Print control device, print control method and program

Abstract

To provide a print control device, print control method, and program, which allow for preventing unintended print results from being generated.SOLUTION: A print control device comprises: setting means for setting whether to enable printing using a coloring material of a specific color; and notification means configured to notify predetermined information based on the fact that given data corresponding to a color printed with the coloring material of the specific color is not present in print data even though the printing using the coloring material of the specific color is enabled.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 13

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a print control device, a print control method, and a program for performing desired spot color printing on an image output device. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for replacing specific color information (RGB values) with a pre-specified spot color during printing. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2016-103695 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] It is desirable to avoid unintended results when performing spot color printing. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a print control device, a print control method, and a program that can prevent unintended print results from occurring. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] Therefore, the print control device of the present invention is a print control device that can instruct an image output device capable of printing using a color material of a specific color to print based on print data, and includes a setting means that executes a setting as to whether or not printing using a color material of the specific color is enabled, and a notification means that notifies predetermined information when predetermined data corresponding to a color to be printed using the color material of the specific color is not present in the print data even though printing using the color material of the specific color is set to be enabled. When the setting is made by the setting means, a preview setting is turned on to display the print contents on a preview screen before printing. It is characterized by: Effect of the Invention

[0006] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a print control device, a print control method, and a program that can prevent unintended print results from occurring. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the printing system. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a printing system that performs spot color printing. [Diagram 3] FIG. 13 illustrates an example of an application. [Figure 4] FIG. 13 illustrates a print setting dialog. [Diagram 5] This is a table that represents drawing objects and the fill and line colors specified for the drawings. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a print setting ticket. [Figure 7] 13 is a flowchart showing a preview display process. [Figure 8] 4 is an example of a preview screen displayed by a print preview display unit. [Figure 9] 11 is a flowchart showing a spot color preview display process. [Figure 10] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a spooled PDF file. [Figure 11] FIG. 13 illustrates a print setting ticket. [Figure 12] 11 is a flowchart showing a spot color failure printing prevention process. [Figure 13] 11 is a flowchart showing a spot color printing advance determination process. [Figure 14] 13 is a flowchart showing a spot color warning process. [Figure 15] 13A and 13B are diagrams illustrating examples of spot color printing warning alerts. [Figure 16] 10 is a flowchart showing a process when a print instruction is given. [Figure 17]FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a print setting ticket. [Figure 18] 13 is an example of a preview screen displayed by a print preview display unit. [Figure 19] 10 is a flowchart showing a process executed when a print instruction is given. [Figure 20] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating each drawing object. [Figure 21] 11 is a flowchart showing a spot color printing advance determination process. [Figure 22] 13 shows a spot color printing thin line warning setting dialog. FIG. [Figure 23] 13A and 13B are diagrams illustrating a print warning alert and a spot color preview display. [Figure 24] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating each drawing object. [Diagram 25] 10 is a flowchart showing a spot color printing advance determination process. [Figure 26] 13 shows a setting dialog for spot color print minimum warning. FIG. [Figure 27] 13A and 13B are diagrams illustrating a print warning alert and a spot color preview display. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0008] (First embodiment) A first embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings.

[0009] 1 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of a printing system according to this embodiment. The host computer 101 is an example of an information processing device, and includes 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 a display device such as a display unit 119 is connected to the output interface 115.

[0010] An initialization program is stored in the ROM 112, and application programs, an operating system (OS), a printer driver, and various other data are stored in the external storage device 114. The RAM 113 is used as a work memory or the like when the various programs stored in the external storage device 114 are executed.

[0011] The image output device 102, which is a device, is connected to the host computer 101 via an input / output interface 116. Here, the host computer 101 and the image output device 102 are configured separately, but they may be configured as one information processing device. Note that, although the image output device will be described as an inkjet printer that prints by ejecting ink onto a paper surface, printing may be performed by other methods (for example, electrophotography).

[0012] In this embodiment, an inkjet printer equipped with spot color inks will be described as an example. Furthermore, the image output device of this embodiment will be described as a large-format inkjet printer capable of printing on large-sized recording media such as A0 and B0. The host computer 101 may be a desktop personal computer, a smartphone, or a notebook computer.

[0013] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a printing system that performs spot color printing. Spot color printing is printing using special inks (spot color inks) other than the general inks CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black). The special inks are inks of specific colors other than CMYK. The spot color is a color printed using spot color inks. In this embodiment, the spot color is not limited to a color printed using only spot color inks, but may be a color printed using a mixture of spot color ink and other inks. In this embodiment, fluorescent pink ink is used as the spot color ink. However, this is not limited to this form, and the number and color of the special inks may be arbitrary. For example, violet ink, green ink, and orange ink may be used as the spot color ink. The application 202 is software that creates the content to be printed, and corresponds to an image editing application that creates poster data, for example. The user specifies a specific RGB data value for the text or graphics image data to be printed using spot color printing, which will be described later, on the application 202. When the application 202 receives a print request from a user, it issues a print instruction to the OS 201. Upon receiving the print instruction, the OS 201 entrusts subsequent printing-related processing to its own OS print system (not shown). Here, the following explanation will be given assuming that the OS print system operates in cooperation with a printer driver 203 provided by an image output device vendor.

[0014] When the OS printing system receives a print request from the application 202, it requests the printer driver 203 to display a print setting screen, and the printer driver 203 displays the print setting screen through the user interface unit 204. The print setting screen will be described later, but it is possible to specify the paper size, paper type, etc., and to specify spot color printing. Furthermore, when a print preview display setting is made on the print setting screen and a print instruction is given from the print setting screen, the OS printing system, application 202, and printer driver 203 cooperate to start a print preview application 206 before printing.

[0015] Print data to be printed from the application 202 is passed as a spool file to the print preview application 206 via the OS printing system. In this embodiment, an example is shown in which a PDF file is used as the format of the spool file, but the format of the spool file is not limited to this. Also, print settings set on the print setting screen are passed from the printer driver 203 to the print preview application 206 via the OS printing system. In this embodiment, an example is shown in which ticket-format print settings are used as the format of the print settings, but the format of the print settings is not limited to this.

[0016] Thereafter, a print preview control unit 208 generates a preview print image and print layout information from the spooled PDF file and the print setting ticket, and a print preview display unit 207 displays a preview so that one page of print data fits on one screen. The print preview application 206 also has a spot color print preview function that displays a preview of the spot color printing area, making it possible to confirm which parts of the image will be used with spot color ink before printing. The user checks the print image and print layout, and when they are sure that the print will be as desired, they issue a print instruction using the print preview application 206.

[0017] In response to a print instruction from the print setting screen or print preview application 206, the spooled PDF file and print setting ticket of the application 202 are passed to the graphics processing unit 205 of the printer driver 203 via the OS printing system. The graphics processing unit 205 converts these data into a data format that can be interpreted by the image output device 102, and transmits them to the image output device 102. In this embodiment, the spooled PDF file is converted into an image data format that can be interpreted by the image output device 102 through a rendering engine provided in the OS printing system or the graphics processing unit 205 in accordance with the print settings.

[0018] After that, ink is discharged from the recording head to form an image on the recording medium fed to the image output device 102. If spot color printing is set here, the designated spot color ink is discharged to form an image of the data portion designated for spot color printing in the print data.

[0019] In this embodiment, an example of the image output device 102 capable of printing using two kinds of spot color inks when spot color printing is set by the printer driver 203 will be described. When spot color printing is set by the printer driver 203, pixels having specific RBG values ​​corresponding to the set spot color among the print data are printed using the spot color ink. In this embodiment, the specific RGB values ​​are, for example, R=255 (0xFF), G=0 (0x00), B=255 (0xFF), and pixels having the corresponding RBG values ​​are printed in fluorescent pink by using fluorescent pink ink. Also, the specific RGB values ​​are, for example, R=255 (0xFF), G=85 (0x55), B=0 (0x00), and pixels having the corresponding RBG values ​​are printed in orange by mixing fluorescent pink ink with M and Y inks. Note that, for example, if orange ink is available as a spot color ink, orange printing may be performed by using only orange ink. That is, pixels of specific RBG values ​​corresponding to spot colors need only be printed using at least spot color ink, and may or may not be printed by mixing with CMYK ink. Note that even in spot color printing, pixels that are not pixels of specific RBG values ​​corresponding to spot colors are printed using only CMYK ink. Also, spot color printing is performed when spot color printing is enabled by a user operation. That is, when the spot color printing setting is not enabled, pixels of specific RBG values ​​corresponding to spot colors are also printed using only CMYK ink by referring to the RBG values ​​as usual.

[0020] When the printer driver 103 enables the spot color print setting and the RGB values ​​of a pixel included in the print data are R=255 (0xFF), G=0 (0x00), and B=255 (0xFF), spot color printing using fluorescent pink ink is possible in the image output device 102. When the printer driver 103 enables the spot color print setting and the RGB values ​​of a pixel included in the print data to be transmitted are R=255 (0xFF), G=85 (0x55), and B=0 (0x00), spot color printing using fluorescent orange ink is possible. On the other hand, if the printer driver 103 enables the spot color print setting but the print data does not include a pixel having the above-mentioned specific RGB value corresponding to spot color printing, spot color printing is not possible. When spot color printing is not possible, an error (warning) is notified in this embodiment.

[0021] When performing spot color printing, the user first creates content on the application 202 and specifies specific RGB data values ​​corresponding to the aforementioned spot color inks in specific areas of the text or graphics image data that the user wants to print using the spot color inks.

[0022] 3 is a diagram showing an example of the application 202 in this embodiment, and is a diagram showing an example screen of a poster data creation application 311. The poster data creation application 311 has a toolbar button 300, an image data display area 301, an image data editing area 302, an object selection frame 303, an object color editing tab menu 304, and an object size change tab menu 305. Furthermore, the poster data creation application 314 has an R value change control 306, a G value change control 307, a B value change control 308, a print button 309, and an end button 310.

[0023] Toolbar buttons 300 are used to select application functions such as undoing and redoing editing operations, creating text objects, creating graphics objects, creating image data objects, changing the display magnification, displaying application help, and selecting objects. Image data display area 301 displays image data created by the user. In image data editing area 302, the user can use pointing device 117 to select any object, move the selected object, and edit image data. Object selection frame 303 indicates to the user that an object has been selected when the user selects it. In this example, it shows that the text object "SALE" has been selected.

[0024] When the object color edit tab menu 304 is selected, controls for changing the color of the currently selected object are displayed. When the object size change tab menu 305 is selected, controls for changing the size of the currently selected object are displayed. Here, the object color edit tab menu 304 is selected, and an R value change control 306, a G value change control 307, and a B value change control 308 for changing the RGB values ​​of the object are displayed.

[0025] The R, G, and B value controls can be set to values ​​between 0 and 255 by directly entering a value on the keyboard 118 or by selecting a button to the right of the control with the pointing device 117. The entered value is also displayed as a hexadecimal number below each control. In this example, the RGB values ​​of the text object "SALE" enclosed in the object selection frame 303 are set to R=255 (0xFF), G=0 (0x00), and B=255 (0xFF). As described above, these RGB values ​​specify the color that will be printed using ink of a specific color.

[0026] In this embodiment, the data generation color space of the application 202 and the color space of the print data generated by the rendering engine of the printer driver 203 are assumed to be the sRGB color space, which is a standard RGB color space. In addition, for the sake of simplicity, it is assumed that there is no influence of color matching processing. In addition, the data generation color space of the application 202 and the color space of the print data generated by the rendering engine of the OS print system are also assumed to be the sRGB color space, which is a standard RGB color space, and in order to the sake of simplicity, it is assumed that there is no influence of color matching processing. In other words, it is assumed that the RGB values ​​expressed by the application 202 match the RGB values ​​of the pixels included in the print data generated by the printer driver 203 or the rendering engine of the OS print system. As a result, when spot color printing is specified in the image output device 102, the print data of R=255 (0xFF), G=0 (0x00), B=255 (0xFF) becomes data to be printed in a fluorescent pink spot color. In addition, the following description will be given assuming that the RGB values ​​of other image objects displayed in the image data editing area 302 are RGB values ​​other than these values.

[0027] When the user selects and presses the print button 309, the image data displayed in the image data editing area 302 is printed. When the user presses the end button 310, the poster data creation application is terminated.

[0028] Returning to FIG. 2, when application 202 (poster data creation application 311) receives a print request from a user, it issues a print instruction to OS 201. Upon receiving the print instruction, OS 201 entrusts subsequent printing-related processing to its own OS printing system (not shown). Here, the OS printing system operates in cooperation with printer driver 203.

[0029] 4 is a diagram showing a print setting dialog 400 in this embodiment. When the printer driver 203 receives a print instruction from the application 202 via the OS print system, the user interface unit 204 displays the print setting dialog 400. The user can obtain a desired printed matter from the image output device 102 by configuring various print settings on the print setting dialog 400.

[0030] The print setting dialog 400 includes printer settings 401, number of copies settings 402, print page settings 403, controls 404, paper size settings 405, paper type settings 406, print quality settings 407, and paper feed method settings 408. The print setting dialog 400 further includes fluorescent pink spot color print settings 409, orange spot color print settings 410, print preview settings 411, a cancel button 412, and a print button 413.

[0031] Printer setting 401 allows a user to select from a list the print queue of the image output device 102 that has been registered in advance in the OS printing system. Number of copies setting 402 allows the user to set the number of copies to be printed. Print page setting 403 allows the user to select printing all pages or printing a specified range of pages using a radio button, and if printing a specified range of pages is selected, the user can specify the page range to be printed using control 404. Paper size setting 405 allows the user to select from a list the paper size, such as A1 or A2, to be printed by the image output device 102, and the outer dimensions of the selected paper size are also displayed. Paper type setting 406 allows the user to select from a list the type of paper supported by the image output device 102, such as plain paper or glossy paper.

[0032] The print quality setting 407 allows the user to select from a list the print quality, such as fast, standard, or fine, when printing with the image output device 102. In this embodiment, the set value of the print quality setting 407 corresponds to the print resolution when printing with the image output device 102, with fast corresponding to 300 dpi, standard corresponding to 600 dpi, and fine corresponding to 600 dpi.

[0033] The paper feed method setting 408 allows the user to select from a list the method of feeding paper in the image output device 102, such as roll paper or cut paper. The print setting dialogue 400 is provided with a fluorescent pink spot color print setting 409 and an orange spot color print setting 410 that can be specified. The fluorescent pink spot color print setting 409 is an area that accepts a selection of whether or not to enable spot color printing (fluorescent pink spot color printing) for printing pixels having RGB values ​​corresponding to fluorescent pink in fluorescent pink. Note that if the fluorescent pink spot color printing is not enabled, pixels having RGB values ​​corresponding to fluorescent pink are printed in a color other than fluorescent pink. Therefore, this area can also be said to be an area for accepting a setting regarding whether to print pixels having a specific RGB value in fluorescent pink or in a color other than fluorescent pink. It can also be said to be an area for accepting a setting of whether to print using spot color ink or to print using normal ink such as CMYK ink without using spot color ink. In the fluorescent pink spot color print setting 409, when the check box is on, if there is a pixel having an RGB value corresponding to fluorescent pink among the pixels included in the print data generated by the printer driver 203, the image output device 102 prints with fluorescent pink spot color ink. When the check box is off, even if there is a pixel having an RGB value corresponding to fluorescent pink among the pixels included in the print data generated by the printer driver 203, an image expressing the RGB value with process color ink such as CMYK is formed, and fluorescent pink spot color ink (color material) is not used. In other words, by checking the check box of the fluorescent pink spot color print setting 409 to turn it on, pixels having an RGB value corresponding to fluorescent pink are printed with a color printed using a spot color. Similarly, the orange spot color print setting 410 is an area that accepts a selection of whether or not to enable spot color printing (orange spot color printing) for printing pixels having an RGB value corresponding to orange in orange. Note that, like fluorescent pink, if orange spot color printing is not enabled, pixels having an RGB value corresponding to orange are printed in a color other than orange.Therefore, this area can be said to be an area for receiving a setting as to whether a pixel having a specific RGB value is printed in orange or in a color other than orange. When the check box of the orange spot color print setting 410 is on, if the print data generated by the printer driver 203 contains a pixel having an RGB value corresponding to orange, the image output device 102 uses orange spot color ink for printing. When the check box is off, even if the print data generated by the printer driver 203 contains a pixel having an RGB value corresponding to orange, an image is formed in which the RGB value is expressed by process color inks such as CMYK, and the orange spot color ink is not used. In the above description, only fluorescent pink and orange can be set as spot colors used in spot color printing, but this is not limited to the above. A number of spot colors other than two can also be set.

[0034] The setting related to spot colors is not limited to the above-mentioned method. For example, the image output device 102 first displays an area for receiving a setting for whether or not to enable spot color printing on the printer driver 203. Then, when a setting for executing spot color printing is received by an operation on the area, a setting for whether or not to enable spot color printing for each color may be received by the above-mentioned print settings 409 and 410.

[0035] When the check box of the print preview setting 411 is on and the print button 413 is selected, the print preview application 206 is launched. The cancel button 412 is selected to return to the state before the main print setting dialog was displayed without printing. When the print button 413 is selected and the print preview setting 411 is off, the print data to be printed by the application 202 and the print setting values ​​set in the main print setting dialog are passed to the graphics processing unit 205 via the OS printing system. When the print button 413 is pressed in the state of each control shown in the print setting dialog 400, the spooled PDF file shown in FIG. 5 and the print setting ticket shown in FIG. 6, which will be described later, are sent to the graphics processing unit 205 or the print preview control unit 208.

[0036] Fig. 5(a) is a schematic diagram of each drawing object included in a spooled PDF file, and Fig. 5(b) is a table showing the fill color and line color specified for drawing each drawing object. The drawing objects in Fig. 5 include two types of drawing objects: graphics objects and text objects. Graphics objects include drawing commands for lines and fills, and colors are specified as the line color and fill color, respectively. Text objects include drawing commands for text, and the text color is specified as the fill color. Fig. 5(b) shows the fill color and line color of each such drawing object.

[0037] The graphics object 500, which corresponds to the background, has fill and line colors of R=0 (0x00), G=255 (0xFF), and B=80 (0xFF). The graphics objects 501, 502, and 503 have line colors of R=0 (0x00), G=0 (0x00), and B=0 (0x00), and fill colors of R=255 (0xFF), G=255 (0xFF), and B=0 (0x00). The text object 504 has the text "SALE" specified with colors of R=255 (0xFF), G=0 (0x00), and B=255 (0xFF). The graphics object 505 has fill and line colors of R=255 (0xFF), G=0 (0x00), and B=0 (0x00).

[0038] Text object 506 has the text "UP TO 50% OFF" specified in front of graphics object 505 with colors R=255 (0xFF), G=255 (0xFF), B=255 (0xFF). Graphics object 507 has line colors R=244 (0xCC), G=0 (0x00), B=244 (0xCC) and fill colors R=255 (0xFF), G=255 (0xFF), B=0 (0x00). Also, assume that the MediaBox of this spooled PDF file is set to a width of 420.0 mm and a height of 594.0 mm.

[0039] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a schematic representation of a print setting ticket 600. The print setting ticket 600 is generated from values ​​set in the print setting dialog 400. In the print setting ticket 600, a printer setting 601 corresponds to the printer setting 401, and indicates that the print queue name "Large Format Printer" is set as the output destination. A number of copies setting 602 corresponds to the number of copies setting 402, and indicates that printing one copy is set. A print page setting 603 corresponds to the print page setting 403, and indicates that page 1 is set as the start page and page 1 is set as the end page. A paper type setting 604 corresponds to the paper type setting 406, and indicates that Canon coated paper is set. A print quality setting 605 corresponds to the print quality setting 407, and indicates that a print resolution of 600 dpi is set.

[0040] A paper feed method setting 606 corresponds to the paper feed method setting 408, and indicates that roll paper feed is set. A paper size setting 607 corresponds to the paper size setting 405, and indicates that the paper size name A2, the paper width and height, and the top, bottom, left, and right margins are set in units of 1 / 100 mm. A fluorescent pink spot color print setting 608 corresponds to the fluorescent pink spot color print setting 409, and indicates that fluorescent pink spot color printing is set. A orange spot color print setting 609 corresponds to the orange spot color print setting 410, and indicates that orange spot color printing is not set. A print preview setting 610 corresponds to the print preview setting 411, and indicates that a setting has been made to launch the print preview application 206.

[0041] Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing the preview display process in this embodiment, and Figs. 8(a) and (b) are examples of a preview screen displayed by print preview display unit 207. Print preview application 206 is made up of print preview display unit 207 and print preview control unit 208. Preview application 206 is started when print preview setting 411 in print setting dialog 400 is in the ON state and print button 413 is selected. After starting, print preview control unit 208 executes preview display process shown in the flowchart in Fig. 7 described later, and print preview display unit 207 displays a print preview.

[0042] Prior to describing the flowchart in FIG. 7, the preview screen in FIG. 8 will be described first. Toolbar button 800 changes the display magnification. In print preview image display area 801, a print image is displayed together with a print layout. In preview roll paper width setting 802, the roll paper widths that can be fed by the image output device 102 are listed. The roll paper width set in preview roll paper width setting 802 may be obtained by the print preview control unit 208 and selected as the roll paper width currently fed in the image output device 102, or the user may select any roll paper width from the list. The roll paper width set in preview roll paper width setting 802 is reflected in the print layout image displayed in print preview image display area 801. In spot color preview setting 803, if a check box is on, a data area in which spot color ink is used in the image output device 102 is displayed in print preview image display area 801.

[0043] The preview display process in this embodiment will be described below with reference to the flowchart in FIG. 7 and the start-up screen in FIG. 8(a). Here, as shown in FIG. 8(a), the spot color preview setting 803 is off, with no check in the check box. Here, the print preview application 206 will be described assuming that the spot color preview setting 803 is set to off as an initial value. Note that the spot color preview setting 803 may also be set to off as an initial value. Also, if the spot color preview setting 803 is set to off as an initial value, when the user unchecks the check box to turn it off, the process in FIG. 7 described below will be performed. Note that this initial value may be arbitrarily set in advance by the user.

[0044] 7 is performed by the CPU 111 of the host computer 101 by loading the program code stored in the ROM 112 into the external storage device 114 and executing it. Alternatively, some or all of the functions of the steps in FIG. 7 may be realized by hardware such as an ASIC or an electronic circuit.

[0045] When the preview display process starts, in S701, under the control of the CPU 111, the print preview control unit 208 acquires a spool file and print settings. Here, the spool PDF file shown in FIG. 5 and the print setting ticket shown in FIG. 6 are acquired. Next, in S702, under the control of the CPU 111, the print preview control unit 208 acquires a preview roll paper width. Here, it is assumed that the print preview control unit 208 acquires an A2 / A3 roll (420.0 mm) in which the roll paper width fed by the image output device 102 is 420.0 mm. Next, in S703, under the control of the CPU 111, the print preview control unit 208 renders the spool PDF file based on the acquired print settings.

[0046] Here, the print settings to be referenced are the print resolution of 600 dpi shown in 605 of the print setting ticket, but print setting values ​​that depend on preview image generation are not limited to this. Although not illustrated in the print setting dialog 400, for example, if monochrome printing is set, the print preview control unit 208 may render the spooled PDF file into a monochrome image.

[0047] For rendering, a rendering engine that is actually used when the printer driver 203 generates print data for the image output device 102, such as a rendering engine of the OS printing system or a rendering engine of the graphics processing unit 205, is used. Also, as described above, in this embodiment, for the sake of simplicity, it is assumed that rendering is not affected by color matching. In this case, a preview image is generated at a resolution of 600 dpi by the rendering engine of the OS printing system.

[0048] In this embodiment, rendering is performed at 600 dpi, which corresponds to the print resolution, but rendering may be performed at a resolution lower than the print resolution to improve processing performance and display performance. However, when rendering is performed at a resolution lower than the print resolution, the pixels of the image data that are to be printed may not be visible on the print preview. Next, in S704, under the control of the CPU 111, the print preview control unit 208 generates print layout information from the acquired print settings and preview roll paper width. Here, print layout information is generated for the case where the paper setting value shown in 607 of the print setting ticket, A2 size (outer dimensions 420.0 x 594.0 mm, top, bottom, left and right margins 3 mm), is printed on roll paper of width 420.0 mm acquired as the preview roll paper width.

[0049] Next, under the control of the CPU 111 in S705, the print preview display unit 207 displays a preview image in the print preview image display area 801 using the print preview image and print layout information generated by the print preview control unit 208. Then, the process ends. In S705, a print preview is displayed that allows the user to recognize that the print data edited in the image data editing area 302 will be printed in A2 size (outer dimensions 420x594 mm, top, bottom, left and right margins 3 mm) on roll paper with a width of 420.0 mm, as shown in FIG. 8(a). This print preview display allows the user to know, before printing, where and how the data to be printed from the application will be printed on the roll paper.

[0050] Furthermore, if the user changes the roll paper width to be previewed in Preview Roll Paper Width Setting 802, the preview roll paper width acquired in S702 of the preview display process shown in Fig. 7 becomes the roll paper width in Preview Roll Paper Width Setting 802, and the subsequent display process proceeds. This allows the user to understand the print results when the roll paper is changed before printing.

[0051] Furthermore, when cut paper is selected in the paper feed method setting 408 and the preview application 206 is started, the preview roll paper width setting 802 is not displayed, and a preview of cut paper printing is displayed in the print preview image display area 801. In this case, the print preview control unit 208 does not perform the process of S702, and generates print layout information for cut paper without using the roll paper width in the process of S704.

[0052] Fig. 9 is a flowchart showing the spot color preview display process in this embodiment. Hereinafter, the spot color preview display process when the spot color preview setting 803 is turned on or when it is set to on as the initial value will be described with reference to the flowchart in Fig. 9 and the preview screen example in Fig. 8(b). Note that the series of processes shown in Fig. 9 are performed by the CPU 111 of the host computer 101 loading the program code stored in the ROM 112 into the external storage device 114 and executing it. Alternatively, some or all of the functions of the steps in Fig. 9 may be realized by hardware such as an ASIC or an electronic circuit.

[0053] The processing from S901 to S903 is similar to the processing from S701 to S703 in FIG. 7, and therefore the description thereof will be omitted.

[0054] In S904, under the control of the CPU 111, the print preview control unit 208 acquires the spot color print setting from the print setting. Here, the print preview control unit 208 acquires the fluorescent pink spot color print setting value 608 and the orange spot color print setting value 609 of the print setting ticket, and acquires that fluorescent pink spot color printing is set to be enabled. Next, in S905, under the control of the CPU 111, the print preview control unit 208 generates a spot color preview image by extracting the spot color print pixels in the preview image generated in S903.

[0055] Here, pixels with pixel values ​​(RGB values ​​in this embodiment) of print pixels corresponding to fluorescent pink spot color printing, R=255 (0xFF), G=0 (0x00), B=255 (0xFF), are extracted from the preview image generated in S903. After that, an image is generated in which pixels other than the extracted pixels have RGB values ​​of R=255 (0xFF), G=255 (0xFF), B=255 (0xFF) that are white. This generates a spot color preview image that represents print pixels in which fluorescent pink spot color ink is used. Also, if the orange spot color print setting value is set to be valid in S904, a similar process is performed to generate an image in which pixels other than the corresponding print pixels have RGB values ​​that are white, thereby generating an orange spot color preview image.

[0056] Next, in S906, under the control of the CPU 111, the print preview control unit 208 generates print layout information, but since this process is similar to that of S704 in Fig. 7, a description thereof will be omitted here. Next, in S907, under the control of the CPU 111, the print preview control unit 208 uses the spot color print preview image and the print layout information, and the print preview display unit 207 displays a preview image in the print preview image display area 801. In this case, as shown in Fig. 8(b), in addition to the print layout, a print preview is displayed that allows the user to recognize which portion of the print data edited in the image data editing area 302 will be printed using spot color ink on roll paper with a width of 420.0 mm.

[0057] Here, it is difficult to display a color such as fluorescent pink ink on a display unit 119 such as a general display that reproduces a color space such as sRGB or Adobe RGB. Therefore, when displaying a preview of such spot color ink, it is possible to display an approximate color in the print preview image display area 801. Also, it is possible to display the color of the ink to be used in text together with an image in the print preview image display area 801, such as "The area in which fluorescent pink ink is used is displayed." This makes it possible to convey to the user an image of the ink that will actually be used.

[0058] These print preview displays allow the user to know, before printing, which parts of the data that the user is attempting to print from an application will be printed using spot color ink, thereby preventing printing failures.

[0059] The user checks the print preview display and the spot color print preview display, and if the user finds that the desired result can be obtained, presses the print button 804. If the user finds that the desired result cannot be obtained, the user presses the end button 805 to end the print preview application 206, re-edits the print data in the application 202 or changes the print settings on the print setting dialog 400, and prints again. When the print button 804 is selected, as described above, the PDF file and the print setting ticket are passed to the graphics processing unit 205 of the printer driver 203 via the OS printing system. The graphics processing unit 205 then converts these data into a data format that can be interpreted by the image output device 102, and transmits them to the image output device 102, and the image output device 102 ejects ink from the print head to form an image on the fed recording medium.

[0060] In this way, RGB values ​​for making the data of the portion to be printed in spot color are set using poster data creation application 311. Furthermore, settings for using spot color ink can be made using poster data creation application 311, and printing can be performed using spot color for desired objects. Also, by displaying a print preview screen and switching the display of the spot color preview, the user can check whether the spot color settings are appropriate.

[0061] So far, an example has been described in which the user sets RGB values ​​for using spot color ink in the data for the portion to be spot color printed in application 202, and sets the printer driver 203 to use spot color ink, thereby obtaining the desired result. However, if the user makes a mistake in the setting values ​​when inputting the RGB values ​​in poster data creation application 311, the intended result will not be obtained in the printed result. Below, an operation will be described when the user makes a mistake in the spot color printing settings.

[0062] On the screen of the poster data creation application 311 shown in FIG. 3, assume that the color of the text object selected in the object selection frame 303 is set as RGB values ​​of R=255 (0xFF), G=10 (0x0A), and B=255 (0xFF). This means that the user wants to print this text object in a fluorescent pink spot color, and so incorrect RGB values ​​are set, although R=255 (0xFF), G=0 (0x00), and B=255 (0xFF) should be set. In this state, the print result intended by the user cannot be obtained. However, the user is unaware of the mistake and presses the print button 309, and then presses the print button 413 on the displayed print setting dialog 400 with the print preview setting 411 turned off.

[0063] As a result, the spooled PDF file shown in Fig. 10 and the print setting ticket shown in Fig. 11 are sent to the graphics processing unit 205 via the OS printing system. In the spooled PDF file shown in Fig. 10, an object 1004 corresponding to the text object 504 in the spooled PDF file shown in Fig. 5 described above has fill colors set to R=255 (0xFF), G=10 (0x0A), and B=255 (0xFF).

[0064] 11, the print preview setting 1110 corresponding to the print preview setting 610 of the print setting ticket shown in Fig. 6 described above is set to Off. Also, the fluorescent pink spot color print setting 1108 is set to On. The graphics processing unit 205 converts this data into a data format that can be interpreted by the image output device 102, and sends it to the image output device 102. However, even though the fluorescent pink spot color print setting is On, the print data does not contain pixels with RGB values ​​(R=255, G=0, B=255) that correspond to the fluorescent pink spot color, so spot color printing using fluorescent pink ink is not performed, resulting in a printing failure.

[0065] It is possible to check the area where spot color ink will be used on the preview display screen by turning on the print preview setting 411 and the spot color preview setting 803 on the print setting dialog 400. However, if the user does not perform this operation, printing will fail.

[0066] In this embodiment, a method for suppressing the occurrence of such failed printing in which the intended result is not obtained will be described.

[0067] FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the spot color failure printing prevention process in this embodiment. Hereinafter, the spot color failure printing prevention process in this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG. 12. The series of processes shown in FIG. 12 are performed by the graphics processing unit 205 or the print preview control unit 208, by the CPU 111 of the host computer 101 expanding the program code stored in the ROM 112 to the external storage device 114 and executing it. Alternatively, some or all of the functions of the steps in FIG. 12 may be realized by hardware such as an ASIC or an electronic circuit. In addition, in the case of the OS 210 in which the graphics processing unit 205 cannot execute this process due to the execution authority of the OS, it is possible for the print preview control unit 208 to execute it. In that case, the user interface unit 204 and the OS printing system cooperate with each other, and when the print button 413 on the print setting dialog 400 is selected, the print preview control unit 208 executes this process. Here, a case in which the print preview control unit 208 executes this process will be described as an example.

[0068] When the print button 413 is pressed, in S1201, under the control of the CPU 111, the print preview control unit 208 acquires the spooled PDF file shown in FIG. 10 and the print setting ticket shown in FIG. 11 via the OS print system. Next, in S1202, under the control of the CPU 111, the print preview control unit 208 determines whether spot color printing has been set from the print setting ticket. In this case, since the fluorescent pink spot color print setting 1108 is On, it is determined that the fluorescent pink spot color print setting has been set. Here, if both the fluorescent pink spot color print setting 1108 and the orange spot color print setting 1109 are Off, it is determined that the spot color print setting has not been set, and this process ends. Next, in S1203, under the control of the CPU 111, the print preview control unit 208 performs a spot color printing advance determination process.

[0069] Fig. 13 is a flowchart showing the spot color printing advance judgment process. The spot color printing advance judgment process will now be described. Note that the series of processes shown in Fig. 13 is performed by the graphics processing unit 205 or the print preview control unit 208 when the CPU 111 of the host computer 101 loads the program code stored in the ROM 112 into the external storage device 114 and executes it. Alternatively, some or all of the functions of the steps in Fig. 13 may be realized by hardware such as an ASIC or electronic circuit.

[0070] When the spot color printing advance determination process is started, in S1301, under the control of the CPU 111, the print preview control unit 208 renders the spooled PDF file at the resolution of the acquired print settings. In this case, the print preview control unit 208 renders the spooled PDF file at 600 dpi, which is the print resolution 1106, using the rendering engine of the OS print system. Next, in S1302, under the control of the CPU 111, the print preview control unit 208 searches within the generated rendered image pixels to check whether the RGB values ​​designated for the spot color are included. Here, the print preview control unit 208 checks whether the RGB values ​​R=255 (0xFF), G=0 (0x00), and B=255 (0xFF), which are corresponding to the fluorescent pink spot color print settings, are included. In this case, since there is no color matching effect of the OS rendering engine as described above, the RGB values ​​of each pixel in the rendered image will be one of the RGB values ​​shown in FIG. 10(b). In other words, the RGB values ​​R=255 (0xFF), G=0 (0x00), and B=255 (0xFF) corresponding to the fluorescent pink spot color print setting are not included. Next, in S1303, under the control of the CPU 111, the print preview control unit 208 determines whether or not the spot color designated RGB value is included. In this case, since it is not included, the process proceeds to S1305, the determination result is determined as failure, and this process ends. On the other hand, if the spot color designated RGB value is included, the process proceeds to S1304, the determination result is determined as success, and this process ends. In this way, by determining whether or not there is predetermined data associated with the spot color, the spot color printing pre-determination process ends, and the process returns to the flowchart in FIG. 12.

[0071] In S1204, under the control of the CPU 111, the print preview control unit 208 determines the result of the spot color printing pre-determination process. In this case, since the determination result was failure, the process proceeds to S1205, and the print preview control unit 208 issues a warning (notification) that the set spot color printing cannot be performed. If the determination result was success, it is determined that the desired spot color printing result has been obtained, and this process is terminated. Subsequent processing is performed by the graphics processing unit 205, and a spot color printed output can be obtained from the image output device 102.

[0072] Fig. 14 is a flow chart showing the spot color warning process in this embodiment, and Figs. 15(a) to (c) are diagrams showing an example of a spot color printing warning alert. Here, the spot color warning process will be described. Note that the series of processes shown in Fig. 14 are performed by the graphics processing unit 205 or the print preview control unit 208 when the CPU 111 of the host computer 101 loads the program code stored in the ROM 112 into the external storage device 114 and executes it. Alternatively, some or all of the functions of the steps in Fig. 14 may be realized by hardware such as an ASIC or electronic circuit.

[0073] When the spot color warning process starts, in S1401, under the control of the CPU 111, the print preview control unit 208 displays a spot color printing warning alert (predetermined information). FIG. 15A shows a spot color printing warning alert 1500 that displays a warning message indicating that spot color printing desired by the user cannot be performed. When spot color printing desired by the user cannot be performed as in this embodiment, the print preview control unit 208 displays the spot color printing warning alert 1500. The user checks this message, and if the user wishes to cancel printing, the user presses a cancel button 1501, or if the user wishes to continue printing, the user presses a continue printing button 1502.

[0074] Furthermore, as in this embodiment, when the print data of the application does not contain RGB values ​​for the print data corresponding to the spot color ink set as the print settings, a spot color printing warning alert 1503 as shown in Fig. 15(b) may be displayed. By displaying the warning message of the spot color printing warning alert 1503, the user can clearly see what to do to obtain the desired results.

[0075] Furthermore, if multiple spot color printing settings have been made, but the RGB values ​​of the print data corresponding to all of the set spot color inks are not included in the print data of the application, a spot color printing warning alert 1505 as shown in Fig. 15(c) may be displayed. In this case, when the user checks the print content on the preview screen and presses a confirm button 1506, the areas in which spot color inks are used can be confirmed in the print preview application 206. By checking the areas in which spot color inks are used in this way, the user can clearly see which parts need to be re-edited in the application to obtain the desired results.

[0076] When the user presses any button in the spot color printing warning alert, in S1402, under the control of the CPU 111, the print preview control unit 208 determines whether the pressed button is the print cancel button. If the pressed button is the print cancel button, the process proceeds to S1403, where the print preview control unit 208 cancels the current print job and ends this process. Here, if the pressed button is not the print cancel button, the process proceeds to S1404, where the print preview control unit 208 determines whether the pressed button is the print continue button.

[0077] If the pressed button is the Continue Printing button, the print preview control unit 208, under the control of the CPU 111 in S1405, instructs the OS print system to perform normal printing with the graphics processing unit 205, and ends this process. If the pressed button is not the Continue Printing button, the print preview control unit 208, under the control of the CPU 111 in S1406, performs processing for displaying the spot color preview shown in FIG. 9 when starting the print preview, and ends this process. Note that, in this embodiment, the processing shown in FIG. 9 is performed in S1406, and as a result, a preview screen as shown in FIG. 8(b) is displayed, but this is not limited to this. The processing shown in FIG. 7 may be performed in S1406, and as a result, a preview screen as shown in FIG. 8(a) may be displayed. Even in this case, the user can check the preview of spot color printing by switching the spot color preview setting 803 on and off. In this way, when the spot color printing setting is set, it is determined whether the spot color designated RGB value is included in the image pixel, and if not, a warning is issued that spot color printing cannot be performed. This makes it possible to provide a print control device, a print control method, and a program that can prevent unintended print results from occurring.

[0078] Second embodiment A second embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The basic configuration of this embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, so the characteristic configuration will be described below. In the first embodiment, an example was shown in which, when a user makes a mistake in the RGB values ​​of a portion to be spot-color printed in an application, a correction method is presented to prevent failed printing and to perform spot-color printing with the desired results. In this embodiment, an example of a configuration is described in which a print preview application is started and the RGB values ​​are changed on the preview, even if the user does not perform print preview settings.

[0079] In this embodiment, it is assumed that the user, like the first embodiment, specifies incorrect RGB values ​​for data to be printed in spot colors on the application 202 and issues a print instruction. The user then presses the print button 413 with the print preview setting 411 turned off in the print setting dialog displayed thereafter and shown in Fig. 4. Thereafter, in this embodiment, the user interface unit 204 executes the process at the time of the print instruction shown in Fig. 16, which will be described later.

[0080] Fig. 16 is a flowchart showing the process when a print instruction is given in this embodiment. The process when a print instruction is given in this embodiment will be described below with reference to the flowchart in Fig. 16. The series of processes shown in Fig. 16 are executed by the user interface unit 204 when the CPU 111 of the host computer 101 loads the program code stored in the ROM 112 into the external storage device 114 and executes it. Alternatively, some or all of the functions of the steps in Fig. 14 may be realized by hardware such as an ASIC or electronic circuit.

[0081] When processing at the time of a print instruction is started, in S1601, under the control of the CPU 111, the user interface unit 204 acquires the print settings set on the print setting dialog 400. Next, in S1602, under the control of the CPU 111, the user interface unit 204 determines whether a spot print color is set in the print settings, and if not, the process proceeds to S1606. In this example, a fluorescent pink spot color print setting is set, so the process proceeds to S1603. Next, in S1603, under the control of the CPU 111, the user interface unit 204 writes the spot color print determination setting as ON in the print setting ticket.

[0082] Fig. 17 is a diagram illustrating a print setting ticket in this embodiment. In addition to the items described in Figs. 6 and 11, the print setting ticket in this embodiment includes a spot color printing judgment setting 1711. Fig. 17 shows that the spot color printing judgment setting 1711 is on. If the spot color printing judgment setting is on, when the print preview application 206 is started, the print preview control unit 208 executes the spot color failed printing prevention process shown in Fig. 12 described above. Note that, unlike the first embodiment, the spot color failed printing prevention process in this embodiment displays a spot color preview instead of displaying a warning, as will be described later.

[0083] Next, under the control of the CPU 111 in S1604, the user interface unit 204 determines whether the print preview setting is set to ON in the print settings, and if it is set, the process proceeds to S1606. In this case, since the print preview setting is not set, the process proceeds to S1605. Next, under the control of the CPU 111 in S1605, the user interface unit 204 writes the print preview setting as ON in the print setting ticket. That is, in this embodiment, when the spot print color is set in the print settings, the print preview setting is turned ON even if the print preview setting is not set by the user. The print preview setting 1710 in FIG. 17 indicates that it has been changed to ON in this way. Next, under the control of the CPU 111 in S1606, the user interface unit 204 executes the normal print instruction process, and ends this process.

[0084] In this way, when the user sets spot color print settings and issues a print instruction, the print preview application 206 is activated and the print preview control unit performs spot color print judgment processing even if the user does not set a print preview. Also, if spot color print settings are not set, the process for normal print instructions is performed.

[0085] In this embodiment, after the user interface unit 204 completes the processing of Fig. 16, the print preview control unit 208 performs processing. The print preview control unit 208 executes the spot color failed printing prevention processing shown in Fig. 12 described above. The processing from S1201 to S1204 is the same as in the first embodiment, so a description thereof will be omitted. In this embodiment, in S1205, the print preview control unit 208 performs a spot color preview display instead of a warning display.

[0086] FIG. 18 is an example of a preview screen displayed by the print preview display unit 207 in this embodiment. FIG. 18(a) is an example of a screen on which the print preview control unit 208 displays a spot color preview when started up. This preview screen is provided so that the spot color settings can be changed. In FIG. 18(a), there is no part to be printed in spot color, so nothing is displayed in the print preview image display area 801. Also, FIG. 18(a) displays a guidance message such as "The part that will currently be printed in fluorescent pink spot color is displayed. Turning off 'Spot Color Preview' will allow you to specify a spot color for the print data."

[0087] Thereafter, when the user turns off the spot color preview setting 803, the print preview control unit 208 displays the screen shown in FIG. 18(b). When the color selection button 1602 is selected, a color selection eyedropper cursor 1604 is displayed to select a pixel in the print preview image in the print preview image display area 801. When the user selects the color selection eyedropper cursor 1604 in the print preview image, the RGB value of the selected color is displayed next to the color selection button 1601. In addition, pixels in the print preview image that have the same RGB value as the selected color are displayed in a pattern to inform the user that they are being selected. In this example, it is assumed that the color of the text "SALE" is selected as R=255 (0xFF), G=10 (0x0A), and B=255 (0xFF).

[0088] The fluorescent pink ink print setting button 1602 specifies that the currently selected color will be R=255 (0xFF), G=0 (0x00), and B=255 (0xFF) which correspond to the fluorescent pink spot color when printed. The orange ink print setting button 1603 specifies that the currently selected color will be R=255 (0xFF), G=85 (0x55), and B=0 (0x00) which correspond to the orange spot color when printed. Here, it is assumed that the user has selected the fluorescent pink ink print setting button 1602.

[0089] Next, when the user turns on the spot color preview setting 803, the print preview control unit 208 displays the screen shown in Fig. 18(c). Although nothing was displayed in Fig. 18(a), here, the color of the text "SALE" is specified to be printed in fluorescent pink spot color using the fluorescent pink ink print setting button 1602. Therefore, the text is displayed in the print preview image display area 801. When the user checks this result, realizes that the desired print result can be obtained, and presses the print button 804, the print preview control unit 208 executes the process shown in Fig. 19, which will be described later.

[0090] Fig. 19 is a flowchart of the process executed by the print preview control unit 208 when a print instruction is given. The process executed when a print instruction is given in this embodiment will be described below with reference to the flowchart in Fig. 19. Note that the series of processes shown in Fig. 19 are executed by the print preview control unit 208 when the CPU 111 of the host computer 101 loads the program code stored in the ROM 112 into the external storage device 114 and executes it. Alternatively, some or all of the functions of the steps in Fig. 19 may be realized by hardware such as an ASIC or electronic circuit.

[0091] When the process to be executed upon receiving a print instruction is started, under the control of the CPU 111 in S1901, the print preview control unit 208 determines whether fluorescent pink printing has been specified on the screen of FIG. 18(b). That is, it determines whether a color to be printed as a spot color has been selected on the print preview screen. Here, a determination is made for each spot color, and in S1901, processing is performed for fluorescent pink. If fluorescent pink printing has been specified, the process proceeds to S1902, and if not, the process proceeds to S1904. Here, it is assumed that fluorescent pink printing has been specified, and the process proceeds to S1902. Under the control of the CPU 111 in S1902, the print preview control unit 208 acquires the color selected when fluorescent pink printing was specified on the screen of FIG. 18(b).

[0092] In this case, R=255 (0xFF), G=10 (0x0A), and B=255 (0xFF) are acquired. Next, in S1903, under the control of the CPU 111, the print preview control unit 208 replaces pixels that are the same as the selected color contained in the preview image with RGB values ​​that correspond to the fluorescent pink spot color (changes the setting contents). Here, R=255 (0xFF), G=10 (0x0A), and B=255 (0xFF) contained in the preview image are replaced with R=255 (0xFF), G=0 (0x00), and B=255 (0xFF) that correspond to the fluorescent pink spot color.

[0093] Next, in S1904, under control of the CPU 111, the print preview control unit 208 determines whether orange printing has been specified on the screen of Fig. 18(b). If orange printing has been specified, the process proceeds to S1905, and if not, the process proceeds to S1907. Here, the process proceeds to S1907, but if orange printing has been specified, the print preview control unit 208 acquires the color selected when orange printing was specified on the screen of Fig. 18(b). In that case, in S1906, pixels that are the same color as the selected color contained in the preview image are replaced with RGB values ​​that correspond to the orange spot color.

[0094] Next, in S1907, under the control of the CPU 111, the print preview control unit 208 determines whether fluorescent pink printing or orange ink printing has been specified on the screen of Fig. 18(b), and if so, proceeds to S1908, and if not, proceeds to S1909. Here, proceeds to S1908. Next, in S1908, under the control of the CPU 111, the print preview control unit 208 generates a PDF file from the preview image in which the selected color has been replaced with a color corresponding to the spot color, and replaces the generated PDF file as a spooled PDF file.

[0095] Next, in step S1909, under the control of the CPU 111, the print preview control unit 208 performs normal print instruction processing.

[0096] In this way, even if the user specifies incorrect RGB values ​​for data to be spot color printed on application 202 and performs printing, the RGB values ​​of the incorrect print data are edited in print preview application 206. This makes it possible to provide a print control device, print control method, and program that can prevent unintended print results from occurring.

[0097] (Third embodiment) Hereinafter, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that since the basic configuration of this embodiment is similar to that of the first embodiment, the following will describe its characteristic configuration.

[0098] Poster data is often created by a third party, and the user edits the text objects that he or she needs and prints the edited data as a poster. In such cases, the graphics objects in the poster data themselves are rarely edited, and it is rare to understand what elements the graphics objects created by the third party are composed of. In addition, in spot color printing using fluorescent colors such as fluorescent pink, if the print data contains thin lines (predetermined objects), and these objects are unintentionally printed with spot color ink, the connection with the surrounding images will appear unnatural, resulting in failed printing.

[0099] In this embodiment, a method for preventing such a printing failure from occurring will be described. In this embodiment, the user edits print data created by a third party on the application 202 shown in FIG. 3, selects the text to be printed in spot color using the object selection frame 303, specifies the RGB value to be printed in fluorescent pink spot color, and issues a print instruction. After that, in the print setting dialog shown in FIG. 4, the user presses the print button 413 with the print preview setting 411 in the OFF state. After that, the user interface unit 204 executes the print instruction processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. 16, and then the print preview control unit 208 executes the spot color printing failure prevention processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. 12. Here, the spooled PDF file passed to the print preview control unit 208 is as shown in FIG. 20, and the print setting ticket is as shown in FIG. 17.

[0100] Fig. 20 is a diagram showing each drawing object included in a spooled PDF file in this embodiment. A graphics object 2007 is an object consisting of three closed paths, and from the inside to the outside, it is made up of objects 2007-1, 2007-2, and 2007-3 in that order. In the spot color print failure prevention process in the flowchart shown in Fig. 12, the process from S1201 to S1202 is the same as in the first and second embodiments, so a description thereof will be omitted.

[0101] FIG. 21 is a flowchart showing the spot color printing pre-determination process in this embodiment, and FIG. 22 is a diagram showing a setting dialog for spot color printing thin line warning. In this embodiment, the print preview control unit 208 performs the spot color printing pre-determination process shown in FIG. 21 in S1203 of FIG. 12. Hereinafter, the spot color printing pre-determination process in this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 21. Note that the series of processes shown in FIG. 21 are executed by the print preview control unit 208 as the CPU 111 of the host computer 101 loads the program code stored in the ROM 112 into the external storage device 114 and executes it. Alternatively, some or all of the functions of the steps in FIG. 21 may be realized by hardware such as an ASIC or an electronic circuit.

[0102] When the spot color printing pre-determination process is started, in S2101, under the control of the CPU 111, the print preview control unit 208 acquires the line width set in the spot color printing thin line warning setting. Here, the spot color printing thin line warning setting is a value held within the print preview control unit 208, and may be any value held by the print preview control unit 208. Also, the print preview application 206 may display a setting dialog as shown in Fig. 22 as a setting item and allow the user to set it.

[0103] In FIG. 22, a line width setting list 2200 lists values ​​from 1 pt to 0.125 pt in increments of 0.125 pt. When a cancel button 2201 is pressed, the line width setting is not updated and the state returns to the state before the setting dialog was displayed. When an OK button 2202 is pressed, the selected value in the line width setting list 2200 is determined and set as the spot color printing thin line warning setting value. In this embodiment, an example is shown in which the user sets the line width using a list control, but it is also possible to allow the user to set an arbitrary line width by providing a control that allows the user to input an arbitrary numerical value for the line width. Here, it is assumed that the user has set a line width of 0.5 pt or less as the spot color printing thin line warning setting value, and the print preview control unit 208 acquires this value in S2101.

[0104] Next, in S2102, under the control of the CPU 111, the print preview control unit 208 extracts objects with a line width equal to or less than the line width set in the spot color printing thin line warning setting from the graphics objects of the spooled PDF file. Here, object 2007-3 is extracted as an object with a line width of 0.5 pt. Next, in S2103, under the control of the CPU 111, the print preview control unit 208 determines whether a thin line object exists in the spooled PDF file, and if a thin line object exists, the process proceeds to S2104. If not, the process proceeds to S2106, where the determination result is determined to be successful, and the process ends.

[0105] Here, an example will be described in which a thin line object is extracted and the process proceeds to S2104. In S2104, the print preview control unit 208 determines whether the line color of the thin line object is an RGB value corresponding to spot color printing. If the result of the determination is that the line color of the thin line object is an RGB value corresponding to spot color printing, the process proceeds to S2105, where the determination result is determined to be a failure, and if the RGB value is not a corresponding RGB value, the process proceeds to S2106, where the determination result is determined to be a success and this process ends.

[0106] 12, the print preview control unit 208 determines whether the spot color printing pre-determination result is a failure or not, and ends the process if it is successful, and executes the spot color printing warning process in S1205 if it is a failure. In this case, since the determination result is a failure, the process proceeds to S1205.

[0107] Here, FIG. 23(a) is a diagram showing a spot color printing warning alert, and FIG. 23(b) is a diagram showing an example of a spot color preview display. In this embodiment, the print preview control unit 208 displays the spot color printing warning alert exemplified in FIG. 23(a) in S1205. When the user confirms this warning and presses the confirmation button 1506 in the preview, the print preview control unit 208 performs a spot color preview display exemplified in FIG. 23(b). In this case, the print preview control unit 208 displays the thin line printed in the spot color at a display magnification that allows the user to confirm it. This allows the user to confirm the thin line printed in the spot color, and if it is specified as the intended spot color, printing is performed, and if it is specified as the unintended spot color, the print data is re-edited in the application.

[0108] This makes it possible to prevent printing failures in advance, where thin line objects are unintentionally printed in spot color, giving an unnatural impression when the thin lines connect to the surrounding image. This makes it possible to prevent printing failures in advance, which occur when editing print data created by a third party and performing spot color printing.

[0109] In this embodiment, objects having thin lines are extracted from the graphics objects of the spooled PDF file, but thin lines may also be detected by recognizing lines from the rendered image data and calculating the line width.

[0110] In this way, when spot color printing is set, it is determined whether a thin line object is included in the image pixels, and whether the line color of the thin line object is an RGB value corresponding to spot color printing. If the result of the determination is that the line color of the thin line object is an RGB value corresponding to spot color printing, a spot color printing warning alert is displayed and the print data can be edited. This makes it possible to provide a print control device, print control method, and program that can prevent unintended print results from occurring.

[0111] (Fourth embodiment) Hereinafter, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that since the basic configuration of this embodiment is similar to that of the first embodiment, the following will describe its characteristic configuration.

[0112] Poster data is created using a type of application known as a drawing application, which draws vector data. Data created using this drawing application is capable of scalable output, and it is not uncommon for a single illustration to be composed of hundreds or even thousands of tiny objects. If such tiny objects are included in print data to be printed in spot color, and these tiny objects are unintentionally printed in spot color ink, a printing failure will occur that gives an unnatural impression of the connection with the surrounding images.

[0113] Therefore, in this embodiment, a printing method for preventing printing failures in which extremely small objects are printed in spot color will be described. In this embodiment, the user edits print data created by a third party on the application 202, specifies the text to be printed in spot color with RGB values ​​that will be printed in fluorescent pink spot color, and issues a print instruction. Thereafter, the same processing proceeds in the same order as in the third embodiment, and the print preview control unit 208 executes the processing for preventing printing failures in spot color in the flowchart shown in FIG. 12.

[0114] 24 is a diagram showing each drawing object included in a spooled PDF file 2400 in this embodiment. In this embodiment, the spooled PDF file 2400 is transmitted to the print preview control unit 208. The spooled PDF file is as shown in FIG. 24, and the print setting ticket is as shown in FIG.

[0115] In the spooled PDF file 2400 of this embodiment, a graphics object 2407 is an object that is made up of more than a thousand tiny objects. A central portion of this object is made up of tiny objects 2407-1 to 2407-11, as shown in Fig. 24(a). Fig. 24(b) shows the drawing sizes of these objects. The print setting ticket is the same as in the second and third embodiments, so a description thereof will be omitted.

[0116] FIG. 25 is a flowchart showing the spot color printing pre-determination process in this embodiment, and FIG. 26 is a diagram showing a setting dialog for the spot color printing minimum warning. In this embodiment, the print preview control unit 208 also executes the processes from S1201 to S1202 in FIG. 12, and executes the spot color printing pre-determination process shown in FIG. 25 in S1203. Hereinafter, the spot color printing pre-determination process in this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG. 25. Note that the series of processes shown in FIG. 25 are executed by the print preview control unit 208 as the CPU 111 of the host computer 101 loads the program code stored in the ROM 112 into the external storage device 114 and executes it. Alternatively, some or all of the functions of the steps in FIG. 25 may be realized by hardware such as an ASIC or an electronic circuit.

[0117] When the spot color printing advance judgment process is started, in S2501, under the control of the CPU 111, the print preview control unit 208 acquires the ratio set in the spot color printing extremely small object warning setting. Here, the spot color printing extremely small object warning setting is a value held inside the print preview control unit 208, and may be any value held by the print preview control unit 208. Furthermore, the print preview application 206 may display a setting dialog as shown in Fig. 26 as a setting item and allow the user to set it.

[0118] In FIG. 26, a small object setting ratio list 2600 lists the size of small objects in increments of 0.05% from 0.05% to 0.20%. When a cancel button 2601 is selected, the small object setting ratio is not updated, and the state returns to the state before the setting dialog was displayed. When an OK button 2602 is selected, the selected value of the small object setting ratio list 2600 is set as the spot color printing small object warning setting value. In this embodiment, an example is shown in which the user sets the ratio using a list control, but the user may set an arbitrary ratio by providing a control that allows the user to input an arbitrary numerical value as the setting ratio. Here, the user sets 0.1% as the setting ratio for the spot color printing small object warning, and the print preview control unit 208 acquires this value in S2501.

[0119] Next, in step S2502, under the control of the CPU 111, the print preview control unit 208 extracts objects with a ratio equal to or smaller than the ratio set in the spot color printing extremely small object warning setting from the graphics objects of the spooled PDF file. The target object size is calculated from the print resolution 1705 and paper size setting 1707 of the print setting ticket and the obtained ratio. First, the size of the object to be drawn on a paper size of width 420.00 mm and height 594.00 mm at a resolution of 600 dpi is calculated. In this case, the size of the object to be drawn on the entire paper is width: 1190 pt and height: 1684 pt. Next, from the obtained ratio of 0.1%, objects with a width: 1.19 pt or smaller or objects with a height: 1.684 pt or smaller become the target extremely small objects, and these objects are extracted from the spooled PDF file. Here, objects 2407-1 to 2407-11 are extracted as extremely small objects from FIG. 24(b).

[0120] Next, under the control of the CPU 111 in S2503, the print preview control unit 208 determines whether a very small object exists in the spool PDF file, and if a very small object exists, the process proceeds to S2504. If a very small object does not exist, the process proceeds to S2506, where the determination result is determined to be successful, and the process ends. Here, it is assumed that a very small object has been extracted, and the process proceeds to S2504. Next, under the control of the CPU 111 in S2504, the print preview control unit 208 determines whether the fill or line color of the very small object is an RGB value corresponding to spot color printing. If the result of the determination is that the fill or line color of the very small object is an RGB value corresponding to spot color printing, the process proceeds to S2505, where the determination result is determined to be failure. If the RGB value is not a corresponding value, the process proceeds to S2506, where the determination result is determined to be successful, and the process ends. Here, it is assumed that the fill color and line color of the very small object are RGB values ​​corresponding to fluorescent pink spot color printing, the process proceeds to S2505, where the determination result is determined to be failure, and the process ends.

[0121] Next, under the control of the CPU 111 in S1204 of FIG. 12, the print preview control unit 208 determines whether the spot color printing pre-determination result is a failure, and ends the process if it is successful. If the determination result is a failure, executes spot color printing warning processing in S1205. In this case, the determination result is a failure, so the process proceeds to S1205. In this embodiment, under the control of the CPU 111 in S1205, the print preview control unit 208 displays a spot color printing warning alert as exemplified in FIG. 27(a). When the user confirms this warning and presses the confirmation button 1506 in the preview, under the control of the CPU 111, the print preview control unit 208 performs a spot color preview display as exemplified in FIG. 27(b). In this case, under the control of the CPU 111, the print preview control unit 208 displays the extremely small object printed in spot color at a display magnification at which the user can confirm it. This allows the user to confirm the extremely small object printed in spot color, and if the spot color is the intended spot color specification, printing is performed, and if the spot color is an unintended spot color specification, the print data is re-edited by the application.

[0122] In this way, when spot color printing is set, it is determined whether a very small object is included in the image pixels, and whether the line color of the very small object is an RGB value corresponding to spot color printing. If the result of the determination is that the line color of the very small object is an RGB value corresponding to spot color printing, a spot color printing warning alert is displayed and the print data can be edited. This makes it possible to provide a print control device, print control method, and program that can prevent unintended print results from occurring.

[0123] (Other embodiments) The present invention can also be realized by a process in which a program for implementing one or more of the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or device via a network or a storage medium, and one or more processors in a computer of the system or device read and execute the program. The present invention can also be realized by a circuit (e.g., ASIC) for implementing one or more of the functions. [Explanation of symbols]

[0124] 102 Image output device 111 CPU 112 ROM 202 Applications 203 Printer Driver 206 Print Preview Application 208 Print preview control section 400 Print Settings Dialog

Claims

1. A print control device capable of instructing an image output device capable of printing using a color material of a specific color based on print data, a setting unit for setting whether or not printing using a color material of a specific color is enabled; a notification means for notifying a user of predetermined information when predetermined data corresponding to a color to be printed using the color material of the specific color is not present in the print data, even though printing using the color material of the specific color is set to be valid; When the setting means has been set, a preview setting for displaying a print content on a preview screen before printing is turned on.

2. 2. The print control device according to claim 1, further comprising a determination unit that determines whether or not predetermined data corresponding to a color printed by the color material of the specific color is present in the print data.

3. 3. The print control device according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined information includes a warning.

4. 3. The print control device according to claim 2, wherein the content set by said setting means is changeable on said preview screen after the determination by said determining means.

5. The preview setting is set to on or off according to a user's designation, 2. The print control device according to claim 1, wherein when the setting is made by the setting means, the preview setting is turned on even if the user has specified that the preview setting is off.

6. A printing control device as described in any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the preview screen is configured to be switchable between displaying an image printed using a color material of the specific color and displaying an image printed without using a color material of the specific color.

7. 7. The print control device according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined data is a predetermined object.

8. 8. The print control device according to claim 7, wherein the predetermined object is a thin-line object.

9. 9. The print control device according to claim 8, further comprising a means for setting a line width for determining whether the predetermined object is the thin-line object.

10. 8. The print control device according to claim 7, wherein the predetermined object is a very small object.

11. 11. The print control device according to claim 10, wherein a size for determining whether the predetermined object is the tiny object can be set.

12. A print control device capable of instructing an image output device capable of printing using a color material of a specific color based on print data, comprising: a setting unit for setting whether or not printing using a color material of a specific color is enabled; a notification means for notifying a user of predetermined information when predetermined data corresponding to a color to be printed by a color material of the specific color is not present in the print data, even though printing using the color material of the specific color is set to be valid. the predetermined data is a predetermined object, The print control device is characterized in that the predetermined object is a thin-line object.

13. The print control device according to claim 12, characterized in that it is possible to set a line width for determining whether the specified object is a thin-line object.

14. A print control device capable of instructing an image output device capable of printing using a color material of a specific color based on print data, comprising: a setting unit for setting whether or not printing using a color material of a specific color is enabled; a notification means for notifying predetermined information when predetermined data corresponding to a color to be printed by the color material of the specific color is not present in the print data, even though printing using the color material of the specific color is set to be valid; the predetermined data is a predetermined object, The print control device is characterized in that the predetermined object is a very small object.

15. A print control device as described in Claim 14, characterized in that it is possible to set a size for determining whether the specified object is an extremely small object.

16. A print control method capable of instructing an image output device capable of printing using a color material of a specific color based on print data, comprising: a setting step for setting whether or not printing using a color material of a specific color is enabled; a notification step of notifying predetermined information based on the fact that, even though printing using the color material of the specific color is set to be valid, the print data does not contain predetermined data corresponding to the color printed using the color material of the specific color; The print control method further comprises turning on a preview setting for displaying a print content on a preview screen before printing, when the setting is completed in the setting step.

17. A print control method capable of instructing an image output device capable of printing using a color material of a specific color based on print data, comprising: a setting step for setting whether or not printing using a color material of a specific color is enabled; a notification step of notifying predetermined information based on the fact that predetermined data corresponding to a color to be printed by the color material of the specific color is not present in the print data even though printing using the color material of the specific color is set to be valid. the predetermined data is a predetermined object, The printing control method according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined object is a thin-line object.

18. A print control method capable of instructing an image output device capable of printing using a color material of a specific color based on print data, comprising: a setting step for setting whether or not printing using a color material of a specific color is enabled; a notification step of notifying predetermined information based on the fact that, even though printing using the color material of the specific color is set to be valid, the print data does not contain predetermined data corresponding to the color printed using the color material of the specific color; the predetermined data is a predetermined object, A printing control method, wherein the predetermined object is a very small object.

19. A program for causing a computer to function as each of the means of the print control device according to any one of claims 1 to 15.

Images