JP2004192235A - Printing system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the convenience of a printing processing by sharing image processing resources of a high functional printer connected to a network with a normal printer. <P>SOLUTION: The high functional printer and the normal printer are connected to each other in series as the flow of processing. Then, the high functional printer performs an image processing, thereafter the normal printer performs the printing. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a printing system, and more particularly, to a printing system that constructs a communication network system in which a plurality of printers are connected by lines and performs printing using the network system.
[0002]
[Prior art]
At present, an environment has been constructed in which many printers have a function of connecting to a network and can be shared by a plurality of workstations and personal computers.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Here, for example, it is assumed that printers of various performances are connected on a network.
[0004]
When a user prints from a PC (personal computer), the user usually prints from a physically closest printer.
[0005]
However, the closest printer is a normal printer that has only normal printing performance, and if the content to be printed requires very high-performance image processing, a high-performance printer that is physically very far away And printing is not efficient.
[0006]
However, it is very costly to make all the printers connected to the network high-performance printers.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention has been made based on the above-described viewpoint, and an object of the present invention is to share the image processing resources of a high-performance printer connected on a network with a normal printer, thereby improving the convenience of printing. The purpose is to:
[0008]
That is, a printing system including a plurality of printers connected to each other on a communication line and performing printing by designating one of the printers, wherein at least one of the printers has a high image processing capability If the printer is a high-performance printer having at least one normal printer having only normal image processing capability, the high-performance printer and the normal printer are passed in series as a processing flow, and the high-performance printer performs image processing. After the processing, printing is usually performed by a printer.
[0009]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
(Embodiment 1)
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
[0010]
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a print system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
[0011]
In FIG. 1, 101 is a network line, 102 is a PC (personal computer), and 103 to 106 are printers connected on the network line.
[0012]
Among them, 103, 104, and 106 are normal printers for performing normal printing, and 105 is a high-performance printer having a high-performance image processing capability.
[0013]
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of the high-performance printer 105 in detail.
[0014]
2, reference numeral 201 denotes a network I / F, 202 denotes a document storage unit, 203 denotes a control unit, 204 denotes an image processing unit, 205 denotes a color conversion module, 206 denotes a profile memory for color conversion, 207 denotes a contrast conversion module, and 208 denotes a color conversion module. Denotes a scaling module, 209 denotes an outline emphasis module, and 210 denotes a printer unit.
[0015]
In the above configuration, a case where printing is performed on the normal printer 103 will be described.
[0016]
First, when a high-performance image processing function is not required, the PC 102 sends a normal print job to the normal printer 103 through the network line 101 (FIG. 3).
[0017]
Then, a case where a high-performance image processing function which is a feature of the present invention is used will be described.
[0018]
In this case, a high-performance driver 502 different from the driver 501 of the normal printer 103 as shown in FIG.
[0019]
FIG. 6 shows a setting screen of this driver.
[0020]
In FIG. 6, reference numeral 601 denotes a setting screen of a normal driver, 602 denotes a setting screen of a high-performance driver, 603 and 605 designate print destination ports, 604 and 607 designate a driver used for printing, and 606 designates an image processing destination port. is there.
[0021]
In the high-function driver 502, an “image processing destination port” 606 can be specified in addition to the “print destination port” 605. If specified, printing can be performed using the image processing resources of the high-performance printer.
[0022]
Of course, as shown in FIG. 7, the screen of the "image processing destination port" setting may be another tag.
[0023]
In FIG. 7, reference numeral 701 denotes an image processing resource assignment tag, and reference numeral 702 denotes an image processing destination port designation.
[0024]
Now, it is assumed that the address of the normal printer 103 is set in the “print destination port” 605 and the address of the advanced printer 105 is set in the “image processing destination port” 606.
[0025]
The high-performance driver 502 exists independently of the normal driver 501 of the normal printer 103 having the same print destination in terms of printer settings. In the printer settings, two virtual printers having the same print destination can be seen. (FIG. 5).
[0026]
Note that the advanced driver 502 is provided with a tag for performing advanced image processing settings, and processes the content set in the tag.
[0027]
The operation when printing is actually performed using the advanced driver will be described.
[0028]
First, a print job is sent from the advanced driver 502 on the PC 102 to the advanced printer 105 via the network line 101 (see FIG. 4).
[0029]
Header information is added to this print job, and the final print destination information is described as the content of the header information.
[0030]
The high-performance printer 105 receives a print job via the network I / F 201 and stores the print job in the document storage unit 202.
[0031]
The header information of the print job stored in the document storage unit 202 is interpreted by the control unit 203. The control unit 203 interprets the header information and sends a print job to the image processing unit 204 to perform necessary image processing.
[0032]
The image processing unit 204 is connected to a plurality of image processing modules, and performs image processing using necessary image processing modules. The image processing module includes a color processing 205, a contrast processing 207, a scaling processing 208, an outline emphasis processing 209, and the like. The color processing module 205 includes a color conversion profile memory 206.
[0033]
Of course, there may be other image processing modules.
[0034]
The print job subjected to the necessary image processing by the image processing unit 204 is stored in the document storage unit 202 again. The re-stored print job is sent to the network I / F 201 this time in accordance with an instruction from the control unit 203 (if the printer 105 is the final print destination, the print job is sent to the printer unit 210 as it is and printed, of course. Will be).
[0035]
The network I / F 201 sends a print job to the normal printer 103 via the network line 101 (see FIG. 4).
[0036]
The normal printer 103 itself receives a print job and performs printing in the same manner as a print job normally sent from the PC 102.
[0037]
FIG. 11 is a flowchart summarizing the flow of the printing process in the first embodiment.
[0038]
In this way, by devising the mechanism of the driver in the PC 102 and the configuration of the high-performance printer 105 connected on the network, the printers 103, 104, and 106 do not usually require any improvement, and the It can be used as a highly functional printer.
[0039]
Next, how the normal driver and the high-performance driver are specifically used when performing printing will be specifically described, including the contents and movement of the job.
[0040]
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing output data to be printed.
[0041]
In FIG. 10, reference numeral 1001 denotes output data 1 and 1002 denotes output data 2.
[0042]
Reference numerals 1003 and 1005 denote text data in output data, 1004 denotes graphic data, and 1006 denotes bitmap image data.
[0043]
For example, when printing data composed of text data and graphic data such as output data 1 (1001 in the figure), it is considered that the output from the normal driver hardly dissatisfies the image quality.
[0044]
Therefore, normal printing can be performed by sending a print job from the normal driver to the normal printer 103.
[0045]
However, when printing data composed of text data such as output data 2 (1002 in the figure) and bitmap image data, some users may not be satisfied with the image quality by printing with a normal driver.
[0046]
For example, some users have very high demands on the image quality of bitmap images, such as a muddy image, a lack of color, and a low contrast.
[0047]
The high function driver is used in such a case.
[0048]
Now, it is assumed that, in order to improve the image quality of the bitmap image, it is set to perform the edge enhancement and the contrast adjustment.
[0049]
In this case, first, a print job is sent from the advanced driver to the advanced printer 105.
[0050]
Bitmap image data is also embedded in this print job.
[0051]
The high-performance printer 105 receives a print job via the network I / F 201 and stores the print job in the document storage unit 202.
[0052]
Of the print jobs stored in the document storage unit 202, only the bitmap data 1006 is developed, and the print job is sent to the image processing unit 204 to perform necessary image processing.
[0053]
The bitmap data sent to the image processing unit 204 is subjected to contour enhancement by a contour enhancement process 209, then subjected to contrast adjustment by a contrast process 207, and sent to the document storage unit 202 again. The document storage unit 202 embeds the bitmap data subjected to the image processing in the print job again. The print job in which the bitmap data subjected to the image processing is embedded is sent to the network I / F 201.
[0054]
The network I / F 201 sends a print job to the normal printer 103 via the network line 101.
[0055]
The normal printer 103 receives and prints the print job, similarly to the print job in which the bitmap normally sent from the PC 102 is embedded.
[0056]
By doing so, the output printed by the normal printer 103 can obtain sharp and well-contrast image quality.
[0057]
For the normal printer 103, there is no problem even if the embedded bitmap data is changed or the transmission source is the high-performance printer 105, but the processing is performed as normal data from a different transmission source. Just do it.
[0058]
The feature of this system is that the mechanism is mounted only on the high-function printer and the high-function driver, and the network line and the ordinary printer connected to the network line do not require any mechanism.
[0059]
By doing so, there is a merit that all the printers in the office can be used as high-performance printers only by adding one high-performance printer (+ high-performance driver) to the current infrastructure.
[0060]
(Embodiment 2)
The second embodiment shows a case where a plurality of high-performance printers are connected to a network line.
[0061]
FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram of a print system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
[0062]
8, reference numeral 801 denotes a network line; 802, a PC (personal computer); and 803 to 806, printers connected to the network line.
[0063]
Among these, 803 and 804 are normal printers for performing normal printing, and 805 and 806 are high-performance printers having high-performance image processing capabilities.
[0064]
The insides of the high-function printers 805 and 806 are configured as shown in FIG.
[0065]
In the second example, the setting screen of the high-function driver 502 corresponds to a plurality of high-function printers.
[0066]
That is, as shown in FIG.
[0067]
In FIG. 9, reference numeral 901 denotes an image processing resource allocation tag in the high-performance driver according to the second embodiment. Reference numeral 902 denotes a port designation of a first priority image processing destination, and reference numeral 903 denotes a port designation of a second priority image processing destination.
[0068]
Now, it is assumed that the address of the high function printer 805 is set in the “image processing destination port (primary)” 902 and the address of the high function printer 806 is set in the “image processing destination port (secondary)” 903.
[0069]
In the second embodiment, the status of each printer connected to the network line 801 is grasped by the high-function driver in the PC 802, and if the high-function printer 805 is not in use, the image processing resource is used and the final printing destination 803 is used. To print.
[0070]
If the high-function printer 805 is being used by another user, a print is made to the final print destination 803 using the image processing resources of the high-function printer 806.
[0071]
FIG. 12 is a flowchart summarizing the flow of the printing process according to the first embodiment.
[0072]
Of course, image processing resources of the third priority or later may be allocated.
[0073]
With the above configuration, resources can be used more efficiently.
[0074]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, a general-purpose printer of a general-purpose class connected on a network line can be used as a high-performance printer having very advanced image processing, and convenience in an office can be improved. It can be improved.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram illustrating details of a high-performance printer according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a normal print operation according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a high-performance printing operation according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a view showing a driver according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a view showing a driver setting screen according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a view showing a driver setting screen according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 9 is a view showing a driver setting screen according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of an output image according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of a process according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

Claims (2)

A printing system including a plurality of printers connected to each other on a communication line, and performing printing by designating one of the printers, wherein:
At least one is a high-performance printer having a high image processing capability,
And when at least one is a normal printer having only normal image processing capability,
A high-performance printer and a normal printer are passed in series as a processing flow,
A printing system, wherein after performing image processing with a high-performance printer, printing is performed with a normal printer. A driver that controls a plurality of printers connected on a network by passing them in series as a processing flow in series,
A first printer that performs only internal processing and a second printer that actually performs printing are designated, image processing is performed by the first printer, and the result is transferred to the second printer, and the result is transferred to the second printer. A printer driver that controls the printer to print.

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