Printer Driver Settings Management for Multi-Vendor Print Jobs
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Users cannot efficiently issue print instructions to image forming apparatuses from different vendors due to undisclosed job ticket specifications, requiring manual driver setup for each print job, which is inefficient, especially when dealing with multiple orders.
Innovation Solution
An information processing apparatus that stores printer driver settings, acquires and edits job tickets to generate Page Description Language (PDL), and transmits the edited PDL to the image forming apparatus, allowing for standardized print instructions across various devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If manual driver setup is performed for each print job, then print settings can be customized for each device, but the operation time and complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by automatically acquiring printer drivers and storing print settings in advance for multiple image forming apparatuses. When a print job is received, the workflow application can directly use the pre-acquired drivers and settings without manual intervention, thus resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and time consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates copies of printer driver settings and configurations for different image forming apparatuses. By copying and storing these settings in advance, the system eliminates the need for manual driver setup for each print job, significantly reducing operation time while maintaining the ability to customize settings for each device.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple vendor devices are supported, then system versatility improves, but complexity of managing undisclosed job ticket specifications increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces an intermediary component that automatically acquires and manages printer drivers for multiple vendor devices. This intermediary handles the complexity of undisclosed job ticket specifications by automatically obtaining the necessary driver information and settings, allowing the workflow application to support multiple vendors without directly managing the complexity of each vendor's specific specifications.
3Productivity
If automatic driver acquisition is implemented, then operational efficiency improves, but capability to handle undisclosed specifications is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary automatic acquisition of printer drivers and stores them for future use. This preliminary action enables efficient processing of print jobs with disclosed specifications while maintaining the ability to handle undisclosed specifications through manual intervention when needed, thus balancing productivity and adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements self-service by automatically acquiring and managing printer driver settings without requiring manual intervention for each print job. This self-service capability improves productivity for routine print jobs while allowing manual override or supplementary actions for cases with undisclosed specifications, maintaining versatility.
Data Source
AI summary
An information processing apparatus acquires a job ticket in which print settings are described, reflects the print settings described in the job ticket to a public portion of the settings of the printer driver stored in a storage portion, and issues a print execution instruction to the printer driver to generate a PDL. Then, the information processing apparatus edits print settings of the generated PDL based on the print setting described in the job ticket, and transmits the edited PDL to an image forming apparatus.