JP2004220124A - Network printer system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a network printer system capable of satisfying printing conditions of color printing and monochrome printing desired by a user by one printing instruction. <P>SOLUTION: This network printer system comprises a plurality of computers 1 and a plurality of printers 2 connected thereto through a printer server 3 governing the interfaces of the both. This system has the function of printing all copies of only a designated optional page of a job to be printed in a plurality of copies by one designated optional printer 2 and simultaneously printing all copies of the remaining pages in parallel by the other printer 2. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a network printer system in which a plurality of computers and a plurality of printers are connected by a print server that manages an interface between the two, and particularly to a divided print technique.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In the recent DTP market, there are many requests to print out file data (print data) in which color graphics and text data are mixed from an arbitrary printer in a network with a clear image density of a plurality of copies. In order to satisfy this requirement, there is a case where an operation is performed in which one copy is first printed out to check the image state, and then the remaining number of copies is output. This is called a test print, but in the test print, the user must return to his computer again to instruct the remaining number of copies to be printed, and send the print data from the computer to the printer again. There is a problem that it takes.
As a technique for solving this problem, there is a printer system having a test print function. For example, Patent Literature 1 and Patent Literature 2 disclose systems capable of performing test printing and normal printing with a single print instruction. According to this system, once the computer sends all the print data to the printer, sees the result of printing the first part, and determines whether to continue or stop the print output. I can tell you.
[Patent Document 1] JP-A-7-299936 [Patent Document 2] JP-A-10-291356 [0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the test printing of these systems, if the user requests a beautiful color expression, printing with a color printer takes a long time to print a large number of copies, and color graphics can not be reproduced in black and white printing. is there.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a network printer system capable of satisfying color printing and black-and-white printing conditions desired by a user with a single print instruction.
[0004]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 includes a plurality of computers, a plurality of network printers, a print server that collectively manages the network printers, and an operation unit that can be operated by a user. In the network printer system, when the user permits a plurality of print jobs using the operation unit, the print server prints out only a desired number of pages specified by the user from a network printer that specifies the total number of pages, and prints the remaining pages. Is characterized in that the total number of pages is simultaneously printed out from other network printers.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the network printer system according to the first aspect, the print server has a function of performing color printing only on an arbitrarily designated page and performing monochrome printing on the remaining pages.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the network printer system according to the first or second aspect, the print server has a plurality of pages that can be arbitrarily designated.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the network printer system according to any one of the first to third aspects, the print server arbitrarily designates the number of designated pages or unspecified pages. I do.
[0005]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a network printer system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The network printer system includes a plurality of computers 1 (1-1, 1-2, 1-3) used by users A, B, and C as input devices and a plurality of printers 2 (2-1, 2-2, 2-1). 2-3) are connected by the print server 3 which manages both interfaces.
In the case of this configuration, each of the users A, B, and C can output to any one of the printers 2 via the print server 3, and each of them is connected by an I / F cable generally called. No particular description is given here.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing functional blocks in each unit and a data I / F between the units in the network printer system according to the embodiment of the present invention.
A video / command I / F unit 11 connected to the print server 3 is provided inside the computer 1, and a computer I / F control unit 31 for controlling an interface with the computer 1 and an interface with the printer 2 are also provided on the print server 3 side. A printer I / F control unit 32 is provided. The print server 3 further includes a central processing unit 33, a user registration data storage unit 34, a network control unit 35, and an image data storage unit 36.
Image data, printing conditions, user information, image density, and the like are transmitted from the computer 1 side between these units, and each data is transmitted to the printer 2 via the printer I / F control unit 32 of the print server 3.
In the printer 2, a video and a command I / F unit 21, an image data storage unit 22, a CPU for controlling the entire printer 2, a ROM in which a control program is written, and control data are stored. A print output control unit 23 composed of a RAM or the like, an arithmetic processing unit 24 for processing and processing data such as image data and control data, and an I / O control unit for controlling a drive system and a sensor system in the printer 2 25, an image data control unit 26 for controlling the image density, an operation display control unit 27 for the user to operate the density number, print output continuation and stop, and an operation key switch control unit 28. The printer 2 stores the image data and the information from the computer 1 (user) in a RAM or the like in a linked manner.
[0006]
FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 are flowcharts of the divided print control in the network printer system of the present invention. The print data created by the user is sent to a predetermined printer 2 via a printer driver of the computer 1. At this time, the number of copies of an arbitrary page and the instruction of color or black and white are input once or plural times, and the instruction is given to the printer 2 for printing each ((1)).
The user instructs whether to print in color or black and white even for a page not specified, and transmits the print data to the print server 3 ([2]). The print server 3 checks the current status of the plurality of printers 2 from the received data ((3)). If there is a printer that cannot print ((4)), the information of the printer 2 that cannot be printed as it is is The data is transmitted to the computer 1 that has transmitted the data (5).
The computer 1 to which the information has been transmitted displays the information on the computer monitor via the printer driver ([6]). If there is no printer 2 that cannot print, the print server divides the printing conditions and image data of the designated page and the undesignated page, and sends color data, printing conditions, the number of copies, and the like to the printer 2 instructed to perform color printing. The data is transmitted (7). The received printer prints the received color image data based on the data specified by the print server ((8)).
Next, the print server transmits the printing conditions, image data, the number of copies, and the like to the remaining printer 2 instructed to perform monochrome printing ((9)). The image is printed ((10)).
As described above, it is possible to provide a network printer system that can satisfy the printing conditions of color printing and black and white printing desired by a user with a single print instruction.
[0007]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the first aspect, the user can print one image data from a plurality of network printers in the network system with a single print instruction, thereby minimizing the operation of a large number of copies. In a short time.
According to the second and third aspects, color printing and black-and-white printing are performed on different network printers such that an arbitrary page selected by the user is printed in one or more places, and the remaining pages are called black-and-white printing. By printing the mixed data of color and black and white required by the user, it can be printed in a short time as desired.
According to the fourth aspect, the number of copies of each of the pages arbitrarily designated by the user or the pages other than the designated pages can be individually set, so that the usability of the user operation can be improved.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a network printer system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing functional blocks in each unit and a data I / F between the units in the network printer system according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a divided print control in the network printer system of the present invention (part 1).
FIG. 4 is a flowchart of divided print control in the network printer system of the present invention (part 2).
[Explanation of symbols]
1 computer, 2 printers, 3 print servers

Claims (4)

In a network printer system including a plurality of computers, a plurality of network printers, a print server that collectively manages the network printers, and an operation unit operable by a user,
When the user permits a print job of a plurality of copies by the operation unit, the print server prints out only a specified number of pages from the network printer specified by the user, and outputs the total number of remaining pages. Is a network printer system characterized by simultaneous printing and output from other network printers simultaneously. 2. The network printer system according to claim 1, wherein the print server has a function of performing color printing only on an arbitrarily designated page and printing the remaining pages in black and white. 3. The network printer system according to claim 1, wherein the print server has a plurality of pages that can be arbitrarily specified. 4. The network printer system according to claim 1, wherein the print server arbitrarily designates the number of designated pages or unspecified pages.

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