Support Program

Abstract

To provide a technology capable of allowing a user to edit an image to be printed, in a period between an input of a printing instruction and transmitting a print job, in an information processing device having an OS-standard general-purpose printing program embedded therein.SOLUTION: A PC 1 includes an auxiliary program 42 embedded therein, the program being compatible with a printer 2 and supporting a general-purpose printing program 41 embedded in advance in an OS 21. The auxiliary program 42 registers, on the general-purpose printing program 41, a predetermined file format as a file format for which intermediate data is not generated. When a print instruction for causing the printer 2 to execute printing is received from an information application 43 and image data of the predetermined file format is received from the general-purpose printing program 41, the auxiliary program 42 receives an edit of an image indicated by the received image data and transmits a print job including the edited image data to the printer 2.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical Field]

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

[0002] In recent years, a technology has been put into practical use that controls printers using a general-purpose printing program that is built into the operating system (OS) as standard, without using a printer driver. With this technology, when the OS detects a printer, it associates it with the OS's standard general-purpose printing program, and thereafter, when a print instruction for that printer is received, printing can be performed using the OS's standard general-purpose printing program without using a printer driver.

[0003] Also known is a configuration in which a support program is associated with an OS-standard general-purpose printing program, and printing is achieved through cooperation between the general-purpose printing program and the support program. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a configuration in which the general-purpose printing program generates intermediate data in XPS format based on image data to be printed, the support program generates print data in PDL format based on the intermediate data, and the print data is sent to a printer by the general-purpose printing program, or a configuration in which the support program edits the intermediate data, and then the general-purpose printing program generates print data in RWGraster or PDF format based on the edited intermediate data, and sends the print data to a printer. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2021-056755 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] When printing an image on a printer via a standard OS general-purpose printing program, there is no opportunity for the user to edit the image to be printed in the processing flow from inputting a print instruction for that image to sending a print job including that image to the printer. Even when a support program is launched, the support program may edit the image according to pre-set print settings, but the user cannot edit the image in the processing flow from inputting a print instruction to sending a print job. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The support program aimed at solving the above-mentioned problems is as follows: A support program that can be executed by a computer of an information processing device, corresponds to a specific printer connected to the information processing device, and supports a general-purpose printing program that is pre-installed in an operating system of the information processing device, The computer, executes a registration process for registering a predetermined file format in the general-purpose printing program as a file format for which intermediate data is not generated; Furthermore, the computer When a print instruction is output from an application program installed in the information processing device, the print instruction being to cause the general-purpose print program to print an image on the specific printer, and processing is requested from the general-purpose print program, When the intermediate data is passed from the general-purpose printing program, a first print job process is executed to generate print data based on the passed intermediate data and to transmit a print job including the generated print data to the specific printer; When image data in the predetermined file format is passed from the general-purpose printing program, an editing process is executed to accept editing of an image shown in the passed image data, and a second print job process is executed to transmit a print job including the image data edited in the editing process to the specific printer. It is configured as follows.

[0007] When a specific file format is registered in the general-purpose printing program as a file format that does not generate intermediate data, if the data in the specific file format is image data to be printed, the general-purpose printing program passes the image data as is to the support program. Therefore, the support program registers the specific file format as a pass-through format. When image data in the specific file format that has not been converted into intermediate data is passed, the support program accepts editing of the image represented by the image data in the specific file format before sending the image data to a specific printer. This allows the user to edit the image, for example, temporarily embedding text during printing, between the input of a print instruction and the transmission of the print job.

[0008] A control method for realizing the functions of the above-described device, a computer program, and a computer-readable storage medium storing the computer program are also novel and useful. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] The technology disclosed in this specification realizes a technology that enables a user to edit an image to be printed between the time a print instruction is input and the time the print job is sent, in an information processing device that has an OS-standard general-purpose printing program built in. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a printing system according to a first embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing an example of a procedure when printing is selected in the information application according to the first embodiment. [Figure 3] FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing an example of a procedure when a print instruction is received according to the first embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an editing screen that accepts image editing by the auxiliary program. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing an example of a procedure when a print instruction is received according to a second embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a pop-up window display. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a procedure for a job transmission process after image editing according to a second embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an editing screen that accepts image editing by an editing application. [Figure 9] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a selection screen that accepts a printing selection by the auxiliary program. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] A personal computer (hereinafter referred to as "PC") that uses the support program of this embodiment will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. This specification discloses a printing system that causes a printer to print from a general-purpose printing program that is standard for the OS.

[0012] [First embodiment] [System Configuration] As shown in FIG. 1, the printing system 100 includes a PC 1 and a printer 2. The PC 1 and the printer 2 may be connected via a network such as the Internet, or may be connected without a network. The PC 1 is an example of an information processing device. The printer 2 is an example of a specific printer.

[0013] The PC 1 includes a controller 10 including a CPU 11 and a memory 12. The CPU 11 is an example of a computer. The PC 1 also includes a user interface (hereinafter referred to as a "user IF") 13 and a communication interface (hereinafter referred to as a "communication IF") 14, which are electrically connected to the controller 10. Note that the controller 10 in FIG. 1 is a collective term for hardware and software used to control the PC 1, and does not necessarily represent a single piece of hardware that actually exists in the PC 1.

[0014] The CPU 11 executes various processes in accordance with programs read from the memory 12 and based on user operations. Various programs and various data are stored in the memory 12. The memory 12 is also used as a work area when various processes are executed. A buffer provided in the CPU 11 is also an example of the memory 12. Note that the example of the memory 12 is not limited to a ROM, RAM, HDD, etc. built into the PC 1, but may also be a storage medium readable and writable by the CPU 11, such as a recording medium such as a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM.

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

[0016] The communication IF 14 includes hardware for communicating with an external device such as the printer 2. The communication IF 14 is compatible with a communication standard such as Ethernet (registered trademark), Wi-Fi (registered trademark), or USB. The PC 1 may be connectable to the Internet via the communication IF 14. The PC 1 may be equipped with multiple communication IFs 14 compatible with multiple communication standards.

[0017] The memory 12 of the PC 1 stores an operating system (hereinafter referred to as "OS") 21 including a general-purpose printing program 41, an auxiliary program 42, and various application programs (hereinafter referred to as "apps"). The OS 21 is, for example, Windows (registered trademark), macOS (registered trademark), Linux (registered trademark), iOS (registered trademark), or Android (registered trademark). The OS 21 creates a printer queue for each connected printer, manages print jobs destined for that printer, and registers printer information, which is information about each printer.

[0018] The PC 1 of this embodiment incorporates various applications, such as an information application 43. The information application 43 is, for example, a map application, a calendar application, or a browser, and has a function of displaying various information on the display 13a in response to a user request. The information application 43 is an example of an application program. Note that the information application 43 itself does not necessarily have a function of printing the displayed information.

[0019] The generic printing program 41 is an OS standard program provided together with the OS 21, and has a function for causing the printer 2 or the like to print information displayed on the display 13a by the information application 43 or the like. The generic printing program 41 of this embodiment is a program that includes a function for generating intermediate data based on image data to be printed. The generic printing program 41 supports functions that can be used in common by multiple models of printers provided by various printer vendors. Unlike printer drivers that are specific to various printers, the generic printing program 41 does not support all of the specific functions that various printers have, and the functions it supports are limited to generic ones.

[0020] The auxiliary program 42 is a program or group of programs that executes processing based on instructions from the OS 21 in conjunction with the processing of the general-purpose printing program 41, and is a program that supports the control of the target hardware. The auxiliary program 42 of this embodiment corresponds to the model of the printer 2 connected to the PC 1, and is started from the general-purpose printing program 41 when, for example, an instruction to cause the printer 2 to execute printing using the general-purpose printing program 41 is received. In other words, the auxiliary program 42 is registered in the general-purpose printing program 41 or the OS 21 as a program to be started based on the selection of the printer 2. The auxiliary program 42 is, for example, called a print support app (abbreviated as PSA) or a hardware support app (abbreviated as HSA). The auxiliary program 42 is an example of a support program.

[0021] The auxiliary program 42 may be a combination of multiple programs that each accept an execution command, or a single program that can execute different processes in response to commands. The auxiliary program 42 may also be a program prepared by a printer vendor for each printer type. For example, an auxiliary program for inkjet printers and an auxiliary program for laser printers may be prepared. A separate auxiliary program may be prepared not only for each printer type, but also for each printer model or series of printer models.

[0022] Furthermore, the general-purpose printing program 41 has a pass-through function for PDF data that passes the image data directly to the auxiliary program without generating intermediate data. PDF is an example of a predetermined file format. The general-purpose printing program 41 can register whether or not to enable the pass-through function for each auxiliary program. In this embodiment, the registration to enable the pass-through function is referred to as "pass-through registration."

[0023] The auxiliary program 42 also has a function for setting whether or not to execute pass-through registration. When image data passed based on a print instruction is PDF, if pass-through registration has not been executed from the auxiliary program 42, the general-purpose printing program 41 generates intermediate data and passes the intermediate data to the auxiliary program 42. However, if pass-through registration has been executed from the auxiliary program 42, the general-purpose printing program 41 passes the PDF image data directly to the auxiliary program 42 without generating intermediate data. In this embodiment, registration availability information 46 indicating whether or not to execute pass-through registration is stored in the memory 12. The registration availability information 46 is set to ON if pass-through registration is to be executed, and is set to OFF if pass-through registration is not to be executed. The auxiliary program 42 has, for example, a setting screen for setting the registration availability information 46 to ON or OFF, and accepts settings for the registration availability information 46 via the setting screen.

[0024] The PC 1 of this embodiment also incorporates an editing application 44, which is capable of editing PDF image data, as one of various applications. The editing application 44 has a display function for displaying an image shown in the PDF image data on the display 13a, as well as a composition function for, for example, combining a character string or an image designated by the user at an arbitrary position in the PDF image data. It also has a masking function for, for example, filling in or filtering a designated area in an image. The editing application 44 is an example of an editing program. The editing application 44 itself does not necessarily have to have a function for printing the displayed information.

[0025] The printer 2 has at least a printing function and a communication function. The printer 2 receives a print job including print data and print settings from an external device, and prints an image indicated in the print data according to the print settings.

[0026] [Procedure for selecting a printer] Next, the printing procedure including the operation of the auxiliary program 42 of this embodiment, which is the procedure performed by each program when printing is selected in the information application 43, will be described with reference to the sequence diagram of Fig. 2. Note that Fig. 2 and other sequence diagrams described later show the operation when the auxiliary program 42 corresponding to the printer 2 is installed in the PC 1.

[0027] Note that the processes, flowcharts, and sequence diagrams in the following explanation basically represent the processing of the CPU 11 in accordance with instructions written in a program such as the auxiliary program 42. The processing by the CPU 11 also includes hardware control using the API of the OS 21. In this specification, the operation of each program will be explained without a detailed description of the OS 21. Also, the term "acquire" is used as a concept that does not necessarily require a request.

[0028] At the beginning of the procedure, the user launches the information application 43 (A01). The information application 43 displays various information on the display 13a in response to user instructions (A02). If the user wants to print an image based on the displayed information, the user selects print from the menu of the information application 43 (A03). When the information application 43 accepts the print selection, it sends a request to display a print settings screen and image data to be printed to the general-purpose print program 41 of the OS 21 (A04). The information application 43 sends the image data to be printed in a file format that suits its own capabilities. The general-purpose print program 41 receives the image data of the image to be printed in a file format that suits the capabilities of the data sender, such as the information application 43.

[0029] In response to the display request, the general-purpose print program 41 displays a general-purpose print setting screen on the display 13a (A06). The general-purpose print setting screen is a screen that accepts instructions for print settings and instructions for printing. The general-purpose print setting screen displays the settings of various setting items related to printing, displays a preview based on the image data received from the information application 43 in A04, and accepts various settings related to printing.

[0030] The general-purpose printing program 41 also accepts the selection of the printer to be used for printing via the general-purpose printing setting screen. When the general-purpose printing program 41 accepts the selection of printer 2 as the printer to be used for printing (A07), it starts the auxiliary program 42 and requests processing corresponding to the printer selection (A08). In A08, the general-purpose printing program 41 may pass the print setting information that was set when the printer was selected to the auxiliary program 42.

[0031] When printer 2 is set as the printer to be normally used in the OS 21, the general-purpose printing program 41 displays the general-purpose printing setting screen with printer 2 selected (A06) and starts the auxiliary program 42 (A08). That is, printer 2 is automatically selected by the OS 21, and the general-purpose printing program 41 executes A08 based on the selection of printer 2. In this case, the user does not need to operate A07.

[0032] Alternatively, instead of the general-purpose printing program 41 displaying the general-purpose printing setting screen, the information application 43 may be configured to display the general-purpose printing setting screen. In this case, the information application 43 starts the general-purpose printing program 41 in response to the selection of printing in A03, obtains data to be displayed on the general-purpose printing setting screen from the general-purpose printing program 41, and displays the general-purpose printing setting screen on the display 13a. Then, in response to the selection of printer 2 or in response to the selection of printer 2 in A07, the information application 43 passes information about the selected printer to the general-purpose printing program 41. As a result, the general-purpose printing program 41 starts the auxiliary program 42 in A08.

[0033] When the auxiliary program 42 is started, it requests the OS 21 for the capability information of the selected printer (A11). Because printer 2 is selected, the OS 21 transmits an acquisition request to printer 2 requesting the capability information, and receives the capability information transmitted from printer 2 in response to the acquisition request, thereby acquiring the capability information from printer 2 (A12). A12 is an example of an acquisition process. The OS 21 passes the capability information acquired from printer 2, the selected printer, to the auxiliary program 42 (A13).

[0034] The OS 21 communicates with the selected printer using, for example, IPP (Internet Printing Protocol) communication. Instead of requesting capability information from the OS 21, the auxiliary program 42 may obtain connection information such as the IP address of the selected printer from the OS 21 and use the MIB (Management Information Base) to obtain the capability information directly from the selected printer.

[0035] The capability information acquired from the printer 2 includes information on parameters that can be set as print settings. The capability information may also include, for example, status information, information on remaining consumables, information on installed trays, paper type information for each tray, and information on supported print resolutions. The capability information may also include printer model information and firmware version information. The capability information of this embodiment includes information indicating whether PDF data is supported. The information indicating whether PDF data is supported may directly indicate whether PDF data is supported, or may be information that can be used to determine whether PDF data is supported, such as the printer model. Even if PDF is supported, if compatibility varies depending on the version, information on whether PDF data is supported may be included in addition to information indicating whether PDF data is supported. PDF is an example of a predetermined file format, and PDF versions are an example of a type of the predetermined file format.

[0036] The auxiliary program 42, having acquired the capability information, performs a printer determination process (A14). The printer determination process is a process for determining whether the selected printer, printer 2, is compatible with PDF, based on information indicating whether PDF data is supported, which is included in the capability information. A14 is an example of a determination process. Furthermore, the auxiliary program 42 reads the registration availability information 46 from the memory 12 (A15).

[0037] If the selected printer is PDF compatible and the registration availability information 46 is set to ON (alt: PDF compatible and registration availability information ON), the auxiliary program 42 executes pass-through registration for the general-purpose printing program 41 (A16). A16 is an example of the registration process. Pass-through registration is accepted by the general-purpose printing program 41 for each auxiliary program. Therefore, if a printer associated with the auxiliary program 42 is selected after pass-through registration by the auxiliary program 42, the pass-through registration from the auxiliary program 42 becomes valid. On the other hand, if a printer not associated with the auxiliary program 42 is selected, the pass-through registration from the auxiliary program 42 does not become valid. Note that if pass-through registration has already been completed, A16 may be omitted.

[0038] On the other hand, if the selected printer is not PDF compatible or the registration availability information 46 is set to OFF (alt: PDF incompatible or registration availability information OFF), the auxiliary program 42 does not execute pass-through registration and executes processing to cancel pass-through registration (A17). In other words, the auxiliary program 42 restricts the execution of pass-through registration. Note that if pass-through has already been canceled or pass-through registration has not been performed, A17 may be omitted.

[0039] [Procedure for printing] Next, the procedures of each program when a print instruction is received via the general-purpose print setting screen of the general-purpose print program 41 will be described with reference to the sequence diagram in Fig. 3. The sequence diagram in Fig. 3 shows the operation when a print instruction is received with the printer 2 selected.

[0040] For example, the general-purpose print setting screen displayed by A06 in Fig. 2 has a print execution button, and an instruction to execute printing is received by operating the print execution button. Since the general-purpose print setting screen is displayed in response to a request from the information application 43, this means that operations on the general-purpose print setting screen are received by the information application 43. Therefore, in this embodiment, an instruction to execute printing is received by the information application 43 (D01), and in response to that instruction, a print instruction is output from the information application 43 to the general-purpose print program 41 (D02). Note that the information application 43 may directly receive an instruction to execute printing separately from the general-purpose print setting screen, and in that case, a print instruction is also output from the information application 43 to the general-purpose print program 41 in response to that instruction.

[0041] When the general-purpose printing program 41 receives a print instruction from the information application 43, it starts the auxiliary program 42 (D03). When the auxiliary program 42 starts, the general-purpose printing program 41 passes the image data passed from the information application 43 in A04 of Fig. 2 and the print settings received via the general-purpose print setting screen to the program (D03). The auxiliary program 42 then determines the file format of the passed image data (D04).

[0042] The general-purpose printing program 41 handles the image data passed from the information application 43 differently depending on whether pass-through registration is performed and the file format of the image data to be printed. That is, if pass-through registration is performed by the auxiliary program 42 at A16 in FIG. 2 and PDF image data is passed from the information application 43, the general-purpose printing program 41 passes the PDF image data to the auxiliary program 42 as is.

[0043] On the other hand, if pass-through registration has not been executed by the auxiliary program 42, or if pass-through registration has been cancelled by the auxiliary program 42, or if the file format of the image data passed from the information application 43 is not PDF, the general-purpose printing program 41 generates intermediate data from the image data passed from the information application 43. The general-purpose printing program 41 passes the generated intermediate data to the auxiliary program 42 as image data. The image data passed from the information application 43 can be of various types, and the general-purpose printing program 41 converts the image data to be printed into intermediate data suitable for generating print data. The intermediate data is, for example, XPS data.

[0044] If the result of the determination in D04 is PDF (alt:PDF), the auxiliary program 42 accepts a selection of whether or not to edit the image data (D11). In D11, as shown in FIG. 4(A), a selection screen 420 for accepting the selection is displayed on the display 13a, and the selection result is accepted via the user IF 13. D11 is an example of a selection process. The selection screen 420 includes a display area 420P for displaying a preview of an image represented by the image data, and a selection area 420S for accepting a selection of whether or not to edit the image data. Furthermore, the selection area 420S includes an "Edit" button 421 for accepting a selection of editing the image data, and a "Don't Edit" button 422 for accepting a selection of not editing the image data.

[0045] When a selection to edit the image data is accepted (alt: edit), the auxiliary program 42 switches from the selection screen 420 to an editing screen 425 that accepts editing of the image data, as shown in FIG. 4(B), displays the editing screen 425 on the display 13a (D12), and accepts editing of the image data via the user IF 13 (D13). The editing screen 425 includes a display area 425P that displays a preview of the image shown in the image data, and an editing area 425S for deciding the editing content. The editing area 425S also includes a print button 426 that ends editing and proceeds to printing, a header input section 427 that accepts a character string to be inserted as a header, and a footer input section 428 that accepts a character string to be inserted as a footer.

[0046] FIG. 4B shows the state immediately after the display of the editing screen 425. In this state, if the user inputs the character string "ABC" in the header input field 427, for example, the character string "ABC" is superimposed above the preview image as shown in FIG. 4C. Furthermore, in this state, if the user inputs the character string "XYZ" in the footer input field 428, for example, the character string "XYZ" is superimposed below the preview image as shown in FIG. 4D. Then, when the print button 426 is operated in this state, PDF image data representing the preview image, i.e., PDF image data representing an image in which the specified character strings are superimposed above and below the image to be printed, is generated and overwritten into the PDF image data to be printed. D12 and D13 are examples of editing processing.

[0047] The types of editing that can be accepted are not limited to combining character strings as headers or footers. For example, a watermark may be combined. In this case, the accepted specification is the character string or image to be used as the watermark and the position where the watermark is to be combined. Also, for example, information may be masked by combining a solid black image.

[0048] After editing the image in D13 and generating new PDF image data, the process proceeds to D31. The auxiliary program 42 then assigns information indicating print settings to the print job including the PDF image data generated in D13 (D31). The assigned print settings are, for example, printer-specific print settings. The general-purpose printing program 41 supports general-purpose print settings, but does not support printer-specific print settings. Examples of print settings supported by the general-purpose printing program 41 include the number of copies, double-sided printing, color printing, paper tray, paper type, paper size, and page layout printing (N in 1). Printer-specific print settings include, for example, print settings related to post-processing such as watermarks, economy printing, PIN settings, poster printing, booklet printing, and stapling.

[0049] The auxiliary program 42 sends the print job with the print settings to the selected printer 2 (D32). The printer 2 that receives the print job executes printing based on the received print job (D34). This results in the creation of a printed document. Note that the printer 2 may perform authorization authentication based on PIN information when acquiring the print job. D32, which sends the print job including the PDF image data created in D13 to the printer 2, is an example of a second print job process.

[0050] Furthermore, if a selection not to edit the image data is received, the auxiliary program 42 proceeds to D31 without executing D12 and D13. That is, the PDF image data passed from the general-purpose printing program 41 is not edited. The auxiliary program 42 then assigns information indicating print settings to the print job including the PDF image data passed from the general-purpose printing program 41 (D31), and sends the print job with the print settings assigned to the selected printer 2 (D32). D32, for sending the print job including the PDF image data passed in D03 to the printer 2 without executing D12 and D13, is an example of a third print job process.

[0051] After D32, the auxiliary program 42 returns a notification of completion of the processing by D03 to the general-purpose printing program 41 (D33). In D33, the auxiliary program 42 notifies the general-purpose printing program 41 that the print job has been sent. As a result, the general-purpose printing program 41 does not send the print job to the printer 2.

[0052] Furthermore, if the result of the determination in D04 is a file format other than PDF, i.e., intermediate data (alt: non-PDF), the auxiliary program 42 generates print data based on the intermediate data received (D21). That is, the auxiliary program 42 rasterizes the intermediate data processed by the general-purpose printing program 41 to generate print data representing an image to be printed. The print data generated in D13 is, for example, PDL data compatible with the printer 2. The auxiliary program 42 then adds information indicating print settings to a print job including the print data generated in D21 (D31), sends the print job with the added print settings to the selected printer 2 (D32), and returns a notification of completion of the processing in D03 to the general-purpose printing program 41 (D33). D21 and D32 for sending the print job including the print data generated in D21 to the printer 2 are an example of a first print job process.

[0053] It should be noted that the general-purpose printing program 41 may send the print job to the printer 2, rather than the auxiliary program 42. In other words, the auxiliary program 42 may pass the generated print data to the general-purpose printing program 41 so that it is sent from the PC 1 to the printer 2 as the destination. In this case, the general-purpose printing program 41 sends the print data etc. received from the auxiliary program 42 to the printer 2.

[0054] As described above in detail, in the first embodiment, if PDF is registered as a file format that does not generate intermediate data, and the image data to be printed is PDF, the general-purpose printing program 41 passes the PDF image data directly to the auxiliary program 42. Therefore, if the printer 2 is PDF-compatible, the auxiliary program 42 registers the PDF as a pass-through format. When PDF image data is passed from the general-purpose printing program 41, the auxiliary program 42 accepts editing of the image shown in the PDF image data before sending the image data to the printer 2. This allows the user to edit the image, for example, by temporarily embedding text during printing. The auxiliary program 42 then sends the edited PDF image data to the printer 2, allowing the printer 2 to print based on the edited PDF image data.

[0055] [Second embodiment] [Procedure for printing] Next, a second embodiment of the support program and printing system disclosed in this specification will be described. FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the procedure when printing is selected. In the second embodiment, when image data passed from the general-purpose printing program 41 is PDF, the editing application 44 is launched, the PDF image data is passed to the editing application 44, and image editing is accepted by the editing application 44. This differs from the first embodiment in which the auxiliary program 42 accepts image editing. Here, the differences from the first embodiment will be mainly described. Note that the same reference numerals as in the first embodiment will be used for configurations or processes common to the first embodiment, and explanations will be omitted as appropriate.

[0056] In the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, if the result of the determination in D04 is PDF (alt: PDF) and a selection to edit the image data is accepted in D11 (alt: edit), the auxiliary program 42 notifies the user that editing of the image to be printed is accepted by the editing application 44, i.e., that editing of the image is possible (D41). In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, the notification is made by popping up a pop-up window 420W on the display 13a. By notifying the user that image editing is possible, the possibility of the user becoming confused and not realizing that editing is pending can be reduced. Note that the mode of notification is not limited to a pop-up display, and may also be, for example, audio guidance output.

[0057] The auxiliary program 42 also saves the PDF image data received from the general-purpose print program 41 in a predetermined first save folder (D42). The first save folder may be specified by the user or may be a fixed folder. The first save folder is an example of a first folder. Note that D41 and D42 may be saved in the reverse order or simultaneously.

[0058] Then, the auxiliary program 42 executes a post-image-editing job transmission process (D43) in which the editing application 44 accepts the editing of the PDF image data passed from the general-purpose printing program 41 and transmits a print job based on the edited image data to the printer 2. The post-image-editing job transmission process will be described in detail later. After D43, the auxiliary program 42 returns a notification of completion of the process in D03 to the general-purpose printing program 41 (D44). In other words, if the post-image-editing job transmission process has been executed, the auxiliary program 42 will not perform the processes from D31 onwards.

[0059] 7 shows the procedure for the post-image-edit job transmission process of D43. In the post-image-edit job transmission process, the auxiliary program 42 first starts the editing application 44 (E01). When starting the editing application 44, the auxiliary program 42 passes to the editing application 44 the path to the PDF image data saved in D41.

[0060] When the editing application 44 is launched by the auxiliary program 42, it displays an editing screen 440 of the editing application 44 on the display 13a, as shown in FIG. 8. The editing screen 440 of the editing application 44 may have a configuration similar to that of the editing screen 425 of the auxiliary program 42 shown in FIG. 4(B), and includes a display area 440P for displaying a preview of an image represented by the image data and an editing area 440S for determining the editing content. The editing area 440S also includes a save button 441 for accepting an end of editing, a header input section 442 for accepting a character string to be inserted as a header, and a footer input section 443 for accepting a character string to be inserted as a footer. The editing application 44 then reads the PDF image data saved by the auxiliary program 42 at D41 in FIG. 5 based on the path of the image data passed from the auxiliary program 42, displays the image represented by the PDF image data in the display area 440P of the editing screen 440 (E02), and accepts editing of the image data via the user IF 13 (E03). When editing application 44 receives a header or footer specification in editing area 440S, it reflects the received character string in the preview in display area 440P. E02 and E03 are examples of editing processing.

[0061] When the save button 441 on the editing screen 440 is operated, the editing application 44 generates new PDF image data showing the image previewed in the display area 440P, i.e., the edited image, and saves the PDF image data in a predetermined second save folder (E04). The second save folder may be specified by the user or may be a fixed folder. The second save folder is an example of a second folder. After saving the PDF image data in the second save folder, the editing application 44 ends the process.

[0062] Meanwhile, after starting the editing application 44 in E01, the auxiliary program 42 monitors the second save folder and repeatedly attempts to detect PDF image data (E11). As described above, the editing application 44 saves PDF image data representing the edited image in the second save folder, so in E11 the auxiliary program 42 attempts to detect PDF image data representing the edited image.

[0063] When PDF image data is detected (alt: image data detected), the auxiliary program 42 reads the detected PDF image data from the second save folder (E21) and accepts a selection as to whether or not to send the detected image data (E22). In E22, as shown in FIG. 9, a selection screen 450 for accepting the selection is displayed on the display 13a, and the selection is accepted via the user IF 13. The selection screen 450 includes a display area 450P for displaying a preview of the image shown in the detected image data, and a selection area 450S for accepting a selection as to whether or not to send the image data. The selection area 450S also includes a "Send" button 451 for accepting a selection as to whether to send the image data, and a "Do not send" button 452 for accepting a selection as to not to send the image data.

[0064] When the selection to send the image data is accepted (alt: send), the auxiliary program 42 adds information indicating the print settings to the print job including the image data read in E21 (E23), and sends the print job with the print settings added to the selected printer 2 (E24). E24, which reads the image data from the second storage folder and sends the print job including the image data to the printer 2, is an example of a detection and sending process.

[0065] After sending the print job to the printer 2, the auxiliary program 42 deletes the detected PDF image data from the second storage folder (E25) and ends the post-image editing job sending process of D43. After executing the post-image editing job sending process of D43, a completion notice is output to the general-purpose printing program 41 at D44 in Fig. 5, so the processes from D31 in Fig. 5 onwards are not performed. D25 is an example of the first deletion process.

[0066] Furthermore, if a selection not to send the image data is accepted (alt: do not send), the auxiliary program 42 does not execute the processes of E23 to E25, deletes the detected PDF image data from the second save folder (E31), requests cancellation from the general-purpose printing program 41 (E32), and terminates the post-image editing job sending process of D43. When cancellation is requested, the general-purpose printing program 41 cancels the process based on the print instruction. As a result, the edited PDF image data is not sent to the printer 2. By accepting a selection of whether to send the edited image data before sending it, it is possible to avoid unnecessary printing if the editing fails. E32 is an example of a second cancellation process, and E31 is an example of a second deletion process.

[0067] Furthermore, if PDF image data is not detected and the continuous time that the auxiliary program 42 monitors the second save folder exceeds the threshold time, i.e., if a timeout occurs (alt: timeout), the auxiliary program 42 accepts a choice of whether to cancel printing (E41). In E41, a selection screen for accepting the choice is displayed on the display 13a, and the selection result is accepted via the user IF 13.

[0068] If a selection to cancel printing is accepted (alt: cancel), the auxiliary program 42 requests cancellation from the general-purpose printing program 41 (E42) and terminates the post-image editing job transmission process of D43. If the timeout occurs before the edited image data is saved in the second save folder, the auxiliary program 42 can avoid needlessly continuing to monitor the second save folder by accepting a selection from the user as to whether or not to cancel printing. E42 is an example of a first cancellation process. On the other hand, if a selection not to cancel printing is accepted, the auxiliary program 42 extends the threshold time and continues to monitor the second save folder.

[0069] As shown in FIG. 5, if the result of the determination in D04 is PDF (alt:PDF) and a selection not to edit the image data is accepted in D11, D41 to D44 are not executed, and as in the first embodiment, the auxiliary program 42 adds information indicating print settings to the print job including the PDF image data passed in D03 (D31 in FIG. 5), sends the print job with the print settings added to the selected printer 2 (D32 in FIG. 5), and returns a notification of completion of processing by D03 to the general-purpose printing program 41 (D33 in FIG. 5).

[0070] In addition, in this embodiment, when a timeout occurs, the user is asked whether to cancel printing, but this choice may not be accepted and processing E42 may be automatically executed. By automatically executing processing E42, the user is spared the trouble of having to make a selection. Furthermore, since work in the editing application 44 is unnecessary when printing is canceled, the editing application 44 may be forcibly terminated in addition to processing E42.

[0071] In addition, in this embodiment, when PDF image data is detected in the second storage folder, selection screen 450 is displayed on display 13a to accept the selection of whether or not to send the image data, but E23 and E24 may be executed automatically without accepting this selection. By automatically executing the processes of E23 and E24, it is possible to save the user the trouble of making a selection.

[0072] As described above in detail, the auxiliary program 42 of the second embodiment saves PDF image data passed from the general-purpose print program 41 in the first save folder, and causes the editing application 44 to read the PDF image data, which then accepts editing of the image. Thereafter, the auxiliary program 42 reads the image data saved in the second save folder after editing, and a print job including the image data is sent to the printer 2, thereby enabling editing of the image shown in the PDF image data before sending the PDF image data to the printer 2.

[0073] Furthermore, since the editing application 44 edits the image data, the auxiliary program 42 does not need to have an image editing function, and compared to the first embodiment, the implementation load of the auxiliary program 42 is reduced. On the other hand, in the first embodiment, the editing application 44 is not required to edit image data, and temporary editing of image data can be performed even in an environment where the editing application 44 is not installed.

[0074] The embodiments disclosed in this specification are merely examples and do not limit the present invention in any way. Therefore, the technology disclosed in this specification can naturally be improved and modified in various ways without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. For example, the device connected to PC 1 is not limited to a printer, but may be any device with a printing function, such as a multifunction device, copier, or fax machine. Furthermore, the device connected to printer 2 is not limited to a PC, but may be any device capable of controlling a printer, such as a PDA (personal digital assistant) or smartphone.

[0075] Furthermore, in the embodiment, pass-through registration is possible for PDF, but pass-through registration may also be possible for file formats other than PDF, i.e., the general-purpose printing program 41 may not generate intermediate data. In this case, multiple file formats may be registered in the general-purpose printing program 41 as file formats for which intermediate data is not generated in one pass-through registration, or pass-through registration may be performed by specifying a file format. In other words, pass-through registration may be possible for each file format.

[0076] Furthermore, in the embodiment, pass-through registration is performed when a printer is selected, but the timing for performing pass-through registration is not limited to this. For example, pass-through registration can be performed when the auxiliary program 42 is installed, when a printer queue is created, or when a print instruction is received. For example, when a print instruction is received, if the image data to be printed passed from the general-purpose print program 41 is PDF, it can be determined that pass-through registration has not been performed. In this case, pass-through registration can be performed on the condition that the selected printer is PDF-compatible and the registration availability information 46 is set to ON. Note that if pass-through registration is performed when a print instruction is received, there is a possibility that the start of printing will be delayed. Therefore, by performing pass-through registration before the print instruction, such as when a printer is selected, it is possible to suppress delays in the start of printing due to pass-through registration.

[0077] Also, in the embodiment, the registration possibility information 46 is stored in the memory 12, and if the registration possibility information is set to OFF, the auxiliary program 42 does not perform pass-through registration, but it may perform pass-through registration if the selected printer is PDF compatible without storing the registration possibility information 46 and without making a judgment regarding the registration possibility information.

[0078] Furthermore, in the embodiment, when selecting a printer, if the selected printer is not PDF-compatible or the registration availability information 46 is set to OFF (alt in FIG. 2: PDF-compatible and registration availability information is ON), the auxiliary program 42 cancels the pass-through registration, but it is not necessary to cancel the pass-through registration. However, by canceling the pass-through registration if the selected printer is not PDF-compatible, for example, if the registration availability information 46 is changed from ON to OFF, a printing procedure appropriate for the change can be realized.

[0079] Also, in the embodiment, when a printer is selected, capability information of the selected printer is acquired, and pass-through registration is executed on the condition that the selected printer is PDF compatible, but pass-through registration may be executed regardless of whether the selected printer is PDF compatible or not. However, by executing pass-through registration on the condition that the selected printer is PDF compatible, that is, by not executing pass-through registration if the selected printer is PDF incompatible, if the image data to be printed is PDF, intermediate data will be passed from the general-purpose printing program 41, and errors due to PDF incompatibility in the selected printer will be less likely to occur.

[0080] Furthermore, in the embodiment, when the image data passed from the general-purpose print program 41 is PDF and a selection to edit the image data is accepted, the image data can be edited, but it is also possible to edit the image data without accepting a selection of whether or not to edit the image data. However, by accepting image editing when a selection to edit the image data by the user is accepted, and by quickly sending the image data to the printer 2 without accepting editing of the image data when a selection not to edit is accepted, it is possible to reduce the user's effort when editing is not required.

[0081] In the embodiment, a preview is displayed on selection screen 420 and editing screen 425, but the preview display is not necessary. However, by displaying the preview, the user can easily determine whether or not an image requires editing, and can easily understand the image after editing.

[0082] Furthermore, in any flowchart disclosed in the embodiments, the execution order of multiple processes in any multiple steps can be changed or they can be executed in parallel as long as no contradiction occurs in the processing content.

[0083] The processes disclosed in the embodiments may be executed by hardware such as a single CPU, multiple CPUs, or ASIC, or a combination thereof. The processes disclosed in the embodiments may be realized in various ways, such as a recording medium on which a program for executing the processes is recorded, or a method. [Explanation of symbols]

[0084] 1 PC 2. Printer 21 OS 41 General-purpose printing program 42 Subsidy Programs 43 Information App 44 Editing Apps

Claims

1. A support program that can be executed by a computer of an information processing device, corresponds to a specific printer connected to the information processing device, and supports a general-purpose printing program that is pre-installed in an operating system of the information processing device, The computer, executes a registration process for registering a predetermined file format in the general-purpose printing program as a file format for which intermediate data is not generated; Furthermore, the computer When a print instruction is output from an application program installed in the information processing device, the print instruction being to cause the general-purpose print program to print an image on the specific printer, and processing is requested from the general-purpose print program, When the intermediate data is received from the general-purpose printing program, a first print job process is executed to generate print data based on the received intermediate data and to transmit a print job including the generated print data to the specific printer; When image data in the predetermined file format is delivered from the general-purpose printing program, an editing process is executed to accept editing of an image shown in the delivered image data, and a second print job process is executed to transmit a print job including the image data edited in the editing process to the specific printer. A support program configured to:

2. 2. The support program according to claim 1, In the registration process, The PDF is set as the predetermined file format, and the PDF is registered in the general-purpose printing program as a file format for which intermediate data is not generated. A support program configured to:

3. The support program according to claim 1 or 2, The computer, executes the registration process when a process is requested by the general-purpose printing program as a result of the specific printer being selected; A support program configured to:

4. 4. The support program according to claim 1, The computer, Before executing the registration process, an acquisition process is executed to acquire capability information indicating the capability of the specific printer, and a determination process is executed to determine whether the specific printer is compatible with the predetermined file format based on the capability information acquired in the acquisition process, If it is determined in the determination process that the specific printer is compatible, the registration process is executed; If it is determined in the determination process that the specific printer is not compatible, the registration process is not executed. A support program configured to:

5. 5. The support program according to claim 1, It is possible to set whether or not to execute the registration process, The computer, If it is set that the registration process is not to be executed, the execution of the registration process is restricted. A support program configured to:

6. 6. The support program according to claim 1, The computer, When the print instruction is output from the application program installed in the information processing device, and the print instruction is given to the general-purpose print program to cause the specific printer to print an image, processing is requested from the general-purpose print program, and image data in the predetermined file format is passed from the general-purpose print program, Execute a selection process to accept a selection of whether or not to edit the image shown in the transferred image data; When the selection to edit the image is accepted in the selection process, the editing process and the second print job process are executed; When the selection not to edit the image is accepted in the selection process, the editing process is not executed, and a third print job process is executed to transmit a print job including the transferred image data to the specific printer. A support program configured to:

7. 7. The support program according to claim 6, In the selection process, previewing an image shown in the transferred image data and accepting a selection as to whether or not to edit the image shown in the image data; A support program configured to:

8. 8. The support program according to claim 1, In the editing process, the received image data is saved in a first folder, an editing program incorporated in the information processing device is started to read the image data stored in the first folder, the editing program has a function of editing an image shown in the image data in the predetermined file format, reads the image data stored in the first folder and accepts image editing, and then outputs the edited image data to a second folder; In the second print job processing, monitoring the second folder, and when image data is detected in the second folder, executing a detection and transmission process for transmitting a print job including the detected image data to the specific printer, and then executing a first deletion process for deleting the detected image data; A support program configured to:

9. 9. The support program according to claim 8, In the editing process, saving the received image data in a first folder, activating the editing program to read out the image data stored in the first folder, and notifying the user that the image shown in the image data can be edited; A support program configured to:

10. 10. The support program according to claim 8 or claim 9, The computer, When the print instruction is output from the application program installed in the information processing device, and the print instruction is given to the general-purpose print program to cause the specific printer to print an image, processing is requested from the general-purpose print program, and a predetermined time has passed since the general-purpose print program passed image data in the predetermined file format without the image data being detected in the second folder, executes a cancellation acceptance process for accepting a selection of whether or not to cancel the printing based on the print instruction, and when the selection of canceling the printing based on the print instruction is accepted in the cancellation acceptance process, executes a first cancellation process for canceling the printing based on the print instruction; A support program configured to:

11. A support program according to any one of claims 8 to 10, In the second print job processing, monitor the second folder, and when image data is detected in the second folder, accept a selection of whether or not to send a print job including the detected image data to the specific printer, and when the selection of sending the print job to the specific printer is accepted, execute the detection and transmission process, and then execute the first deletion process; The computer, when the selection not to transmit the print job to the specific printer is accepted, a second cancellation process for canceling printing based on the print instruction and a second deletion process for deleting the detected image data are executed; A support program configured to:

Images