode ID to the print mode / print media determination unit 606. The print mode ID is defined for each type of print media, and the print mode and the print media are associated on a one-to-one basis. In this embodiment, an example in which an ID is used as print mode information will be described, but as long as the print mode and the print media can be associated, the type of information used as the print mode information is not particularly limited. As a specific example, a group of image processing parameters associated with a print mode (for example, a combination of specific parameters) may be treated as print mode information indicating the print mode.

[0043] In S103, the print media information acquisition unit 604 acquires a print media ID associated with the type of print media to be applied to the next print determined by the paper feed stage determination unit 603. The print media information acquisition unit 604 passes the acquired print media ID to the print mode / print media determination unit 606. The paper feed stage determination unit 603 may determine the type of print media to be applied to the next print based on the print media specified by the user when issuing an instruction to execute printing, for example. As a specific example, when the user places print media in a paper feed cassette, the type of print media (print media ID) may be set for the print cassette by performing an operation related to registering the type of the print media. Then, the paper feed stage determination unit 603 determines the print cassette to be used for printing, thereby determining the type of print media to be applied to the next print, and the print media information acquisition unit 604 can acquire the print media ID corresponding to the type of the print media.

[0044] In S104, the print mode / print media determination unit 606 acquires the correspondence table stored in the correspondence table storage unit 605, which indicates the correspondence between the print mode and the print media.

[0045] For example, Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a correspondence table showing the correspondence between print modes and print media. In the correspondence table shown in Fig. 4, information shown in the row direction (vertical direction of the drawing) indicates print media IDs associated with print modes applied to image processing, and information shown in the column direction (horizontal direction of the drawing) indicates print media IDs set in a print cassette. In addition, information about print quality (information indicating the presence or absence of degradation in print quality and the degree of degradation) is set in each cell of the correspondence table when printing is performed on print media installed in a target print cassette based on print data generated according to a specified print mode. As a specific example, when plain paper A is associated with a specified print mode as the print media and plain paper B is set as the print media for a specified print cassette, no degradation in print quality occurs. Therefore, in the cells corresponding to these combinations, an "o" is displayed as an icon indicating that no degradation in print quality occurs. As another example, when plain paper A is associated with a specified print mode as the print media and glossy paper A is set as the print media for a specified print cassette, degradation in print quality may occur. Therefore, in the cells corresponding to these combinations, an "x" is displayed as an icon indicating that degradation in print quality may occur. The method of registering information in the correspondence table is not particularly limited. As a specific example, the initial value of the information to be registered in the correspondence table (i.e., information indicating the presence or absence of degradation in print quality and its degree) may be determined based on the evaluation result of the product developer or the like regarding the presence or absence of degradation in print quality according to the combination of the print mode and the print medium. In this way, the information to be registered as the initial value in the correspondence table may be determined based on the evaluation result of the print quality according to the combination of the print mode and the print medium executed previously. In addition, in the example shown in FIG. 4, the presence or absence of degradation in print quality is expressed in two stages, "o" and "x", but this does not necessarily limit the information to be registered in the correspondence table. As a specific example, information regarding print quality may be displayed in multiple stages, taking into account not only the presence or absence of print quality but also the degree of the print quality. Furthermore, the printing media associated with the printing mode corresponds to an example of a first printing media, and the printing media installed in the printing cassette (in other words, the printing media indicated by the printing media ID set in the printing cassette) corresponds to an example of a second printing media.

[0046] Here, reference is made again to FIG. In S105, the print mode / print media determination unit 606 determines whether or not print quality will be impaired by comparing the print mode ID acquired in S102 and the print media ID acquired in S103 with the correspondence table acquired in S104. If the print mode / print media determination unit 606 determines in S105 that the print quality will not be impaired (the determination result is ◯), the process proceeds to S106. On the other hand, if the print mode / print media determination unit 606 determines in S105 that the print quality will be impaired (the determination result is ×), the process proceeds to S107.

[0047] In step S106, the print data transfer unit 607, the engine image processing unit 701, and the print execution unit 702 cooperate with each other to execute processing related to printing based on the print data generated in S101. Specifically, the print data transfer unit 607 transfers the print data generated in S101 to the engine image processing unit 701 of the print engine unit 200. The engine image processing unit 701 performs image processing for executing printing on the print data transferred from the print data transfer unit 607. Then, the print execution unit 702 executes processing related to printing based on the print data that has been image-processed by the engine image processing unit 701. After the printing is completed, the series of processes shown in FIG. 3 ends, and the image forming apparatus transitions to a standby state.

[0048] In S107, the I / O control unit 608 notifies the user that the print mode specified when printing is executed does not match the print media applied to printing, and that there is a possibility that print quality may be impaired. Then, the I / O control unit 608 receives an input from the user as to whether or not to continue printing without changing the print media. As a specific example, the I / O control unit 608 notifies the user of information indicating that the print quality will be impaired if printing is continued, and displays a screen in a predetermined display area for receiving an input from the user as to whether or not to continue printing.

[0049] For example, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a screen that the input / output control unit 608 displays in a predetermined display area in the process of S107, that is, a screen for notifying a user of a warning and accepting an input from the user. The screen 810 shown in FIG. 5 includes a message display unit 811 and an input acceptance unit 812. The message display unit 811 displays information to be notified to the user as a message. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the message display unit 811 displays a message informing the user that the print quality may be impaired depending on the combination of the print mode and the print media, and asks the user to confirm whether it is OK to continue printing. The input acceptance unit 812 is an input interface for accepting an instruction from the user. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the input acceptance unit 812 displays a button for accepting an instruction to continue printing or to cancel printing. The screen 810 shown in FIG. 5 corresponds to an example of a first screen.

[0050] Here, reference is made again to FIG. In S108, the input / output control unit 608 branches the subsequent processing in accordance with the instruction from the user received in S107. If the input / output control unit 608 confirms in S108 that an instruction to continue printing has been received from the user (for example, pressing the Continue Printing button shown in FIG. 5), the process proceeds to S109. On the other hand, if the input / output control unit 608 confirms in S108 that an instruction to stop printing has been received from the user (for example, pressing the cancel button shown in Fig. 5), it cancels the printing and ends the series of processes shown in Fig. 3. In this case, the image forming apparatus transitions to a standby state.

[0051] In S109, the correspondence table update unit 609 updates the information on whether or not the print quality will be degraded, which corresponds to the combination of the print mode ID acquired in S102 and the print media ID acquired in S103, in the correspondence table. In the example shown in FIG. 3, since the user instructs the continuation of printing, it is presumed that the degraded print quality that may occur due to the combination of the print mode ID and the print media ID is acceptable to the user. Therefore, the correspondence table update unit 609 updates the information on whether or not the print quality will be degraded, which corresponds to the combination of the print mode ID and the print media ID instructed to continue printing, among the information on whether or not the print quality will be degraded, which is registered in the correspondence table, to information indicating that the print quality will not be degraded. As a specific example, in the example shown in FIG. 4, the correspondence table update unit 609 updates the information registered in the target cell from "x", which indicates that the print quality may be degraded, to "o", which indicates that the print quality will not be degraded. After the correspondence table has been updated, in S106, the print data transfer unit 607, the engine image processing unit 701, and the print execution unit 702 execute a process related to printing based on the print data generated in S101. After the printing is completed, the series of processes shown in FIG. 3 ends, and the image forming apparatus transitions to a standby state.

[0052] With the above configuration, even in a situation where a decrease in print quality may occur depending on the combination of print mode and print media, the result of the user's judgment on whether to continue printing while accepting the decrease in print quality can be reflected in the control of the printing operation. As a result, for a combination in which an instruction to continue printing while accepting the decrease in print quality is given, even if a similar combination is specified later, the user does not need to specify again whether to continue printing. In addition, for a combination in which an instruction to continue printing while accepting the decrease in print quality is not given, confirmation of whether to continue printing each time is continued, so that it is possible to prevent the occurrence of a situation in which printing is performed erroneously. In this way, the image forming apparatus according to this embodiment can be expected to have an effect of improving the productivity of printing various printed materials.

[0053] <Second embodiment> A second embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below. In the first embodiment, an example was described in which, when a user instructs to continue printing in a combination of a print mode and a print medium that may cause a decrease in print quality, the information corresponding to the combination in the correspondence table is updated to information indicating that the decrease in print quality is permitted. On the other hand, as a result of printing being executed in response to a user's instruction to continue printing, a situation may be assumed in which the print quality of the actually output printout is unacceptable to the user. Therefore, in this embodiment, an example will be described in which, after printing is executed, feedback is received from the user on the confirmation result of whether the print result is of acceptable print quality, and the correspondence table is updated based on the feedback. In this embodiment, the description will be given by focusing on the parts different from the first embodiment described above, and detailed description of the parts substantially similar to the first embodiment will be omitted. As a specific example, the software configuration of the image forming apparatus according to this embodiment is substantially similar to the software configuration of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment described with reference to FIG. 2, and therefore detailed description will be omitted.

[0054] An example of the process of the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 6. Fig. 6 shows an example of the flow of a series of processes that starts, for example, when an instruction for executing printing is received from a user, and after a process corresponding to the selected print mode and print media is executed, until the image forming apparatus transitions to a standby state.

[0055] The processes of S201 to S208 are substantially similar to the processes of S101 to S108 shown in Fig. 3. Moreover, the process of S212 is substantially similar to the process of S109 shown in Fig. 3. Therefore, detailed description of these processes will be omitted.

[0056] In S209, the print mode / print media determination unit 606 determines whether or not a printing process was performed under the circumstances where a mismatch between the print mode and the print media occurred, in other words, whether or not a process associated with a mismatch between the print mode and the print media was performed. Specifically, the print mode / print media determination unit 606 determines whether or not a printing process was performed in S206 as a result of receiving an instruction from the user to continue printing in S207 due to a mismatch between the print mode and the print media. If the print mode / print media determination unit 606 determines in S209 that a printing process was executed under conditions in which a mismatch occurred between the print mode and the print media, the process proceeds to S210. On the other hand, if the print mode / print media determination unit 606 determines in S209 that the printing process was performed under conditions in which there was no mismatch between the print mode and the print media, the process ends the series of processes shown in Fig. 6. In this case, the image forming apparatus transitions to a standby state.

[0057] In S210, the input / output control unit 608 displays in a specified display area a screen for accepting feedback input from the user as to whether or not the print result is acceptable, in other words, feedback input regarding the print quality of the printed matter.

[0058] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a screen that the input / output control unit 608 displays in a predetermined display area in the process of S210, for receiving feedback from the user on whether the print result is acceptable or not. The screen 820 shown in FIG. 7 includes a message display unit 821 and an input receiving unit 822. The message display unit 821 displays information to be notified to the user as a message. In the example shown in FIG. 7, a message is displayed in the message display unit 821 to prompt the user to confirm whether the print quality of the printed matter is acceptable or not. The input receiving unit 822 is an input interface for receiving instructions from the user. In the example shown in FIG. 7, the input receiving unit 822 displays a button for specifying that the print result is good and a button for specifying that the print result is bad. The button for specifying that the print result is good is a button for the user to feedback to the image forming apparatus that the print result is acceptable. The button for specifying that the print result is bad is a button for the user to feedback to the image forming apparatus that the print result is unacceptable. The screen 820 shown in FIG. 7 corresponds to an example of the second screen.

[0059] Here, reference is made again to FIG. In S211, the input / output control unit 608 branches the subsequent processing in response to the instruction from the user received in S210. If the I / O control unit 608 confirms in S211 that it has received an instruction from the user that the print result is good (i.e., an instruction that the print result is acceptable), it advances the process to S212. In this case, the correspondence table is updated by the process of S212. Then, the series of processes shown in FIG. 6 is ended, and the image forming apparatus transitions to a standby state. On the other hand, if the I / O control unit 608 confirms that an instruction to the effect that the print result is poor (i.e., an instruction to the effect that the print result is unacceptable) has been received from the user in S211, the series of processes shown in Fig. 6 ends. In this case, the image forming apparatus transitions to a standby state.

[0060] With the above configuration, even in a situation where a decrease in print quality may occur depending on the combination of print mode and print media, the result of the user's judgment on whether to continue printing while accepting the decrease in print quality can be reflected in the control of the printing operation. As a result, for a combination in which an instruction to continue printing while accepting the decrease in print quality is given, even if a similar combination is specified later, the user does not need to specify again whether to continue printing. In addition, for a combination in which an instruction to continue printing while accepting the decrease in print quality is not given, confirmation of whether to continue printing each time is continued, so that it is possible to prevent the occurrence of a situation in which printing is performed erroneously. In this way, the image forming apparatus according to this embodiment can be expected to have an effect of improving the productivity of printing various printed materials.

[0061] <Other embodiments> 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.

[0062] The disclosure of the present embodiment also includes the following configurations, methods, and programs. (Configuration 1) An information processing device comprising: a first receiving means for receiving a designation of one of a plurality of printing modes and a designation of one of a plurality of paper feeding means for feeding the printing media used for printing; a determination means for determining whether a first printing medium associated with the designated printing mode matches a second printing medium installed in the designated paper feeding means based on correspondence information indicating the correspondence between printing modes and printing media; a second receiving means for receiving an instruction from a user as to whether or not to continue printing when the determination means determines that the first printing medium and the second printing medium do not match; and an update means for updating the correspondence information so that the designated printing mode and the second printing medium are associated in the correspondence information when printing is continued based on the instruction received by the second receiving means. (Configuration 2) The information processing device described in configuration 1, characterized in that the correspondence information is set as information indicating the correspondence between the printing mode and the printing medium, and information regarding the printing quality when printing is performed on the printing medium in that printing mode is set. (Configuration 3) An information processing device according to configuration 2, characterized in that an initial value of the information indicating the correspondence between the printing mode and the printing medium in the correspondence information is registered based on an evaluation result of the printing quality when printing was performed on the printing medium in the printing mode previously executed. (Configuration 4) An information processing device as described in any one of configurations 1 to 3, further comprising a first output control means for displaying in a specified display area a first screen showing information corresponding to a determination result by the determination means, and the second reception means for receiving an instruction from the user as to whether or not to continue printing via the first screen displayed in the display area by the first output control means. (Configuration 5) An information processing device as described in any one of configurations 1 to 4, further comprising a second output control means for displaying a second screen in a specified display area for receiving feedback regarding the print quality of the printing result when printing is continued based on instructions received by the second receiving means, and the update means updates the correspondence information based on feedback from a user received via the second screen so that the specified printing mode and the second printing media are associated in the correspondence information. (Configuration 6) The information processing device described in configuration 5, characterized in that the second screen includes an input unit for receiving an instruction from a user as to whether or not to accept the print result as feedback regarding the print quality of the print result, and the update means updates the correspondence information so that the specified print mode and the second print medium are associated in the correspondence information when an instruction indicating that the print result is accepted is received from the user via the second screen. (Method 1) A control method of an information processing device, comprising: a first reception step for receiving a designation of one of a plurality of printing modes and a designation of one of a plurality of paper feeding means for feeding the printing media used for printing; a determination step for determining whether a first printing medium associated with the designated printing mode based on correspondence information indicating the correspondence between printing modes and printing media matches a second printing medium installed in the designated paper feeding means; a second reception step for receiving an instruction from a user as to whether or not to continue printing if it is determined in the determination step that the first printing medium and the second printing medium do not match; and an update step for updating the correspondence information so that the designated printing mode and the second printing medium are associated in the correspondence information if printing is continued based on the instruction received in the second reception step. (Program 1) A program for causing a computer to function as an information processing device, comprising: a first receiving means for receiving a designation of one of a plurality of printing modes and a designation of one of a plurality of paper feeding means for feeding the printing media used for printing; a determination means for determining whether a first printing medium associated with the designated printing mode matches a second printing medium installed in the designated paper feeding means based on correspondence information indicating the correspondence between printing modes and printing media; a second receiving means for receiving an instruction from a user as to whether or not to continue printing when the determination means determines that the first printing medium and the second printing medium do not match; and an update means for updating the correspondence information so that the designated printing mode and the second printing medium are associated in the correspondence information when printing is continued based on the instruction received by the second receiving means. [Explanation of symbols]

[0063] 100 Controller Unit 602 Print mode information acquisition unit 603 Paper feed stage determination section 608 Input / Output Control Unit 609 Correspondence table update section

Claims

1. a first receiving means for receiving a designation of one of a plurality of print modes and a designation of one of a plurality of paper feeding means for feeding the print medium used for printing; a determination means for determining whether a first print medium associated with the designated print mode based on correspondence information indicating the correspondence between the print mode and the print medium matches a second print medium installed in the designated paper feed means; a second receiving means for receiving an instruction from a user as to whether or not to continue printing when the determining means determines that the first print medium and the second print medium do not match; an update means for updating the correspondence information so that the specified print mode and the second print medium are associated in the correspondence information when printing is continued based on the instruction accepted by the second acceptance means; An information processing device comprising:

2. 2 . The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the correspondence information is information indicating the correspondence between the print mode and the print medium, and information regarding print quality when printing is performed on the print medium in the print mode is set.

3. The information processing device according to claim 2, characterized in that an initial value of the information indicating the correspondence between the printing mode and the printing medium in the correspondence information is registered based on an evaluation result of the printing quality when printing is performed on the printing medium in the printing mode previously executed.

4. a first output control means for displaying a first screen showing information corresponding to a result of the determination by the determination means in a predetermined display area; The second receiving means receives an instruction from the user as to whether or not to continue printing via the first screen displayed in the display area by the first output control means.

2. The information processing device according to claim 1.

5. a second output control means for displaying, in a predetermined display area, a second screen for receiving feedback on print quality of a result of the printing when the printing is continued based on the instruction received by the second receiving means; The update means updates the correspondence information based on feedback from a user received via the second screen so that the specified print mode and the second print medium are associated in the correspondence information.

2. The information processing device according to claim 1.

6. the second screen includes an input section for receiving, from a user, an instruction as to whether or not to accept the print result as feedback regarding the print quality of the print result; The update means updates the correspondence information so that the specified print mode and the second print medium are associated in the correspondence information when an instruction indicating that the print result is accepted is received from a user via the second screen.

6. The information processing device according to claim 5.

7. A method for controlling an information processing device, comprising: a first receiving step of receiving a designation of one of a plurality of print modes and a designation of one of a plurality of paper feeding means for feeding a print medium to be used for printing; a determination step of determining whether a first print medium associated with the specified print mode based on correspondence information indicating the correspondence between the print mode and the print medium matches a second print medium installed in the specified paper feed means; a second receiving step of receiving an instruction from a user as to whether or not to continue printing when it is determined in the determining step that the first print medium and the second print medium do not match; an updating step of updating the correspondence information so that the specified print mode and the second print medium are associated in the correspondence information when printing is continued based on the instruction accepted in the second accepting step; 2. A method for controlling an information processing device, comprising:

8. Computer, a first receiving means for receiving a designation of one of a plurality of print modes and a designation of one of a plurality of paper feeding means for feeding the print medium used for printing; a determination means for determining whether a first print medium associated with the designated print mode based on correspondence information indicating the correspondence between the print mode and the print medium matches a second print medium installed in the designated paper feed means; a second receiving means for receiving an instruction from a user as to whether or not to continue printing when the determining means determines that the first print medium and the second print medium do not match; an update means for updating the correspondence information so that the specified print mode and the second print medium are associated in the correspondence information when printing is continued based on the instruction accepted by the second acceptance means; A program for causing an information processing device to function, comprising:

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