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 plurality of spot colors that can be specified on a spot color setting screen is displayed.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

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 a printing device. [Background technology]

[0002] In addition to the basic colors of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black that are generally used in printing devices, printing devices have been developed recently that use inks generally called special color inks such as red, blue, green, and fluorescent pink to expand the color reproduction range. A technology called spot color printing is used to express specific parts of a printed matter using a pre-specified special color ink. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technology in which specific color information (RGB values) is replaced with a pre-specified special color in 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] When performing spot color printing, it is desirable to avoid unintended print results. 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 capable of instructing an image output device capable of printing using color materials of special colors, and has a display control means for displaying a setting screen on which a plurality of special colors are displayed so as to be selectable. a setting means for setting a specified special color from among a plurality of special colors displayed in a specifiable manner on the setting screen; and a transmission means for adding a predetermined command to the print data, which indicates that the special color set by the setting means has been associated with a specific color value included in the print data, and transmitting the print data to the image output device. Equipped with The display control means is an application that edits an image that is the source of the print data, the setting screen is an image editing screen displayed by the application, and the display control means acquires information that associates the special color, the specific color value included in the print data, and a predetermined command from a printer driver that corresponds to the image output device and displays the information.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 block diagram showing a configuration of a printing system that performs spot color printing. [Diagram 3] FIG. 13 illustrates an example of an application. [Figure 4] 13A and 13B are diagrams showing a print setting dialog and a spot color setting screen. [Diagram 5] 13 is a diagram showing corresponding designated RGB values, display RGB values, and corresponding commands. [Figure 6] 10 is a flowchart showing a print data generation process. [Figure 7] 13(a) to 13(c) are diagrams showing commands to be assigned. [Figure 8] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a poster data creation application. [Figure 9] 11 is a flowchart showing a spot color display process. [Figure 10] 11 is a flowchart showing a spot color return process and a setting process. [Figure 11] 13A and 13B are diagrams showing a print setting dialog and a spot color setting screen. [Figure 12] 10 is a flowchart showing a spot color information update process. [Figure 13] 13 is a diagram showing designated RGB values, display RGB values, and corresponding commands. 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. 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 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] In this embodiment, the CPU 111 executes functions of the host computer 101 described below and processes related to flowcharts described below by executing processes according to the procedures of the programs stored in the ROM 112. The printing device (image output 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 be configured as one information processing device. The printing device 102 will be described as an inkjet printer that prints by ejecting ink onto a paper surface, but printing may be performed by other methods (for example, electrophotography). The CPU 111 may also perform printing control in the printing device 102.

[0012] In this embodiment, an inkjet printer that prints in a specific location using a special color material (hereinafter referred to as spot color printing) is taken as an example. Furthermore, the printing device of this embodiment is taken as an example of a large-format inkjet printer that can print 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 block diagram showing the configuration of a printing system that performs spot color printing. Spot color printing is printing using special color inks (spot color inks) other than the general inks CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black). In this embodiment, fluorescent pink ink is used as the spot color ink. However, the present invention 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. On the application 202, the user specifies a specific RGB data value for text or graphics print data that is to be subjected to spot color printing, which will be described later. When the application 202 receives a print request from the user, it issues a print instruction to the OS 201. When the print instruction is received, the OS 201 entrusts the subsequent printing-related processing to an OS print system (not shown) that it has. Here, the following description will be given assuming that the OS print system operates in cooperation with a printer driver 203 provided by a printing device vendor.

[0014] When the OS printing system receives a request to display a print setting screen from an application 202, it requests a printer driver 203 (color information generating means) to display the print setting screen, and the printer driver 203 displays the print setting screen on a user interface unit 204. As will be described later, the print setting screen allows the user to specify the paper size, paper type, etc., and to specify spot color printing.

[0015] The printer driver 203 provides an SDK (Software Development Kit) I / F 206. By using the SDK I / F 206, the application 202 can perform print settings on the application 202 without opening a print setting screen of the printer driver 203. Furthermore, the printer driver 203 can acquire information about the printing device 102 by an information acquisition unit 207. Based on the information acquired from the printing device 102, the printer driver 203 can display settings that match the functions of the printing device 102 on a user interface unit 204 and support the settings by the SDK I / F 206.

[0016] In response to a print instruction from the application 202, the print data and print settings of the application 202 are passed to a graphics processing unit 205 of the printer driver 203 via the OS printing system. The graphics processing unit 205 converts the data into a data format that can be interpreted by the printing device 102, and sends it to the printing device 102. After that, ink is ejected from the recording head of the printing device 102 onto a recording medium fed to the printing device 102, forming an image. Here, if spot color printing is set, special color ink (hereinafter also referred to as spot color ink) is ejected onto pixels of the specified RGB value of the print data for which printing with a special color (hereinafter also referred to as spot color) is specified.

[0017] Here, an example of the printing device 102 capable of printing with six predetermined colors (special colors) having spot colors, using 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 in the print data having specific RBG values ​​corresponding to the set spot color are printed using spot color ink. In this embodiment, specific RGB values ​​are assigned to each of the six predetermined colors. In this embodiment, the specific RGB values ​​are, for example, R=255 (0xFF), G=0 (0x00), and B=255 (0xFF), and pixels having the corresponding RBG values ​​are printed in fluorescent pink, which is one of the special colors, by using fluorescent pink ink. The specific RGB values ​​are, for example, R=255 (0xFF), G=85 (0x55), and B=0 (0x00), and pixels having the corresponding RBG values ​​are printed in orange, which is one of the special colors, by mixing fluorescent pink ink with M and Y inks. For example, if orange ink is available as a spot color ink, printing in orange may be performed by using only orange ink. That is, pixels of specific RBG values ​​corresponding to spot colors only need to be printed using at least the spot color ink, and may or may not be printed by mixing with CMYK ink. In spot color printing, pixels that are not pixels of specific RBG values ​​corresponding to spot colors are printed using only CMYK ink. 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.

[0018] Specifically, when the printer driver 203 enables the print setting of a fluorescent pink spot color and the RGB values ​​of pixels included in the print data to be transmitted are R=255, G=0, and B=255, the printing device 102 can print the fluorescent pink spot color. The same applies to other spot colors. That is, when the printer driver 203 enables the print setting of each spot color and the RGB values ​​of pixels included in the print data to be transmitted are RGB values ​​corresponding to each spot color, the printing device 102 can print the corresponding spot color. On the other hand, if the printer driver 103 enables the spot color print setting but the print data does not include pixels having the above-mentioned specific RGB values ​​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.

[0019] When performing spot color printing, the user first selects the spot color to be used in the print settings of the printer driver 203. After that, the user creates content on the application 202 and specifies RGB data values ​​corresponding to the use of the spot color ink described above for character or graphics print data for which the user wants to use the spot color ink.

[0020] 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 314. The poster data creation application 314 has a toolbar button 300, a print data display area 301, a print data editing area 302, an object selection frame 303, an object color editing tab menu 304, and an object size change tab menu 305. The poster data creation application 314 further has an object display color 306, an R value change control 307 for changing the RGB values ​​of the object, a G value change control 308, and a B value change control 309. The poster data creation application 314 further has a control 310, a print button 311, a print settings button 312, and an end button 313.

[0021] The poster data creation application 314 (print data generation means) displays print data in an editable manner. The toolbar buttons 300 allow the selection of functions such as undoing and redoing an editing operation, creating a text object, creating a graphics object, creating a print data object, changing the display magnification, displaying application help, and selecting an object. The print data display area 301 is an area in which print data created by the user is displayed. The print data editing area (image editing screen) 302 is an area in which the user can use the pointing device 117 to select any object, move the selected object, and edit the print data. The object selection frame 303 is a dashed line display frame that indicates to the user that a specific object has been selected when the user selects that object.

[0022] 3 shows that the text object "SALE" is selected. When the object color edit tab menu 304 is selected, a control for changing the color of the currently selected object is displayed. When the object size change tab menu 305 is selected, a control for changing the size of the currently selected object is displayed.

[0023] In Fig. 3, an object color edit tab menu 304 is selected, and an object display color 306, an R value change control 307 for changing the RGB values ​​of the object, a G value change control 308, and a B value change control 309 are displayed. A value between 0 and 255 can be set for each of the R, G, and B value controls by directly inputting a value using the keyboard 118, or by selecting a button on the right side of the control using the pointing device 117. Also, when the RGB value is changed, the display color 306 also changes according to the RGB. In the example of Fig. 3, the color of the text object "SALE" enclosed in the object selection frame 303 is set to R=255, G=0, and B=255 as the RGB values, which are specific color values.

[0024] 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 the sRGB color space, which is a standard RGB color space. Also, to simplify the explanation, it is assumed that there is no influence of color matching processing. Also, 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 printing system are the sRGB color space, which is a standard RGB color space, and it is assumed that there is no influence of color matching processing.

[0025] In other words, the RGB values ​​expressed by the application 202 are assumed to match the RGB values ​​of pixels contained in print data generated by the printer driver 203 or the rendering engine of the OS print system. As a result, if the print settings of the printer driver 203 are set to print RGB values ​​of R=255, G=0, B=255 as spot colors, the print data with those RGB values ​​will be printed in a fluorescent pink spot color. The following explanation will be given assuming that the RGB values ​​of other image objects displayed in the print data editing area 302 are RGB values ​​other than those values. When performing color matching, the color value after converting the special color before color space conversion can be treated as the special color.

[0026] Control 310 allows the user to select from a list a print queue of the printing device 102 that has been registered in advance in the OS printing system. Print button 311 is a button that the user selects when printing the print data displayed in print data editing area 302 on printer 310. Print setting button 312 is a button that opens a print setting details screen, and opens the print setting screen of the print queue specified in 310. Exit button 313 is an exit button that the user selects when exiting the poster data creation application.

[0027] Returning to the explanation of Fig. 2, when application 202 (poster data creation application 314) 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.

[0028] It is common to set an arbitrary RGB value and specify a spot color that corresponds to the set RGB value, thereby printing the set RGB value with the arbitrary spot color. However, a user cannot visually recognize the multiple spot colors that can be specified. Therefore, it is difficult to recognize which RGB value is set as the spot color, which may result in an unintended print result.

[0029] In this embodiment, therefore, a plurality of spot colors that can be specified on the spot color setting screen can be visually confirmed, and the user can specify the plurality of spot colors while visually confirming them. A method for specifying a spot color in this embodiment will be described below.

[0030] Fig. 4(a) is a diagram showing a print setting dialog 400 which is a setting screen of the printer driver 203, and Fig. 4(b) is a diagram showing a spot color setting screen 402 in this embodiment. When the printer driver 203 (see Fig. 2) receives an instruction to start the print setting screen from the application 202 via the OS printing system, the user interface unit 204 controls the display to display the print setting dialog 400. The user can obtain a desired printed matter from the printing device 102 by configuring various print settings on the print setting dialog 400. A button 401 is a button for opening a detailed setting screen for spot colors, and pressing the button 401 opens the spot color setting screen 402 in Fig. 4(b).

[0031] The spot color setting screen 402 displays RGB values ​​corresponding to a plurality of predetermined spot colors, a display color 404 based on the RGB values, and a check box 403 for setting whether or not to print the RGB values ​​as spot colors. In other words, the check box 403 is an area for accepting a selection of whether or not to enable spot color printing for printing pixels having RGB values ​​corresponding to the spot colors in the spot colors. If the spot color printing is not enabled, pixels having RGB values ​​corresponding to the spot colors are printed in a color other than the spot color. Therefore, the area can be said to be an area for accepting a setting regarding whether to print pixels having a specific RGB value in the spot color or in a color different from the spot color. For example, the area can 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 this embodiment, the check box 403 is prepared for each of the plurality of spot colors, so that it is possible to set the enable / disable of the plurality of spot color printings respectively. Therefore, for example, the check box 403 includes an area for accepting 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. Also, for example, it includes an area for accepting a selection of whether or not to enable spot color printing (orange spot color printing) for printing pixels having RGB values ​​corresponding to orange in orange. This spot color setting screen 402 allows the user to select a color to be used as a spot color while visually checking a plurality of spot colors that can be specified. And, by providing separate check boxes, for example, it is possible to set the fluorescent pink spot color printing to be enabled but the orange spot color printing to be disabled. In FIG. 4B, the setting is to print the RGB values ​​of R=255, G=0, B=255 as spot colors (special colors), and the check boxes 403 of R=255, G=0, B=255 are checked to turn them on.

[0032] Thereafter, when the setting screen of the printer driver 203 is closed with an OK button 405, the setting is transmitted to the application 202. When a print instruction is issued from the application 202, if the print data generated by the printer driver 203 contains RGB values ​​(R=255, G=0, B=255), the printing device 102 uses fluorescent pink spot color ink for printing. If a check box 403 is turned off on the spot color setting screen 402, the printing device 102 does not use spot color ink even if the print data generated by the printer driver 203 contains corresponding RGB values ​​(R=255, G=0, B=255). In that case, the printing device 102 forms an image in which the RGB values ​​are expressed with process color inks such as CMYK in the portion of the corresponding RGB values.

[0033] 5 is a diagram showing spot colors and their corresponding designated RGB values, display RGB values, and corresponding commands. Since the color actually printed using a spot color differs from the designated RGB color, the display color 404 on the spot color setting screen 402 may display a color close to the color actually printed (displayed in display RGB) instead of displaying it in the designated RGB value.

[0034] 5, when R=255, G=0, B=255 are printed as fluorescent pink, the actually printed fluorescent pink color is displayed on the display unit 119 (see FIG. 1) as a color close to R=255, G=130, B=220. Therefore, the display color 404 is displayed as R=255, G=130, B=220.

[0035] In this embodiment, fluorescent pink ink is used to print the corresponding RGB values ​​as fluorescent spot colors, but other spot colors using special ink colors such as silver or gold may be assigned to any RGB value. The printer driver 203 holds information on the designated RGB values, display RGB values, and corresponding commands that correspond to these spot colors.

[0036] 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 operating the area, a setting for whether or not to enable spot color printing for each color may be received on the screen shown in FIG. 4(b).

[0037] FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the print data generation process. When the print button 311 is pressed from the poster data creation application 314 in the state of each control of the print setting dialog 400 (see FIG. 4(a)), the print setting is transmitted to the graphic processing unit 205 (see FIG. 2) via the OS print system. Hereinafter, the print data generation process in this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG. 6. Note that the series of processes shown in FIG. 6 are performed by the CPU 111 of the host computer 101 expanding 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. 6 may be realized by hardware such as an ASIC or electronic circuit. Note that the symbol "S" in the description of each process means that it is a step in the flowchart.

[0038] When the print data generation process is started, in S601, under the control of the CPU 111, the graphic processing unit 205 generates a command for printing the RGB value selected according to the spot color setting 402 as a spot color. Thereafter, in S602, under the control of the CPU 111, the image to be printed is converted into a format recognizable by the printing device 102, and a command for designating the image as a spot color is added to the print data, which is transmitted to the printing device 102. That is, the CPU 111 transmits special color information to the printing device 102. At this time, the graphic processing unit 205 does not perform a process of editing the RGB value designated as the spot color on the print data to change the value, but rather, it adds a command corresponding to the set spot color shown in FIG. 5. Note that information that at least associates the designated RGB value with the command as shown in FIG. 5 is also managed in the printing device 102. The printing device 102 can specify the designated RGB value to be the spot color based on the received command.

[0039] Figures 7(a) to (c) are diagrams showing the commands to be assigned. For example, when R=255, G=0, B=255 are specified as spot colors, the command shown in Figure 7(a) is assigned, and when R=255, G=170, B=255 are specified as spot colors, the command shown in Figure 7(b) is specified. When both R=255, G=0, B=255 and R=255, G=170, B=255 are specified as spot colors, the logical sum of both the bit flags in Figures 7(a) and (b) is specified as shown in Figure 7(c). This makes it possible to specify multiple spot colors with one command.

[0040] In this manner, in this embodiment, a plurality of spot colors that can be specified are displayed on the spot color setting screen. Therefore, in this embodiment, when specifying a plurality of spot colors, it is not necessary to switch between a plurality of screens, and it is easy to recognize which RGB value is set as the spot color. Therefore, it is possible to realize a print control device, a print control method, and a program that can prevent the occurrence of unintended print results.

[0041] Second embodiment Hereinafter, a second 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.

[0042] 8 is a diagram showing poster data creation application 315 in this embodiment. In the first embodiment, an example was shown in which print setting dialog 400 was opened from poster data creation application 314, and spot color setting screen 402 was opened to specify a spot color. In this embodiment, an example of a configuration will be described in which, to improve user convenience, a spot color is directly set on the screen of poster data creation application 315. Portions not mentioned below are equivalent to those in the first embodiment.

[0043] The poster data creation application 315 of this embodiment includes a check box 801 and a spot color palette 802, and allows the user to select and set a spot color on the poster data creation application 315.

[0044] Fig. 9 is a flowchart showing the display processing of spot colors in this embodiment. Fig. 10(a) is a flowchart showing the return processing of spot color information performed during the display processing of spot colors. The display processing of spot colors in this embodiment will be described below with reference to the flowcharts of Figs. 9 and 10(a). Note that the series of processes shown in Figs. 9 and 10 are performed by the CPU 111 of the host computer 101 expanding 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 Figs. 9 and 10 may be realized by hardware such as an ASIC or electronic circuit.

[0045] When the display process of the spot color of this embodiment starts, in S901, under the control of CPU 111, poster data creation application 315 accesses SDK I / F 206 of printer driver 203 for the printer selected by control 310. Then, poster data creation application 315 (application 202) acquires information on spot colors that printer driver 203 is compatible with (supports). At this time, printer driver 203 returns information on all compatible spot colors to poster data creation application 315 (application 202) as shown in FIG. 10(a) (S1001). That is, in response to a request for acquiring spot color information from poster data creation application 315 (application 202), printer driver 203 returns spot color information via SDK I / F 206. Note that the spot color information that printer driver 203 returns to poster data creation application 315 is the information shown in FIG. 5.

[0046] Thereafter, in S902, under the control of CPU 111, poster data creation application 315 determines whether the acquired spot color information includes a specifiable spot color based on information about printing device 102 acquired by information acquisition unit 207, etc. If a specifiable spot color is found, the process proceeds to S903, where a check box 801 for setting the spot color on and off and a palette 802 of the settable spot colors are displayed, and the process ends. If no specifiable spot color is found in the information acquired in S902, the process proceeds to S904, where the process ends without displaying check box 801 for setting the spot color on and off and the palette 802 of the settable spot colors.

[0047] When the user specifies a spot color, the user selects an object that the user wants to print as a spot color on the poster data creation application 315. In Fig. 8, the object in the selection frame 303 is the selected object. Then, the user turns on the spot color check box 801 and selects the spot color that the user wants to print from the palette 802. Here, when the user selects color 803 of R=255, G=0, B=255 from the palette 802, the color of the object in the selected object selection frame 303 is changed to R=255, G=0, B=255.

[0048] Then, poster data creation application 315 accesses SDK I / F 206 of printer driver 203 and sets the colors R=255, G=0, B=255 as spot colors for printer driver 203. At this time, printer driver 203 sets the colors R=255, G=0, B=255 as spot colors to ON in S1002, as shown in Fig. 10(b). Furthermore, color 306 is also set to the selected color R=255, G=0, B=255, and R value 307 is set to 255, G value 308 to 0, and B value 309 to 255.

[0049] Thereafter, when the user presses the print button 311 (see FIG. 8) to execute printing, the print settings are transmitted to the graphics processing unit 205 via the OS printing system. Then, as in the first embodiment, the printer driver 202 transmits to the printing device 102 a command corresponding to the spot colors R=255, G=0, B=255 together with the print data.

[0050] In addition, on the screen of Fig. 8, the color expressed as the spot color may be expressed as a color different from the specified RGB value based on the relationship of Fig. 5. For example, a color 803 of R=255, G=0, B=255 is displayed as R=255, G=130, B=220. And, when R=255, G=0, B=255 is selected as the spot color, the object 303 and the color 306 are also displayed as R=255, G=130, B=220. However, the specified RGB (R=255, G=0, B=255) is displayed for the R value 307, the G value 308, and the B value 309.

[0051] Furthermore, when spot colors are turned off using the spot color check box 801, the colors of the object 303 and color 306 are displayed in the specified RGB values ​​rather than the display RGB of the spot color.

[0052] In this way, a plurality of specifiable spot colors are displayed on the data creation application, thereby realizing a print control device, print control method, and program that can prevent unintended print results from occurring.

[0053] (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.

[0054] In the first embodiment, the printer driver 203 is provided with the data shown in Fig. 5 in advance, and the spot color settings 402 are displayed based on this data. In this embodiment, the printer driver 203 acquires spot color information from the printing device 102 using the information acquisition unit 207, and displays a spot color setting screen according to the acquired information. The method will be described below.

[0055] Fig. 11(a) is a diagram showing a print setting dialog 1102 which is a setting screen of the printer driver 203, and Fig. 11(b) is a diagram showing a spot color setting screen 1101 in this embodiment. Also, Fig. 12 is a flowchart showing the update process of spot color information, and Fig. 13 is a diagram showing designated RGB values, display RGB values, and corresponding commands corresponding to spot colors.

[0056] The print setting dialog 1102 includes an information acquisition button 1100 for acquiring spot color information from the printing device 102. The spot color information update process of this embodiment will be described below with reference to the flowchart in Fig. 12. The series of processes shown in Fig. 12 are performed by the CPU 111 of the host computer 101 expanding 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. 12 may be realized by hardware such as an ASIC or electronic circuit.

[0057] When the user presses the information acquisition button 1100, the spot color information update process is started. In S1201, under the control of the CPU 111, the information acquisition unit 207 of the printer driver 203 acquires spot color information as shown in Fig. 13 from the printing device 102. Thereafter, in S1202, under the control of the CPU 111, the information acquisition unit 207 determines whether the acquired information includes spot color information. If spot color information is present, the process proceeds to S1203, where the internal data is rewritten to the acquired data (for example, the data shown in Fig. 13), and the process ends. If spot color information is not present in the acquired information in S1202, the process proceeds to S1204, where the printing device 102 does not support spot color, so the spot color setting button 401 is grayed out to make it impossible to set the spot color, and the process ends.

[0058] When the internal data is rewritten under the control of the CPU 111 in S1203, pressing the spot color setting button 401 causes the printer driver 203 to display a new spot color setting screen 1101 based on the rewritten data (eg, the data shown in FIG. 13).

[0059] Furthermore, after acquiring spot color information from the printing device 102 and updating the internal data, the printer driver 203 also updates the spot color return value to the application 202 via the SDK I / F 206 to the data shown in Fig. 13. Therefore, the display of the spot color displayed by the application 202 using the SDK I / F 206 can also be switched to the spot color acquired from the printing device 102.

[0060] Here, the vividness of each of the multiple spot colors that can be printed by the printing device 102 varies. For this reason, a priority order may be assigned in the information acquired from the printing device 102 and in the information returned to the application by the SDK I / F 206, such that the more vivid the spot color that attracts people's attention, the higher the priority. Then, the order of the spot color options on the spot color setting screen 901 of the printer driver 203 and the application 202 may be changed based on the priority order.

[0061] In this way, the information acquisition unit of the printer driver acquires spot color information from the printing device and displays the spot color setting screen. This makes it possible to realize a print control device, print control method, and program that can prevent unintended print results from occurring. Furthermore, by acquiring spot color information from the printing device, it is possible to appropriately print spot colors even when the printing device is equipped with a new spot color. Furthermore, even when the printing device no longer supports spot color printing, it is possible to prevent unintended print results from occurring by disabling the user from setting spot colors.

[0062] (Other embodiments) The present invention can also be realized by a process in which a program for implementing one or more of the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or device via a network or a storage medium, and one or more processors in a computer of the system or device read and execute the program. The present invention can also be realized by a circuit (e.g., ASIC) that implements one or more of the functions. [Explanation of symbols]

[0063] 101 Host Computer 102 Printing device 111 CPU 201 OS 202 Applications 203 Printer Driver 303 Object Selection Frame 314 Poster Data Creation Application

Claims

1. A print control device capable of instructing an image output device capable of printing using a special color material, comprising: A display control means for displaying a setting screen on which a plurality of special colors are displayed so as to be selectable; a setting means for setting a specified special color from among a plurality of special colors displayed in a specifiable manner on the setting screen; a transmission means for adding a predetermined command to the print data, the command indicating that the special color set by the setting means is associated with a specific color value included in the print data, and transmitting the print data to the image output device; Equipped with the display control means is an application for editing an image that is a source of the print data, the setting screen is an image editing screen displayed by the application, The display control means is characterized in that it obtains and displays information correlating the special color, the specific color value contained in the printing data, and a specified command from a printer driver corresponding to the image output device.

2. 2. The print control device according to claim 1, wherein the display control means displays the print data using the specific color value in an editable manner, and sets a predetermined object of the print data to be printed in the special color.

3. 2. The print control device according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the special colors are displayed in a portion of the setting screen so as to be able to be designated in correspondence with the specific color value.

4. 4. The print control device according to claim 1, wherein the display control means displays the special colors as colors having the specific color value.

5. 4. The print control device according to claim 1, wherein the display control means displays the special colors not as colors of the specific color value but as color values ​​of the special colors.

6. 6. The print control device according to claim 1, wherein a priority order is assigned to the plurality of special colors displayed so as to be selectable in multiple colors.

7. 7. The print control device according to claim 6, wherein the priority order is such that the brighter the special color is, the higher the priority order is.

8. A print control device capable of instructing an image output device capable of printing using a special color color material, comprising: A display control means for displaying a setting screen on which a plurality of special colors are displayed so as to be selectable; a setting means for setting a specified special color from among a plurality of special colors displayed in a specifiable manner on the setting screen; a transmission means for adding a specified command to the print data indicating that the special color set by the setting means has been associated with a specific color value contained in the print data, and transmitting the print data to the image output device, wherein the display control means obtains and displays information correlating the special color, the specific color value contained in the print data, and the specified command from the image output device.

9. A print control method capable of instructing an image output device capable of printing using a special color material, comprising: a display control step of displaying a setting screen on which a plurality of special colors are displayed so as to be selectable; a setting step of setting the designated special color from among a plurality of the special colors displayed in a designable manner on the setting screen; a transmission step of adding a predetermined command to the print data, the command indicating that the special color set in the setting step is associated with a specific color value included in the print data, and transmitting the print data to the image output device; In the display control step, an application edits an image that is a source of the print data; The application displays an image editing screen which is the setting screen, A printing control method characterized in that in the display control process, information correlating the special color, the specific color value contained in the printing data, and a specified command is obtained from a printer driver corresponding to the image output device and displayed.

10. A print control method capable of instructing an image output device capable of printing using a special color color material, comprising: a display control step of displaying a setting screen on which a plurality of special colors are displayed so as to be selectable; a setting step of setting the designated special color from among a plurality of the special colors displayed in a designable manner on the setting screen; a transmission step of adding a specified command to the print data indicating that the special color set in the setting step has been associated with a specific color value contained in the print data, and sending the print data to the image output device, wherein the display control step obtains and displays information correlating the special color, the specific color value contained in the print data, and the specified command from the image output device.

11. 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 8.

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