Printer driver, information processing method, and information processing system

Abstract

To provide a printer driver, an information processing method, and an information processing system that easily perform printing with high designability.SOLUTION: In an image forming system comprising a host PC and a printer, a printer driver of the host PC is provided with: a clip part designation unit that allows a user to designate watermark drawing data for clipping to be a clipping area for clipping application drawing data in an application; a print data generation unit that generates print data obtained by adding, to print data including the application drawing data, a mask start command in a mask generation start command area, a command to be the watermark drawing data for clipping in a watermark drawing data for clipping storage area, and a mask end command in a mask generation end command area, which indicate the watermark drawing data for clipping; and a print data transmission unit that transmits the print data to the printer.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 10

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a printer driver, an information processing method, and an information processing system, and is suitable for application to an information processing apparatus that performs printing using a clip region of an arbitrary shape in an image forming apparatus.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, in a printing apparatus, for a print job with a background image and a transparency designation for foreground data, intermediate image data of image processing for realizing transparency is cached in a memory as a cached image, and for subsequent drawing objects with matching transparency attributes, the cached image is reused to shorten the image processing time (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] However, in such an information processing apparatus, printing with an arbitrarily shaped clip region specified in a printer driver without using image processing software has not been considered. For this reason, users cannot easily perform highly designed printing using the clip region with the printer driver, which has impaired convenience.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and intends to propose a printer driver, an information processing method, and an information processing system that can easily perform highly designed printing.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] To solve these problems, the printer driver of the present invention includes a clipping area designation means that causes the information processing device to designate a clipping area which will be a clipping region for clipping predetermined application drawing data opened by the application, and a clipping command that indicates the clipping area in the print data which includes application drawing data. So that it is placed before the application rendering data. Added In the image forming apparatus, the clipping command is processed before the application drawing data. The system is configured to perform both a print data generation means for generating print data and a print data transmission means for transmitting the print data to an image forming apparatus.

[0007] Furthermore, the present invention relates to an information processing method that includes a printer driver and controls an information processing device that causes an image forming apparatus to perform printing based on instructions from the printer driver, wherein the information processing device includes a clipping area designation step that causes the information processing device to designate a clipping area which will be a clipping region for clipping predetermined application drawing data opened in an application, and a clipping command that indicates the clipping area in print data including application drawing data. So that it is placed before the application rendering data. Added In the image forming apparatus, the clipping command is processed before the application drawing data. The system includes a print data generation step for generating print data and a print data transmission step for transmitting the print data to an image forming apparatus.

[0008] Furthermore, the information processing system of the present invention includes an information processing device including a printer driver and an image forming apparatus that performs printing based on instructions from the printer driver, and the printer driver of the information processing device includes a clipping area designation unit that designates a clipping area which is a clipping region for clipping predetermined application drawing data opened in an application, and a clipping command that indicates the clipping area in the print data including the application drawing data So that it is placed before the application rendering data. Added In the image forming apparatus, the clipping command is processed before the application drawing data. The system includes a print data generation unit that generates print data and a print data transmission unit that transmits the print data to an image forming apparatus.

[0009] This invention utilizes functions that have been conventionally present in printer drivers for information processing devices to obtain a printed image with application drawing data clipped in the clipping area of ​​the clipping section. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] According to the present invention, a printer driver, an information processing method, and an information processing system that can easily perform highly designed printing can be realized. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0011] [Figure 1] This is a block diagram showing the configuration of an image forming system. [Figure 2] This diagram shows the form registration data and the print data. [Figure 3] This figure shows the application rendering data according to the first embodiment. [Figure 4] This figure shows the driver settings screen and form registration data during form registration according to the first embodiment. [Figure 5] This figure shows the driver settings screen and print data when printing with clip selection according to the first embodiment. [Figure 6] This is a flowchart showing the form registration process. [Figure 7] This is a flowchart showing the printing process. [Figure 8] This figure shows the print result (1) when specifying a clip for printing according to the first embodiment. [Figure 9] This figure shows the print result (2) when specifying a clip for printing according to the first embodiment. [Figure 10] This is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the host PC. [Figure 11] This figure shows the application rendering data according to the second embodiment. [Figure 12] This figure shows the driver settings screen and form registration data during form registration according to the second embodiment. [Figure 13] This figure shows the driver settings screen and print data when specifying a clip for printing according to the second embodiment. [Figure 14]It is a diagram showing the printing result (1) at the time of clip - specified printing according to the second embodiment. [Figure 15] It is a diagram showing the printing result (2) at the time of clip - specified printing according to the second embodiment.

Embodiments for Carrying out the Invention

[0012] Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the invention (hereinafter referred to as embodiments) will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0013] [1. First Embodiment] [1 - 1. Configuration of Image Forming System] As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming system 1 is composed of a host PC 2 and a printer 4. The printer 4 and the host PC 2 are connected by a network such as the Internet or a LAN (Local Area Network), or an arbitrary data connection path such as a USB (Universal Serial Bus) cable, and are in a state where various data such as print data can be transmitted and received.

[0014] [1 - 2. Configuration of Host PC] The host PC 2 is a so - called personal computer, and is overall controlled by a PC control unit 6. The PC control unit 6 has a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), etc. not shown, and executes various processes by reading and executing a predetermined program. Also, the host PC 2 executes printing on the printer 4 by transmitting a print job to the printer 4.

[0015] The PC control unit 6 has an application 8 and a printer driver 10 as internal modules. The application 8 is arbitrary software for editing document data consisting of text, graphics, images, etc. The printer driver 10 has a watermark specification unit 12, an overlay specification unit 13, a clip specification unit 14, and a print data generation unit 15 as internal modules, and generates print data for printing on the printer 4. The watermark specification unit 12 controls the watermark editing screen 68 (Figure 5(B)), which is an input screen that accepts strings and character shapes from the user for the printer 4 to overlay and print watermarks.

[0016] The overlay specification unit 13 controls the overlay specification screen 57 (Figure 4(B)) for which the user registers form drawing data for the printer 4 to be automatically overlaid and printed as a common background format on the background of each page. The overlay specification unit 13 also controls the overlay specification screen 57 (Figure 5(C)), which is an input screen for the user to specify the form drawing data that has been previously registered in the printer 4 and instruct the printer 4 to print when printing is initiated from the application 8. Furthermore, the overlay specification unit 13 accepts input from the user as a string for the form name and a form number on the new form screen 64 (Figure 4(C)) in order for the host PC 2 to identify each of the multiple backgrounds (forms).

[0017] The clip specification unit 14 receives input to the following in the extended printing function screen 50 shown in Figure 4(A): a clip form name input unit 53 that allows the user to specify the form name when using form drawing data registered in advance in the printer 4 as a clip; a watermark clip usage specification unit 54 that allows the user to specify whether or not to use a watermark as a clip; and a clip area inside / outside drawing specification unit 55 that allows the user to specify whether or not to draw the inside of the clip area with application drawing data or the outside of the clip area with application drawing data.

[0018] The print data generation unit 15 receives print settings such as paper size and resolution from the user when printing is executed from application 8, and generates print data for printing on printer 4. This print data generation unit 15 generates print data that includes not only general items as print settings, but also extended printing functions such as watermark function, overlay function, and clip function. The print data format that shows these extended printing functions will be explained later using Figure 2. The print data generation unit 15 also generates form registration data 28 (Figure 2(A)) (details will be described later).

[0019] [1-3. Printer Configuration] The printer 4 is centrally controlled by the printer control unit 18. The printer control unit 18 has a CPU, ROM, RAM, etc. (not shown), and prints on paper by reading and executing a predetermined program. The printer control unit 18 has internal modules including a data analysis unit 20, a page image forming unit 21, a print control unit 22, a file system 23, and a volatile memory 24.

[0020] The data analysis unit 20 analyzes the commands included in the print data generated by the printer driver 10 of the host PC 2. The page image forming unit 21, acting as an image forming unit, generates a page image according to the paper size, resolution, and color mode to be printed, based on the commands analyzed by the data analysis unit 20. The print control unit 22 prints the page image generated by the page image forming unit 21 onto the actual paper by controlling the paper transport mechanism and toner fixing mechanism provided in the printer 4.

[0021] The file system 23 is composed of a hard disk or the like, and is configured to continue saving files even when the power to the printer 4 is cut off, and to allow file data to be read even after the power is restored. In addition, a portion of the data area of ​​the file system 23 is configured as an overlay storage section 25. The overlay storage section 25 stores form drawing data generated by the printer driver 10 as a file. The overlay storage section 25 also reads form drawing data from the file when the form drawing data is needed.

[0022] The volatile memory 24 is composed of RAM mounted on the printer 4's circuit board and is a memory area used by each component of the printer 4. Furthermore, a portion of the volatile memory 24's data area is configured as a mask monochrome image storage unit 26 and a frame buffer storage unit 27. The mask monochrome image storage unit 26 stores the mask monochrome image, which is image data of a monochrome image generated by the page image forming unit 21, in RAM. This mask monochrome image storage unit 26 stores the mask monochrome image, which is monochrome image data corresponding to the width and height of the entire page corresponding to the print resolution. The frame buffer storage unit 27 stores the page image generated by the page image forming unit 21 in RAM.

[0023] [1-4. Data format of form registration data and print data] Next, the data format of the form registration data and print data generated by the print data generation unit 15 will be explained using Figure 2.

[0024] [1-4-1. Data format of form registration data] Figure 2(A) shows the form registration data 28 that is sent from the host PC2 to the printer 4 when the host PC2 uses the overlay function of the printer driver 10 to register the currently open print document in application 8 as form drawing data for a new form to the printer 4. The data consists of multiple commands.

[0025] The form registration data 28 is composed of a data format that includes a form number specification area 31 and a form drawing data storage area 32. The form number specification area 31 is used to specify the form number. The data area corresponding to n in "form number = n" in the form number specification area 31 stores the form number specified by the user in the form number input area 66 of the new form screen 64 (Figure 4(C)). The form drawing data storage area 32 stores form drawing data, which consists of multiple commands that draw the form specified by the overlay specification area 13 (i.e., perform form drawing).

[0026] [1-4-2. Data format of print data when printing using the overlay function and watermark function but not the clipping function] Figure 2(B) shows the print data 29 sent from host PC2 to printer 4 when host PC2 prints using the overlay and watermark functions of printer driver 10, but without using the clipping function. Multiple commands are arranged in sequence. Print data 29 is in the same print data format as when conventional printing is performed without using the clipping function.

[0027] The print data 29 consists of a data format in which a form number specification area 33, a form drawing execution command area 34, an application drawing data storage area 35, and a watermark drawing data storage area 36 are included in this transmission order. The form number specification area 33 specifies the form number. The form drawing execution command area 34 specifies a command to draw the form drawing data with the form number specified in the form number specification area 33. The application drawing data storage area 35 stores application drawing data, which is a series of commands that become drawing data by application 8.

[0028] The watermark drawing data storage area 36 is an area that stores multiple commands that become watermark drawing data for drawing the watermark specified by the watermark specification unit 12. When the printer 4 uses the watermark function, it first processes the application drawing data and then processes the watermark so that it overlays the application drawing data. For this reason, the watermark drawing data storage area 36 is located at the end of the print data 29, after the application drawing data storage area 35.

[0029] [1-4-3. Data format of print data when printing using the overlay function, watermark function, and clipping function] Figure 2(C) shows the print data 30 sent from the host PC2 to the printer 4 when the host PC2 uses the clipping function to print on the printer 4, combining the overlay function of the printer driver 10, the function to use a form previously registered in the printer 4 as a clip, and the function to use a watermark as a clip. Multiple commands are arranged in sequence. This print data 30 is the print data format used when printing is performed, which is a characteristic of the present invention.

[0030] The print data 30 consists of a data format in which the following are included in this transmission order: a form number specification area 38, a form drawing execution command area 39, a mask generation start command area 40, a clip form number specification area 41, a clip form drawing execution command area 42, a clip watermark drawing data storage area 43, a mask generation end command area 44, and an application drawing data storage area 45.

[0031] The form number specification area 38 specifies the form number. The form drawing execution command area 39 specifies a command to draw the form drawing data with the form number specified in the form number specification area 38. The mask generation start command area 40 specifies a mask start command, which is a command to start the generation of a mask for clipping (hereinafter also called a clipping mask or monochrome image for masking). The form number specification area for clipping 41 specifies the form number for clipping. The form drawing execution command area 42 specifies a command to draw the form drawing data for clipping, which is the form drawing data for clipping with the form number specified in the form number specification area 41.

[0032] The clip watermark drawing data storage area 43 is an area that stores clip watermark drawing data, which is clip watermark drawing data used by the printer 4 to draw the shape of the watermark specified by the watermark specification unit 12, not as actual watermark drawing, but as data to be used for clipping. In the first embodiment, the command in the clip watermark drawing data storage area 43 is a mask generation command. In the second embodiment, the commands in the clip form number specification area 41 and the clip form drawing execution command area 42 are mask generation commands.

[0033] The mask generation completion command area 44 specifies the mask completion command, which is a command to end the generation of the mask (monochrome image for masking) for clipping. The application drawing data storage area 45 stores multiple commands that will become application drawing data.

[0034] Compared to print data 29 (Figure 2(B)), print data 30 has a mask generation start command area 40 and a mask generation end command area 44, which indicate the data range for generating a monochrome mask image to implement clipping on the printer 4 side. Therefore, when printer 4 receives print data 30 from host PC 2, it can recognize that print data 30 is print data for generating a monochrome mask image to be used for clipping. In addition, the portion of "Mask Start = Side" in the mask generation start command area 40 that corresponds to "Side" specifies data indicating "inside" or "outside". Furthermore, between the data areas of the mask generation start command area 40 and the mask generation end command area 44, print data 30 has a clipping form number specification area 41, a clipping form drawing execution command area 42, and a clipping watermark drawing data storage area 43, respectively.

[0035] In the first embodiment, when the printer 4 uses the watermark function and clipping function, and utilizes the shape of the watermark as data for clipping rather than actually drawing the watermark, it processes the clipping watermark drawing data before processing the application drawing data to generate a monochrome image for use as a mask for clipping. For this reason, the print data 30 has the mask generation start command area 40, the clipping watermark drawing data storage area 43, and the mask generation end command area 44 placed before the application drawing data storage area 45.

[0036] Furthermore, in the case where the printer 4 uses the clipping function, as in the second embodiment, and utilizes the strings and shapes contained in the form as clipping data rather than drawing them as the actual form, it processes the clipping form drawing data before processing the application drawing data to generate a monochrome image for use as a mask in the clipping process. For this reason, the print data 30 has the mask generation start command area 40, the clipping form number specification area 41, the clipping form drawing execution command area 42, and the mask generation end command area 44 located before the application drawing data storage area 45.

[0037] [1-5. Operation] Next, we will explain a specific example of how host PC2 performs printing using printer 4 with a watermark as a clip. First, host PC2 registers the application drawing data to be used as the background in printer 4, and then performs clip-specified printing, specifying the watermark as the clip and instructing printer 4 to print.

[0038] [1-5-1. About Form Registration] [1-5-1-1. Form registration operation on the host PC] Figure 3 shows an example of an image opened in application 8 used in the first embodiment. Application rendering data 48A (Figure 3(A)) is a gradient image with gradually changing shades across the entire page. Application rendering data 48P (Figure 3(B)) is an image with a pattern combining diagonal lines and vertical and horizontal lines.

[0039] Figure 4 shows an example of the extended printing function screen 50, which is the driver settings screen for form registration, and an example of form registration data, which are displayed on the host PC2 when the printer driver 10 is started on the host PC2 and the driver settings screen for form registration is selected as the extended printing function.

[0040] As shown in Figure 4(A), the extended printing function screen 50 has a watermark function specification button 51, an overlay function specification button 52, and a clip form name input section 53 for setting the extended printing function, which includes a watermark clip usage specification section 54 and a clip area inner / outer drawing specification section 55.

[0041] When the user presses the watermark function selection button 51, it displays the watermark editing screen 68 shown in Figure 5(B) on the host PC2, which allows the user to set the watermark function. When the user presses the overlay function selection button 52, it displays the overlay selection screen 57 shown in Figure 5(C) on the host PC2, which allows the user to set the overlay function. The clip form name input section 53 allows the user to input the name of the form to be used for clipping.

[0042] The watermark clip usage specification section 54 allows the user to specify whether or not the printer driver 10 should use the watermark as a clip. The printer driver 10 considers the function to use the watermark as a clip to be enabled if the user checks the checkbox, and to be disabled if the user does not check the checkbox.

[0043] The clip area inner / outer drawing specification unit 55 allows the user to specify whether the printer driver 10 should draw the inside of the clip area with application drawing data or the outside of the clip area with application drawing data. The printer driver 10 assumes that the function to draw the inside of the clip area with application drawing data is enabled if the user does not check the checkbox, while assuming that the function to draw the outside of the clip area with application drawing data is enabled if the user checks the checkbox.

[0044] When a user opens the application drawing data 48A (Figure 3(A)) in application 8 (Figure 1), opens the extended printing function screen 50 from the printer driver 10, and presses the overlay function specification button 52, the overlay specification unit 13 displays the overlay specification screen 57 shown in Figure 4(B) on the host PC 2.

[0045] The overlay specification screen 57 includes an overlay non-use selection section 58, an overlay print selection section 59, and a new form registration selection section 60, and allows the user to select one of these. The overlay non-use selection section 58 is selected by the user when the application rendering data 48A (Figure 3(A)) currently open in application 8 (Figure 1) is not to be used as the background.

[0046] The overlay print selection unit 59 is selected by the user when the application rendering data 48A (Figure 3(A)) currently open in application 8 (Figure 1) is to be used as the background. When the overlay print selection unit 59 is selected by the user, it prompts the user to operate the overlay function form name specification unit 61 and the form name list editing screen display button 62. The overlay function form name specification unit 61 prompts the user to select the form name to be used in the overlay function. When the form name list editing screen display button 62 is pressed by the user, it displays a list editing screen for form names when multiple forms are used in combination.

[0047] The new form registration selection unit 60 is selected by the user when registering the currently open application rendering data 48A (Figure 3(A)) as the background (form) for the printer 4 in application 8 (Figure 1).

[0048] The user selects the new form registration selection section 60 on the overlay specification screen 57 and then presses the OK button. In response, the overlay specification section 13 (Figure 1) recognizes the user's selection and returns to the extended printing function screen 50 (Figure 4(A)). The user then presses the OK button on the extended printing function screen 50 to complete the driver settings, returns to the application 8 screen from the driver settings screen, and presses the data transmission button (not shown). When the overlay specification section 13 detects that the data transmission button has been pressed, it displays the new form screen 64 shown in Figure 4(C) as a pop-up on the host PC 2 just before generating the transmission data. The new form screen 64 has a form name input section 65 and a form number input section 66. The form name input section 65 prompts the user to enter the name of the form necessary for registration with the printer 4. The form number input section 66 prompts the user to enter the form number, which is a unique identifier (ID) for each form.

[0049] As shown in Figure 4(C), the user enters, for example, "Form-A" in the form name input field 65 and "1" in the form number input field 66, and then presses the OK button. In response, the overlay specification unit 13 receives the input information entered in the form name input field 65 and the form number input field 66 and sends it to the print data generation unit 15. The print data generation unit 15 generates form registration data 28a (Figure 4(E)) corresponding to the input information obtained from the overlay specification unit 13 and sends it to the printer 4.

[0050] The data format of the form registration data 28a is the same as that of the form registration data 28 (Figure 2(A)), and the form number specification area 31a and the form drawing data storage area 32a correspond to the form number specification area 31 and the form drawing data storage area 32 (Figure 2(A)), respectively. The form number specification area 31a stores "form number = 1" as specified in the form number input area 66 (Figure 4(C)). The form drawing data storage area 32a stores form drawing data that performs form drawing corresponding to the application drawing data 48A (Figure 4(D)) currently open in application 8.

[0051] The overlay specification unit 13 records the correspondence between the form name "Form-A" and the form number "1" in the internal settings area of ​​the printer driver 10. Therefore, the overlay specification unit 13 only requires the user to select the form name of a registered form from the pull-down list of the overlay function form name specification unit 61 on the overlay specification screen 57 (Figure 5(C)), eliminating the need for the user to directly input the form name to be used when performing overlay printing. Furthermore, the overlay specification unit 13 improves user convenience by allowing the user to identify the form using a string such as "Form-A" on the driver settings screen, while simplifying the implementation of data processing by identifying the form using a numerical value such as "1" in the data format of the driver data.

[0052] [1-5-1-2. Form registration process procedure on the printer] Next, the form registration processing procedure RT1 by printer 4 will be explained using the flowchart shown in Figure 6. Upon receiving the form registration data 28a (Figure 4(E)) from the host PC 2, the printer control unit 18 reads and executes the form registration processing program, thereby starting the form registration processing procedure RT1 shown in Figure 6, and proceeding to step SP1.

[0053] In step SP1, the printer control unit 18 analyzes the commands in the received form registration data 28a using the data analysis unit 20, determines that the received data is form registration data, and proceeds to step SP2.

[0054] In step SP2, the printer control unit 18 stores the form drawing data that enables the overlay function, which is stored in the form drawing data storage area 32a of the form registration data 28a, into the overlay storage unit 25 of the file system 23 (Figure 1), then moves to step SP3 and terminates the form registration processing procedure RT1. At this time, the printer control unit 18 uses the number "1" specified in the form number specification area 31a (Figure 4(E)) as the file name string "1" and stores the file in the overlay storage unit 25. With these operations, the user has been able to register the application drawing data 48A (Figure 3(A)) to the printer 4 as "Form-A".

[0055] [1-5-2. Regarding clip-specific printing] [1-5-2-1. Print command operation on the host PC] Next, the user reopens the application drawing data 48P (Figure 3(B)) in Application 8 to print, displays the extended printing function screen 50 shown in Figure 5(A) from the printer driver 10, and checks the checkbox for the watermark clip usage specification section 54. The clip specification section 14 recognizes this setting change.

[0056] Furthermore, when the user presses the watermark function specification button 51 on the extended printing function screen 50, the watermark specification unit 12 (Figure 1) displays the watermark editing screen 68 shown in Figure 5(B) on the host PC 2. The watermark editing screen 68 has an attribute information input unit, including a watermark string input unit 69 and a watermark size specification unit 70, which allows the user to specify watermark setting values ​​consisting of attribute information such as the string to be used for the watermark, size, rotation angle, font, color, border, and fine adjustment X and Y directions. The watermark string input unit 69 allows the user to input the string to be used for the watermark. The watermark size specification unit 70 allows the user to input the size of the characters to be used for the watermark. Figure 5(B) shows an example where "TEST" is entered as the string to be used for the watermark and "258" is entered as the character size for the characters to be used for the watermark.

[0057] The watermark editing screen 68 also has a preview display section 71. The preview display section 71 displays a preview image that shows that a large string of characters, "TEST," which covers the entire width of the page, has been set as the watermark, based on the string entered in the watermark string input section 69 and the character size entered in the watermark size specification section 70.

[0058] When the user presses the OK button on the watermark editing screen 68, the watermark specification unit 12 (Figure 1) recognizes the watermark setting value specified by the user.

[0059] Next, when the user presses the overlay function selection button 52 on the extended printing function screen 50, the overlay selection unit 13 (Figure 1) displays the overlay selection screen 57 shown in Figure 5(C), which corresponds to Figure 4(B), on the host PC 2.

[0060] The user selects the overlay print selection section 59 on the overlay specification screen 57, and then, in the overlay function form name specification section 61, selects "Form-A," which is an already registered form name, from the registered form name pull-down list as the form name to be used for the overlay function, and then presses the OK button. In response, the overlay specification section 13 (Figure 1) recognizes the form name specified by the user and returns to the extended print function screen 50 (Figure 5(A)). In this embodiment, the user leaves the clip form name input section 53 in Figure 5(A) blank. This means that the user has specified that a watermark should be used as a clip, and that the registered form will not be used as a clip.

[0061] Next, when the user completes the driver settings by pressing the OK button on the extended printing function screen 50, returns to the application 8 screen from the driver settings screen, and presses the print start button (not shown), the print data generation unit 15 (Figure 1) generates print data 30a as shown in Figure 5(E) and sends it to the printer 4.

[0062] The data format of the print data 30a in this case is the same as the data format of print data 30 (Figure 2(C)), and the form number specification area 38a, form drawing execution command area 39a, mask generation start command area 40a, clip watermark drawing data storage area 43a, mask generation end command area 44a, and application drawing data storage area 45a correspond to the form number specification area 38, form drawing execution command area 39, mask generation start command area 40, clip watermark drawing data storage area 43, mask generation end command area 44, and application drawing data storage area 45 (Figure 2(C)), respectively.

[0063] However, the data corresponding to the clipping form number specification area 41 and the clipping form drawing execution command area 42 (Figure 2(C)) does not exist in the print data 30a. This corresponds to the fact that the user has not specified a registered form name as the clipping function in the clipping form name input section 53 in Figure 5(A).

[0064] The form number specification area 38a stores "Form number = 1" which is associated with "Form-A" specified in the overlay function form name specification section 61 (Figure 5(C)). The form drawing execution command area 39a specifies a command to draw the form drawing data with the form number specified in the form number specification area 38a.

[0065] In the mask generation start command area 40a, the data area corresponding to "Side" in "Mask Start = Side" in the mask generation start command area 40 (Figure 2(C)) stores "Inside," which indicates that the function to draw the inside of the clip area with application drawing data 48P, as specified in the clip area inside / outside drawing specification section 55 (Figure 5(A)), has been enabled.

[0066] The clip watermark drawing data storage area 43a stores the clip watermark drawing data specified in the watermark editing screen 68 (Figure 5(B)). The application drawing data storage area 45a stores the application drawing data corresponding to the application drawing data 48P (Figure 5(D)) currently open in application 8.

[0067] [1-5-2-2. Printing Process in Printers] Next, the printing procedure RT2 by printer 4 will be explained using the flowchart shown in Figure 7. Upon receiving the print data 30a (Figure 5(E)) from the host PC 2, the printer control unit 18 reads and executes the printing program, thereby starting the printing procedure RT2 shown in Figure 7, and proceeds to step SP11. In step SP11, the printer control unit 18 analyzes the commands in the received print data 30a using the data analysis unit 20, determines that the received data is print data, and proceeds to step SP12.

[0068] In step SP12, the printer control unit 18 uses the data analysis unit 20 to determine whether the print data 30a analyzed in step SP11 was print data that included a mask start command and a mask end command to implement the clipping function. Hereinafter, the mask start command and the mask end command will be collectively referred to as the mask command. If a negative result is obtained here, this means that the printer will perform printing in the same way as before without using the clipping function, and at this point the printer control unit 18 moves to step SP13. Note that since the print data 30a actually includes the mask command, the explanation of steps SP13 and SP14 will describe the operation as if print data that does not include the mask command were received. In this case, the data format of this print data is the data format of print data 29 (Figure 2(B)).

[0069] In step SP13, the printer control unit 18 uses the data analysis unit 20 to sequentially detect commands in the print data starting from the form number specification area 38a, interprets the shape of each drawing object to be drawn based on the setting values ​​such as coordinate values ​​specified in each command, stores the command interpretation result data as a drawing object in RAM, and proceeds to step SP14.

[0070] In step SP14, the printer control unit 18 reads the drawing objects stored by the data analysis unit 20 in step SP13 from RAM using the page image forming unit 21, generates page image data corresponding to the drawing objects without generating a monochrome image for masking using the clipping function, stores it in the frame buffer storage unit 27, and proceeds to step SP19.

[0071] In step SP19, the printer control unit 18 prints the page image data generated by the page image forming unit 21 using the print control unit 22, then proceeds to step SP20, and the print processing procedure RT2 is completed.

[0072] On the other hand, if a negative result is obtained in step SP12, this indicates that the clip-specified printing, a feature of the present invention that uses the clip function, will be performed, and at this time the printer control unit 18 moves to step SP15.

[0073] In step SP15, the printer control unit 18 uses the data analysis unit 20 to sequentially detect commands sandwiched between the mask start command and the mask end command in the print data 30a, interprets the shape of each mask drawing object to be drawn based on the setting values ​​such as coordinate values ​​specified in each command, stores the command interpretation result data as a mask drawing object in RAM, and moves to step SP16. In this first embodiment, the data analysis unit 20 detects commands in the clip watermark drawing data storage area 43a as commands sandwiched between the mask start command and the mask end command.

[0074] In step SP16, the printer control unit 18 reads the mask drawing object stored by the data analysis unit 20 in step SP15 from RAM using the page image forming unit 21, generates a corresponding monochrome mask image, stores it in the monochrome mask image storage unit 26, and moves to step SP17. Specifically, this monochrome mask image is data in which the bits inside the area enclosed by the border of the word "TEST" (clip area) are "1" and the bits outside the clip area are "0". Note that if the outside is specified in the "Side" of the mask start command, the page image forming unit 21 generates the monochrome mask image by inverting the "0" and "1" bits of each bit. This allows the page image forming unit 21 to realize the case where the function to draw the area outside the clip area with application drawing data is enabled in the clip area inside / outside drawing specification unit 55 (Figure 5(A)).

[0075] In step SP17, the printer control unit 18 uses the data analysis unit 20 to sequentially detect commands located outside the area between the mask start command and the mask end command in the print data 30a, interprets the shape of each drawing object to be drawn based on the setting values ​​such as coordinate values ​​specified in each command, stores the command interpretation result data as a drawing object in RAM, and proceeds to step SP18.

[0076] In step SP18, the printer control unit 18 uses the page image forming unit 21 to read the drawing objects stored by the data analysis unit 20 in step SP17 from RAM, and retrieves the monochrome mask image from the monochrome mask image storage unit 26. Using the monochrome mask image as a bitmask, the printer control unit 18 draws dots as page images for pixels where the bits of the bitmask are "1", while drawing dots as page images for pixels where the bits of the bitmask are "0" (i.e., clipping the application drawing data 48P with the monochrome mask image) to form the page image and stores it in the frame buffer storage unit 27. Note that the bitwise operation that prevents drawing only pixels where the bits of the bitmask are "0" is generally known as the AND logic operation, so a detailed explanation is omitted.

[0077] In step SP19, the printer control unit 18 prints the page image data generated by the page image forming unit 21 using the print control unit 22, then proceeds to step SP20, and the print processing procedure RT2 is completed.

[0078] [1-6. Summary] To summarize the configuration and operation of the first embodiment described so far, the printer 4 selects form drawing data 80A, whose form name is "Form-A" and which is a gradient image sent from the host PC 2 and pre-registered with the printer 4, as the background, as shown in Figure 8(A).

[0079] Furthermore, printer 4 specifies the drawing data, which is the character shape of the watermark string "TEST" that was stored in the clip watermark drawing data storage area 43a of the print data 30a (Figure 5(E)) sent from host PC 2 as shown in Figure 8(B), as clip watermark drawing data 81.

[0080] Furthermore, the printer 4 uses a clipping function to clip the application drawing data 48P (Figure 5(D)), which is an image of a pattern combining diagonal lines and vertical and horizontal lines, that was stored in the application drawing data storage area 45a of the print data 30a (Figure 5(E)) sent from the host PC 2 as shown in Figure 8(C), to the clipping area of ​​the clipping watermark drawing data 81, and then uses an overlay function to superimpose the clipped image onto the form drawing data 80A.

[0081] As a result, if the data area corresponding to "Side" in the mask generation start command area 40a of the print data 30a (Figure 5(E)) contains "inside", the printer 4 can print a print result image 82a, as shown in Figure 8(D), where the gradient image of the form drawing data 80A (Figure 8(A)) is used as the background, and on top of that background, only the area inside the shape of the string "TEST" specified in the clip watermark drawing data 81 (Figure 8(B)) is drawn with a pattern that combines the diagonal line pattern and vertical and horizontal line pattern of the application drawing data 48P (Figure 8(C)).

[0082] On the other hand, if the data area corresponding to "Side" in the mask generation start command area 40a of the print data 30a (Figure 5(E)) contains "Outside", then the printer 4 can print a print result image 82a, as shown in Figure 9(D), with the gradient image of the form drawing data 80A (Figure 9(A)) as the background, and on top of that background, only the area outside the shape of the string "TEST" specified in the clip watermark drawing data 81 (Figure 9(B)) is drawn with a pattern that combines the diagonal line pattern and vertical and horizontal line pattern of the application drawing data 48P (Figure 9(C)).

[0083] [1-7. Host PC Functional Configuration] Here, the basic functions related to clip-specified printing on host PC2 are represented by a functional block diagram as shown in Figure 10.

[0084] The form data registration unit 90 corresponds to the print data generation unit 15 (Figure 1), and before sending the print data to the printer 4, it sends the form drawing data 80A to the printer 4 and registers it with the printer 4 in advance.

[0085] The clip section usage selection section 91 corresponds to the clip specification section 14 (Figure 1) and allows the user to select whether or not to clip the application drawing data 48P in the application 8 using the clip watermark drawing data 81, which serves as the clip section that will clip the application drawing data 48P. The clip section specification section 92 corresponds to the clip specification section 14 (Figure 1) and allows the user to specify the clip watermark drawing data 81.

[0086] The print data generation unit 93 corresponds to the print data generation unit 15 (Figure 1) and generates print data 30a that includes application rendering data 48P and has a clipping command indicating clip watermark rendering data 81 added to it. Here, the clipping command is a set of a mask start command in the mask generation start command area 40a, a command that becomes the clip watermark rendering data 81 in the clip watermark rendering data storage area 43a, and a mask end command in the mask generation end command area 44a.

[0087] The print data transmission unit 94 corresponds to the print data generation unit 15 (Figure 1) and transmits the print data 30a to the printer 4.

[0088] [1-8. Effects, etc.] In the above configuration, when the user specifies that a watermark should be used as a clip in the watermark clip usage specification section 54 of the extended printing function screen 50 of the printer driver 10, the host PC 2 generates print data 30a that includes application drawing data 48P, with the following added as clipping commands indicating clip watermark drawing data 81: a mask start command in the mask generation start command area 40a, a command that becomes the clip watermark drawing data 81 in the clip watermark drawing data storage area 43a, and a mask end command in the mask generation end command area 44a.

[0089] Therefore, the host PC2 can easily perform highly designed printing using the watermark text as the clipping area by applying the watermark and clipping functions that have been conventionally included in the printer driver 10, without using a high-performance image processing application.

[0090] Furthermore, the host PC2 pre-registers the form drawing data 80A with the printer 4 prior to clip-specified printing, and then specifies the form drawing data 80A as the background during subsequent clip-specified printing. As a result, the host PC2 can use the form drawing data 80A in multiple print jobs without requiring the user to specify it each time, thereby improving user convenience.

[0091] Furthermore, the host PC2 now sends the command to draw the watermark along with the application drawing data 48P in the print data. As a result, the host PC2 does not need to pre-register the watermark drawing data for clipping to printer 4, allowing the text shape clipping function to be used with fewer steps, thereby improving user convenience.

[0092] Furthermore, when printer 4 uses the watermark function and clipping function and utilizes the shape of the watermark as data for clipping rather than drawing an actual watermark, it processes the clipping watermark drawing data 81 to generate a monochrome image for use as a mask in the clipping process, before processing the application drawing data 48P.

[0093] In response to this, the host PC2 places the mask generation start command area 40, the clip watermark drawing data storage area 43, and the mask generation end command area 44 in the print data 30a (Figure 5(E)) before the application drawing data storage area 45. In other words, it places the command to generate the monochrome image for the mask before the command that becomes the application drawing data 48P. As a result, the host PC2 can instruct the printer 4 to use the watermark as data for clipping and clip the application drawing data 48P.

[0094] With the above configuration, the image forming system 1 includes a host PC 2 including a printer driver 10, and a printer 4 that performs printing based on instructions from the printer driver 10. The printer driver 10 of the host PC 2 includes a clip section designation unit 92 that designates clip watermark drawing data 81 as a clip section which will be a clip area for clipping predetermined application drawing data 48P in application 8, a print data generation unit 93 that generates print data 30a to which the following are added as clipping commands indicating the clip watermark drawing data 81 in the print data 30a including the application drawing data 48P: a mask start command in the mask generation start command area 40a, a command that will become the clip watermark drawing data 81 in the clip watermark drawing data storage area 43a, and a mask end command in the mask generation end command area 44a, and a print data transmission unit 94 that sends the print data 30a to the printer 4.

[0095] As a result, the image forming system 1 can obtain a printed result image (Figure 8(D)) by applying the functions that the printer driver 10 of the host PC 2 has conventionally possessed, by clipping the application drawing data 48P (Figure 8(C)) in the clipping area of ​​the clipping watermark drawing data 81 (Figure 8(B)), which is the clipping part.

[0096] [2. Second Embodiment] [2-1. Configuration of the image forming system, host PC, and printer] As shown in Figure 1, the image forming system 101 according to the second embodiment is configured in the same way as the image forming system 1 according to the first embodiment. The host PC 102 and printer 104 according to the second embodiment are configured in the same way as the host PC 2 and printer 4 according to the first embodiment. The data format of the form registration data 28 and print data 29 and 30 generated by the print data generation unit 15 is configured in the same way as the first embodiment shown in Figure 2.

[0097] [2-2. Operation] Next, we will explain a specific example of how the host PC 102 performs printing using the printer 104 with the form as a clip.

[0098] [2-2-1. About form registration] [2-2-1-1. Form registration operation on the host PC] Figure 11 shows examples of images opened in application 8 used in the second embodiment. Application drawing data 48B (Figure 11(A)) is an image of a diagonal line pattern. Application drawing data 48C (Figure 11(B)) is an image consisting of three shapes: a circle, a star, and an upward-pointing arrow. Application drawing data 48Q (Figure 11(C)) is a gradient image with gradually changing shades across the entire page.

[0099] Figure 12 shows an example of the extended printing function screen 50, which is the driver settings screen for form registration, and an example of form registration data, which are displayed on the host PC 102 when the printer driver 10 is started on the host PC 102 and the driver settings screen for form registration is selected as the extended printing function, and an example of form registration data, with the same reference numerals as in Figure 4. The extended printing function screen 50 (Figure 12(A)) and the overlay specification screen 57 (Figure 12(B)) are operated by the user in the same manner as in the first embodiment.

[0100] In the second embodiment, as shown in Figure 12(C), the user enters, for example, "Form-B" in the form name input field 65 and "2" in the form number input field 66 of the new form screen 64, and then presses the OK button. In response, the overlay specification unit 13 receives the input information entered in the form name input field 65 and the form number input field 66 and sends it to the print data generation unit 15. The print data generation unit 15 generates form registration data 28b (Figure 12(F)) corresponding to the input information obtained from the overlay specification unit 13 and sends it to the printer 104.

[0101] In the second embodiment, as shown in Figure 12(D), the user enters, for example, "Form-C" in the form name input field 65 and "3" in the form number input field 66 of the new form screen 64, and then presses the OK button. In response, the overlay specification unit 13 receives the input information entered in the form name input field 65 and the form number input field 66 and sends it to the print data generation unit 15. The print data generation unit 15 generates form registration data 28c (Figure 12(G)) corresponding to the input information obtained from the overlay specification unit 13 and sends it to the printer 104.

[0102] The data format of the form registration data 28b and 28c in this case is the same as the data format of the form registration data 28 (Figure 2(A)), and the form number specification area 31b and the form drawing data storage area 32b, and the form number specification area 31c and the form drawing data storage area 32c correspond to the form number specification area 31 and the form drawing data storage area 32 (Figure 2(A)), respectively.

[0103] The form number specification area 31b (Figure 12(F)) stores "Form number = 2" which was specified in the form number input area 66 (Figure 12(C)). The form drawing data storage area 32b stores form drawing data that corresponds to the application drawing data 48B (Figure 12(E)) currently open in application 8.

[0104] The form number specification area 31c (Figure 12(H)) stores "Form number = 3" which was specified in the form number input area 66 (Figure 12(D)). The form drawing data storage area 32c stores form drawing data that corresponds to the application drawing data 48C (Figure 12(G)) currently open in application 8.

[0105] [2-2-1-2. Form Registration Procedure for Printers] Upon receiving the form registration data 28b (Figure 12(F)) and form registration data 28c (Figure 12(H)) from the host PC 102, the printer control unit 18 reads and executes the form registration processing program, thereby executing the form registration processing procedure RT1 shown in Figure 6. The printer control unit 18 then stores the form drawing data stored in the form drawing data storage area 32a of the form registration data 28b and the form drawing data storage area 32c of the form registration data 28c into the overlay storage unit 25 of the file system 23 (Figure 1). At this point, the user has successfully registered the application drawing data 48B (Figure 11(A)) and 48C (Figure 11(B)) as "Form-B" and "Form-C" respectively to the printer 104.

[0106] [2-2-2. Regarding clip-specific printing] [2-2-2-1. Print command operation on the host PC] Next, the user reopens the application drawing data 48Q (Figure 11(C)) in Application 8 to print, displays the extended printing function screen 50 shown in Figure 13(A) from the printer driver 10, and unchecks the checkbox for the watermark clip usage specification section 54. The clip specification section 14 recognizes this setting change.

[0107] Furthermore, if the user presses the watermark function specification button 51 on the extended printing function screen 50, leaves the watermark string input area 69 on the watermark editing screen 68 (not shown) blank (i.e., unspecified), and then presses the OK button, the watermark specification unit 12 (Figure 1) recognizes that the watermark function has been turned off.

[0108] Next, when the user presses the overlay function selection button 52 on the extended printing function screen 50, the overlay selection unit 13 (Figure 1) displays the overlay selection screen 57 shown in Figure 13(B), which corresponds to Figure 12(B), on the host PC 102.

[0109] The user selects the overlay print selection section 59 on the overlay specification screen 57, and then, in the overlay function form name specification section 61, selects "Form-B," which is an already registered form name, from the registered form name pull-down list as the form name to be used for the overlay function, and then presses the OK button. In response, the overlay specification section 13 (Figure 1) recognizes the form name specified by the user and returns to the extended print function screen 50 (Figure 13(A)).

[0110] Next, in this embodiment, the user selects "Form-C," which is an already registered form name, from the dropdown list of registered form names in the clip form name input section 53 as the form name to be used for the clip function. Accordingly, the overlay specification section 13 (Figure 1) recognizes the form name specified by the user.

[0111] Next, when the user completes the driver settings by pressing the OK button on the extended printing function screen 50, returns to the application 8 screen from the driver settings screen, and presses the print start button (not shown), the print data generation unit 15 (Figure 1) generates print data 30b as shown in Figure 13(D) and sends it to the printer 104.

[0112] The data format of the print data 30b in this case is the same as the data format of print data 30 (Figure 2(C)), and the form number specification area 38b, form drawing execution command area 39b, mask generation start command area 40b, clip form number specification area 41b, clip form drawing execution command area 42b, mask generation end command area 44b, and application drawing data storage area 45b correspond to the form number specification area 38, form drawing execution command area 39, mask generation start command area 40, clip form number specification area 41, clip form drawing execution command area 42, mask generation end command area 44, and application drawing data storage area 45 (Figure 2(C)), respectively.

[0113] Compared to the print data 30a (Figure 5(E)) according to the first embodiment, the print data 30b (Figure 13(D)) has a clip form number specification area 41b and a clip form drawing execution command area 42b instead of the clip watermark drawing data storage area 43a. In other words, the data corresponding to the clip watermark drawing data storage area 43 (Figure 2(C)) does not exist in the print data 30b. This corresponds to the user setting the function to use the watermark as a clip to OFF in the watermark clip usage specification unit 54 in Figure 13(A).

[0114] The form number specification area 38b stores "Form number = 2" which is associated with "Form-B" specified in the overlay function form name specification section 61 (Figure 13(B)). The form drawing execution command area 39b specifies a command to draw the form drawing data with the form number specified in the form number specification area 38b.

[0115] In the mask generation start command area 40b, the data area corresponding to "Side" in "Mask Start = Side" in the mask generation start command area 40 (Figure 2(C)) stores "Inside," which indicates that the function to draw the inside of the clip area with application drawing data, as specified in the clip area inside / outside drawing specification unit 55 (Figure 13(A)), has been enabled.

[0116] The clip form number specification area 41b stores "Clip form number = 3" which is associated with "Form-C" specified in the clip form name input area 53 (Figure 13(A)). The clip form drawing execution command area 42b specifies a command to draw the form drawing data with the clip form number specified in the clip form number specification area 41b.

[0117] The application rendering data storage area 45b stores the application rendering data corresponding to the application rendering data 48Q (Figure 13(C)) currently open in application 8.

[0118] [2-2-2-2. Printing Process in Printers] Next, the printing procedure RT2 by the printer 104 will be explained using the flowchart shown in Figure 7. Upon receiving the print data 30b (Figure 13(D)) from the host PC 102, the printer control unit 18 reads and executes the printing program, thereby starting the printing procedure RT2 shown in Figure 7, and proceeds to step SP11.

[0119] The printer control unit 18 moves from step SP11 to step SP12, and since the received print data 30b contains a mask command, it obtains a negative result in step SP12 and moves to step SP15.

[0120] In step SP15, the printer control unit 18 uses the data analysis unit 20 to sequentially detect commands sandwiched between the mask start command and the mask end command in the print data 30b, stores the mask drawing object in RAM, and proceeds to step SP16. In the second embodiment, the data analysis unit 20 sequentially detects the command "Clip form number = 3" in the clip form number specification area 41b and the command to draw form drawing data in the clip form drawing execution command area 42b as commands sandwiched between the mask start command and the mask end command, instead of the command in the clip watermark drawing data storage area 43a in the first embodiment. At this time, the data analysis unit 20 reads the form drawing data for "Form-C" which is registered with "Clip form number = 3" from the overlay storage unit 25, sequentially detects the commands contained in the form drawing data, interprets the shape of each drawing object to be drawn specifically from the setting values ​​such as coordinate values ​​specified in each command, and stores the command interpretation result data in RAM as a mask drawing object.

[0121] In step SP16, the printer control unit 18 reads the mask drawing object stored by the data analysis unit 20 in step SP15 from RAM using the page image forming unit 21, generates a corresponding monochrome mask image, stores it in the monochrome mask image storage unit 26, and moves to step SP17. Specifically, this monochrome mask image is data in which the bits inside the area enclosed by the edges of the circle, star, and upward arrow shapes (clip area) are "1" and the bits outside the clip area are "0". Note that if the outside is specified in the "Side" of the mask start command, the page image forming unit 21 generates the monochrome mask image by inverting the "0" and "1" bits of each bit. This allows the page image forming unit 21 to realize the case where the function to draw the area outside the clip area with application drawing data is enabled in the clip area inside / outside drawing specification unit 55 (Figure 13(A)).

[0122] In the following steps, the printer control unit 18 performs the same processing as in the first embodiment.

[0123] [2-3. Summary] To summarize the configuration and operation of the second embodiment described so far, the printer 104 selects as the background form drawing data 80B, which is a diagonal line pattern image sent from the host PC 102 and pre-registered in the printer 104, as shown in Figure 14(A), and whose form name is "Form-B".

[0124] Furthermore, the printer 104 specifies the drawing data for clipping as the form drawing data 83C for clipping, which is an image consisting of three shapes—a circle, a star, and an upward-pointing arrow—sent from the host PC 102 and pre-registered with the printer 104, and whose form name is "Form-C," and in the form drawing data, the shapes of the three shapes—a circle, a star, and an upward-pointing arrow—are the clipping area.

[0125] Furthermore, the printer 104 uses a clipping function to clip the application drawing data 48Q (Figure 13(C)), which is a gradient image stored in the application drawing data storage area 45b of the print data 30b (Figure 13(D)) sent from the host PC 102, to the clipping area of ​​the form drawing data 83C for clipping, and then uses an overlay function to superimpose the clipped image onto the form drawing data 80B.

[0126] As a result, if the data area corresponding to "Side" in the mask generation start command area 40b of the print data 30b (Figure 13(E)) contains "inside", the printer 104 can print a print result image 82b, as shown in Figure 14(D), where the diagonal line pattern image of the form drawing data 80B (Figure 14(A)) is used as the background, and on top of that background, only the inner areas of the three shapes specified in the clip form drawing data 83C (Figure 14(B))—a circle, a star, and an upward-pointing arrow—are drawn with the gradient image of the application drawing data 48Q (Figure 14(C)).

[0127] On the other hand, if the data area corresponding to "Side" in the mask generation start command area 40b of the print data 30b (Figure 13(E)) contains "Outside", then the printer 104 can print a print result image 82b, as shown in Figure 15(D), in which the diagonal line pattern image of the form drawing data 80B (Figure 15(A)) is used as the background, and only the outer areas of the three shapes specified in the clip form drawing data 83C (Figure 15(B))—a circle, a star, and an upward-pointing arrow—are drawn on top of that background using the gradient image of the application drawing data 48Q (Figure 15(C)).

[0128] [2-4. Effects] In the above configuration, when the user specifies that a form should be used as a clip in the watermark clip usage specification section 54 of the extended printing function screen 50 of the printer driver 10, the host PC 102 generates print data 30b that includes application drawing data 48Q, with the following added as clipping commands indicating the clip form drawing data 83C: a mask start command in the mask generation start command area 40b, a clip form number specification area 41b, a command that becomes the clip form drawing data 83C in the clip form drawing execution command area 42b, and a mask end command in the mask generation end command area 44b.

[0129] Therefore, the host PC 102 can easily perform highly designed printing using the shapes on the form as the clipping area by applying the clipping function that has been conventionally included in the printer driver 10, without having to use a high-performance image processing application.

[0130] Furthermore, the host PC2 pre-registers the form drawing data 80B and the form drawing data 83C for clipping with the printer 104 prior to clipping-specified printing. In subsequent clipping-specified printing, the host PC2 specifies the form drawing data 80B as the background and the form drawing data 83C for clipping as the clip. As a result, the host PC102 eliminates the need for the user to specify the form drawing data 80B and the form drawing data 83C for clipping for each print job, allowing the form drawing data 80B and the form drawing data 83C for clipping to be used in multiple print jobs, thereby improving user convenience.

[0131] With the above configuration, the image forming system 101 includes a host PC 102 including a printer driver 10, and a printer 104 that performs printing based on instructions from the printer driver 10. The printer driver 10 of the host PC 102 includes a clip section specification unit 92 that specifies clip form drawing data 83C as a clip section which will be a clip area for clipping predetermined application drawing data 48Q in application 8, a print data generation unit 93 that generates print data 30b in which a mask start command in the mask generation start command area 40b, a clip form number in the clip form number specification area 41b, a command that will be the clip form drawing data 83C in the clip form drawing execution command area 42b, and a mask end command in the mask generation end command area 44b are added as clipping commands indicating the clip form drawing data 83C in the print data 30b including the application drawing data 48Q, and a print data transmission unit 94 that sends the print data 30b to the printer 104.

[0132] As a result, the image forming system 101 can obtain a printed result image (Figure 14(D)) by applying the functions that the printer driver 10 of the host PC 102 has conventionally had to clip the application drawing data 48Q (Figure 14(C)) in the clipping area of ​​the clipping form drawing data 83C (Figure 14(B)), which is the clipping part.

[0133] Furthermore, the image forming system 101 according to the second embodiment can achieve the same effects and advantages as the image forming system 1 according to the first embodiment.

[0134] [3. Other Embodiments] In the first embodiment described above, the host PC2 obtained the print result image 82a by overlaying the image obtained by clipping the application drawing data 48P (Figure 8(C)) with clipping watermark drawing data 81 onto the form drawing data 80A using the overlay function. The present invention is not limited to this, and the host PC2 may also obtain the print result image by clipping the application drawing data 48P with clipping watermark drawing data 81 without using the overlay function. The same applies to the second embodiment.

[0135] Furthermore, in the first embodiment described above, the case in which the host PC2 uses a string as a watermark was described. The present invention is not limited to this, and the host PC2 may use a graphic other than a string as a watermark and clip the application drawing data 48P using the shape of the graphic as the clipping area. The same applies to the second embodiment.

[0136] Furthermore, in the first embodiment described above, the host PC2 may use color images as the form drawing data 80A and application drawing data 48P, not just monochrome images. The same applies to the second embodiment.

[0137] Furthermore, in the first embodiment described above, the host PC2 has placed a clip watermark drawing data storage area 43, which is an area for storing commands that will become clip watermark drawing data 81, between the mask generation start command area 40, in which a mask start command is specified, and the mask generation end command area 44, in which a mask end command is specified, in the print data 30a (Figure 5(E)). The present invention is not limited to this, and the host PC2 may place various other commands that the printer 4 can process to generate a monochrome image for masking, such as placing the mask start command, the command that will become clip watermark drawing data 81, and the mask end command as a single command, before the application drawing data storage area 45. The same applies to the second embodiment.

[0138] Furthermore, in the first embodiment described above, the host PC 2 places the mask generation start command area 40, the clip watermark drawing data storage area 43, and the mask generation end command area 44 before the application drawing data storage area 45 in the print data 30a (Figure 5(E)), that is, the command to generate the monochrome image for the mask is placed before the command that becomes the application drawing data 48P. The present invention is not limited to this, and the host PC 2 may place the mask generation start command area 40, the clip watermark drawing data storage area 43, and the mask generation end command area 44 after the application drawing data storage area 45 if the command to generate the monochrome image for the mask is processed by the printer 4 before the command that becomes the application drawing data 48P, by adding various commands. The same applies to the second embodiment.

[0139] Furthermore, in the first embodiment described above, the host PC2 registered the form drawing data 80A with the printer 4 in advance prior to clip-specified printing. The present invention is not limited to this, and although the amount of data sent to the printer 4 increases when there are many pages to be printed, the host PC2 may send the form drawing data 80A to the printer 4 when instructing clip-specified printing, without registering the form drawing data 80A with the printer 4 in advance prior to clip-specified printing. The same applies to the second embodiment.

[0140] Furthermore, in the first embodiment described above, the case in which the host PC2 sends clip watermark drawing data 81 to the printer 4 when specifying clip printing was described. The present invention is not limited to this, and the host PC2 may register the clip watermark drawing data 81 to the printer 4 in advance prior to specifying clip printing.

[0141] Furthermore, the first embodiment described above describes the case where the host PC2 uses one clip watermark drawing data 81 as a clip. The present invention is not limited to this, and the host PC2 may have the user specify two or more watermarks when printing, and use two or more clip watermark drawing data as clips.

[0142] Furthermore, the second embodiment described above describes the case where the host PC 102 uses one clipping form drawing data 83C as a clip. The present invention is not limited to this, and the host PC 102 may register two or more clipping form drawing data in a list and have the user specify them, and use two or more clipping form drawing data as clips.

[0143] Furthermore, the first embodiment described above describes the case where the host PC2 uses clip watermark drawing data 81 as a clip, and the second embodiment describes the case where the host PC102 uses clip form drawing data 83C as a clip. The present invention is not limited to these, and the host PC2 may use both clip watermark drawing data and clip form drawing data as a clip.

[0144] Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and other embodiments. That is, the scope of the present invention extends to embodiments that arbitrarily combine some or all of the embodiments described above and other embodiments. In addition, the scope of the present invention extends to embodiments in which a part of the configuration described in any embodiment among the embodiments described above and other embodiments is extracted and substituted or adapted for a part of the configuration of any embodiment among the embodiments described above and other embodiments, or to embodiments in which a part of the extracted configuration is added to any embodiment.

[0145] Furthermore, in the first embodiment described above, an image forming system 1 is configured as an information processing system by a host PC 2 as an information processing device and a printer 4 as an image forming device, and the printer driver of the information processing device has a clip part designation unit 92 as a clip part designation unit, a print data generation unit 93 as a print data generation unit, and a print data transmission unit 94 as a print data transmission unit. The present invention is not limited to this, and the printer driver of the information processing device may be configured by a clip part designation unit, a print data generation unit, and a print data transmission unit having various other configurations, and the information processing system may be configured by an information processing device and an image forming device having various other configurations. [Industrial applicability]

[0146] This invention can be used when printing using a clip area of ​​any shape with a printer driver. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0147] 1, 101...Image forming system, 2, 102...Host PC, 4, 104...Printer, 6...PC control unit, 8...Application, 10...Printer driver, 12...Watermark specification unit, 13...Overlay specification unit, 14...Clip specification unit, 15...Print data generation unit, 18...Printer control unit, 20...Data analysis unit, 21...Page image forming unit, 22...Print control unit, 23...File system, 24...Volatile memory, 25...Overlay storage unit, 26...Monochrome image storage unit for mask, 27...Frame buffer storage unit, 28, 28a, 28b... Form registration data, 29, 30... Print data, 31, 31a, 31b... Form number specification area, 32, 32a, 32b... Form drawing data storage area, 33... Form number specification area, 34... Form drawing execution command area, 35... Application drawing data storage area, 36... Watermark drawing data storage area, 38, 38a... Form number specification area, 39, 39a... Form drawing execution command area, 40, 40a... Mask generation start command area, 41... Form number specification area for clipping, 42... Form number for clipping Form drawing execution command area, 43, 43a... Clip watermark drawing data storage area, 44, 44a... Mask generation completion command area, 45, 45a... Application drawing data storage area, 48A, 48P, 48Q... Application drawing data, 50... Extended printing function screen, 51... Watermark function specification button, 52... Overlay function specification button, 53... Clip form name input area, 54... Watermark clip usage specification area, 55... Clip area inner / outer drawing specification area, 57... Overlay specification screen, 58... Overlay non-use selection area 59...Overlay print selection section, 60...New form registration selection section, 61...Overlay function form name specification section, 62...Form name list editing screen display button, 64...New form screen, 65...Form name input section, 66...Form number input section, 68...Watermark editing screen, 69...Watermark string input section, 70...Watermark size specification section, 71...Preview display section, 80A...Form drawing data, 81...Watermark drawing data for clipping, 82a...Print result image, 83C...Form drawing data for clipping,90...Form data registration unit, 91...Clip unit usage selection unit, 92...Clip unit specification unit, 93...Print data generation unit, 94...Print data transmission unit.

Claims

1. In an information processing device, A clipping area specification means for specifying a clipping area that will be used to clip predetermined application drawing data opened in the application, A print data generation means that generates print data in which a clipping command indicating the clipping portion is added to the print data including the application drawing data so as to be placed before the application drawing data, and the clipping command is processed before the application drawing data in an image forming apparatus, Print data transmission means for transmitting the print data to the image forming apparatus A printer driver to enable this operation.

2. The aforementioned clipping command is, The command includes a mask generation command that generates a clipping mask to clip the application drawing data, a mask start command that indicates the start interval of the mask generation command, and a mask end command that indicates the end interval of the mask generation command. The printer driver according to claim 1.

3. The print data generation means is The print data is generated, which includes a command that instructs the clipping unit to clip the application drawing data and overlay it on top of a predetermined form image data. The printer driver according to claim 1.

4. The print data generation means is The print data is generated, which includes a command indicating whether to draw the inside or outside of the clipping region with the application drawing data. The printer driver according to claim 1.

5. The aforementioned clip portion is a watermark specified in the printer driver. The printer driver according to claim 1.

6. The aforementioned watermark is a string of characters. The printer driver according to claim 5.

7. The clip portion is the form specified in the printer driver. The printer driver according to claim 1.

8. The aforementioned information processing device, Form data registration means that transmits form drawing data representing the form to the image forming apparatus before transmitting the print data to the image forming apparatus, and registers it with the image forming apparatus in advance. A printer driver according to claim 7 for further execution.

9. The aforementioned information processing device, Clipping unit usage selection means that allows the user to select whether or not to clip the application drawing data using the clipping unit. A printer driver according to claim 1 for further execution.

10. An information processing method that includes a printer driver and controls an information processing device that causes an image forming apparatus to perform printing based on instructions from the printer driver, The aforementioned information processing device is A clip area specification step that specifies a clip area that will be used to clip predetermined application drawing data opened by the application, A print data generation step that generates print data in which a clipping command indicating the clipping portion is added to the print data including the application drawing data so as to be placed before the application drawing data, and the image forming apparatus processes the clipping command before the application drawing data; A print data transmission step of transmitting the print data to the image forming apparatus. An information processing method having

11. An information processing device including a printer driver, An image forming apparatus that performs printing based on instructions from the printer driver. Equipped with, The printer driver of the information processing device is A clip area specification section that allows specifying the clip area, which will be the clipping region for clipping predetermined application drawing data opened by the application, A print data generation unit that generates print data in which a clipping command indicating the clipping portion is added to the print data including the application drawing data so as to be placed before the application drawing data, and in the image forming apparatus the clipping command is processed before the application drawing data, A print data transmission unit that transmits the print data to the image forming apparatus. An information processing system having

12. The image forming apparatus is If the print data received from the information processing device includes the clipping command, the image forming unit generates a clipping mask for clipping the application drawing data based on the clipping command. The information processing system according to claim 11, having the following features.

13. The image forming unit is The application drawing data included in the print data received from the information processing device is clipped by the clipping mask. The information processing system according to claim 12.

Images