JP2006031086A - Print processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem that the occupancy of any unnecessary memory region is generated as a result of the generation of a band image, and the operation of rasterization processing at the time of printing page data where a plurality of images or character data or the like is arranged in one page by using banding processing. <P>SOLUTION: This print processing method is provided with a graphic object detecting means in a divided region, a means for detecting the classification of the same object, an image attribute acquiring means for acquiring the attributes of the image when the same object is image data and a deciding means for deciding whether to perform development processing on a host computer based on the object classification and image attributes acquired by each means mentioned above. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing system that generates print data on a host computer and performs printing.

Conventionally, DTP application software that prints out images, characters, graphic objects, and the like is used in a so-called page printer such as a laser beam printer or an ink jet printer. The following two methods are generally used for the process in which the application sends print data from the host computer to the printer. In other words, a high-level drawing command represented by a page description language is sent to the printer, and image, character, and graphic object development processing (rasterization) is performed on the printer side, and rasterization processing is performed on the host computer. This is a method of sending processed image data to a printer. The former method is generally widely used because it requires a small amount of processing on the host computer and also requires little time from issuing a print instruction to releasing resources on the computer. On the other hand, the processing capacity of home-use computers has been dramatically improved due to the recent reduction in computer resources such as random access memory, and the rasterization method on the host computer due to the complexity of page data. It is often used. In addition, since rasterizing the entire full-color page data at once requires a huge amount of memory, both methods generally perform so-called banding that divides the page area into multiple areas and sequentially rasterizes them. It is. (Patent Document 1)
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 07-195753

  In general DTP application programs and digital photo album software, there is a usage method in which a plurality of images, character data, or the like is arranged in one page to finish it like an electronic album. When printing such page data using banding processing, there may be a situation where a specific band may not be generated depending on the type and arrangement of each object arranged in the page. In the above background art, even in such a situation, as a result of generating a band image and performing rasterization processing, an unnecessary memory area is occupied. As a result, there are problems that it takes time for processing and that other processing cannot be performed on the host computer.

  As a means for solving the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a processing method for dividing print data into a plurality of areas and expanding the graphic data, a graphic object detection means in the divided area, and a detection means for the type of the graphic object; Image attribute acquisition means for acquiring the attribute of the image when the graphic object is image data, and the object type acquired by the object detection means, the type detection means, and the image attribute acquisition means, A determination unit for determining whether or not to perform the expansion process on the host computer based on the image attribute is provided.

  According to the present invention, in a processing method for dividing print data into a plurality of regions and developing the print data, an effect of reducing the total memory amount and processing time allocated to the print processing on the host computer is obtained.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a system constituting the present invention.
In FIG. 1, 101 is a host computer, 102 is a central processing unit (CPU), 103 is a system bus, 104 is a main storage (RAM), 105 is an auxiliary storage (HD), and 106 is A peripheral device control device 107 is a color printing device.

  In the host computer 101, the CPU 102, RAM 104, HD 105, and peripheral device control device 106 are each connected via an internal bus represented by the system bus 103. The host computer 101 and the color printing apparatus 106 are connected by wired or wireless connection such as an IEEE 1394 cable.

  In addition, each of the components may be connected via various networks such as a local area network.

  The color printing apparatus 107 (hereinafter also simply referred to as a printer) is not limited in its recording method, such as a laser beam printer or an ink jet printer. In this embodiment, a color output printing apparatus is taken as an example. However, even a monochrome printer is applicable to the present invention. The host computer 101 includes an input device represented by a keyboard (not shown) and an output device represented by a CRT.

  First, the operator instructs the CPU 102 to start the DTP application program stored in the HD 105 via the input device. The CPU 102 loads the program execution code from the HD 105 onto the RAM 104 and displays an initial screen on the output device.

  The operator arranges graphic objects such as images and characters on the page area by a general operation in a so-called DTP application not described in detail on the application program. Here, it is assumed that page data in which three images and character string data are arranged on a page of A4 size (210 mm × 297 mm) is created.

  FIG. 2 shows a page image of the created data.

  In FIG. 2, 201 is a page area, 202 is first image data, 203 is second image data, 204 is third image data, and 205 is character string data.

  The first image data and the second image data are images having no transparent information, while the third image data is an image having transparent information. In addition, an overlapping order is defined for these image data, and the first image data, second image data, and third image data are arranged in this order from the bottom. Therefore, the first image data and the second image data are seen through the semi-transparent third image data.

  After realizing the desired arrangement as described above, the operator issues a print instruction.

  The application program receives a print instruction and starts print processing. FIG. 3 shows the processing steps of the program after the printing instruction is issued.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the concept of print processing in this embodiment.

  In FIG. 5, 501 is a host computer, 502 is an application program, 503 is a print processing unit, 504 is a band image, 505 is an application program interface (API), and 506 is a printer control program (printer driver).

  An application program 502 stored in a suitable location in the host computer 501 has a print processing unit 503 therein. The print processing unit 503 generates a band image 504 by a method described in detail below, performs various drawing on the image, and instructs the printer to directly draw using the API 505 provided by the operating system. . The drawing instruction is interpreted by the printer driver 506 and transmitted as a printer-specific drawing command.

  Hereinafter, FIG. 3 will be described.

  The program that has received the print instruction acquires the resolution of the output destination printer in step S301.

  In step S302, a memory image size necessary for rasterizing the entire page data is determined from the acquired resolution and page size, and a memory capacity is calculated. In this embodiment, it is assumed that 300 dpi is obtained in step S301. Although the format of the memory image depends on the implementation, in this embodiment, each RGB color is 8 bits, and a storage area of 3 bytes per pixel is required. The storage capacity required for the entire page can be obtained from the following formula.

210 × 297 (mm) = 8.2677 × 11.6929 (inch) = 2480 × 3508 (dot) = 8699840
8699840 * 3 (bytes) = 24.89 (MB)
That is, a memory area of approximately 25 MB is required.

  In step S303, a band division position having a predetermined size is calculated. Here, the upper limit (default value) of the band memory size is 7 MB, and the page area is equally divided in the horizontal direction. The division image here is shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 4, 401 is a first dividing line, 402 is a second dividing line, and 403 is a third dividing line.

  In FIG. 4, the same components as those in FIG.

  Since the division here is performed so that each band size becomes equal, the Y coordinate of the first dividing line 404 when the upper end of the page is zero is 877 (dot), and the Y of the second dividing line 405 is Y. The coordinate is 1754 (dot), the Y coordinate of the third dividing line 406 is 2631 (dot), and the memory size of each band image is 2480 × 877 × 3 = 6.22 (MB).

  The present invention does not limit the dividing method of the banding process. For example, the band dividing direction may be divided into strips in the vertical direction, or may be divided into tiles in the vertical and horizontal directions.

  In step S304, the first band is rasterized.

  In this process, first, an object type is obtained for each graphic object existing in the band, and if the object type is an image, whether or not it has transparency information is also acquired.

  Existing in the first band are image data 202 and 203, both of which have no transparency information.

  In step S305, it is determined whether or not the band image 504 is to be generated. In this embodiment, image data, character string data, and graphic data that do not have transparency information are drawn using the API 505 function provided by the OS 506, and generation of band data is not necessary for drawing these data. There is something.

  Since it is determined that the generation of the band image is unnecessary for the first band, the process proceeds to step S311.

  In step S311, a drawing instruction is issued directly to the printer using a drawing command that is an API 505 provided by the operating system. That is, an image drawing instruction for a portion drawn in the first band of the image 202 having the lower overlapping order is sent to the printer, and an image drawing instruction for a portion drawn in the first band of the image 203 is sent to the printer. .

  This completes the rasterizing process for the first band.

  Subsequently, the process returns to step S304 via step S310, and rasterization processing of the second band is performed.

  In step S305, an object in the band is identified as in the case of the first band. Here, the first image data, the second image data, and the third image data are obtained. Since the third image data has transparency information, it is determined that it is necessary to create a band memory image. The process proceeds to S306.

  In step S306, a band image 504 having a necessary size is generated on the RAM 104, and each graphic object is drawn therein (step S307). That is, the first image data, the second image data, and the third image data are drawn in the order in which the objects overlap. Since the third image data has transparency information, drawing is performed while appropriately combining with the drawing result of the first image data or the second image data already drawn on the band image 504.

  After these processes are completed, the band image is transmitted to the printer as one image data in step S308, and the rasterizing process for this band is completed.

  After discarding the band image 504 in step S309, the process goes through step S310, and then the third band is rasterized.

  The first image data and the third image data exist as graphic objects on the third band, and the rasterization process is performed by the method of generating the band image 504 as in the case of the second band.

  Finally, rasterization processing of the fourth band is performed. Only the character string data 205 exists on the fourth band, and “No” is selected in the band image generation determination processing in step S305.

  That is, in step S311, a drawing instruction to the printer is issued using the character string drawing function which is the API 505 provided by the operating system, and the rasterizing process is completed.

  This completes the printing process for the entire page, and the printing result is output from the printer.

Example configuration diagram Print data page image in the embodiment Printing process steps in the embodiment Print data division image in the embodiment Conceptual diagram of print processing in the embodiment

Explanation of symbols

101 Host computer 102 Central processing unit (CPU)
103 System bus 104 Main memory (RAM)
105 Auxiliary storage device (HD)
106 Peripheral device control device 107 Color printing device 201 Page area 202 First image data 203 Second image data 204 Third image data 205 Character string data 401 First dividing line 402 Second dividing line 403 Third Dividing line 501 Host computer 502 Application program 503 Print processing unit 504 Band image 505 Application program interface (API)
506 Printer control program (printer driver)

Claims (1)

A processing method in which print data is divided into a plurality of areas and expanded.
Graphic object detection means in the divided area;
A means for detecting the type of the graphic object;
Image attribute acquisition means for acquiring an attribute of the image when the graphic object is image data;
Have
A determination unit that determines whether or not to perform development processing on a host computer based on the object type and the image attribute acquired by the object detection unit, the type detection unit, and the image attribute acquisition unit;
A printing method characterized by the above.

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