Support Program

Abstract

To provide a technique to improve printing of a composite image in an information processing apparatus that has an OS-standard general purpose printing program incorporated therein.SOLUTION: According to an auxiliary program 42, a PC 1 acquires, from a printer 2, an image for composition registered in the printer 2 connected with the PC1. Upon receiving a print instruction output from an editing application 43, the print instruction for a general purpose printing program 41 incorporated in advance in an OS 21 of the PC 1 to cause the printer 2 to print an image, and when printing of a composite image is set in print settings concerning the print instruction, the PC 1 displays a preview of a composite image that is obtained by composing the image for composition acquired from the printer 2 and an image to be printed according to the print instruction, and performs processing for causing the printer 2 to print the composite image to be displayed.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

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

[0002] As a technique for controlling a printer from an information processing device such as a personal computer, a configuration in which print data is generated by a printer driver and a preview display is performed before transmitting the print data to the printer is widely known. Furthermore, as a technology for printer drivers, there is known a technology for generating a composite image by compositing an image for composition such as a watermark or a stamp onto an image to be printed (for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior Art Documents] [Patent Documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-152668 [Summary of the Invention] [Problem to be Solved by the Invention]

[0004] In recent years, a technology for controlling a printer by a print program standardly incorporated in an operating system (OS) without using the aforementioned printer driver has been put into practical use. In this technology, the OS associates the printer with the OS-standard print program, and thereafter, when a print instruction for the printer is received, printing by the OS-standard print program can be performed without using a printer driver.

[0005] However, the aforementioned general-purpose print program standard to the OS does not have a function of generating a composite image using an image for composition. Therefore, in the information processing device, a preview of the composite image cannot be executed, and further the composite image cannot be printed by the printer.

[0006] This specification discloses a technique for improving the printing of composite images in an information processing device that incorporates a general-purpose printing program that is a standard of the operating system. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The support program, which was created to solve the above-mentioned problems, is executable by the computer of the information processing device and is a support program that corresponds to a printer connected to the information processing device, and is characterized by causing the computer to execute an image acquisition process to acquire a composite image registered on an external device connected to the information processing device from the external device, and further causing the computer to execute a print instruction output from an application program built into the information processing device, which instructs the printer to print an image to a general-purpose printing program pre-built into the operating system of the information processing device, and when the printing setting for the print instruction is set to print a composite image, a preview process that displays a composite image of the composite image acquired by the image acquisition process and the image to be printed by the print instruction using the user interface of the information processing device, and a print process that causes the printer to print the composite image displayed by the preview process.

[0008] According to the support program disclosed herein, the information processing device acquires an image for composition from an external device, generates a composite image with the image to be printed, and displays a preview of the composite image before processing for printing. This allows the user to know in advance what image will be printed by the printer, and as a result, the likelihood of avoiding unintended printing increases.

[0009] The information processing device incorporating the above-mentioned support program, the storage medium readable by the computer storing the support program, and the control method for realizing the functions of the support program are also novel and useful. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] The technology disclosed herein provides a method for improving the printing of composite images in an information processing device that incorporates a general-purpose printing program that is a standard for the operating system. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0011] [Figure 1] This block diagram shows an overview of the electrical configuration of a PC. [Figure 2] This is a sequence diagram showing an example of the printing procedure performed by each program. [Figure 3] This is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a settings screen. [Figure 4] This is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a selection screen. [Figure 5] This is a flowchart showing the steps for the composite printing process. [Figure 6] This is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a preview screen. [Figure 7] This is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the editing screen. [Figure 8] This is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a preview screen. [Figure 9] This block diagram shows an overview of the electrical configuration of a PC. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0012] The personal computer (hereinafter referred to as "PC") that utilizes this support program will be described in detail below with reference to the attached drawings. This specification discloses a support program that runs on a PC connected to a printer with printing capabilities.

[0013] As shown in FIG. 1, the PC 1 of the present embodiment includes a controller 10 including a CPU 11 and a memory 12. The PC 1 is an example of an information processing apparatus. The CPU 11 is an example of a computer. The PC 1 also includes a user interface (hereinafter referred to as "user IF") 13 and a communication interface (hereinafter referred to as "communication IF") 14, which are electrically connected to the controller 10. Note that the controller 10 in FIG. 1 is a general term for collectively referring to hardware and software used for controlling the PC 1, and does not necessarily represent a single piece of hardware actually existing 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. The memory 12 stores various programs including various application programs (hereinafter referred to as "apps") and various data. The memory 12 is also used as a work area when various processes are executed. A buffer included in the CPU 11 is also an example of a memory. Note that examples of the memory 12 are not limited to ROM, RAM, HDD and the like built into the PC 1, and may be a readable and writable storage medium for the CPU 11, for example, a recording medium such as a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM or the like.

[0015] The user IF 13 includes hardware that displays a screen for notifying a user of information, and hardware that accepts operations by the user. Note that the user IF 13 may be a combination of a display capable of displaying information and a mouse, keyboard or the like having an input acceptance function, or may be a touch panel provided with both a display function and an input acceptance function.

[0016] The communication IF 14 includes hardware for communicating with an external device such as the printer 2. Communication standards for the communication IF 14 include Ethernet (registered trademark), Wi-Fi (registered trademark), USB and the like. The PC 1 may include a plurality of communication IFs 14 compatible with a plurality of communication standards.

[0017] A memory 12 of a PC 1 stores an operating system (hereinafter referred to as "OS") 21 including a general-purpose print program 41, an auxiliary program 42, and an editing application 43, as shown in Figure 1. The auxiliary program 42 is an example of a support program. The editing application 43 is an example of an application program. The OS 21 is, for example, Windows (registered trademark), macOS (registered trademark), Linux (registered trademark), iOS (registered trademark), or Android (registered trademark).

[0018] The general-purpose print program 41 is an OS-standard program for causing various printers such as the printer 2 to execute printing based on a user's instruction. The general-purpose print program 41 of the present embodiment is a program including a function of generating intermediate image data based on image data to be printed. The intermediate image data is, for example, XPS data.

[0019] The general-purpose print program 41 supports functions that can be commonly used by a plurality of types of printer models provided by vendors of various printers. The general-purpose print program 41 does not correspond to all of the functions inherently provided by various printers, and the supported functions are limited to general-purpose ones.

[0020] The auxiliary program 42 is a program or a group of programs that executes processing based on an instruction from the OS 21 accompanying the processing of the general-purpose print program 41, and is an application that supports control of target hardware. The auxiliary program 42 of the present embodiment corresponds to the model of the printer 2 connected to the PC 1, and is activated from the general-purpose print program 41 when, for example, an instruction to cause the printer 2 to execute printing using the general-purpose print program 41 is received. The auxiliary program 42 is called, for example, a hardware support application (abbreviated as HSA).

[0021] The auxiliary program 42 can receive multiple types of commands from the general-purpose printing program 41 and executes various processes based on the received commands. The auxiliary program 42 may be a combination of multiple programs, each of which accepts execution commands, or it may be a single program capable of executing different processes depending on the command.

[0022] The auxiliary programs may be programs provided by the printer vendor for each type of printer. For example, separate auxiliary programs may be provided for inkjet printers and laser printers. When a new printer is connected to PC1, for example, the OS21 of PC1 downloads the appropriate auxiliary program from a server or other source and installs it into the device, depending on the type of connected printer. Then, the OS21 associates the identification information of the installed auxiliary program with the printer information of the newly connected printer and stores it in memory 12. Note that auxiliary programs may be provided not only for each type of printer, but also for each printer model or series of printer models.

[0023] The editing application 43 is, for example, an application for creating and editing image data and document data. The editing application 43 may be, for example, Microsoft Word or PowerPoint, or it may be an application provided by the printer 2 vendor. The editing application 43 accepts user operations, including instructions to cause the printer 2 to perform a predetermined action. Specifically, the editing application 43 accepts, for example, a print execution instruction to cause the printer 2 to perform printing, via the user interface 13.

[0024] In this configuration, printer 2 is a device with printing capabilities. PC1 can communicate with printer 2 via communication IF14. Printer 2 receives print data from, for example, PC1, and performs printing based on the received print data.

[0025] Next, the printing procedure, including the operation of the auxiliary program 42 in this embodiment, will be explained with reference to the sequence diagram in Figure 2. Figure 2 shows the operation when an application that accepts print commands, such as the editing application 43, receives a print execution command to print to the printer 2 using the general-purpose print program 41, and the auxiliary program 42 corresponding to the printer 2 is installed in the PC 1.

[0026] In this embodiment, each processing step in the flowchart basically represents the processing of the CPU 11 according to instructions written in a program such as the auxiliary program 42. The processing by the CPU 11 also includes hardware control using the OS 21 API. In this specification, a detailed description of OS 21 is omitted and the operation of each program is explained. Also, "acquisition" is used as a concept that does not necessarily require a request.

[0027] The editing application 43 accepts the creation and editing of text, diagrams, etc., based on user instructions. When the editing application 43 receives instructions regarding printing of selected text, etc. (A01), it displays a print screen for accepting user instructions on the user interface 13 (A02). On the print screen, the editing application 43 accepts instructions such as a print execution instruction, a basic print settings instruction, and an instruction to start accepting detailed print settings.

[0028] When the editing application 43 receives an instruction to start accepting detailed print settings while printer 2 is selected on the currently displayed print screen (A03), it passes the information of the received detailed setting instruction to the OS 21. When the OS 21 receives an instruction for detailed settings related to printing using the general-purpose printing program 41, it executes the general-purpose printing program 41 and passes an instruction to start accepting detailed print settings to the general-purpose printing program 41 (A04). When the general-purpose printing program 41 receives an instruction to start accepting detailed print settings, it passes an instruction to execute the acceptance of detailed print settings to the auxiliary program 42 corresponding to printer 2, which is the selected printer (A05).

[0029] The auxiliary program 42 starts operating based on an execution instruction from the general-purpose printing program 41 and displays a settings screen to the user interface 13 for accepting input operations for detailed print settings (A06). For example, based on the model information of printer 2, the auxiliary program 42 displays a screen that accepts the available detailed settings and accepts user operations.

[0030] An example of the settings screen is shown in Figure 3. The settings screen 100 in the example in Figure 3 has multiple tabs. The settings screen 100 shown in Figure 3 is an example of a screen where the basic tab 101, which accepts basic print settings, is selected. The settings screen 100 also has a composite tab 102 for accepting instructions to composite images such as watermarks onto the image to be printed. Note that instructions for compositing are not limited to being accepted via tabs, but may also be accepted by operations such as pressing buttons.

[0031] When the auxiliary program 42 receives an instruction to perform image synthesis by operating the synthesis tab 102 on the settings screen 100 displayed in A06 (A07), it requests functional information from the printer 2 via the communication IF 14 (A11) and receives functional information from the printer 2 (A12). A12 is an example of the functional information acquisition process. The functional information includes information indicating whether or not the printer 2 has a transmission function to respond with image data.

[0032] In this configuration, printer 2 accepts registration of images to be composited with the image to be printed, based on instructions from PC1 or other devices, or by reading from a USB memory device, and stores the image data of the accepted images in printer 2's memory. Printer 2 stores, for example, multiple types of image data representing images for watermarks. Printer 2, which has the aforementioned transmission function, can respond to requests from PC1 or other devices with image data of the images to be composited that are stored in printer 2's memory. The image data that PC1 obtains from printer 2 is, for example, intermediate image data of the images to be composited.

[0033] Based on the function information received in A12, if the auxiliary program 42 determines that printer 2 has a transmission function to respond with image data (alt:[Yes]), it requests image data from printer 2 (A13) and receives image data from printer 2 (A14). The auxiliary program 42 then stores the received image information in memory 12. In this case, printer 2 is an example of an external device, and A14 is an example of an image acquisition process. If printer 2 has stored multiple image data, auxiliary program 42 can retrieve multiple image data.

[0034] By acquiring image data during the period when the settings screen 100, which accepts detailed settings, is displayed, processing after receiving a print command can be completed earlier compared to acquiring the image data at the time the print command is received. Also, for example, in the case of PC1 with multiple printers connected, PC1 can acquire the image data registered to the printer to be printed from, allowing for the management of composite images suitable for each printer.

[0035] Furthermore, communication between the auxiliary program 42 and the printer 2 can be either done directly by the auxiliary program 42 using, for example, MIB (Management Information Base), or it can be done via OS21. If communication is done via OS21, the auxiliary program 42 and the printer 2 will communicate according to the OS21's communication protocol, such as IPP (Internet Printing Protocol).

[0036] Then, the auxiliary program 42 accepts the selection of images to be combined via the user IF 13 (A22). The auxiliary program 42 displays a list 103 of the names of the images to be combined acquired from the printer 2, for example, as shown in Figure 4, and accepts a selection instruction from the user (A23). A23 is an example of the selection process. The auxiliary program 42 may also display images of each image to be combined on the screen that accepts the selection of images to be combined. By making it possible to select the image to be combined from among multiple images to be combined, the degree of freedom in the combined image is increased, and convenience is improved. Then, the auxiliary program 42 determines the image selected by the user as the image to be combined (A26). Note that the auxiliary program 42 may execute A11 to A14 before accepting the composition instruction in A07.

[0037] On the other hand, if the auxiliary program 42 determines, based on the function information received in A12, that the printer 2 does not have a transmission function to respond with image data (alt:[None]), it displays a message using the user IF13 to inform that it is not possible to obtain image data for the composite image (A27). A27 is an example of the notification process.

[0038] If printer 2 does not have a function to send image data in response, auxiliary program 42 cannot display a preview of the composite image. In this case, even if a composite instruction is given, auxiliary program 42 reduces the processing load on the support program by omitting the processing for acquiring images for composite and displaying a preview. In addition, by providing notification, the user can be aware of this. Furthermore, if image data cannot be acquired in response to the image data request instruction in A13, such as when no image data is registered in printer 2, auxiliary program 42 should also provide notification similar to that in A27.

[0039] After determining the image for synthesis in A26, or after issuing the notification in A27, the auxiliary program 42 returns to displaying the basic tab 101, for example, as shown in Figure 3. If it receives an instruction to terminate the detailed settings via the settings screen 100, the auxiliary program 42 terminates the display of the settings screen 100 and passes a termination notification to the general-purpose printing program 41. Upon receiving the termination notification from the auxiliary program 42, the general-purpose printing program 41 passes a termination notification to the editing application 43.

[0040] When the editing application 43 receives a print command from the user on the print screen (A31), it passes the print command to the general-purpose printing program 41 (A32). The general-purpose printing program 41 obtains information indicating the image data of the image to be printed and information indicating the print settings from the print command.

[0041] The general-purpose printing program 41 generates intermediate image data (A33) by converting the format of the image data included in the received print instruction into an intermediate image data format, and then generates a print job including the intermediate image data. The image data included in the editing application 43 is of various types, and the general-purpose printing program 41 converts the received image data into intermediate image data suitable for generating print data. If the image data included in the print instruction is suitable for generating print data, the generation of intermediate image data can be omitted, and the intermediate image data can be used as is.

[0042] The general-purpose printing program 41 then outputs an execution command to the auxiliary program 42 (A34), causing the auxiliary program 42 to run. The execution command passes the generated intermediate image data and print setting information to the auxiliary program 42. In other words, the auxiliary program 42 acquires the intermediate image data from the OS 21 in A34. A34 is an example of the intermediate image acquisition process.

[0043] When an image compositing instruction is received as a print setting, the print setting information passed to the auxiliary program along with the intermediate image data includes information specifying the images to be composited. If the auxiliary program 42 determines the images to be composited in A26, it may store the information of the determined images in memory 12 and use it as part of the print setting. The following describes the case where the print setting includes a compositing instruction.

[0044] The auxiliary program 42, having received an execution instruction, executes the image compositing process (A41) because the print settings include an image compositing instruction. The image compositing process is the process of compositing images based on the compositing instruction and generating print data for the composite image. The procedure for the image compositing process will be explained with reference to the flowchart in Figure 5. The image compositing process is performed by the auxiliary program 42 and is executed by the CPU 11 of PC1.

[0045] In the composite printing process, the CPU 11 first combines the intermediate image data of the image to be printed, received from the general-purpose printing program 41, with the intermediate image data of the image to be composited, which corresponds to the information specifying the image to be composited, and which has been read from memory 12, based on the execution instruction received from the general-purpose printing program 41, to generate the composite intermediate image data (S101). The intermediate image data generated in S101 is an example of an intermediate composite image. By compositing the image to be printed and the image to be composited in the intermediate image data state, the generation of the composite image is easier compared to compositing after rasterization.

[0046] The CPU 11 then displays a preview screen containing the image of the combined image to the user IF 13 (S102). S102 is an example of the preview process. An example of the preview screen is shown in Figure 6. The preview screen 50 in the example in Figure 6 includes a preview image 52, an OK button 53, an Add button 54, and a Settings button 55. The preview image 52 is a sample image that schematically represents the combined image obtained by combining the image to be printed and the image for combination.

[0047] The CPU 11 determines whether the OK button 53 has been pressed on the currently displayed preview screen 50 (S103). If it determines that the OK button 53 has not been pressed (S103: NO), the CPU 11 determines whether the setting button 55 has been pressed (S104). If the CPU determines that the setting button 55 has not been operated (S104: NO), the CPU 11 determines whether or not the add button 54 has been operated (S105). If the CPU determines that the add button 54 has not been operated (S105: NO), the CPU 11 waits until either the OK button 53, the add button 54, or the setting button 55 is operated.

[0048] If the CPU determines that the setting button 55 has been operated (S104: YES), the CPU 11 displays an editing screen, which is a screen that accepts editing of the image to be composited, to the user IF 13 (S111). An example of the editing screen is shown in Figure 7. The editing screen 60 in the example in Figure 7 includes a sample image 61 for the image to be composited, a basic item field 62 for accepting instructions to change the display content and font of the image to be composited, an OK button 63, and a Cancel button 64.

[0049] The CPU 11 determines whether or not it has received an editing instruction based on an operation on the basic item field 62, etc., in the currently displayed editing screen 60 (S112). S112 is an example of an editing process. Making the image for compositing editable increases the flexibility of the composite image and improves its usability. The auxiliary program 42 accepts specifications for editing the image for compositing, such as angle, transparency, stacking order, placement, size, image (text) content, and page specification. If the CPU 11 determines that it has received an editing instruction (S112: YES), it returns to S111 and displays the editing screen 60, which includes a sample image of the edited image, to the user IF 13.

[0050] If the CPU determines that it has not received an editing instruction (S112: NO), it determines whether the cancel button 64 has been pressed (S113). If it determines that the cancel button 64 has been pressed (S113: YES), the CPU returns to S102 and displays the preview screen 50 to the user IF13. If the CPU determines that the cancel button 64 has not been pressed (S113: NO), it determines whether the OK button 63 has been pressed (S114). If it determines that the OK button 63 has not been pressed (S114: NO), the CPU waits until it receives an editing instruction, an operation on the OK button 63, or an operation on the cancel button 64.

[0051] If the CPU determines that the OK button 63 has been pressed (S114: YES), the CPU 11 combines the intermediate image data of the edited image, which is displayed in the sample image 61 for the image to be combined, with the intermediate image data of the image to be printed (S115). Then, the CPU 11 returns to S102 and displays a preview screen 50 containing the image of the combined image to the user IF 13.

[0052] On the other hand, if the CPU determines that the add button 54 has been operated on the currently displayed preview screen 50 (S105: YES), the CPU 11 sends the image data of the image to be composited currently displayed on the sample image 61 of the image to be composited, along with a registration command instructing it to be registered in memory, to the printer 2 (S116). S116 is an example of the registration process. The CPU 11 may also enable the acceptance of the add button 54 when it receives an image edit request.

[0053] As a result, printer 2 stores the received image data in its memory as an image for compositing. By registering the edited image with printer 2, the edited image can be used as an image for compositing in subsequent print jobs or when printing from another PC. Printer 2 may either overwrite the image data of the original image for compositing or store it as a new image with a name. In addition, at S116, CPU 11 may accept user instructions on whether to overwrite or register a new image, and may include information based on the user's instructions in the registration command.

[0054] Furthermore, if the CPU 11 determines that the OK button 53 has been pressed on the currently displayed preview screen 50 (S103: YES), the CPU 11 rasterizes the composited intermediate image data and generates print data (S121). S121 is an example of raster processing and raster compositing processing. The print data generated in S121 is an example of a raster image and a raster composite image. The print data generated in S121 is in a format that can be used for printing by printer 2, for example, it is PDL data specific to the printer 2 model.

[0055] Rasterizing the data using the auxiliary program 42, which is compatible with printer 2, offers greater flexibility compared to rasterizing with the general-purpose printing program 41, and is more likely to generate print data suitable for printing on printer 2. Furthermore, the print data generated by the auxiliary program 42 may be in a format that can be used for printing on printers other than printer 2.

[0056] Alternatively, instead of the auxiliary program 42 generating the print data, the general-purpose printing program 41 may generate the print data. In other words, the auxiliary program 42 may pass the combined intermediate image data and the print execution information to the general-purpose printing program 41. The general-purpose printing program 41 may rasterize the intermediate image data received from the auxiliary program 42 to generate print data, and then pass the generated print data to the auxiliary program 42.

[0057] The print data generated by the general-purpose printing program 41 is in a format that can be used for printing on various printers, such as PWGRaster data or PDF data. If rasterization is performed by the general-purpose printing program 41, the processing required by the auxiliary program 42 is reduced, which is expected to avoid increased processing time, and the program size of the auxiliary program 42 can be kept down.

[0058] The CPU 11 displays a preview screen to the user IF 13 based on the generated print data (S122). S122 is an example of the preview process. An example of the preview screen displayed in S122 is shown in Figure 8. The preview screen 70 in the example in Figure 8 includes a preview image 71, an edit button 72, a print button 73, and a print cancel button 74. The preview image 71 is an image showing the composite image created by combining the image to be printed and the image for compositing.

[0059] Then, the CPU 11 determines whether or not it has received an operation to the print button 73 on the currently displayed preview screen 70 (S123). If it determines that it has not received an operation to the print button 73 (S123: NO), the CPU 11 determines whether or not it has received an operation to the print cancel button 74 (S124). If it determines that it has not received an operation to the print cancel button 74 (S124: NO), the CPU 11 determines whether or not it has received an operation to the edit button 72 (S125). If it determines that it has not received an operation to the edit button 72 either (S125: NO), the CPU 11 waits until it receives an operation to any of the buttons.

[0060] If the CPU determines that it has received an operation on the edit button 72 (S125:YES), the CPU proceeds to S111, displays the editing screen 60 shown in Figure 7 to the user IF13, and accepts editing instructions from the user.

[0061] If the CPU determines that it has received an operation to press the print button 73 (S123: YES), the CPU 11 sends the print data generated in S121 to the printer 2 along with a print command instructing it to perform printing (S131). The process of sending print data to the printer 2 is an example of the process of causing the printer 2 to perform printing, and is also an example of the process of sending a composite image to the printer 2. S131 is an example of the printing process.

[0062] After sending the print data, the CPU 11 notifies the general-purpose printing program 41 that it has finished sending the print data (S132). As a result, the general-purpose printing program 41 finishes processing the print job based on the print instruction received at A32 in Figure 2. The printer 2, having received the print data and print command, executes printing of the image of the print data based on the received print command. This generates the printed document.

[0063] The general-purpose printing program 41 may also perform the transmission of print data to printer 2. 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 PC1 to printer 2. The general-purpose printing program 41 sends the print data received from the auxiliary program 42 to printer 2. In this case, the process of passing the print data to the general-purpose printing program 41 is an example of the process of causing printer 2 to print the composite image, and is an example of the process of sending the composite image to printer 2.

[0064] On the other hand, if the CPU 11 determines that it has received an operation to press the print cancel button 74 on the currently displayed preview screen 70 (S124: YES), the CPU 11 sends a notification to the general-purpose printing program 41 to cancel the print job (S133). As a result, the general-purpose printing program 41 cancels the print job based on the print instruction received at A32 in Figure 2 and terminates the printing process. After S132 or S133, the CPU 11 terminates the composite printing process.

[0065] Furthermore, the printer 2 in this configuration may have an image compositing function. When the printer 2, which has an image compositing function, receives a compositing print command instructing compositing print, it performs image compositing and printing. The compositing print command includes, for example, print data indicating the image to be printed and a specification command specifying the image to be composited. When the printer 2 receives the compositing print command, it reads the image data of the image to be composited, specified by the specification command, from the printer 2's memory, composites it with the received print data, and prints the composited image.

[0066] If printer 2 has a composite function, auxiliary program 42 may generate print data for the image to be printed instead of generating print data for the composite image, and send a composite print command to printer 2 that includes the generated print data and a specification command that specifies the image to be composited. In this case, the process of sending the composite print command to printer 2 is an example of the process of causing printer 2 to print the composite image.

[0067] Printer 2 may also have a function to rasterize intermediate image data. If printer 2 also has a rasterization function, auxiliary program 42 may send a composite print command to printer 2 that includes intermediate image data of the image to be printed and a specification command that specifies the image to be composited, without generating print data for the image to be printed. In this case as well, the process of sending the composite print command to printer 2 is an example of the process of causing printer 2 to print the composite image.

[0068] If auxiliary program 42 does not perform image compositing, but instead sends a composite print command to printer 2, and printer 2 generates and prints the composite image, the load on auxiliary program 42 will be reduced. On the other hand, if auxiliary program 42 generates the composite image and sends that composite image to printer 2, printer 2 does not need to perform image compositing, and the load on printer 2 will be reduced.

[0069] Furthermore, the auxiliary program 42 may decide whether to have the printer perform image compositing or to perform image compositing itself, based on whether the printer selected as the device to perform printing has the function to combine images. For example, the auxiliary program 42 may request information from the printer 2 indicating whether or not it has the function to combine images, as shown in A11 of Figure 2. Also, if the printer to perform printing does not have the function to combine images, the auxiliary program 42 may not accept the instruction to combine images as a print setting.

[0070] As explained in detail above, according to the auxiliary program 42 of this embodiment, PC1 acquires the image for composition from printer 2, generates a composite image with the image to be printed, and displays a preview of the composite image. This allows the user to know in advance what kind of image will be printed by the printer, and as a result, the likelihood of avoiding printing unintended by the user increases.

[0071] Furthermore, in this configuration, since the images for compositing are managed by printer 2, the images for compositing can also be used from other PCs connected to printer 2. Therefore, the images for compositing can be shared among multiple PCs.

[0072] The embodiments disclosed herein are merely illustrative and do not limit the present invention in any way. Therefore, the technology disclosed herein can naturally be improved and modified in various ways without departing from its essence. For example, the device connected to PC1 is not limited to a printer; it can be a multifunction device, copier, fax machine, or any other device with printing capabilities. Furthermore, the number of printers connected to PC1 is not limited to the illustrated example; it may be two or more.

[0073] Furthermore, the example of an external device is not limited to printer 2; it could also be a server that can communicate with PC1. For example, as shown in Figure 9, printer 2 and server 3 may be connected to PC1, and server 3 may hold the images for composition. In this configuration, auxiliary program 42 sends requests A11 and A13 in Figure 2 and instructions for registration in S116 of the composition printing process to server 3. Server 3 responds to requests from PC1 with responses A12 and A14 and registers them in memory. Based on the image data acquired from server 3, auxiliary program 42 performs processing from A22 onwards and accepts the user's selection of images for composition. If the server manages the images for composition, the printer's memory capacity may be small. On the other hand, if the printer manages the images for composition, even a small printing system without a server can utilize the images for composition.

[0074] Furthermore, the illustrated display screens are merely examples and are not limited to these. For example, the arrangement and number of images and buttons displayed on the screen are not limited to the examples shown. For instance, in the editing screen 60 shown in Figure 7, a sample image 61 for compositing is displayed, but it does not have to be displayed. Also, in the preview screen 50 shown in Figure 6, changes to the arrangement of images for compositing are accepted, but they do not have to be accepted.

[0075] Furthermore, although this embodiment states that a preview is displayed in both S102 and S122 of the composite printing process, it is also acceptable to display a preview in only one of them. For example, if S122-S125 and S133 are deleted and the OK button 53 is pressed on the preview screen 50, the CPU 11 may send the print data generated in S121 to the printer 2. Alternatively, for example, S102 may be deleted, and the CPU 11 may display a preview after generating the composite print data. In that case, instead of compositing with intermediate image data, the CPU 11 may rasterize both the image to be printed and the image for compositing before compositing. By compositing the rasterized images, the composite image can be sent to the printer more quickly compared to compositing with intermediate image data.

[0076] Furthermore, the image information acquired by the auxiliary program 42 from the printer 2 at A14 in Figure 2 does not have to be intermediate image data; for example, it may be image data in a format that can be directly composited onto the print data. In this case, the accuracy of the display of the sample image 52 is improved. The auxiliary program 42 can generate print data in S121 of the composite printing process (Figure 5), composite the image onto that print data, and then display a preview in S122 based on the composited print data.

[0077] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the auxiliary program 42 acquires all image data stored by the printer 2 at A14 in Figure 2, but it is not limited to this. For example, the auxiliary program 42 may acquire only the name or thumbnail information of the selectable images for composition at A14, and then acquire the image data of the selected image when the user selects an image.

[0078] Furthermore, in A11 or A13, the auxiliary program 42 may request not only functional information and image information, but also, for example, information regarding the capabilities of printer 2. In that case, printer 2 will respond with various information according to the request. Based on the various information obtained from printer 2, the auxiliary program 42 may then display a screen that accepts user settings.

[0079] Furthermore, although the embodiment describes only the printing operation as the operation of the auxiliary program 42 in detail, the auxiliary program 42 may have other roles as well. Also, the program that executes the processing of this embodiment is not limited to the auxiliary program 42, but can be any program that receives instructions from the OS 21 or the general-purpose printing program 41 when printing using the general-purpose printing program 41. For example, the Print Workflow application whose specifications have been published by Microsoft may also be used.

[0080] Furthermore, the execution timing of the auxiliary program 42 is not limited to the examples of this embodiment. For example, it may be executed by direct execution instruction from the OS 21, or it may be a resident auxiliary program 42. In the case of a resident auxiliary program, the auxiliary program 42 should perform the operations described above upon receiving an execution instruction.

[0081] Furthermore, in any flowchart disclosed in the embodiments, the execution order of any multiple processes in any multiple steps can be arbitrarily changed or executed in parallel, as long as no inconsistencies arise in the processing content.

[0082] Furthermore, the processes disclosed in the embodiments may be executed by a single CPU, multiple CPUs, hardware such as an ASIC, or a combination thereof. Also, the processes disclosed in the embodiments can be implemented in various forms, such as a recording medium or method that stores a program for executing the process. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0083] 1 PC 2 Printer 3 Servers 11 CPU 13 User Interface

Claims

1. A program that assists a general-purpose printing program included in the operating system of an information processing device capable of communicating with external devices, The computer of the aforementioned information processing device, When a print setting instruction is received on a print screen displayed by a program other than the aforementioned program, and a first execution instruction is obtained from the general-purpose print program, the settings screen is displayed, and then, An acquisition process for obtaining image data representing the image to be synthesized from the external device, A reception process that accepts input for print settings to be used for compositing the image for compositing shown by the aforementioned image data, Make it run, After the input of print settings for using the aforementioned image for composition has been received, if a print execution instruction different from the print setting instruction is received on the print screen, and a second execution instruction is obtained from the general-purpose print program, A display process that displays a preview screen including intermediate image data received from the general-purpose printing program and a composite image based on the image data, A print control process for causing the printer to print the aforementioned composite image, A program that executes the command.

2. The program according to claim 1, The print control process described above is: A synthesis process that generates composite image data showing the composite image based on the aforementioned intermediate image data and the aforementioned image data, The process of passing the composite image data to the general-purpose printing program, The general-purpose printing program includes generating print data based on the composite image data and transmitting the print data to the printer. program.

3. The program according to claim 1, The print control process described above is: The process includes a transmission control process for sending either the intermediate image data or the print data based on the intermediate image data, and a command specifying the image data representing the image for composition, to the printer. program.

4. A program according to claims 1 to 3, To the aforementioned computer, While the preview screen is displayed, an editing process is executed that accepts edits to the image for composition. program.

5. The program according to claim 4, To the aforementioned computer, When the editing of the image for synthesis is accepted, a registration process is executed to register the edited image data showing the edited image for synthesis on the external device. program.

6. The program according to claim 4, To the aforementioned computer, When the editing of the image for synthesis is accepted, an update process is executed to update the preview screen by displaying the edited image data showing the synthesized image after editing and the intermediate image data on the preview screen. program.

7. L according to claims 1 to 6, The external device is the printer. program.

8. A program according to claims 1 to 7, To the aforementioned computer, When the print settings instruction is received on the print screen, and the first execution instruction is obtained from the general-purpose print program, The acquisition process and the reception process, A storage control process that stores print setting information indicating the received print settings in the memory of the information processing device, Make it run, After the print settings information is stored in the memory, when the print execution instruction is received on the print screen and the second execution instruction is obtained from the general-purpose print program, the display process and the print control process are executed based on the print settings information stored in the memory. program.

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