Support program

Abstract

To reduce a load of a support program required at data compression, in an information processor with an OS standard general-purpose printing program installed.SOLUTION: To a PC 1, an OS standard general-purpose printing program 41 and an auxiliary program 42 corresponding to a printer 2 are installed. Upon receiving a print instruction of printing an image of a print object from an editing application 43 to the general-purpose printing program 41, the auxiliary program 42 determines a compression condition according to a print setting accompanying reduction processing, and commands a compression according to the determined compression condition to the general-purpose printing program 41. The auxiliary program 42 obtains intermediate data compressed with the compression condition, from the general-purpose printing program 41. The auxiliary program 42 executes processing for making the printer 2 operate on print data generated from the obtained intermediate data.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The technical field disclosed in this specification relates to a support program that supports control of a printer. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, a technology has been put into practical use that controls a printer using a standard general-purpose print program that is part of the operating system (OS) and does not use a printer driver provided by the printer vendor. With this technology, when the OS detects a printer, it associates it with the OS's standard general-purpose print program, and then when a print instruction for that printer is received, the OS's standard general-purpose print program generates print data, making it possible to print using the OS's standard general-purpose print program, without using a printer driver provided by the printer vendor.

[0003] An example of a document disclosing technology related to an OS-standard general-purpose printing program is Patent Document 1. Patent Document 1 discloses a support program that supports the general-purpose printing program, and a process for realizing aggregate printing (N in 1 printing). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2023-049478 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] In Patent Document 1, a support program receives intermediate data from a general-purpose printing program and uses the received intermediate data to achieve consolidated printing. Here, if the intermediate data that the support program obtains from the general-purpose printing program is the same data for consolidated printing with reduction processing and for no consolidated printing, the intermediate data may be overkill for consolidated printing with reduction processing, potentially increasing the load on the support program. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] A support program made for the purpose of solving the above-mentioned problems is executable by a computer of an information processing device, and is a support program corresponding to a printer connected to the information processing device, wherein the information processing device is equipped with an operating system having a general-purpose printing program, and the support program is configured to cause the computer to execute the following: when a print instruction is output from an application program built into the information processing device, the print instruction instructing the general-purpose printing program to print an image on the printer, and if the print settings for printing according to the print instruction include print settings that involve reduction processing, a determination process that determines compression conditions based on the print settings that involve reduction processing; an instruction process that instructs the general-purpose printing program to compress according to the compression conditions determined in the determination process; an acquisition process that acquires intermediate data indicating the image to be printed according to the print instruction, wherein the intermediate data compressed according to the compression conditions instructed in the instruction process is acquired from the general-purpose printing program; and a print process that performs processing to cause the printer to print based on the print data generated from the intermediate data acquired in the acquisition process.

[0007] When the print settings for printing in response to a print instruction include print settings involving reduction processing, the support program having the above configuration determines compression conditions for compression processing for compressing the intermediate data based on the print settings involving reduction processing and instructs the general-purpose print program to compress the intermediate data.The support program acquires the intermediate data compressed according to the compression conditions from the general-purpose print program.The support program causes the printer to print based on print data generated from the acquired intermediate data.This support program makes it possible to utilize the compression function of the general-purpose print program, and simplifies the processing of the support program and reduces the load on the support program compared to when the support program compresses the intermediate data.

[0008] An apparatus for realizing the functions of the support program, a control method, and a computer-readable storage medium storing the support program are also novel and useful. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] The technology disclosed in this specification realizes a technology that reduces the load on a support program for print settings involving reduction processing in an information processing device that has an OS-standard general-purpose print program installed. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an outline of the electrical configuration of a PC. [Figure 2] FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a print setting procedure. [Figure 3] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a compression condition. [Figure 4] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a procedure for generating print data. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] A personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a "PC") that uses the support program of the present embodiment will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. This specification discloses a support program executed on a PC.

[0012] As shown in FIG. 1, the PC 1 of this embodiment includes a controller 10 including a CPU 11 and a memory 12. The PC 1 is an example of an "information processing device." The CPU 11 is an example of a "computer." The PC 1 also includes a user interface (hereinafter referred to as a "user IF") 13 and a communication interface (hereinafter referred to as a "communication IF") 14, which are electrically connected to the controller 10. Note that the controller 10 in FIG. 1 is a collective term for hardware and software used to control the PC 1, and does not necessarily represent a single piece of hardware that actually exists in the PC 1.

[0013] The CPU 11 of the PC 1 executes various processes in accordance with programs read from the memory 12 and based on user operations. The memory 12 stores various programs and various data. The memory 12 is also used as a work area when various processes are executed. The buffer provided in the CPU 11 is also an example of memory. Note that the memory 12 is not limited to a ROM, RAM, HDD, etc. built into the PC 1, but may also be a storage medium readable and writable by the CPU 11, such as a recording medium such as a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM.

[0014] The user IF 13 includes a display 13a, which is hardware that displays a screen for notifying the user of information, and hardware that accepts operations by the user. Note that the user IF 13 may be a combination of the display 13a capable of displaying information and a mouse, keyboard, or the like that has an input acceptance function, or may be a touch panel that has the functions of the display 13a and an input acceptance function.

[0015] The communication IF 14 includes hardware for communicating with an external device such as the printer 2. The communication IF 14 is compatible with a communication standard such as Ethernet (registered trademark), Wi-Fi (registered trademark), or USB. The PC 1 may be connectable to the Internet via the communication IF 14. The PC 1 may be equipped with multiple communication IFs 14 compatible with multiple communication standards.

[0016] 1, the memory 12 of the PC 1 stores various programs and data, including 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."

[0017] OS21 is a multitasking OS that can process multiple tasks in parallel by managing and switching between them. Examples of OS21 include Windows (registered trademark), macOS (registered trademark), Linux (registered trademark), iOS (registered trademark), and Android (registered trademark).

[0018] The OS 21 includes a general-purpose printing program 41. The general-purpose printing program 41 is a standard OS program prepared by the OS 21 vendor and provided as part of the OS 21. In other words, the PC 1 is equipped with the OS 21 that includes the general-purpose printing program 41. The general-purpose printing program 41 is not configured to use printer drivers specific to each printer.

[0019] The generic printing program 41 is a program that has the function of printing on multiple models of printers provided by multiple vendors based on user instructions. The generic printing program 41 supports generic functions that allow printing on many printers. Unlike printer drivers specific to each printer, the generic printing program 41 does not support functions specific to each printer or printer driver, especially functions that require complex processing.

[0020] The general-purpose printing program 41 is a program that includes a function to receive image data designated as a print target in a print instruction output from various applications based on a user instruction and generate intermediate data based on that image data. The intermediate data is, for example, XPS data. The general-purpose printing program 41 also has a function to generate print data in a format that can be used for printing on various printers based on the intermediate data. The print data is, for example, PWGRaster data or PDF data. The general-purpose printing program 41 also has a function to send the generated print data to the printer designated as the device to execute printing via a communication function provided by the OS 21.

[0021] The auxiliary program 42 is a program or group of programs that executes processing based on instructions from the OS 21 in conjunction with the processing of the general-purpose printing program 41, and is a program 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 PC 1, and is provided, for example, by the vendor of the printer 2. The general-purpose printing program 41 launches the auxiliary program 42 corresponding to the printer 2 when the printer 2 is selected as the device to execute printing, when an instruction for detailed print settings is received while the printer 2 is selected, when an instruction to execute printing on the printer 2 is received, etc. The auxiliary program 42 is, for example, called a print support app (abbreviated as PSA) or a hardware support app (abbreviated as HSA).

[0022] The auxiliary program 42 may be a combination of multiple programs that each accept an execution command, or a single program that can execute different processes depending on the command. The auxiliary program may also be a program prepared by a printer vendor for each printer type. For example, an auxiliary program for inkjet printers and an auxiliary program for laser printers may be prepared. A separate auxiliary program may be prepared not only for each printer type, but also for each printer model or series of printer models.

[0023] For example, when a new printer is connected to the PC 1, the OS 21 of the PC 1 can download an appropriate auxiliary program according to the type and model of the connected printer from a server of the printer vendor or storage designated by the OS 21, and install it in the PC 1. The OS 21 associates the identification information of the installed auxiliary program with the printer information of the newly connected printer and stores it in the memory 12.

[0024] The editing application 43 is, for example, a program for creating and editing image data and document data. The editing application 43 may be, for example, Microsoft Word (registered trademark) or PowerPoint (registered trademark), or may be a program provided by the vendor of the printer 2. The editing application 43 is capable of receiving, via the user IF 13, a print execution instruction for causing the printer 2 to execute printing. Note that the editing application 43 is not limited to a program for creating and editing data, and may also be a program having a function for receiving display instructions and print instructions for various types of information, such as map information and web pages, in response to a user request.

[0025] In this embodiment, the PC 1 is connected to the printer 2 via the communication IF 14 as shown in FIG. 1. The printer 2 is a device that has at least a printing function and a communication function. For example, when the printer 2 receives print data from the PC 1 or the like, it can execute printing based on the received print data. The printer 2 may be a device capable of color printing, or may be a device capable of only monochrome printing.

[0026] Next, the print setting procedure in the PC 1 of this embodiment will be described based on the sequence in FIG. 2. Note that in this embodiment, each process other than user operation basically indicates processing by the CPU 11 in accordance with instructions written in a program such as the auxiliary program 42. In this specification, various processes performed by the controller 10 or the CPU 11 in accordance with programs such as the auxiliary program 42, the general-purpose print program 41, and the OS 21 may be described, for convenience, as if each program were independently performing the various processes. Processing by the CPU 11 also includes hardware control using the API of the OS 21. In this specification, the operation of each program will be described without a detailed description of the OS 21. Also, the term "acquire" is used as a concept that does not necessarily require a request.

[0027] When the print setting screen is displayed on the user IF 13 and a selection instruction to select printer 2 as the device to execute printing is received (A11), or when the print setting screen is displayed by receiving a print selection while printer 2 is selected as the device to execute printing, the editing application 43 passes information indicating that printer 2 has been selected to the general-purpose print program 41 (A12). The general-purpose print program 41 starts the auxiliary program 42 corresponding to printer 2 and passes information indicating that printer 2 has been selected (A13).

[0028] When the auxiliary program 42 is started in response to the instruction in A13, it acquires the capability information of the printer 2. Specifically, the auxiliary program 42 requests the general-purpose printing program 41 to acquire the capability information (A21). The general-purpose printing program 41 sends a command requesting the capability information to the printer 2 and acquires the capability information from the printer 2 (A22). The general-purpose printing program 41 passes the acquired capability information to the auxiliary program 42 (A23). This allows the auxiliary program 42 to acquire the capability information of the printer 2.

[0029] The general-purpose printing program 41 communicates with the printer 2 in A22 via the OS 21, for example, by communication according to IPP (abbreviation for Internet Printing Protocol). The auxiliary program 42 may obtain capability information directly from the printer 2, for example, by using MIB (abbreviation for Management Information Base), instead of making a request to the general-purpose printing program 41. The capability information that the auxiliary program 42 can obtain from the printer 2 may include more information than the capability information obtained via the OS 21.

[0030] The capability information acquired from the printer 2 includes information on setting items that can be set as print settings and parameters that can be set for each setting item. The capability information includes, for example, information indicating the three print quality levels that the printer 2 can support: draft, normal, and fine. The capability information also includes information on the types of content that the printer 2 can process, such as text, graphics, and photos. The capability information also includes information on items related to the paper feed trays and output trays available to the printer 2, such as information on selectable paper feed trays and output trays, and paper information such as the size and type of paper loaded in each paper feed tray. The capability information may also include information on print resolutions supported by the printer 2, information on image processing functions that the printer 2 can execute, information on the status of the printer 2, such as remaining amounts of consumables, information on exclusion settings and how to resolve them, and information on default print settings. The capability information is used, for example, by the general-purpose printing program 41 or the editing application 43 when displaying a print setting screen or determining exclusion errors in the print settings.

[0031] The auxiliary program 42 associates the compression rate corresponding to the print quality based on the acquired capability information and stores it in the memory 12 (A30). At this time, the compression rate corresponding to the type of content may also be stored in the memory 12. The auxiliary program 42 also passes the acquired capability information to the general-purpose printing program 41 and ends the process for printer selection (A35).

[0032] The capability information passed to the general-purpose printing program 41 or the editing application 43 in A23 may be information including all of the capability information acquired from the printer 2, or may be information including only part of the capability information acquired from the printer 2. For example, the capability information passed to the general-purpose printing program 41 or the editing application 43 may be only information related to print settings that the general-purpose printing program 41 or the editing application 43 can accept.

[0033] When an instruction for detailed print settings is received through a user operation (B01), the editing application 43 outputs the instruction for detailed settings, i.e., an instruction to display a setting screen for receiving detailed print settings, to the general-purpose printing program 41 (B02). The general-purpose printing program 41 starts the auxiliary program 42 corresponding to the printer 2 and passes an instruction to start receiving the detailed print settings (B03). In B03, the general-purpose printing program 41 passes information on the currently set print settings to the auxiliary program 42 along with the instruction to start receiving. When the auxiliary program 42 is started based on the instruction for detailed print settings, it displays a detailed setting screen on the user IF 13 (B05) and becomes able to receive user operations.

[0034] The detailed settings screen includes an object for accepting the selection of print quality (draft, normal, fine) stored in memory 12 in A30. The detailed settings screen also includes an object for accepting the selection of combined printing (N in 1). The detailed settings screen may also include an object for accepting the selection of the type of content to be printed. The auxiliary program 42 accepts the selection of print quality (B10) and the selection of combined printing (N in 1) (B15), and then saves the selected settings in memory 12 (B20). The auxiliary program 42 may also accept the selection of the type of content to be printed and save the selected settings in memory 12. Once the settings are complete, the detailed settings process ends (B25). The process for accepting the selection of print quality in B10 is an example of a print quality acceptance process. Combined printing (N in 1) is printing in which N images are reduced and arranged on one side of a sheet of paper, and is printing that involves reduction processing. Therefore, the selection of combined printing (N in 1) in B15 is an example of print settings that involve reduction processing.

[0035] Next, the procedure for processing printing on printer 2 in PC 1 of this embodiment will be described based on the sequence in Fig. 3. After the user decides on the image to be printed and the print settings for printer 2, the user inputs a print execution instruction in editing application 43 (C01). When the editing application 43 receives the user's print execution instruction, it determines that it has received an execution instruction to cause printer 2 to print the selected image from general-purpose printing program 41, since general-purpose printing program 41 is incorporated into OS 21 of PC 1.

[0036] The editing application 43 outputs the received print instruction information to the general-purpose printing program 41 (C02). The general-purpose printing program 41 acquires, as the print instruction information, image data indicating the image to be printed and information indicating the print settings from the editing application 43. Upon receiving the print instruction from the editing application 43, the general-purpose printing program 41 starts the auxiliary program 42 and outputs a print execution instruction to the auxiliary program 42 (C03).

[0037] The started auxiliary program 42 determines the compression conditions based on the print settings in the print instruction (C04). The compression conditions are the conditions used when the general-purpose print program 41 compresses the intermediate data representing the image to be printed. C04 is an example of a "determination process."

[0038] In this embodiment, a table is used as an example of determining the compression conditions. An example of a table for determining the compression conditions is shown in Fig. 4. The table shown in Fig. 4 indicates the corresponding compression conditions (no compression, low compression ratio, medium compression ratio, high compression ratio) based on the print setting parameters, such as the number of pages (N) to be printed on one side of a sheet of paper for combined printing (N in 1), print quality (draft, normal, fine), and type of print content (text, non-text). The auxiliary program 42 determines the compression conditions by using this table.

[0039] The auxiliary program 42 may determine whether to compress the intermediate data based on the compression conditions, or may determine the degree of compression of the intermediate data, i.e., the compression rate. The compression conditions indicating whether to compress the intermediate data are an example of a "first condition." The compression conditions indicating the compression rate are an example of a "second condition."

[0040] The print settings are, for example, print settings received from the general-purpose printing program 41 when the auxiliary program 42 is started from the general-purpose printing program 41 in C03. The print settings may also be print settings received via a print setting screen after the auxiliary program 42 is started.

[0041] The print settings in the table in Figure 4 include the number of pages (N) to be printed on one side of a sheet of paper for combined printing (N in 1). If the number of pages to be combined is large, the images to be printed are reduced to smaller images, so the impact on image quality due to the compression process is small. Furthermore, the compression process reduces the burden on processing intermediate data in the auxiliary program 42. On the other hand, if the number of pages to be combined is small, the images to be printed are the same size or only slightly reduced, so the impact on image quality due to the compression process is large.

[0042] The print settings in the table in FIG. 4 include print quality (draft, normal, fine) as an example. When the set print quality is draft, high-resolution image quality is not required, so the impact of compression processing is small. Furthermore, compression processing reduces the burden on the auxiliary program 42 for processing intermediate data. On the other hand, when the set print quality is fine, high-resolution image quality is required, so the compression rate is low or no compression is performed, thereby minimizing the impact on the printed image. Note that print quality (draft, normal, fine) is not essential for determining compression conditions. Compression conditions may be set that are not dependent on print quality (draft, normal, fine).

[0043] The print settings in the table in Figure 4 include, as an example, a parameter indicating the type of print content. Parameters that can be set for the type of print content include text, and non-text parameters such as graphics and photos. For example, even if the type of print content is set to text, the text may be included as image data to be printed. Compressing text image data may result in the characters being distorted. Therefore, when a parameter indicating that the type of print content is text is set in the print settings, it is recommended that the compression condition be set to no compression. Note that the type of print content (text, non-text) is not essential for determining the compression condition. Compression conditions may be determined that are not dependent on the type of print content (text, non-text).

[0044] The various print setting parameters used to determine the compression conditions may be parameters acquired from the general-purpose print program, or may be unique parameters used independently by the auxiliary program 42.

[0045] 3, the auxiliary program 42 instructs the general-purpose printing program 41 to perform compression under the determined compression conditions (C05). C05 is an example of an "instruction process."

[0046] The general-purpose printing program 41 generates intermediate data in response to an instruction from the auxiliary program 42 (C06). The general-purpose printing program 41 generates intermediate data by converting the format of the data to be printed into the format of intermediate data based on information acquired from the editing application 43. The data to be printed passed to the general-purpose printing program 41 by the editing application 43 can be of various types, and the general-purpose printing program 41 converts the data to be printed into intermediate data. The intermediate data is, for example, XPS data.

[0047] For example, if the compression conditions determined by the auxiliary program 42 indicate that compression is to be performed, the general-purpose printing program 41 executes a compression process to compress image data included in the data to be printed when generating the intermediate data. The compression process is performed using a compression method that the selected printer 2 can support. The compression method can be determined, for example, based on capability information. If the compression conditions indicate a compression rate, the general-purpose printing program 41 generates intermediate data by compressing the image data included in the image to be printed based on that compression rate. The compression rate may be predetermined in the general-purpose printing program 41 for each compression method supported by the printer 2, instead of being specified by the auxiliary program 42. The general-purpose printing program 41 may perform the compression process after generating the intermediate data, or may perform the generation of the intermediate data and the compression process simultaneously.

[0048] For example, when the compression conditions indicate no compression, the general-purpose printing program 41 generates intermediate data without compressing the image data included in the image to be printed.

[0049] The general-purpose printing program 41 passes the generated intermediate data to the auxiliary program 42 (B07). The auxiliary program 42 can acquire the intermediate data compressed by the general-purpose printing program 41 according to the compression conditions determined by the auxiliary program 42 in C04. If the compression conditions are determined to be no compression in C04, the auxiliary program 42 acquires the uncompressed intermediate data from the general-purpose printing program 41 in C07. C07 is an example of an "acquisition process."

[0050] The auxiliary program 42 can edit the intermediate data and print setting information received from the general-purpose print program 41 as needed (C08). The processing in C08 is an example of an "editing process." For example, if print settings for combining a watermark and adding a header and footer are specified, editing may be performed to combine an image of the watermark with the intermediate data and add a header and footer to the intermediate data.

[0051] The auxiliary program 42 generates print data, which is PDL data, based on the intermediate data (C11). The print data generated in C11 may be data in a format that can be printed by the printer 2. The print data may be, for example, PWG Raster data or PDF data.

[0052] The auxiliary program 42 passes the generated print data to the general-purpose printing program 41 and instructs the general-purpose printing program 41 to send the print data (C12). The general-purpose printing program 41 sends the print data and print command to the printer 2, for example, using communication in accordance with IPP (C13). The process of C12, in which the general-purpose printing program 41 sends the generated print data to the printer 2, is an example of a "printing process."

[0053] Note that, for example, if the auxiliary program 42 does not have a rasterization function, it may have the general-purpose printing program 41 rasterize the intermediate data. By having the general-purpose printing program 41 rasterize, the auxiliary program 42 executes fewer processes, resulting in a smaller program size.

[0054] In addition, instead of sending print data from the general-purpose print program 41 to the printer 2, the auxiliary program 42 may send a print command instructing the printer to perform printing and the print data to the printer 2, for example, using communication according to the MIB.

[0055] Printer 2 starts printing based on the received print data (C21). When Printer 2 prints using print data generated from intermediate data with a high compression rate, the data size of the print data is small, so it is expected that transfer time will be shortened and printing will be completed in a short time.

[0056] The printer 2 notifies the general-purpose printing program 41 of information indicating the result of the printing execution (C22). After the general-purpose printing program 41 sends the generated print data to the printer 2 in C13, it becomes able to accept a result notification sent from the printer 2.

[0057] When printing is complete, the printer 2 notifies the general-purpose printing program 41 of the completion of printing at C22. In this case, the general-purpose printing program 41 notifies the editing application 43 of the completion of printing and ends the processing. Note that when printing is complete, the printer 2 does not have to notify the general-purpose printing program 41 of the completion of printing. In this case, the general-purpose printing program 41 operates as if printing is complete based on the completion of sending the generated raster data to the printer 2.

[0058] As described above in detail, when the print settings in a print instruction include print settings that involve reduction processing, the auxiliary program 42 of this embodiment determines compression conditions for compression processing that compresses the intermediate data based on the print settings that involve reduction processing, and instructs the general-purpose print program 41 to compress the intermediate data. The auxiliary program 42 acquires the intermediate data that has been compressed according to the compression conditions from the general-purpose print program 41. The auxiliary program 42 causes the printer 2 to print based on the print data generated from the acquired intermediate data. Such an auxiliary program 42 can utilize the compression function of the general-purpose print program 41, and compared to when the auxiliary program 42 compresses the intermediate data, the processing of the auxiliary program 42 is simplified and the load on the auxiliary program 42 is reduced.

[0059] In addition, the auxiliary program 42 of this embodiment can determine whether to compress the intermediate data or the compression rate because the print settings include print settings that involve reduction, so it is expected to provide appropriate control according to the print settings.

[0060] It should be noted 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 improved and modified in various ways without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, the device connected to PC1 is not limited to a printer, but may be any device with a printing function, such as a multifunction device, copier, or fax machine. Furthermore, the number of printers connected to PC1 is not limited to the illustrated example, and may be two or more.

[0061] Furthermore, if the user changes the default printer from another printer to printer 2 via the OS 21 after the print setting screen is displayed by the general-purpose print program 41, the general-purpose print program 41 may also start the auxiliary program 42. Furthermore, the auxiliary program 42 may be started not only when printing is selected, but also when printer 2 is selected as a device setting, for example. Even in these cases, the auxiliary program 42 may be able to execute a procedure for determining and specifying compression conditions.

[0062] In the above-described embodiment, the number of pages (N) to be printed on one page in N-in-1 printing was described as a print setting involving reduction, but this is not limited to this. For example, booklet printing is also possible. Booklet printing involves 2-in-1 printing and double-sided printing simultaneously, and after printing, the paper is folded in half and stacked to create the booklet. In other words, booklet printing involves 2-in-1 reduction. Therefore, in the case of booklet printing, the number of pages to be printed in N-in-1 printing can be set to 2 when determining the compression conditions in the table in Figure 4.

[0063] Also, for example, even if a setting item that sets the enlargement / reduction rate in percentages sets a reduction rate of less than 100%, it may be treated as a print setting that involves reduction, and the compression rate may be switched according to the reduction rate. Alternatively, it may be possible to treat a print setting that involves reduction only when a reduction rate that is frequently used and has a large effect on reducing the processing load of the support program is set.

[0064] In addition, in each 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 as well. Furthermore, the program that executes the processing of the above embodiments is not limited to the auxiliary program 42, and may be any program that receives instructions from the OS 21 or the general-purpose print program 41 when printing using the general-purpose print program 41. For example, it may be a print workflow application (Print workflow) whose specifications have been made public by Microsoft.

[0065] Furthermore, the execution timing of the auxiliary program 42 is not limited to the examples of each form. For example, the auxiliary program 42 may be executed in response to an execution instruction directly from the OS 21, or may be a resident auxiliary program 42. If the auxiliary program 42 is resident, it may receive an execution command and perform the above-described operation.

[0066] Furthermore, in any sequence diagram disclosed in each embodiment, the execution order of multiple processes in any multiple steps can be arbitrarily changed or can be executed in parallel as long as no contradiction occurs in the process content.

[0067] The processes disclosed in each aspect may be executed by hardware such as a single CPU, multiple CPUs, or ASIC, or a combination thereof. The processes disclosed in each aspect may be realized in various ways, such as a recording medium on which a program for executing the processes is recorded, or a method. [Explanation of symbols]

[0068] 1 PC 2. Printer 11 CPU 12 Memory

Claims

1. A support program executable by a computer of an information processing device, the support program corresponding to a printer connected to the information processing device, the information processing device being equipped with an operating system having a general-purpose printing program; The support program is installed on the computer. When a print instruction is output from an application program installed in the information processing device, the print instruction instructing the general-purpose print program to print an image on the printer, a determination process for determining a compression condition based on the print settings including a reduction process when the print settings for printing according to the print instruction include a print setting including a reduction process; an instruction process for instructing the general-purpose printing program to perform compression under the compression conditions determined in the determination process; an acquisition process for acquiring intermediate data indicating the image to be printed in accordance with the print instruction, the acquisition process acquiring the intermediate data compressed under the compression conditions instructed in the instruction process from a general-purpose print program; a printing process for causing the printer to perform printing based on print data generated from the intermediate data acquired in the acquisition process; Execute A support program configured to:

2. 2. The support program according to claim 1, The print settings involving reduction processing include a setting of the number of pages to be printed on one side of a sheet of paper. A support program configured to:

3. 3. The support program according to claim 2, In the determination process, a higher compression ratio is determined as the number of pages to be collectively printed on one side of the paper increases. A support program configured to:

4. 2. The support program according to claim 1, The print setting involving reduction processing includes a setting for booklet printing. A support program configured to:

5. 5. The support program according to claim 1, The support program is installed on the computer. Execute a print quality acceptance process to accept the print quality; In the determination process, the compression conditions are determined based on the print settings involving the reduction process and the print quality accepted in the print quality acceptance process. A support program configured to: A support program configured to:

6. 5. The support program according to claim 1, In the determination process, when a parameter indicating that the type of print content is text is set in the print settings in the print instruction, the compression condition is determined to be a condition of no compression. A support program configured to:

7. 7. The support program according to claim 6, If the compression condition determined in the determination process is a condition of not compressing, intermediate data that has not been subjected to compression processing is acquired from the general-purpose print program without performing the instruction processing. A support program configured to:

8. 5. The support program according to claim 1, The support program is installed on the computer. an editing process for editing the intermediate data compressed under the compression conditions based on the print settings; Support programs configured to run

Images