Support program

Abstract

To provide a technique to improve printing of a composite image in an information processing apparatus that has an OS-standard general purpose printing program incorporated therein.SOLUTION: According to an auxiliary program 42, a PC 1 acquires, from a printer 2, image information indicating an image for composition registered in the printer 2, and displays the acquired image information by using a user IF 13 of the PC 1. Upon receiving a print instruction output from an editing application 43, the print instruction for a general purpose printing program 41 incorporated in advance in an OS 21 to cause the printer 2 to print an image, and when printing of a composite image is set in print settings concerning the print instruction, the PC 1 performs processing for causing the printer 2 to print a composite image that is an image obtained by composing the image for composition indicated by the acquired image information and an image to be printed according to the print instruction.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The technical field disclosed in this specification relates to a support program for supporting the control of a printer.

Background Art

[0002] As a technology for controlling a printer from an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer, a configuration is widely known in which print data is generated by a printer driver and preview display is performed before the print data is transmitted to the printer. Further, as a technology of a printer driver, a technology for generating a composite image in which an image for composition such as a watermark or a stamp is combined with an image to be printed is known (for example, Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] In recent years, a technology for controlling a printer by a print program incorporated as a standard in an operating system (OS) without using the above-described printer driver has been put into practical use. In this technology, the OS associates the printer with the OS standard print program, and thereafter, when a print instruction for the printer is received, printing can be performed by the OS standard print program without using the printer driver.

[0005] However, the above-described general-purpose print program of the OS standard does not have a function of receiving an image for composition. Therefore, an image for composition cannot be confirmed in the information processing apparatus, and furthermore, a composite image in which the image for composition is combined with the image to be printed cannot be printed by the printer.

[0006] This specification discloses a technique for improving the printing of composite images in an information processing apparatus incorporating a general-purpose printing program compliant with the OS standard.

Means for Solving the Problem

[0007] A support program made for the purpose of solving the above-described problems is executable by a computer of the information processing apparatus, and is a support program corresponding to a printer connected to the information processing apparatus. The computer is caused to execute: an image information acquisition process of acquiring, from the external device, image information indicating a composite image registered in an external device connected to the information processing apparatus; and a sample display process of displaying the image information acquired in the image information acquisition process using a user interface of the information processing apparatus. Further, when there is a print instruction output from an application program incorporated in the information processing apparatus and the print instruction causes the general-purpose printing program pre-incorporated in the operating system of the information processing apparatus to perform printing of an image on the printer, and printing of a composite image is set in the print settings for the print instruction, the computer is caused to execute a printing process for causing the printer to perform printing of a composite image, which is an image obtained by combining the composite image indicated by the image information acquired in the image information acquisition process and the image to be printed according to the print instruction. This is the gist of the invention.

[0008] According to the support program disclosed in this specification, the information processing apparatus acquires image information indicating a composite image possessed by the external device and displays the composite image indicated by the image information. As a result, the user can grasp the content of the composite image in the information processing apparatus before causing the printer to print the composite image. As a result, the possibility of avoiding unintended printing by the user is increased.

[0009] An information processing apparatus incorporating the support program, a computer-readable storage medium storing the support program, and a control method for realizing the functions of the support program are also novel and useful.

Advantages of the Invention

[0010] According to the technology disclosed in this specification, in an information processing apparatus incorporating a general-purpose printing program compliant with OS standards, a technology for improving the printing of composite images is realized.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0011]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0012] Hereinafter, a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as "PC") using the support program of this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. This specification discloses a support program executed on a PC connected to a printer having a printing function.

[0013] As shown in FIG. 1, the PC1 of this embodiment includes a controller 10 that includes a CPU 11 and a memory 12. The PC1 is an example of an information processing device. The CPU 11 is an example of a computer. The PC1 also includes a user interface (hereinafter referred to as "user IF") 13 and a communication interface (hereinafter referred to as "communication IF") 14, and these are electrically connected to the controller 10. Note that the controller 10 in FIG. 1 is a general term for the hardware and software used for the control of the PC1, and does not necessarily represent a single piece of hardware actually present in the PC1.

[0014] The CPU 11 executes various processes according to the programs read from the memory 12 and based on the operations of the user. The memory 12 stores various programs and various data, including various application programs (hereinafter referred to as "apps"). The memory 12 is also used as a work area when various processes are executed. The buffer included in the CPU 11 is also an example of a memory. Note that an example of the memory 12 is not limited to a ROM, RAM, HDD, etc. built in the PC1, and may be a storage medium that can be read and written by the CPU 11, such as a recording medium such as a CD-ROM or a DVD-ROM.

[0015] The user IF 13 includes hardware for displaying a screen for notifying the user of information and hardware for receiving operations by the user. Note that the user IF 13 may be a combination of a display capable of displaying information and a mouse, keyboard, etc. having an input reception function, or may be a touch panel having a display function and an input reception function.

[0016] The communication IF 14 includes hardware for communicating with an external device such as a printer 2. The communication standard of the communication IF 14 is Ethernet (registered trademark), Wi-Fi (registered trademark), USB, etc. The PC1 may include a plurality of communication IFs 14 corresponding to a plurality of communication standards.

[0017] As shown in FIG. 1, the memory 12 of PC1 stores an operating system (hereinafter referred to as "OS") 21 including a general-purpose printing program 41, an auxiliary program 42, and an editing application 43. The auxiliary program 42 is an example of a support program. The editing application 43 is an example of an application program. The OS 21 is, for example, Windows (registered trademark), macOS (registered trademark), Linux (registered trademark), iOS (registered trademark), Android (registered trademark).

[0018] The general-purpose printing program 41 is an OS-standard program for causing various printers such as printer 2 to execute printing based on a user's instruction. The general-purpose printing program 41 of this embodiment is a program including a function of generating intermediate image data based on the image data to be printed.

[0019] The general-purpose printing program 41 supports functions that can be commonly used by a plurality of types of printer models provided by vendors of various printers. The general-purpose printing program 41 does not correspond to all the functions unique to various printers, and the supported functions are limited to general ones.

[0020] The auxiliary program 42 is a program or a group of programs that execute processing based on an instruction from the OS 21 accompanying the processing of the general-purpose printing program 41, and is an application that supports the control of the target hardware. The auxiliary program 42 of this embodiment corresponds to the model of the printer 2 connected to the PC1, and is launched from the general-purpose printing program 41, for example, when an instruction to execute printing on the printer 2 using the general-purpose printing program 41 is received. The auxiliary program 42 is called, for example, a hardware support application (abbreviation, HSA).

[0021] The auxiliary program 42 can receive a plurality of types of instructions from the general-purpose printing program 41, and executes various processes based on the received instructions. Note that the auxiliary program 42 may be a combination of a plurality of programs each of which receives an execution instruction, or may be a single program that can execute different processes according to instructions.

[0022] The auxiliary program may be a program prepared for each type of printer by the printer vendor. For example, an auxiliary program for an inkjet printer and an auxiliary program for a laser printer may be prepared respectively. When a new printer is connected to the PC1, the OS 21 of the PC1 downloads an appropriate auxiliary program from a server or the like according to the type of the connected printer and incorporates it into its own device. Then, the OS 21 associates the identification information of the incorporated auxiliary program with the printer information of the newly connected printer and stores it in the memory 12. Note that there may be an auxiliary program prepared not only for each type of printer, but also for each model of the printer or for each series of printer models.

[0023] The editing app 43 is an app for creating and editing, for example, image data and document data. The editing app 43 may be, for example, Word or PowerPoint manufactured by Microsoft (registered trademark), or may be an app provided by the vendor of the printer 2. The editing app 43 receives a user operation including an instruction to cause the printer 2 to perform a predetermined operation. Specifically, the editing app 43 receives, via the user IF 13, a print execution instruction to cause the printer 2 to execute printing, for example.

[0024] The printer 2 of this embodiment is a device having a printing function. The PC1 can communicate with the printer 2 via the communication IF 14. The printer 2 receives print data from the PC1 or the like, for example, and executes printing based on the received print data.

[0025] Next, the printing procedure including the operation of the auxiliary program 42 of this embodiment will be described with reference to the sequence diagram of FIG. 2. FIG. 2 shows a case where a printing execution instruction to cause the printer 2 to perform printing using the general-purpose printing program 41 is received by an application that receives a printing instruction such as the editing application 43, and the auxiliary program 42 corresponding to the printer 2 is incorporated in the PC 1.

[0026] Note that each processing step of the processing and flowchart in this embodiment basically shows the processing of the CPU 11 according to instructions described in a program such as the auxiliary program 42. The processing by the CPU 11 also includes hardware control using the API of the OS 21. In this specification, the detailed description of the OS 21 is omitted, and the operations of the respective programs will be described. Also, "acquisition" is used as a concept that does not require a request.

[0027] The editing application 43 receives creation and editing of text, charts, etc. based on a user's instruction. When the editing application 43 receives an instruction regarding printing of the selected text or the like (A01), it displays a printing screen for receiving a user's instruction on the user IF 13 (A02). The editing application 43 receives, on the printing screen, for example, a printing execution instruction, an instruction for basic printing settings, and an instruction to start receiving detailed printing settings.

[0028] When the editing application 43 receives an instruction to start receiving detailed printing settings in a state where the printer 2 is selected on the displayed printing screen (A03), it passes the information of the received detailed setting instruction to the OS 21. When the OS 21 receives an instruction for detailed settings regarding printing using the general-purpose printing program 41, it causes the general-purpose printing program 41 to execute and passes an instruction to start receiving detailed printing settings to the general-purpose printing program 41 (A04). When the general-purpose printing program 41 receives an instruction to start receiving detailed printing settings, it passes an instruction to execute receiving detailed printing settings to the auxiliary program 42 corresponding to the printer 2, which is the selected printer (A05).

[0029] The auxiliary program 42 starts operating based on an execution instruction from the general-purpose printing program 41, and displays on the user IF 13 a setting screen for receiving an input operation of detailed printing settings (A06). A06 is an example of a setting screen display process. The auxiliary program 42 displays, for example, a screen for receiving applicable detailed settings based on the model information of the printer 2, and receives the user's operation.

[0030] An example of the setting screen is shown in FIG. 3. The setting screen 100 in the example of FIG. 3 is provided with a plurality of tabs. The setting screen 100 shown in FIG. 3 is an example of a screen in which the basic tab 101 for receiving basic printing settings is selected. The setting screen 100 is provided with a composition tab 102 for receiving an instruction to compose an image such as a watermark on the image to be printed. Note that the composition instruction is not limited to reception by tabs, and may also be received by an operation on a button or the like.

[0031] Also, after starting the display of the setting screen 100 in A06, the auxiliary program 42 requests function information from the printer 2 via the communication IF 14 (A11), and receives the function information from the printer 2 (A12). A12 is an example of a function information acquisition process. The function information includes information indicating whether the printer 2 has a transmission function for responding with image information.

[0032] The printer 2 of this embodiment receives registration of a composition image for composing and printing on the image to be printed by an instruction from the PC 1 or the like or reading from a USB memory, and stores the received image in the memory of the printer 2. The printer 2 stores, for example, a plurality of types of intermediate image data indicating watermark images. The printer 2 having a transmission function can respond with image information, which is information indicating the composition image stored in the memory of the printer 2, in response to a request from the PC 1 or the like.

[0033] When the auxiliary program 42 determines that the printer 2 has the function of responding with image information based on the function information received at A12 (alt: [has]), the auxiliary program 42 requests image information from the printer 2 (A13) and receives the image information from the printer 2 (A14). Then, the auxiliary program 42 stores the received image information in the memory 12. In this case, the printer 2 is an example of an external device, and A14 is an example of image information acquisition processing. If the printer 2 does not store available composite images, it may respond with information indicating the absence of image information at A14. By acquiring the image information at the timing when the setting screen 100 for accepting detailed settings is displayed, the processing after receiving the print instruction can be completed earlier compared to the case of acquiring at the timing of receiving the print instruction.

[0034] For example, in the case of the PC1 to which a plurality of printers are connected, by having the PC1 acquire the image information registered in the printer to be used for printing, it is possible to manage composite images suitable for each printer. The image information transmitted from the printer may be the image data itself of the composite image, or a reduced image indicating the composite image, for example, a thumbnail image.

[0035] Note that the communication between the auxiliary program 42 and the printer 2 may be performed, for example, by using MIB (abbreviation for Management Information Base), where the auxiliary program 42 directly communicates with the printer 2, or it may be performed via the OS 21. When performed via the OS 21, the auxiliary program 42 and the printer 2 perform communication according to the communication protocol of the OS 21, such as IPP (abbreviation for internet printing protocol).

[0036] When the auxiliary program 42 receives an instruction to perform image synthesis (A21) by an operation on the composition tab 102 in the setting screen 100 displayed at A06, it displays a selection reception screen for receiving selection of an image for synthesis on the user IF13 (A22). The selection reception screen is a screen for receiving selection of an image for synthesis based on the image information acquired from the printer 2. Note that when the auxiliary program 42 receives the composition instruction in A21, it may execute A11 to A14 again. Also, the auxiliary program 42 may be configured to execute A11 to A14 after receiving the composition instruction in A21.

[0037] An example of the selection reception screen is shown in FIG. 4. The selection reception screen 50 in the example of FIG. 4 includes a list 51 of images for synthesis, a sample image 52, and an OK button 53. In the list 51 of images for synthesis, a list of the image information acquired from the printer 2 is displayed as the list of images for synthesis, and for example, names indicating each image are displayed so as to be selectable. The auxiliary program 42 receives a selection instruction from the user in the list 51 of images for synthesis on the currently displayed selection reception screen 50 (A23). A23 is an example of a selection process. Since it is possible to select an image for synthesis to be composed from among a plurality of pieces of image information, the degree of freedom of the composite image is increased and the convenience is improved.

[0038] The auxiliary program 42 displays the sample image 52 based on the image information of the image for synthesis selected in A23 (A24). A24 is an example of a sample display process. The sample image 52 is an image showing the print image of the selected image for synthesis. Note that when no image for synthesis is selected, the sample image 52 is a blank image. Alternatively, in the initial state of the selection reception screen 50, as shown in FIG. 4, one of the images may be selected and that image may be displayed.

[0039] The auxiliary program 42 changes and displays the sample image 52 according to the user's operation on the selection reception screen 50. By displaying the image itself for composition based on the image information received from the printer 2, it is easier for the user to understand the image for composition compared to the case where only the name of the image for composition and the thumbnail image are displayed. In the example of FIG. 4, only the name of the image is displayed in the list 51 of images for composition. However, for example, each sample image may be displayed by a thumbnail image.

[0040] When the auxiliary program 42 receives an instruction to end the selection of the image for composition (A25) by an operation on the OK button 53 of the selection reception screen 50, it determines the selected image as the image for composition and closes the selection reception screen 50 (A26). The auxiliary program 42, for example, returns to the display of the basic tab 101 shown in FIG. 3. Then, for example, when it receives an instruction to end the detailed setting by an operation on the OK button shown in FIG. 3, the auxiliary program 42 ends the display of the setting screen 100 and passes the selected print settings and end notification to the general-purpose printing program 41. The print settings include information related to image composition, and the information related to image composition includes information specifying the image for composition and information indicating the composition form such as position information. Receiving the end notification from the auxiliary program 42, the general-purpose printing program 41 passes the end notification to the editing application 43.

[0041] Note that if the auxiliary program 42 determines based on the function information received at A12 that the printer 2 does not have the function of responding with image information, it does not execute the processes of A13 to A26. That is, the auxiliary program 42 does not receive an instruction for image composition. If the printer 2 does not have a function of transmitting image information, the auxiliary program 42 cannot obtain the image information of the image for composition, so it omits communication with the printer 2 for obtaining image information, display of image information, etc. Thereby, the processing load of the auxiliary program 42 is reduced.

[0042] When the editing application 43 receives a print execution instruction from the user on the print screen (A31), it passes the print instruction to the general-purpose print program 41 (A32). The general-purpose print program 41 acquires, in the print instruction, information indicating the image data to be printed and information indicating the print settings.

[0043] The general-purpose print program 41 generates intermediate image data (A33) by converting the format of the image data included in the received print instruction into the format of the intermediate image data, and generates a print job including the intermediate image data. The image data included in the editing application 43 is of various types, and the general-purpose print program 41 converts the received image data into intermediate image data suitable for generating print data. If the image data included in the print instruction is data suitable for generating print data, the generation of the intermediate image data may be omitted and it may be used as the intermediate image data as it is. The intermediate image data is, for example, XPS data.

[0044] The general-purpose print program 41 further outputs an execution instruction to the auxiliary program 42 (A34) to operate the auxiliary program 42. In the execution instruction, the generated intermediate image data and the information on the print settings are passed to the auxiliary program 42. When a composite instruction of an image is received as the print setting, the information on the print settings passed to the auxiliary program together with the intermediate image data includes, for example, as information on the composite of the image, information specifying the composite image and information indicating the composite form such as the position information.

[0045] When the print settings include an instruction to synthesize an image, the auxiliary program 42 performs image synthesis based on the intermediate image data received at A34 and the information related to synthesis (A35). Specifically, the auxiliary program 42 reads out the image information acquired from the printer 2 at A14 from the memory 12 based on the information specifying the image for synthesis included in the information included in the print settings, and generates intermediate image data of the image for synthesis according to the information indicating the synthesis form such as position information based on the read image information. Further, the auxiliary program 42 synthesizes the generated image for synthesis with the intermediate image data of the image to be printed. At this time, the image information acquired from the printer 2 is, for example, the intermediate image data of the image for synthesis.

[0046] Note that the information related to the synthesis of an image including the information specifying the image for synthesis and the information indicating the synthesis form such as position information may not be included in the print settings of the general-purpose print program 41. In this case, for example, when the auxiliary program 42 receives an instruction to end the selection of the image for synthesis at A25, it may store the information related to the synthesis of this image in the memory 12 and read it out from the memory 12 before the image synthesis at A35.

[0047] Furthermore, the auxiliary program 42 displays a preview screen for preview-displaying the synthesized image on the user IF13 (A36). A36 is an example of sample display processing. An example of the preview screen is shown in FIG. 5. The preview screen 60 in the example of FIG. 5 includes a preview image 61, a print button 62, and a print cancel button 63. The preview image 61 is an image showing a print image obtained by synthesizing the image to be printed and the selected image for synthesis. By sample-displaying the image obtained by synthesizing the image to be printed and the image for synthesis, it becomes easier for the user to grasp the synthesized image that will be the print result compared to the case where only the image information before synthesis is displayed.

[0048] The auxiliary program 42 accepts operations on the print button 62 or the print cancel button 63 on the displayed preview screen 60. When the auxiliary program 42 receives an instruction to execute printing by an operation on the print button 62 (alt: [Print]), it performs rasterization based on the intermediate image data after synthesis and generates print data indicating the image to be printed (A41). The print data generated at A41 is data in a format that can be used for printing by the printer 2, for example, PDL data dedicated to the model of the printer 2.

[0049] By performing rasterization in the auxiliary program 42 corresponding to the printer 2, the degree of freedom is greater compared to the case of performing rasterization in the general-purpose printing program 41, and there is a high possibility of generating print data suitable for printing by the printer 2. Note that the print data generated by the auxiliary program 42 may also be data in a format that can be used for printing by printers other than the model of the printer 2.

[0050] Instead of the auxiliary program 42 generating the print data, the general-purpose printing program 41 may generate the print data. That is, when the auxiliary program 42 receives an instruction to print, it may pass the information on the execution of printing to the general-purpose printing program 41. In that case, the auxiliary program 42 passes the intermediate image data after synthesis at A35 and the information on the execution of printing to the general-purpose printing program 41. The general-purpose printing program 41 rasterizes the intermediate image data received from the auxiliary program 42 to generate print data. Then, the general-purpose printing program 41 may pass the generated print data to the auxiliary program 42.

[0051] The print data generated by the general-purpose printing program 41 is print data in a format that can be used for printing by various printers, for example, PWGRaster data or PDF data. If rasterization is performed by the general-purpose printing program 41, the processing of the auxiliary program 42 is less, an increase in processing time can be avoided, and the program size of the auxiliary program 42 can be suppressed.

[0052] After generating the print data at A41, the auxiliary program 42 transmits the generated print data to the printer 2 together with a print command for instructing the execution of printing (A42). Also, when the auxiliary program 42 receives print data from the general-purpose printing program 41, the auxiliary program 42 transmits the print data received from the general-purpose printing program 41 to the printer 2 together with a print command for instructing the execution of printing. The process of transmitting the print data to the printer 2 is an example of a process for causing the printer 2 to perform printing, and is an example of a process for transmitting the composite image to the printer 2. A42 is an example of a printing process.

[0053] The printer 2 that has received the print data and the print command executes the printing of the image of the print data based on the received print command (A43). Thereby, a printed matter is generated. The auxiliary program 42 further notifies the general-purpose printing program 41 that the transmission of the print data has ended.

[0054] Note that the general-purpose printing program 41 may perform the transmission of the print data and the like to the printer 2. That is, the auxiliary program 42 may pass the generated print data to the general-purpose printing program 41 so that the print data is transmitted from the PC1 with the printer 2 as the destination. The general-purpose printing program 41 transmits the print data received from the auxiliary program 42 to the printer 2. Alternatively, the general-purpose printing program 41 transmits the print data generated by itself based on the composite intermediate image data received from the auxiliary program 42 to the printer 2. In this case, the process of passing the print data or the composite intermediate image data to the general-purpose printing program 41 is an example of a process for causing the printer 2 to perform the printing of the composite image, and is an example of a process for transmitting the composite image to the printer 2.

[0055] Note that the printer 2 in this embodiment may have a compositing function for compositing images. When the printer 2 has a function for compositing images, when it receives a composite print command for instructing composite printing, it performs image composition and printing. The composite print command includes, for example, print data indicating an image to be printed and a designation command for designating an image to be composited. When the printer 2 receives a composite print command, it reads out the image data of the image to be composited designated by the designation command from the memory of the printer 2, composites it with the received print data, and prints the composited image. In this case, the process of transmitting the composite print command to the printer 2 is an example of a process for causing the printer 2 to perform printing of a composite image.

[0056] When the printer 2 has a compositing function, instead of generating print data for the composited image, the auxiliary program 42 may generate print data for the image to be printed and transmit a composite print command including the generated print data and a designation command for designating the image to be composited to the printer 2. Further, when the printer 2 also has a rasterization function, the auxiliary program 42 may transmit a composite print command including intermediate image data of the image to be printed and a designation command for designating the image to be composited to the printer 2 without generating print data for the image to be printed.

[0057] If the auxiliary program 42 does not perform image composition and transmits a composite print command to the printer 2, and the printer 2 generates and prints a composite image, the load on the auxiliary program 42 is reduced. On the other hand, if the auxiliary program 42 generates a composite image and transmits the composite image to the printer 2, there is no need for the printer 2 to perform a compositing process, and the load on the printer 2 is reduced.

[0058] Note that when causing the printer to generate a composite image, the auxiliary program 42 may determine whether the printer selected as the device for executing printing has a function for generating a composite image before acquiring image information. For example, when the printer does not have a compositing function, the auxiliary program 42 may not accept an instruction for composition as a print setting.

[0059] On the other hand, when an instruction to cancel printing is received by an operation on the print cancel button 63 on the preview screen 60 (see FIG. 5) displayed at A36 (alt: [Cancel]), the auxiliary program 42 passes information for canceling the print job to the general-purpose print program 41 (A44). As a result, the general-purpose print program 41 cancels the print job based on the print instruction received at A32 and ends the printing process.

[0060] As described in detail above, according to the auxiliary program 42 of this embodiment, the PC 1 acquires image information indicating the composite image that the printer 2 has, and displays the composite image indicated by the image information on the selection reception screen 50 using the user IF 13 of the PC 1. As a result, the user can grasp the information of the composite image before the print instruction, and as a result, the possibility of avoiding unintended printing by the user is increased.

[0061] Furthermore, in this embodiment, since the printer 2 manages the composite image, the composite image can also be used from other PCs or the like connected to the printer 2. Therefore, the composite image can be shared among a plurality of PCs or the like.

[0062] Note that the embodiments disclosed in this specification are merely examples and do not limit the present invention in any way. Therefore, the technology disclosed in this specification can naturally be variously improved and modified without departing from the gist thereof. For example, the device connected to the PC 1 is not limited to a printer, and may be any device having a printing function such as a multifunction device, a copier, a FAX device, etc. Also, the number of printers connected to the PC 1 is not limited to the illustrated example, and may be two or more.

[0063] Also, for example, an example of the external device is not limited to the printer 2, and it may be a server or the like that can communicate with the PC 1. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the printer 2 and the server 3 may be connected to the PC 1, and the server 3 may have information on the image for synthesis. In the case of this configuration, the auxiliary program 42 makes the requests of A11 and A13 in FIG. 2 to the server 3. The server 3 makes the responses of A12 and A14 in response to the requests from the PC 1. The auxiliary program 42 may perform the processing after A22 based on the image information acquired from the server 3 and accept the selection of the image for synthesis by the user. If the server manages the information on the image for synthesis, the capacity of the printer's memory may be small. On the other hand, if the printer manages the information on the image for synthesis, the image for synthesis can be used even in a small printing system without a server.

[0064] Also, for example, the auxiliary program 42 may be able to acquire the information on the image for synthesis from a plurality of external devices. For example, the auxiliary program 42 may make the requests of A11 and A13 in FIG. 2 to the connected printer or server, and acquire the information on the image for synthesis from each device that has responded.

[0065] Also, the image information that the auxiliary program 42 acquires from the printer 2 at A14 in FIG. 2 does not have to be intermediate image data, and for example, it may be image data in a format that can be directly synthesized with the print data. In this case, the accuracy of the display of the sample image 52 is improved. The auxiliary program 42 may generate the print data and then synthesize the image with the print data.

[0066] Also, all of the illustrated display screens are examples and are not limited to this. For example, the arrangement and expression of each image and each button are not limited to the illustrated example. For example, in the selection reception screen 50 shown in FIG. 4, although the list 51 of the images for synthesis and the sample image 52 are displayed on one screen, the auxiliary program 42 may display them on separate screens. Also, the auxiliary program 42 does not have to perform the preview display at A36 in FIG. 2.

[0067] Also, in this embodiment, the auxiliary program 42 was assumed to acquire all the image information stored in the printer 2 at A14 in FIG. 2, but it is not limited to this. For example, the auxiliary program 42 may acquire only the names or thumbnail information of the images for composition that can be selected at A14, and when a selection reception screen is displayed to receive the selection of an image by the user, it may acquire the image information of the selected image.

[0068] Also, the auxiliary program 42 may request information regarding the capabilities of the printer 2, for example, not only function information and image information, at A11 or A13 in FIG. 2. In that case, the printer 2 responds with various types of information according to the request. The auxiliary program 42 may display a screen for receiving user settings based on the various types of information acquired from the printer 2.

[0069] Also, in the embodiment, only the printing operation is described in detail as the operation of the auxiliary program 42, but the auxiliary program 42 may have other roles. Also, the program that executes the processing of this embodiment is not limited to the auxiliary program 42, and any program that receives instructions from the OS 21 or the general-purpose printing program 41 when performing printing using the general-purpose printing program 41 may be used. For example, a print workflow app (Print workflow) whose specifications are disclosed by Microsoft may be used.

[0070] Also, the execution timing of the auxiliary program 42 is not limited to the example of the embodiment. For example, it may be directly executed upon receiving an execution instruction from the OS 21, or it may be an auxiliary program 42 that is resident. When it is resident, the auxiliary program 42 may perform the above-described operations upon receiving an execution instruction.

[0071] Also, in any flowchart disclosed in the embodiment, the plurality of processes in any plurality of steps can be arbitrarily changed in execution order or executed in parallel within a range where there is no contradiction in the processing content.

[0072] In addition, the processes disclosed in the embodiments may be executed by a single CPU, multiple CPUs, hardware such as an ASIC, or a combination thereof. Further, the processes disclosed in the embodiments can be realized in various forms such as a recording medium storing a program for executing the processes, or a method or the like.

Description of Reference Numerals

[0073] 1 PC 2 Printer 3 Server 11 CPU 13 User IF

Claims

1. A support program executable by a computer of an information processing apparatus, the support program corresponding to a printer connected to the information processing apparatus, wherein the computer is caused to:[[]] perform an image information acquisition process of acquiring, from the external device, image information indicating a composite image registered in an external device connected to the information processing apparatus;[[]] perform a sample display process of displaying the image information acquired in the image information acquisition process using a user interface of the information processing apparatus;[[]] and further cause the computer to:[[]] when there is a print instruction output from an application program incorporated in the information processing apparatus, and the print instruction causes the printer to print an image with respect to a general-purpose print program pre-incorporated in an operating system of the information processing apparatus, and composite image printing is set in print settings for the print instruction,[[]] perform a print process of causing the printer to print a composite image that is an image obtained by combining the composite image shown in the image information acquired in the image information acquisition process and the image to be printed according to the print instruction;[[]] A support program characterized by the above.[[]]

2. In the support program according to claim 1,[[]] in the image information acquisition process, a plurality of pieces of the image information can be acquired,[[]] and the computer is caused to:[[]] perform a selection process of receiving, using the user interface, a selection of one piece of the image information from among the image information acquired in the image information acquisition process;[[]] in the sample display process,[[]] display at least the image information selected in the selection process using the user interface;[[]] and in the print process,[[]] perform the process for causing the printer to print a composite image that is an image obtained by combining the composite image shown in the image information selected in the selection process and the image to be printed according to the print instruction;[[]] A support program characterized by the above.[[]]

3. In the support program according to claim 1 or claim 2,[[]] the computer is caused to:[[]] perform a setting screen display process of displaying, using the user interface, a setting screen for receiving an input operation of print settings;[[]] and further cause the computer to:[[]] perform the image information acquisition process based on the display of the setting screen in the setting screen display process;[[]] A support program characterized by the above.[[]]

4. In the support program according to any one of Claims 1 to 3, when there is the printing instruction to the computer and printing of the composite image is set in the printing setting for the printing instruction, before executing the printing process, the sample display process is executed, and in the sample display process, an image obtained by combining the image information acquired by the image information acquisition process with the image to be printed according to the printing instruction is displayed using the user interface, wherein the support program is characterized by the above.

5. In the support program according to any one of Claims 1 to 3, in the sample display process, the composite image shown in the image information acquired by the image information acquisition process is displayed using the user interface, wherein the support program is characterized by the above.

6. In the support program according to any one of Claims 1 to 5, in the printing process, as the process for causing the printer to print the composite image, a process of generating the composite image and a process of transmitting the generated composite image to the printer are performed, and when the printer receives the composite image, printing based on the composite image is performed, wherein the support program is characterized by the above.

7. In the support program according to any one of Claims 1 to 5, in the printing process, as the process for causing the printer to print the composite image, a process of transmitting a designation command for designating one of the pieces of image information and the image to be printed according to the printing instruction to the printer is performed, and when the printer receives the designation command, the printer generates the composite image by combining the composite image shown in the image information designated by the designation command and the image to be printed according to the printing instruction, and prints the generated composite image, wherein the support program is characterized by the above.

8. In the support program according to any one of Claims 1 to 7, in the image information acquisition process, the image information is acquired from the printer which is the external device connected to the information processing apparatus, wherein the support program is characterized by the above.

9. In the support program according to Claim 8, to the computer, ​ Execute a function information acquisition process to acquire function information indicating whether the printer has a transmission function for transmitting the image information, and further on the computer, if the function information indicating that the transmission function exists is acquired in the function information acquisition process, execute the image information acquisition process and the sample display process, if the function information indicating that the transmission function does not exist is acquired in the function information acquisition process, do not execute the image information acquisition process and the sample display process, A support program characterized by the above.

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