Program, information processing apparatus, and control method

Abstract

To solve a problem in which a further improvement in convenience is demanded for a function when causing a printing device to print image data.SOLUTION: A program causes a computer to execute an acquisition step of acquiring drawing data including image data and a margin area corresponding to an area where the image data is not printed, and information on print settings including information on a sheet on which the drawing data is printed. When settings are made for first control, in the print settings, which is to change the direction of the drawing data so that the drawing data is printed on the sheet in a direction in which the downstream side in a conveyance direction when the sheet is conveyed to a printing device that executes print processing of the drawing data corresponds to a lower side of the drawing data and the upstream side corresponds to an upper side of the drawing data, the program executes the first control. When the settings are not made for the first control in the print settings, the program does not execute the first control.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 9

Description

[Technical Field]

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

[0002] When a printer prints image data, there is a known technique for changing the layout direction of the image data to be printed on a print medium depending on the print settings. For example, Patent Document 1 describes a technique for rotating the layout of image data to be printed by 180 degrees before printing. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2020-95535 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, there is a demand for further improvements in the convenience of functions when causing a printing device to print image data. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] The program of the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems is an extension application that extends the functionality of print data generation software by being associated with print data generation software that can be commonly used by a plurality of printing devices provided by different vendors, and causes a computer to execute an acquisition step of acquiring drawing data including image data and a margin area corresponding to an area where the image data is not printed, and information regarding print settings including information regarding paper on which the drawing data is to be printed; A program characterized by executing the first control when the print settings are set to be subject to a first control that changes the orientation of the drawing data so that the drawing data is printed on the paper in an orientation where the downstream side in the transport direction when the paper is transported to a printing device that executes the printing process of the drawing data corresponds to the bottom side of the drawing data and the upstream side corresponds to the top side of the drawing data, and not executing the first control when the print settings are not set to be subject to the first control. [Effects of the Invention]

[0006] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to achieve further improvements in convenience when causing a printing device to print image data. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the system. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of each software of the information processing apparatus and the configuration of a printing apparatus. [Figure 3] FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an editing process of print capability information (PDC). [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a PDC after editing. [Figure 5] This is a diagram showing the drawing start position and drawing area for a No. 4 long envelope. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating the processing of an extension application. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a display process of a print setting screen. [Figure 8] 10 is an example of a print setting screen. [Figure 9] FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a printing process. [Figure 10] 10 is an example of a guide screen. [Figure 11] 10 is an example of a print result. [Figure 12] 10 is an example of a print setting screen. [Figure 13]FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing editing processing of a PDC. [Figure 14] FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a printing process. [Figure 15] 10 is an example of a print result. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0008] Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below by way of example with reference to the drawings. However, it should be understood that the scope of the present invention also includes appropriate modifications and improvements to the embodiments described below based on the ordinary knowledge of those skilled in the art, provided that the modifications and improvements do not deviate from the spirit of the present invention.

[0009] (First embodiment) The information processing device and printing device included in the printing system of this embodiment will be described. The host computer 101 is an example of an information processing device, and has an input interface 110, a CPU 111, a ROM 112, a RAM 113, an external storage device 114, an output interface 115, and an input / output interface 116. Input devices such as a keyboard 118 and a pointing device 117 are connected to the input interface 110, and display devices such as a display unit 119 are connected to the output interface 115. The NETIF 120 is a network interface that controls data transfer between the host computer and external devices via a network.

[0010] An initialization program is stored in the ROM 112. An external storage device 114 stores application programs, an operating system (OS), print data generation software, and various other data. An extension application 204, which will be described later, is also saved in the ROM 112. The RAM 113 is used as a work memory when the various programs stored in the external storage device 114 are executed, and enables the various programs to run within the host computer 101.

[0011] In this embodiment, the CPU 111 executes processing according to the procedures of a program stored in the ROM 112, thereby executing functions of the host computer 101, which will be described later, and processing according to flowcharts, which will be described later.

[0012] The printing device 102 is connected to the host computer 101 via an input / output interface 116. Here, the host computer 101 and the printing device 102 are configured separately, but they may also be configured as a single information processing device.

[0013] In this embodiment, a host computer 101 is used as an example of the information processing device 101, but the information processing device 101 is not limited to this. For example, various devices such as a mobile terminal, a personal computer, a tablet terminal, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), and a digital camera can be used as the information processing device. In addition, in this embodiment, a printer is used as an example of the printing device 102, but the printing device 102 can also be used as an inkjet printer, a full-color laser beam printer, a monochrome printer, etc.

[0014] A known configuration uses a printer driver installed on a host computer 101 as software for controlling the printing device 102 to issue print instructions to the printing device 102 connected to the host computer 101. An operating system (OS), which is basic software, is installed on the host computer 101, and the printer driver is configured according to the specifications defined by the OS and is invoked by the OS to operate. By providing a printer driver that conforms to the OS specifications, a vendor that provides the printing device 102 can provide a means for issuing a print instruction to the printing device 102 using the OS. In recent years, Windows® has provided standard class drivers (hereinafter also referred to as "standard drivers") that can be used by printing devices provided by multiple vendors. Such standard drivers are included in the OS package and can be easily used by connecting any printing device to the host computer 101. This eliminates the need to separately install a model-specific printer driver suitable for the printing device 102, providing greater convenience. Furthermore, the standard driver is configured to allow printing functions to be specified based on PrintCapabilities generated based on information acquired from the connected printing device 102. This allows a user using a standard driver to specify print functions according to the capabilities of the connected printing device 102, even though the user is using one standard driver. In this embodiment, the standard driver will be described as print data generation software 202.

[0015] Here, the extension application 204 will be explained. An application for function extension (extension application 204) can be associated with the standard driver. The extension application 204 can be provided by the vendor that provides the printing device 102. By providing this extension application 204, the vendor can provide functions (extension functions) that cannot be achieved with the standard driver alone.

[0016] The extension application 204 is software for extending the functionality of the print data generation software 202 and is not pre-installed (bundled) with the OS. Therefore, the user must operate the host computer 101 to download and install the extension application 204 from a server via the Internet. Alternatively, the extension application 204 may be automatically installed when the printing device 102 is connected to the host computer 101. Specifically, when the printing device 102 is connected to the host computer 101, the OS acquires device identification information from the printing device 102. The OS may download and install the extension application 204 corresponding to the acquired device identification information from a server via the Internet. In other words, the print data generation software 202 and the extension application 204 are stored in the host computer 101 as separate files. The print data generation software 202 and the extension application 204 may be updated and upgraded, but these update processes are also performed at different times. In other words, the host computer 101 acquires the print data generation software 202 at different times than the host computer 101 acquires the extension application 204. Furthermore, the trigger for the host computer 101 to acquire the print data generation software 202 is different from the trigger for the host computer 101 to acquire the extended application 204. When the extended application 204 is installed, the OS associates the extended application 204 with the print data generation software 202 and the printing device 102.

[0017] The extension application 204 described in this embodiment includes a print setting screen extension unit 205, a skip control unit 206, a print function extension unit 207, a print data editing unit 208, and a notification unit 209. The extension application 204 also includes shared information 210 that can be commonly accessed by each unit. The shared information 210 is actually a file saved in the external storage device 114 or information stored in the RAM 113. The extension application 204 writes and reads information to and from the shared information 210 by using an API (Application Program Interface) provided by the OS.

[0018] 2 is a diagram that schematically illustrates the configuration of a printing system including each piece of software on a host computer 101 and a printing device 102. Here, the description is based on the premise that the printing system uses a host computer 101 that is running Microsoft® Windows® 11 as its operating system. FIG. 2(a) illustrates a typical configuration when an extension application 204 is not associated with the print data generation software 202 and the printing device 102.

[0019] The drawing application 201 is software that creates drawing data (image data) to be printed. For example, a word processing application or a spreadsheet application corresponds to the drawing application 201. When the drawing application 201 receives a print request from a user, it issues a print instruction to the OS. The print instruction includes print setting information for instructing the operation of the print data generation software 202 and the printing device 102. The print setting information is also called a PrintTicket (hereinafter, "PT").

[0020] To output print setting information, the drawing application 201 can display a print setting screen provided by the print data generation software 202, the OS, or the drawing application 201. The print setting screen displays setting items indicating configurable print functions and control items indicating the setting values ​​of the setting items according to capability information (information on the capabilities of the printing device 102) acquired from the print data generation software 202. The capability information is also referred to as PrintCapabilities (hereinafter, "PC"). The print data generation software 202 determines the PC based on print function information 203. The print function information 203 is data indicating all configurable print functions, their setting values, and the exclusive relationships between the setting values. The print function information 203 is also referred to as PDC (Print Device Capabilities). The print function information 203 is included in a configuration file of the print data generation software 202 and stored in the external storage device 114 as an unmodifiable file. Alternatively, the print data generation software 202 can dynamically generate the print function information 203. Specifically, the print data generation software 202 or the OS can be configured to acquire attribute data of the printing device 102 from the printing device 102 and generate printing capability information 203 according to the attribute information in the acquired attribute data. Note that if the printing capability information 203 is generated dynamically, the generated printing capability information 203 can be edited. Note that the attribute data of the printing device 102 acquired from the printing device 102 is a response acquired by issuing a Get-Printer-Attributes operation of the Internet Print Protocol (IPP) to the printing device 102. The response includes attribute information indicating the functions that the printing device 102 can perform (the capabilities of the printing device 102) and setting values ​​related to that attribute information. This response is saved in RAM 113.

[0021] With the above configuration, the print data generation software 202 can be configured to allow the user to specify print functions available on each connected printing device 102. In other words, even when printing devices with different capabilities or developed by different vendors are connected, the print data generation software 202 can be configured to allow the user to specify print functions available on the connected printing device. Here, a configuration using the IPP Class Driver included in Windows® 11 is described as the print data generation software 202. The IPP Class Driver is a printer driver that executes print processing according to the specifications of a standard printing protocol called IPP (Internet Print Protocol) and is included in the OS package. The IPP Class Driver is not a printer driver specific to the model of the printing device 102, but a standard class driver that can be used by multiple printing devices. The IPP Class Driver also acquires capability information from the connected printing device 102 and generates print capability information 203 based on that information so that the user can specify print functions supported by the connected printing device.

[0022] 2A, a process will be described in which print data is sent to the printing device 102 and printed. The OS generates intermediate data (also called input data) based on a print instruction output from the drawing application 201, and passes the intermediate data to the print data generation software 202. The drawing data output by the drawing application 201 is data in Graphic Device Interface format (GDI format data) or XML Paper Specification format (XPS format data). When an IPP Class Driver is used as the print data generation software 202, if the data output by the drawing application 201 is data in GDI format, the OS converts the GDI format data output by the drawing application 201 into data in XPS format. The converted XPS format data is then passed to the print data generation software 202 as intermediate data. If the data output by the drawing application 201 is data in XPS format, the OS passes the XPS format data to the print data generation software 202 as intermediate data. The intermediate data includes drawing data, which is information about the picture to be formed on paper, and print setting information set by the user.

[0023] The print data generation software 202 converts the acquired intermediate data into print data that can be interpreted by the printing device 102 and sends it to the printing device 102. The print data includes drawing data, which is information about the picture to be formed on paper, and print setting attribute information (attribute information that specifies print settings) generated based on print setting information set by the user. The print setting attribute information includes attribute information that indicates functions that the printing device 102 can operate (printing device capabilities) and setting values ​​related to that attribute information.

[0024] The printing device 102 prints (prints) on paper based on the print data sent from the print data generation software 202. At this time, the printing device 102 forms the drawing data included in the print data on paper in accordance with the print setting attribute information included in the print data. The print setting attribute information includes information such as the paper type, paper size, print quality (priority on image quality, priority on speed, etc.), size of the drawing data, and drawing position (margin area of ​​the paper).

[0025] 2(b) is a diagram showing a configuration when the extension application 204 is associated with the print data generation software 202 and the printing device 102. Note that configurations and processes not specifically mentioned below are the same as those in FIG. 2(a).

[0026] When the drawing application 201 receives a print request from a user, it issues a print instruction to the OS. In this configuration, as in the configuration of FIG. 2(a), the drawing application 201 can display a print setting screen. In this configuration, the print setting screen provided by the extension application 204 is displayed. Specifically, the print setting screen provided by the print setting screen extension unit 205 included in the extension application 204 is displayed. Whether the print setting screen provided by the print setting screen extension unit 205 is displayed depends on the user's operation.

[0027] Furthermore, when the drawing application 201 receives a print request from a user and issues a print instruction to the OS, the OS activates the skip control unit 206. The skip control unit 206 controls whether or not to skip the processing of the print data generation software 202. After the skip control processing of the skip control unit 206, the OS generates intermediate data based on the print instruction output from the drawing application 201, and the intermediate data is passed to the print data generation software 202. Here, if the skip control is not performed by the skip control unit 206, the intermediate data is processed by the print data generation software 202 into print data that can be interpreted by the printing device 102, and passed to the print data editing unit 208. On the other hand, if the print data generation software 202 is skipped, the intermediate data is passed to the print data editing unit 208 without being processed by the print data generation software 202. This makes it possible for the print data editing unit 208 to process the intermediate data.

[0028] The print data editing unit 208 edits the intermediate data passed from the print data generation software 202 or the print data processed by the print data generation software 202. Taking layout printing as an example of the editing content, the print data editing unit 208 changes the layout of the intermediate data or print data based on the print setting information for layout printing received from the OS. The print data editing unit 208 can also display a UI screen on the display unit 119, and can display the layout results of the intermediate data or print data as a preview screen. Note that the print data editing unit 208 does not send print data to the printing device 102 while the screen is open; closing the screen starts the print data sending process.

[0029] After the print data editing unit 208 edits the print data, the print data is sent to the printing device 102. The printing device 102 prints on paper based on the received print data.

[0030] If the print data generation software 202 is skipped by the skip control unit 206, the print data editing unit 208 may convert the received intermediate data into print data that can be interpreted by the printing device 102. Also, a function provided by the OS may be used to convert the intermediate data into print data.

[0031] The extension application 204 includes a print function extension unit 207. The print function extension unit 207 can edit the print function information 203 (PDC) generated by the print data generation software 202 or the OS. This allows the print function extension unit 207 to add functions provided by the extension application 204, add functions supported by the printing device 102 but not by the print data generation software 202, and add exclusive relationships between print function setting values. The OS starts the print function extension unit 207 when the extension application 204 is first associated with the printing device 102 and the print data generation software 202. The OS may also start the print function extension unit 207 at other times, such as when the OS starts up. In this way, in cases where an optional device (e.g., a finisher) is later added to the printing device 102 to expand printing functions, the print function extension unit 207 can detect the expanded function and add it to the print function information 203.

[0032] The extension application 204 also has a notification unit 209. The notification unit 209 can display a notification to the user in response to an error occurring in the printing device 102. For example, when an out-of-paper error occurs in the printing device 102, the print data generation software 202 detects it, and the OS uses a notification function called a toast notification, which is an OS function, to display a message on the display unit 119. When the user presses this toast notification, the OS calls the notification unit 209 of the extension application 204, and the UI screen of the notification unit 209 is displayed. The UI screen of the notification unit 209 can display, for example, a detailed message about the out-of-paper error and instructions for loading paper.

[0033] The configuration of the extension application 204 for realizing this embodiment is not limited to having all of the above-mentioned functions (units), but may have only some of the functions or other functions. The extension application 204 is sometimes simply called print software. As described above, the extension application 204 has at least one of the following functions: a function for displaying a setting screen (print setting screen extension unit 205), a function for controlling whether or not to skip processing by the print data generation software 202 (skip control unit 206), a function for editing print data input to the printing device (print data editing unit 208), a function for extending functions that can be specified by the print data generation software (print function extension unit 207), and a function for displaying a screen in response to an error occurring in the printing device 102 (notification unit 209).

[0034] The extension application 204 may also terminate operation each time the processing of each unit is completed. In this case, the OS will launch the extension application 204 each time a request to use each unit is received. Another possible configuration is also possible. For example, the OS may terminate the operation of the extension application 204 when the processing of the print setting screen extension unit 205 is completed, but the OS may keep the extension application 204 running even after the processing of the skip control unit 206 is completed.

[0035] Furthermore, the extension application 204 may cancel the processing of each unit during its processing. If the processing is canceled, the job being processed in the print queue is deleted by the OS.

[0036] Here, it is assumed that image data generated on the drawing application 201 has top, bottom, left, and right sides. The drawing data includes image data and a margin area, which will be described later. When image data is created by a user on the drawing application 201 and displayed on the drawing application 201, of the four sides of the image data, the side of the image data that is located above the paper area on which the image data will be printed is referred to as the top side of the image data. Similarly, the side of the image data that is located below the paper on which the image data will be printed is referred to as the bottom side of the image data, the side of the image data that is located to the right of the paper on which the image data will be printed is referred to as the right side of the image data, and the side of the image data that is located to the left of the paper on which the image data will be printed is referred to as the left side of the image data. In normal printing, the downstream side of the paper transport direction corresponds to the top side of the image data, and the upstream side corresponds to the bottom side of the image data. In other words, the printing direction of the image data is such that printing is performed starting from the top side of the image data.

[0037] Depending on the print settings specified by the user on the print setting screen, the drawing data may be printed in an orientation rotated 180 degrees (flipped) compared to the correct orientation for the specified paper. For example, when printing drawing data on an envelope, the user may feed the envelope so that the flap of the envelope is upstream in the transport direction of the envelope inside the printing device 102 to prevent a paper jam. However, the drawing application 201 creates drawing data in an orientation (layout) that assumes that the envelope is fed so that the flap of the envelope is downstream relative to the feed direction of the envelope into the printing device 102. Therefore, if the user feeds the envelope so that the flap of the envelope is upstream in the transport direction of the envelope inside the printing device 102, the drawing data may be printed in an orientation rotated 180 degrees compared to the correct orientation. Printing in the correct orientation for a long envelope means printing in an orientation where the top edge of the drawing data corresponds to the flap side of the long envelope. In other words, the problem is that the downstream side of the conveyance direction of the long envelope corresponds to the top edge of the drawing data, and the upstream side corresponds to the bottom edge of the drawing data, so the drawing data is printed in an orientation where the bottom edge of the drawing data corresponds to the flap side of the long envelope.

[0038] Furthermore, it is preferable that the margin area corresponding to the top edge of the image data be small and the margin area corresponding to the bottom edge of the image data be large when the drawing data is printed on a long envelope. The margin area is an area included in the drawing data, and corresponds to the margins on the paper surrounding the image data where the image data is not printed. The margin area is provided on the top, bottom, left, and right sides of the image data in the drawing data, and has a certain length. In other words, it is preferable that the margin area corresponding to the top edge of the image data be short and the margin area corresponding to the bottom edge of the image data be long when the drawing data is printed on a long envelope. However, depending on the printing device, the downstream side of the paper ejection direction corresponds to the large margin area of ​​the paper, and the upstream side of the paper ejection direction corresponds to the small margin area of ​​the paper, and the image data is printed in a drawing area outside the margin area. In this case, the margin area corresponding to the top edge of the image data may be large and the margin area corresponding to the bottom edge of the image data may be small when displayed on the application 201. Therefore, since the user generates image data with a large margin area corresponding to the top edge of the image data and a small margin area corresponding to the bottom edge of the image data, the result of printing the drawing data on a long envelope may end up with a large margin area corresponding to the top edge of the image data and a small margin area corresponding to the bottom edge of the image data.

[0039] Furthermore, when image data is rotated 180 degrees in the drawing application 201 or the extended application 204 (described later) to create drawing data that is oriented correctly when printed on paper, the image data may be printed correctly on the long envelope. However, the display of the drawing data on the application 201 may differ from the print result, and the user may not be able to easily recognize the print result. Furthermore, it is time-consuming for the user to manually create drawing data in the drawing application 201 so that the data is oriented correctly when printed on paper.

[0040] Furthermore, if the drawing data is rotated 180 degrees by the extension application 204 (described later) and the drawing data is created so that it is oriented correctly when printed on paper, the image data may be printed correctly on the long envelope. However, this may result in the image data being misaligned with the drawing area of ​​the printing device, resulting in missing printouts.

[0041] Therefore, in this embodiment, the extension application 204 determines whether the drawing data needs to be rotated 180 degrees based on the paper size registered (generated) in the PDC or the print settings specified by the user. That is, the extension application 204 determines whether the settings are configured to change the orientation of the drawing data so that the downstream side of the paper transport direction corresponds to the bottom edge of the drawing data and the upstream side corresponds to the top edge of the drawing data. If it is determined that the drawing data needs to be rotated 180 degrees, the extension application 204 controls the paper (image data) to swap the lengths of the top and bottom margins and the left and right margins. This allows the drawing application 201 to display drawing data with a small margin corresponding to the top edge of the image data and a large margin corresponding to the bottom edge of the image data, allowing the user to easily recognize the print result. Furthermore, if it is determined that the drawing data needs to be rotated 180 degrees, the extension application 204 rotates the drawing data 180 degrees. In other words, the orientation of the drawing data is controlled to be changed so that the downstream side of the paper transport direction corresponds to the bottom edge of the drawing data and the upstream side corresponds to the top edge of the drawing data. This reduces the likelihood that the drawing data will be printed in an orientation rotated 180 degrees compared to the orientation when printed in the correct orientation relative to the paper, depending on the print settings specified by the user. It also reduces the possibility that the drawing data will be printed missing or misaligned. Furthermore, by automatically creating drawing data that is rotated 180 degrees compared to the orientation when printed in the correct orientation, the user's workload can be reduced.

[0042] Fig. 3 is a flowchart showing the PDC editing process performed by the print function extension unit 207. The flowchart in Fig. 3 begins when the OS starts the print function extension unit 207, for example, when the extension application 204 is first associated with the print data generation software 202. Hereinafter, the print function extension unit 207 may be described as the subject of each process, but in reality, the corresponding function is realized when the CPU 111 executes the corresponding program.

[0043] In S301, the print function expansion unit 207 identifies an arbitrary paper size from all paper sizes in the PDC.

[0044] In S302, the printing function expansion unit 207 determines whether the identified paper size is a paper size for which the drawing data needs to be rotated 180 degrees. That is, it determines whether a paper size is set that is subject to control for changing the print direction of the drawing data so that the downstream side of the paper transport direction corresponds to the bottom edge of the drawing data and the upstream side corresponds to the top edge of the drawing data. For example, if the identified paper size is a long envelope, the printing function expansion unit 207 determines that the paper size is a paper size for which the drawing data needs to be rotated 180 degrees. However, if the identified paper size is a paper size other than a long envelope, such as A4 size, the printing function expansion unit 207 determines that the paper size is not a paper size for which the drawing data needs to be rotated 180 degrees. If the answer is YES in S302, the printing function expansion unit 207 proceeds to S303. If the answer is NO in S302, the printing function expansion unit 207 proceeds to S304. In other words, if it is determined that the identified paper size is not a paper size for which the drawing data needs to be rotated 180 degrees, the control to swap the values ​​of the lengths of the upper and lower margin areas of the identified paper size and to register the drawing area based on the swapped values ​​of the lengths of the left and right margin areas in the PDC as a new drawing area for the identified paper size is not executed.

[0045] In S303, the print function extension unit 207 rotates the margin values ​​of the paper size identified in S301 by 180 degrees and registers the rotated values ​​as new margin values ​​for the identified paper size in the PDC. In other words, it swaps the lengths of the top and bottom margin areas of the identified paper size, and registers a drawing area based on the swapped lengths of the left and right margin areas in the PDC as a new value of the drawing area for the identified paper size.

[0046] In S304, the print function extension unit 207 determines whether all paper sizes in the PDC have been identified. If the determination in S304 is YES, the print function extension unit 207 ends the processing of this flowchart, and if the determination in S304 is NO, the process returns to S301.

[0047] An example of a PDC will now be described with reference to FIG. 4. PDC 401 includes information on features supported by the printing device 102 and information on setting values ​​for certain features (options). For example, information 402 indicates that the printing device 102 supports ISOA4 and JapanChou4Envelope (long No. 4 envelope) as PageMediaSize (paper sizes). The user can specify the paper sizes supported by the printing device 102 as print settings on the host computer 101. The drawing start position and drawing area for each paper size are indicated by PortraitImageableSize, and the values ​​on the left indicate the horizontal drawing start position, vertical drawing start position, horizontal drawable size, and vertical drawable size based on the top left corner of the paper. Specifically, as shown in Figure 5(a), the drawing area information 403 for the JapanChou4Envelope (long No. 4 envelope) indicates that drawing can be performed in a drawing area of ​​108,800 (1 / 1000 mm) wide and 222,000 (1 / 1000 mm) high, starting from a horizontal drawing start position of 5,600 (1 / 1000 mm) and a vertical drawing start position of 8,000 (1 / 1000 mm) based on the top left corner of the paper for a long No. 4 envelope with a paper size of 120,000 (1 / 1000 mm) wide and 235,000 (1 / 1000 mm) high. Therefore, the upper margin is 8,000 (1 / 1000 mm), the lower margin is 5,000 (1 / 1000 mm), and the left and right margins are both 5,600 (1 / 1000 mm). Information 404 is information (JapanChou4Envelope_CN (long No. 4 envelope) that has been added as a paper size with the margins of JapanChou4Envelope (long No. 4 envelope) rotated 180 degrees. Drawing area information 405 for the added paper size is a drawing area based on the values ​​obtained by swapping the length values ​​of the top and bottom margin areas and the length values ​​of the left and right margin areas in drawing area information 403 for the paper size defined by the OS.Specifically, as shown in Figure 5(b), using the top left corner of a No. 4 long envelope, which has a paper size of 120,000 (1 / 1000 mm) wide and 235,000 (1 / 1000 mm) high, as the base point, the horizontal drawing start position is 5,600 (1 / 1000 mm) and the vertical drawing start position is 5,000 (1 / 1000 mm), and the drawing area is 108,800 (1 / 1000 mm) wide and 222,000 (1 / 1000 mm) high. Therefore, the upper margin is 5,000 (1 / 1000 mm), the lower margin is 8,000 (1 / 1000 mm), and the left and right margins are both 5,600 (1 / 1000 mm). In this embodiment, the left and right margins remain unchanged, so the horizontal drawing start position is the same value (5600 (1 / 1000 mm)) as the value when the margins of the OS-defined paper size value are not rotated 180 degrees. However, the vertical drawing start position is 5000 (1 / 1000 mm), which is the length corresponding to the upper margin in Figure 5(b) and the lower margin in Figure 5(a). In this embodiment, an example is shown in which margin information rotated 180 degrees is added to the PDC and registered. However, the drawing area information of the OS-defined paper size may be overwritten on the drawing area information of the paper size added as a paper size with the margins rotated 180 degrees. Furthermore, if a paper size of the same size cannot be added due to OS restrictions, a paper size shifted by the smallest unit of 1 / 1000 mm may be registered.

[0048] The user can set the paper size of the paper fed to the printing device 102 by opening the print setting screen of the extension application 204 on the drawing application 201. Specifically, the drawing application 201 uses the API of the OS to instruct the display of the print setting screen of the extension application 204, and the OS calls the print setting screen extension unit 205 of the extension application 204 to display the print setting screen.

[0049] Fig. 6 is a flowchart showing the processing performed by the extension application 204. The flowchart in Fig. 6 starts when a user performs an operation to display a print setting screen. The operation to display the print setting screen is, for example, an operation to press information about the print setting screen opened by the extension application 204 on the screen of the drawing application 201. Hereinafter, the extension application 204 may be described as the subject of each process, but in reality, the corresponding function is realized by the CPU 111 executing the corresponding program.

[0050] In step S601, the extension application 204 displays a print setting screen 801 shown in Fig. 8, which will be described later. More specifically, this will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in Fig. 7, which will be described later.

[0051] In S602, the extension application 204 accepts a user operation on the print setting screen 801. Specifically, on the print setting screen 801 displayed in S601, the extension application 204 accepts settings of various items such as paper type and paper size.

[0052] In step S603, if the extension application 204 receives intermediate data from the OS, it executes print processing and ends the processing of this flowchart, which will be described in detail later with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

[0053] 7, which corresponds to S601 in Fig. 6, is a flowchart showing print setting screen display processing by the print setting screen expansion unit 205 in this printing system. The flowchart in Fig. 7 starts when a user performs an operation to display the print setting screen. Hereinafter, the print setting screen expansion unit 205 will sometimes be described as the subject of each process, but in reality, the corresponding function is realized by the CPU 111 executing the corresponding program.

[0054] In S701, the print setting screen extension unit 205 receives from the OS PrintCapabilities (PC), which is capability information generated by the OS based on PDC information. Here, an example is shown in which PC information generated based on PDC information to which the paper size of a No. 4 long envelope, with the top, bottom, left, and right margin values ​​swapped, as shown in Figure 4, has been transmitted.

[0055] In S702, the print setting screen expansion unit 205 identifies an arbitrary paper size from the paper size information in the PC generated by the OS. The identified paper size information also includes the information 402 and information 404 in FIG.

[0056] In S703, the print setting screen expansion unit 205 determines whether the specified paper size is a paper size that corresponds to the information newly added to the PDC. Here, the specified paper size refers to a paper size for which the drawing data to be printed on a given paper size must be rotated 180 degrees, such as a long envelope. Among the PDC information in FIG. 4, information 402 is JapanChou4Envelope (long envelope No. 4) originally defined by the OS. Therefore, since the drawing data must be rotated 180 degrees and the margins must be rotated 180 degrees, it is determined that the paper size does not correspond to the information newly added to the PDC (YES in S703). Furthermore, among the PDC information in FIG. 4, information 404 is a paper size for which the drawing data must be rotated 180 degrees, but is JapanChou4Envelope_CN (long envelope No. 4 with the top, bottom, left, and right margins swapped), which was newly added to the PDC as a paper size with the top, bottom, left, and right margins swapped. Therefore, it is determined that the paper size corresponds to the information newly added to the PDC (NO in S703). Note that if the paper size is such that drawing data to be printed on an arbitrary paper size does not need to be rotated 180 degrees (for example, A4 size), NO is determined in S703. If YES is determined in S703, the print setting screen expansion unit 205 proceeds to S705, and if NO is determined in S703, the process proceeds to S704.

[0057] In S704, the print setting screen expansion unit 205 registers the paper size specified in S702 as an option in the paper size setting 802 in Fig. 8, which will be described later. Note that if the result of S703 is NO, the paper size specified in S702 is not registered as an option in the paper size setting 802.

[0058] In S705, the print setting screen expansion unit 205 determines whether all paper sizes in the PC have been identified in S702. If the determination in S705 is YES, the print setting screen expansion unit 205 displays the print setting screen 801 in S706 and ends the processing of this flowchart. If the determination in S705 is NO, the print setting screen expansion unit 205 returns to S702.

[0059] Next, the print setting screen 801 displayed on the display unit 119 by the print setting screen expansion unit 205 will be described with reference to FIG.

[0060] The paper size setting 802 is a paper size setting item and displays options for paper sizes that can be set based on the PC acquired from the OS in the flowchart of FIG. 7. The paper size setting 802 is a combo box. When the user clicks on it with the pointing device 117, a list of available paper size options 803 is displayed, as shown in FIG. 8(b), allowing the user to select any paper size from the displayed options. The options list 803 displays the paper sizes registered in S704 of FIG. 7. Therefore, the JapanChou4Envelope (long-length No. 4 envelope) originally defined in the PDC by the OS is not displayed, and the option for JapanChou4Envelope_CN (long-length No. 4 envelope with top, bottom, left, and right margins swapped), which was newly added to the PDC as a paper size with swapped top, bottom, left, and right margins, is displayed as "long-length No. 4." In this case, the names displayed in the paper size setting 802 and the paper size option list 803 may be names generated by the OS when the PDC was generated, or names defined by the extension application 204.

[0061] The drawing application 201 also provides (displays) a print setting screen. The list of paper size options displayed on the print setting screen of the drawing application 201 may include two options: JapanChou4Envelope (long envelope No. 4) originally defined in the PDC by the OS; and JapanChou4Envelope_CN (long envelope No. 4 with top, bottom, left, and right margins swapped), which is a paper size newly added to the PDC with the top, bottom, left, and right margins swapped. Either one of the two paper sizes may be displayed. For example, when an operation is performed to display the paper size setting items provided by the drawing application 201, the drawing application 201 requests the OS to acquire information about the paper size. The OS then acquires the paper size information from the PDC and shares it with the drawing application 201, thereby displaying the paper size setting items provided by the drawing application 201. The print setting screen displayed by the drawing application 201 may be the same as or different from the screen 801 in FIG. 8.

[0062] When a user opens a print setting screen 801 of the extension application 204 from the drawing application 201 and sets an arbitrary paper size on the displayed print setting screen 801, the drawing application 201 can obtain margin information and a drawable area for the set paper size using an API of the OS. After that, when a print instruction is issued from the drawing application 201 to a print queue linked to the extension application 204, the drawing application 201 generates drawing data using the obtained margin information and drawable size.

[0063] 9, which corresponds to S603 in FIG. 6, is a flowchart showing the print processing of the print data editing unit 208 after intermediate data including drawing data and print settings has been sent to the print data editing unit 208 by the OS. The processing of this flowchart begins when intermediate data including drawing data and print settings has been sent to the print data editing unit 208 by the OS. Hereinafter, the extension application 204 and each unit may be described as the subject of each process, but in reality, the corresponding function is realized by the CPU 111 executing the corresponding program.

[0064] In S901, the print data editing unit 208 acquires intermediate data including drawing data and print setting information from the print data generation software 202. The print setting information includes the content set by the user on the print setting screen of FIG.

[0065] In S902, the print data editing unit 208 determines, based on the print setting information acquired in S901, whether the paper size set on the print setting screen 801 is a paper size for which the drawing data needs to be rotated 180 degrees. That is, it determines whether the paper size is set to be the target of control for changing the orientation of the drawing data so that the drawing data is printed in an orientation in which the downstream side in the paper transport direction corresponds to the bottom edge of the drawing data and the upstream side corresponds to the top edge of the drawing data. For example, if a long envelope is set, it is determined that the paper size requires the drawing data to be rotated 180 degrees. If the print data editing unit 208 determines YES in S902, it proceeds to S903. If the print data editing unit 208 determines NO in S902, it proceeds to S905. That is, if a paper size other than a long envelope, such as A4 size, is set, it is determined that the paper size does not require the drawing data to be rotated 180 degrees, and therefore control for changing the orientation of the drawing data so that the drawing data is printed in an orientation in which the downstream side in the paper transport direction corresponds to the bottom edge of the drawing data and the upstream side corresponds to the top edge of the drawing data is not executed.

[0066] In S903, the print data editing unit 208 rotates the drawing data in the intermediate data by 180 degrees. In other words, the print data editing unit 208 controls to change the orientation of the drawing data so that the drawing data is printed with the downstream side of the paper transport direction corresponding to the bottom edge of the drawing data and the upstream side corresponding to the top edge of the drawing data. For example, when a paper size that requires the drawing data to be rotated 180 degrees, such as a long envelope, is set, the print data editing unit 208 rotates the drawing data in the intermediate data by 180 degrees.

[0067] In S904, the print data editing unit 208 displays a guide screen showing the procedure for setting paper in the printing device 102. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a printing guide for long envelopes, and is an example where a No. 4 long envelope is set as the paper size on the print setting screen 801 and a print instruction is given. The guide screen 1000 is made up of a paper setting procedure 1001 and a print start button 1002. The paper setting procedure 1001 is a guide on how to set paper in the paper feed slot, and can display a paper feed slot that matches the paper feed slot set in the print settings. The print start button 1002 is a button that the user uses to instruct the printing to start; when the button is pressed, a print instruction is sent to the printing device 102, and the print data editing unit 208 closes the guide screen 1200.

[0068] In S905, the print data editing unit 208 converts the intermediate data into print data that can be interpreted by the printing device 102.

[0069] In S906, the print data editing unit 208 sends the print data to the printing device 102, and the process of this flowchart ends. Thereafter, printing is performed by the printing device 102.

[0070] FIG. 11 shows the paper size to be printed and the actual print result, with the dashed lines in the figure indicating the drawable area on the paper. FIG. 11(a) shows the print result when printing is performed using a paper size that does not require 180-degree rotation of the drawing data. In this case, the drawing start position for the paper size originally recorded on the PDC is transmitted to the drawing application 201, which generates drawing data based on the drawing start position. When a print instruction is issued, the drawing data arranged in the drawing area for the paper size originally recorded on the PDC is transmitted to the extension application 204, and the extension application 204 does not rotate the drawing data 180 degrees. Therefore, the paper margins and drawing data are not rotated 180 degrees, and the print result is printed with the top edge of the print data laid out in the paper ejection direction.

[0071] 11B shows the printout when a paper size is set that requires the drawing data to be rotated 180 degrees. In this case, a drawing start position based on the swapped top and bottom margin values ​​and left and right margin values ​​of the paper size recorded on the PDC, rather than the drawing start position based on the paper size originally recorded on the PDC, is transmitted to the drawing application 201, and the drawing application 201 generates drawing data based on the drawing start position. When a print instruction is issued, the drawing data arranged in the drawing area based on the swapped top and bottom margin values ​​and left and right margin values ​​of the paper size is transmitted to the extension application 204 as intermediate data, and the extension application 204 rotates the drawing data 180 degrees. As a result, the printout is oriented such that the downstream side of the paper transport direction corresponds to the bottom edge of the drawing data and the upstream side corresponds to the top edge of the drawing data.

[0072] As described above, the extension application 204 provides the drawing application with a drawing start position based on values ​​obtained by swapping the top and bottom margin values ​​and the left and right margin values ​​for a paper size for which the drawing data needs to be rotated 180 degrees, allowing the drawing application to generate drawing data based on the margins in the correct orientation. Furthermore, by rotating the drawing data generated by the drawing application by 180 degrees, the extension application 204 can print the drawing data in the correct orientation for a paper size for which the drawing data needs to be rotated 180 degrees, such as a long envelope. This reduces the possibility of the drawing data being missing or misaligned when printed. Furthermore, by automatically creating drawing data that is rotated 180 degrees compared to the orientation when printed in the correct orientation, the user's effort can be reduced.

[0073] In the above-described embodiment, a paper size based on values ​​obtained by swapping the top and bottom margin values ​​and the left and right margin values ​​for a paper size that requires 180-degree rotation of the drawing data is added to the PDC. However, the margins of a paper size that requires 180-degree rotation of the drawing data may not be rotated by 180 degrees. For example, even for a paper size that requires 180-degree rotation of the drawing data, if the top and bottom margin values ​​and the left and right margin values ​​are the same, the top and bottom margin values ​​and the left and right margin values ​​of the paper size do not need to be swapped. Furthermore, for example, if the paper size requires 180-degree rotation of the drawing data and one of the top and bottom margins or the left and right margin values ​​is the same, only one of the top, bottom, left, and right margin values ​​that is different may be swapped, without swapping the other value. Note that the top and bottom margin values ​​and the left and right margin values ​​may always be swapped regardless of whether the values ​​are the same.

[0074] In the above-described embodiment, a long envelope is used as an example of a paper size for which the drawing data needs to be rotated 180 degrees, but the present invention is not limited to this. The present invention may be applied to any paper size other than a long envelope that requires the drawing data to be rotated 180 degrees.

[0075] Furthermore, the guide screen showing the paper setting procedure in Fig. 10 in the above-described embodiment does not have to be displayed, and therefore the process of S904 in the flowchart in Fig. 9 may be omitted.

[0076] (Second embodiment) In this embodiment, the processing of the extension application 204 will be described when the printing device 102 has a stapling (binding) function and the user has set the paper position where the printing device 102 will perform stapling. Stapling is generally performed at the trailing edge of the paper when it is ejected. When the user has set stapling on the print setting screen and the paper position where stapling will be performed is set, depending on the paper position where stapling will be performed, the drawing data may need to be rotated 180 degrees from the correct orientation before printing. For example, if the top edge of the drawing data corresponds to the short side of the paper and stapling is set to be performed at the upper left corner of the paper, the drawing data must be laid out so that the top edge is located upstream in the paper ejection direction. Therefore, the extension application 204 adds a paper size to the PDC based on values ​​obtained by swapping the top and bottom margin values ​​and the left and right margin values ​​of the paper set on the print setting screen, and then rotates the drawing data 180 degrees. Configurations and processing not mentioned below are the same as those in the first embodiment, and therefore will not be described again.

[0077] 12 shows a print setting screen 801 displayed by the print setting screen extension unit 205 when the user instructs the drawing application 201 to display the print setting screen 801 of the extension application 204 in this embodiment. In this embodiment, a staple setting 1201 can be specified, and "upper left" is set in the staple setting 1201 in FIG. 12. This indicates that stapling will be performed at the upper left position of the paper size after printing.

[0078] Fig. 13 is a flowchart showing the PDC editing process performed by the print function extension unit 207. The process of the flowchart in Fig. 13 starts when the user performs print settings on the print setting screen in Fig. 12 and presses the OK button 1202. Hereinafter, the print function extension unit 207 may be described as the subject of each process, but in reality, the corresponding function is realized by the CPU 111 executing the corresponding program.

[0079] In S1301, the print setting screen expansion unit 205 determines whether a function requiring 180-degree rotation of the drawing data is set. That is, the print setting screen expansion unit 205 determines whether a function requiring control to change the orientation of the drawing data is set so that the downstream side of the paper transport direction corresponds to the bottom edge of the drawing data and the upstream side corresponds to the top edge of the drawing data is set. An example of a function requiring 180-degree rotation of the drawing data being set is when the staple setting 1201 in FIG. 12 is set to "top left." An example of a function requiring 180-degree rotation of the drawing data not being set is when the staple setting 1201 in FIG. 12 is set to "bottom right." If the print setting screen expansion unit 205 determines YES in S1302, the process proceeds to S1402. If the print setting screen expansion unit 205 determines NO in S1302, the process ends.

[0080] Next, in S1302, the print setting screen expansion unit 205 registers in the PDC a paper size based on values ​​obtained by swapping the top and bottom margin values ​​and the left and right margin values ​​of the paper size set on the print setting screen 801. In other words, the print setting screen expansion unit 205 swaps the lengths of the top and bottom margin areas of the specified paper size and registers a drawing area based on values ​​obtained by swapping the lengths of the left and right margin areas in the PDC as a new value of the drawing area for the specified paper size. At this time, the print setting screen expansion unit 205 may overwrite the margin information of the paper size already defined in the PDC, or may add the new margin information to the PDC as a defined paper size.

[0081] In S1303, the print setting screen expansion unit 205 instructs the OS to regenerate the PC based on the edited PDC, thereby reflecting the paper size with the margins rotated 180 degrees to the OS. In other words, the drawing area based on the values ​​obtained by swapping the lengths of the top and bottom margins of the paper size and the lengths of the left and right margins is reflected as the value of the drawing area for the paper size specified by the user. In addition, the drawing application 201 can obtain the paper size with the margins rotated 180 degrees via the OS API.

[0082] Thereafter, when the user issues a print instruction from the drawing application 201 to the print queue linked to the extension application 204, the print processing shown in FIG. 14 is performed.

[0083] Fig. 14 is a flowchart showing the print processing of the print data editing unit 208 after the intermediate data has been transmitted by the OS to the print data editing unit 208. The processing of the flowchart in Fig. 14 starts when the intermediate data has been transmitted to the print data editing unit 208 by the OS.

[0084] Description of S901 to S906 will be omitted as they are the same processes as S901 to S906 in Fig. 9. If the determination in S902 is YES, the process proceeds to S903, and if the determination in S902 is NO, the process proceeds to S1401.

[0085] In S1401, the print data editing unit 208 determines, from the acquired print setting information, whether a function requiring 180-degree rotation of drawing data is set on the print setting screen 801. That is, it determines whether a function is set that controls changing the orientation of drawing data so that the downstream side of the paper transport direction corresponds to the bottom edge of the drawing data and the upstream side corresponds to the top edge of the drawing data. Specifically, if the staple setting 1201 on the print setting screen 801 in FIG. 13 is set to "upper left," it is determined that a function requiring 180-degree rotation of drawing data is set. That is, for the paper size registered in the PDC in S1302 of FIG. 13 and reflected in the OS in S1303, it is determined in S1401 that a function requiring 180-degree rotation of drawing data is set. If the determination in S1402 is YES, the process proceeds to S903. If the determination in S1401 is NO, the process proceeds to S905.

[0086] FIG. 16 illustrates a printout resulting from printing when a function requiring 180-degree rotation of drawing data is enabled. The dashed line in the figure indicates the drawable area on the paper. In this embodiment, the printing device 102 can perform stapling on the trailing edge of the paper, and the print settings specify the "upper left" position on the paper. When a function requiring 180-degree rotation of drawing data is enabled on the print setting screen 801, the drawing start position is not based on the original paper size specified in the PDC, but on a value obtained by swapping the top and bottom margin values ​​and the left and right margin values ​​of the paper size specified in the PDC. The drawing application 201 then generates drawing data based on this information. When a print instruction is issued, the drawing data, arranged in a drawing area based on the swapped top and bottom margin values ​​and the left and right margin values, is transmitted as intermediate data to the extension application 204, and the extension application 204 rotates the drawing data 180 degrees. As a result, the bottom edge of the print data is laid out and printed in the paper ejection direction. That is, since the drawing data is laid out so that the top edge of the drawing data is at the rear edge of the paper when it is discharged, stapling is performed on the top left of the drawing data printed on the paper.

[0087] As described above, when a function that requires the drawing data to be rotated 180 degrees, such as stapling, is set, the extension application 204 provides the drawing application with a paper size based on values ​​obtained by swapping the top and bottom margin values ​​and the left and right margin values ​​of the paper, allowing the drawing application to generate drawing data based on accurate margins. Furthermore, by rotating the drawing data generated by the drawing application by 180 degrees, the extension application 204 can print the drawing data in the accurate orientation. This allows stapling to be performed at the paper position specified by the user.

[0088] In the above-described embodiment, a case where the staple setting 1201 in FIG. 12 is set to "upper left" is given as an example of a case where a function requiring 180-degree rotation of drawing data is set. However, this is not limited to this. As long as stapling is performed upstream in the paper ejection direction, the present invention may also be applied when the staple setting 1201 in FIG. 12 is set to "upper right." Furthermore, depending on the layout of the drawing data on the paper, the top edge of the drawing data may correspond to the long edge of the paper. In this case, if the position where stapling is performed is set to a position that does not correspond to the upstream side in the paper ejection direction, it is determined that a function requiring 180-degree rotation of drawing data is set. For example, this may be the case when the upstream side in the paper ejection direction corresponds to the "upper right" or "lower right" of the paper and the position where stapling is performed is set to "upper left" or "lower left."

[0089] (Other embodiments) The above-described embodiments can also be realized by executing the following process. That is, software (programs) that realize the functions of the above-described embodiments are supplied to a system or device via a network or various storage media, and a computer (CPU, MPU, etc.) of the system or device reads and executes the program. The program may be executed by a single computer, or may be executed by multiple computers in cooperation with each other. Furthermore, it is not necessary to realize all of the above-described processes by software; some or all of the processes may be realized by hardware such as an ASIC. Furthermore, the CPU is not limited to one that performs all processes by a single CPU, and multiple CPUs may perform processes in cooperation with each other as appropriate.

[0090] Furthermore, the functions of the above-described embodiments are not only realized by a computer reading and executing the program code, but also include cases where an operating system running on a computer performs some or all of the actual processing based on the instructions of the program code, thereby realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments. [Explanation of symbols]

[0091] 101 host computer 102 Printing device 201 Drawing Applications 202 Printing data generation software 203 Printing function information 204 Extended Applications

Claims

[Claim 1] An extension application that extends the functionality of print data generation software by associating a plurality of printing devices provided by different vendors with print data generation software that can be commonly used, On the computer, executing an acquisition step of acquiring drawing data including image data and a margin area corresponding to an area where the image data is not printed, and information regarding print settings including information regarding a paper sheet on which the drawing data is to be printed; When the print settings are set to be subject to a first control that changes the orientation of the drawing data so that the drawing data is printed on the paper in an orientation in which the downstream side in a transport direction when the paper is transported to a printing device that executes a print process of the drawing data corresponds to the bottom side of the drawing data and the upstream side corresponds to the top side of the drawing data, the first control is executed, The program is characterized in that, when the print settings do not include settings that are subject to the first control, the first control is not executed.

Images