JP7052484B2 - Control program and program group - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a control program and the like that can be read by a computer of an information processing apparatus in which an image forming program is installed.

The following patent document describes a control program that accepts input of setting parameters of printing processing and transmits the setting parameters to a printer.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2011-159095

In recent years, various printers have been developed, and it is expected that the functions of the printers will be diversified and it will be difficult for the control program to correspond to the diversified printers. Therefore, it is an issue to provide a control program or the like that can cope with the above assumptions.

In order to solve the above problems, the control program disclosed in the embodiment is a control program that can be read by a computer of the information processing apparatus, and the control program is installed in the information processing apparatus in association with a printer driver. The printer driver outputs parameter information indicating the range of setting parameters of the print process to the operating system installed in the information processing apparatus, and after outputting the parameter information, corresponds to the parameter information. The image data to be printed is received from the operating system, the image data for printing is created based on the image data, and then the image data for printing is transmitted to the printer, and the computer is printed on the printer. The reception means for receiving the request for the parameter information from the image forming program configured to create the image data for printing to be generated corresponding to the parameter information and output the image data for printing, and the above. A parameter that excludes unsupportable parameter information from the output means that outputs the parameter information to the image forming program and the parameter information that the printer driver outputs to the operating system in response to the reception of the request by the receiving means. The removed parameter information, which is information, is made to function as a generation means for generating, and the incompatible parameter information indicates a range of parameters that cannot be handled by the printing process by the printer without going through the printer driver. The output means is characterized in that the removed parameter information generated by the generation means is output to the image forming program.

By the control program disclosed in the embodiment, among the parameters applicable to the printer driver, the parameters applicable to the printer are output to the image forming program. This makes it possible for the image forming program to create print image data compatible with the printer.

It is a block diagram of a printer system 1. It is a block diagram which conceptually shows the relationship between an application 30, an image formation program 32, a printer driver 34, a printer characteristic providing module 36, and a driver-dedicated file 40. It is a figure which shows the operation sequence of the printer system 1. It is a figure which conceptually shows the paper size information Z, the print area size information X1, and the margin size information Y. It is a figure which conceptually shows the paper size information Z, the enlarged print area size information X2, and the margin size information Y. It is a figure which shows the area indicated by the print area size information X1. It is a figure which shows the image formation screen 100. It is a figure which shows the operation sequence of the printer system 1.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings as appropriate. It goes without saying that the embodiments described below are merely examples of the present invention, and the embodiments of the present invention can be appropriately changed without changing the gist of the present invention. For example, the execution order of each process described later can be appropriately changed without changing the gist of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the printer system 1 according to the present embodiment. The printer system 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes a PC (an example of an information processing device) 10 and a printer 50. The PC 10 mainly includes a CPU (an example of a computer) 12, a memory 14, an LCD 16, an input I / F18, and a network I / F20. These components are made communicable with each other via the bus 22.

The PC 10 and the printer 50 can communicate with each other through the network I / F 20 and the network 52. As a communication method, for example, a wired LAN, USB, Wi-Fi (registered trademark) or Bluetooth (registered trademark) can be adopted. Further, the printer 50 is, for example, a label printer, which transmits and receives various information and instruction signals to and from the PC 10, and creates a label on which a desired text, an image, or the like is printed based on the control by the PC 10.

The CPU 12 executes processing according to the application 30, the image forming program 32, the printer driver 34, the printer characteristic providing module (control program) 36, and the OS 37 in the memory 14. The application 30 is a program for displaying and printing an image based on image data in a predetermined format, specifically, a PDF file (an example of image data in PDF format). Application 30 is, for example, Acrobat Reader®, Chrome®, and the like. The image forming program 32 is a program for creating image data indicating a label image to be printed by a label printer. A document creation application, a spreadsheet application, an image editing application, or the like may be an example of the image forming program 32. Document data, spreadsheet data, etc. created by each application may be an example of image data. The printer driver 34 is a device driver of the printer 50, and is, for example, a program that converts the image data formed by the image forming program 32 into print image data in a format corresponding to the printer 50.

The printer characteristic providing module 36 corresponds to the printer driver 34, and when the printer driver 34 is installed on the PC 10, it is installed on the PC 10 together with the printer driver 34. The printer characteristic providing module 36 is a program for providing information specific to the model of the printer 50 according to the printer driver 34.

The OS 37 is a program that provides basic functions used in the application 30, the image forming program 32, and the like. OS37 is an operating system such as Windows (registered trademark), MacOS (registered trademark), Linux (registered trademark), Android (registered trademark), iOS (registered trademark) and the like. In the following description, the CPU 12 that executes the application 30 or the like may be simply described by the program name. For example, the description "application 30" may mean "the CPU 12 that executes the application 30".

Further, the memory 14 includes a data storage area 38. The data storage area 38 is an area for storing data and the like necessary for executing the application 30 and the like. The memory 14 is configured by combining a RAM, a ROM, a flash memory, an HDD, a portable storage medium such as a USB memory attached to and detached from the PC 10, a buffer included in the CPU 12, and the like. Further, the memory 14 stores a driver-dedicated file (an example of a storage area) 40 dedicated to the printer driver 34. When the printer driver 34 is installed on the PC 10, the driver-dedicated file 40 is installed on the PC 10 together with the printer driver 34. That is, the driver-dedicated file 40 and the printer characteristic providing module 36 are installed in the PC 10 together with the printer driver 34 when the printer driver 34 is installed in the PC 10, and the printer driver 34, the printer characteristic providing module 36, and the driver only are installed. It is associated with the file 40.

The printer driver 34 is registered in the OS 37 by storing information indicating the printer driver in the registry defined by the OS 37. Further, the printer driver 34 registered in the OS 37 is associated with the printer identification information that identifies the printer 50. The application 30 and the image forming program 32 are configured so that the printer identification information can be selected and the printing of the image data can be instructed. Then, when the application 30 or the image forming program 32 instructs printing, the OS 37 creates print data in the printer driver 34 corresponding to the printer identification information based on the image data output by the application 30 or the image forming program 32. By instructing the printer to send the print data created by the printer driver 34 to the printer 50, the printer 50 is made to print. Passing the created print data to the OS 37 by the printer driver 34 may be described as "the printer driver 34 instructs the printer 50 to print".

When the installer of the printer driver 34 registers the printer driver 34 in the OS 37 and associates the printer driver 34 with the printer identification information, the information indicating the printer driver 34 is associated with the file name of the printer characteristic providing module 36. Store in the registry. As a result, the printer driver 34 and the printer characteristic providing module 36 are associated with each other. Since the printer characteristic providing module 36 stores the file name of the driver-dedicated file 40 in the module, the printer characteristic providing module 36 and the driver-dedicated file 40 are associated with each other at the time of installation.

Further, when the printer driver 34 is installed, not only the driver-dedicated file 40 and the printer characteristic providing module 36 but also the driver-dedicated driver interface corresponding to the printer driver 34 is installed, but the illustration of the driver interface is omitted.

The memory 14 may be a storage medium that can be read by a computer. A computer-readable storage medium is a non-transitional medium. In addition to the above examples, the non-transitory medium also includes recording media such as a CD-ROM and a DVD-ROM. The non-transitory medium is also a tangible medium. On the other hand, an electric signal that carries a program downloaded from a server on the Internet is a signal medium that can be read by a computer, which is a kind of medium that can be read by a computer, but is a storage that can be read by a non-transitory computer. Not included in the medium.

Further, FIG. 2 conceptually shows the relationship between each program such as the application 30 and the image forming program 32 and the driver-dedicated file 40. Specifically, the application 30 and the image forming program 32 output the image data to the printer driver 34 via the OS 37. Then, the printer driver 34 transmits the received image data and the print instruction to the printer 50 via the network I / F 20. As a result, the printing process by the printer 50 is executed.

Further, the driver-dedicated file 40 stores model information specific to the model of the printer 50, information on the printing paper that can be printed by the printer 50, and the like, and the printer driver 34 and the printer characteristic providing module 36 are the driver-dedicated file 40. Various information can be obtained from. Then, the printer characteristic providing module 36 can provide the acquired information to the image forming program 32, and the printer driver 34 can provide the acquired information to the application 30 via the OS 37.

Further, the LCD 16 displays various information of the PC 10. The display of the present application is not limited to a liquid crystal display, and may be a display of another display method such as an organic EL display. The input I / F18 includes a keyboard, a mouse, and the like, and is an interface for inputting user operations. The input I / F 18 is not limited to a keyboard or the like, and may be a film-shaped touch sensor superimposed on the display screen of the LCD 16.

In the printer system 1, the image printing process based on the image data in the PDF format read by the application 30 is executed via the OS 37 and the printer driver 34. However, in normal printing processing, when an image based on image data in PDF format is printed, the upper end portion of the image may not be printed on the printing paper, and the upper end portion of the image may be cut off. The reason why the print is cut off during normal printing will be described below.

In this specification, basically, the processing of the CPU 12 according to the instruction described in the program is shown. That is, the processes such as "judgment", "extraction", "selection", "calculation", "decision", "specification", "acquisition", "acceptance", "control", and "setting" in the following description are performed by the CPU12. Represents the processing of. The processing by the CPU 12 also includes hardware control via the OS 37. Note that "acquisition" is used as a concept that does not require a request. That is, the process of receiving data without being requested by the CPU 12 is also included in the concept of "the CPU 12 acquires the data". Further, the "data" in the present specification is represented by a computer-readable bit string. Data having the same substantial meaning and different formats are treated as the same data. The same applies to "information" in the present specification. Further, processing such as "command", "response", and "request" is performed by communicating information indicating "command", "response", "request", and the like. In addition, words such as "command", "response", and "request" may be described in the sense of information itself indicating "command", "response", "request", and the like. Further, the process of determining whether or not the information A indicates that the information A is the matter B by the CPU is conceptually described as "determining whether or not the information A is the matter B from the information A". There is. The process of determining whether the information A indicates that the information A is the matter B or the matter C by the CPU is "determining from the information A whether the information A is the matter B or the matter C". It may be described conceptually as.

Hereinafter, a case where the application 30 reads a PDF file indicating a document in which the characters “ABC” to “JKL” are arranged as shown in FIG. 4 will be described as an example. The application 30 that has read the PDF file displays an application screen including a document in which the characters "ABC" to "JKL" are arranged on the LCD 16. When the user performs a print instruction operation on the application 30 via the input I / F 18, the application 30 describes information regarding the size of the margin and the printable area of the printing paper (hereinafter, "margin / print area information"). ) Is requested to the printer driver 34 via the OS 37.

The application 30 may request margin / print area information at any time. For example, it may be at the time of starting the application 30. It may be when the application 30 selects the printer driver 34. Upon receiving the request from the application 30, the printer driver 34 outputs the margin / print area information to the application 30 via the OS 37 (S100), as shown in FIG. The margin / print area information includes paper size information indicating the size of the printing paper, print area size information indicating the size of the printable area of the printing paper, and margin size information indicating the size of the margin of the printing paper. For example, when the size of the printing paper is a label size of 103 mm × 164 mm, the paper size information at the time of normal printing is 1941, and the print area size information at the time of normal printing is 1822, and at the time of normal printing. The margin size information of is 59. As will be described in detail later, there are cases where the application 30 outputs margin / print area information for normal printing and cases where the margin / print area information for printing without margins is output.

The various size information is in pixel units and indicates the vertical size of the printing paper. Originally, of course, various size information includes not only the vertical size of the printing paper but also the horizontal size, but here, the upper end of the image at the time of printing the image, that is, the printing is cut off in the vertical direction. As various size information, only various sizes in the vertical direction of the printing paper will be described in order to explain specifically the factors that cause the above.

When these various size information are schematized, as shown in FIG. 4, the paper size information Z (= 1941) indicates the overall size of the printing paper in the vertical direction, and the margin size information Y (= 59) is , The size of the vertical margin at the upper end of the printing paper is shown, and the print area size information X1 (= 1822) indicates the size of the area excluding the vertical margin of the printing paper, that is, the printable area. Shows. Therefore, there is a margin corresponding to 60 (= 1941-59-1822) in pixel units in the vertical direction below the area indicated by the print area size information X1, that is, at the lower end of the printing paper.

Then, when the application 30 receives the margin / print area information from the printer driver 34, the application 30 outputs the image data of the image of the size corresponding to the paper size information Z included in the margin / print area information to the OS 37 (S102). .. At this time, if the application 30 outputs the image data in consideration of the margin size information Y included in the margin / print area information and the print area size information X1, the image data showing the image shown in gray scale in FIG. 6 is shown. Is input to the printer driver 34 from the OS 37. Then, the printer driver 34 creates print image data showing the image and the margin of the grayscale portion of FIG. 6 based on the received image data, and transmits the print image data to the printer 50. The printer 50 prints the image shown in FIG. 6 on the printing paper by executing the printing process of the image based on the image data for printing.

However, depending on the application 30, the margin size information Y included in the margin / print area information may not be taken into consideration. In this case, although the application 30 displays the entire document as shown in FIG. 6 on the application screen, the application 30 draws as shown in FIG. 4 in the process of outputting the image data to the OS 37. Become. The "drawing" here is a part of the process of outputting image data from the application 30 to the OS 37. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, a part of the image (here, the character "ABC") is not drawn in the area indicated by the print area size information X1, but is drawn in the area indicated by the margin size information Y. The image data indicating the image is output from the application 30 to the printer driver 34 via the OS 37 (S106). Then, the printer driver 34 creates print image data based on the received image data (S112) and transmits the print image data to the printer 50 (S114). As a result, the grayscale image of FIG. 4 is printed on the printing paper. That is, the image in the state where the characters of "ABC" are cut off is printed on the printing paper.

The PDF file may include image data indicating a white image in the margin portion so as to indicate the entire printed document including the margin portion. Therefore, the application 30 may be set so as not to consider the margin size information Y. When the application 30 is set so as not to consider the margin size information Y, and the application 30 reads the image data (for example, the image data showing only the grayscale portion of FIG. 6) containing almost no white image data in the margin portion. Will draw a part of the image that is not the margin in the margin area indicated by the margin size information Y.

In view of this, the printer driver 34 uses the entire printing paper as a printable area instead of the above-mentioned margin / print area information for normal printing, and prints without a margin (hereinafter, "" It is also possible to output the margin / print area information for performing (described as "printing without margins") to the application 30 (S100). Specifically, the printer driver 34 displays a setting screen (not shown) on the LCD 16 at the time of printing setting. On the setting screen, a selection button for selecting either normal printing processing or printing processing without margins is displayed. When the user selects the printing process without margins by operating the selection button via the input I / F 18, the printer driver 34 stores the setting flag for printing without margins in the data storage area 38. When the setting flag is stored in the data storage area 38, the printer driver 34 outputs the margin / print area information for printing without margins to the application 30 instead of the margin / print area information for normal printing (S100). ).

The margin / print area information for printing without margins includes the paper size information Z indicating the size of the printing paper, like the margin / print area information for normal printing, but instead of the print area information X1, during normal printing. Includes enlarged print area size information X2 indicating an enlarged size of a more printable area. Further, the margin / print area information for printing without margins includes the margin size information Y indicating the size of the margins reduced from the time of normal printing as the printable area is expanded.

For example, when the size of the printing paper is a label size of 103 mm × 164 mm, the paper size information Z for printing without margins is 1941, and the enlarged print area size information X2 for printing without margins is also 1941, with margins. The margin size information Y for none printing is 0.

When these various size information are schematized, as shown in FIG. 5, the paper size information Z (= 1941) indicates the overall size of the printing paper in the vertical direction, and the margin size information Y (= 0) is , Indicates that there is no vertical margin at the upper end of the printing paper. The enlarged print area size information X2 indicates the entire size of the printing paper in the vertical direction by maximizing the printable area in the vertical direction of the printing paper without any margin in the vertical direction of the printing paper. ing. That is, in the margin / print area information for printing without margins, the paper size information Z and the enlarged print area size information X2 are the same because there is no margin in the vertical direction of the printing paper. The printer driver 34 may display the setting screen at any timing. For example, it may be when instructed by OS37. It may be when instructed by the application 30.

Then, when the application 30 receives the margin / print area information for printing without margins from the printer driver 34, the application 30 receives the image data of the image of the size corresponding to the paper size information Z (= 1941) included in the margin / print area information. Is output to the OS 34 (S102). At this time, in the image based on the image data output by the application 30, as shown in FIG. 5, the enlarged print area size information X2 is the same as the paper size information Z, so that the entire area of the image is the enlarged print area size. It is drawn in the area indicated by the information X2.

Then, when the OS 37 receives the image data from the application 30, the OS 37 acquires an image of a size corresponding to the enlarged print area size information X2 from the image based on the image data, and outputs the acquired image data to the printer driver 34. (S106). The OS 34 may acquire image data by extracting an image having a size corresponding to the enlarged print area size information X2 and converting it into image data in raster format. Then, the printer driver 32 may acquire image data for printing without margins, that is, raster format image data of an image having a size corresponding to the enlarged print area size information X2 from the OS 34.

Then, the printer driver 34 creates the image data for printing based on the received image data, that is, the image data in the raster format of the gray scale image of FIG. 5, but the gray scale image of FIG. 5, that is, Since the image of the size corresponding to the enlarged print area size information X2 is larger than the printable area in the label size of 103 mm × 164 mm, the image cannot be appropriately printed on the label of 103 mm × 164 mm. That is, in a label of 103 mm × 164 mm, the vertical length of the entire label is 1941 in pixel units (paper size information Z), but the vertical length of the printable area on the label is pixel. Since the unit is 1822 (print area size information X1), the image of the size corresponding to the enlarged print area size information X2 extends beyond the printable area of the 103 mm × 164 mm label.

Therefore, the printer driver 34 has changed from an image having a size corresponding to the enlarged print area size information X2 (hereinafter referred to as "whole image") to an image having a size corresponding to the print area size information X1 (hereinafter referred to as "partial image"). ) Is extracted, and image data for printing the partial image is created. Specifically, the printer driver 34 is located at the upper end of a non-blank image located at the upper end of the image, that is, at the upper end of the image, based on the image data received from the OS 37, that is, the image data of the grayscale image of FIG. Detect characters. Since character detection is a general method, the description thereof will be omitted.

Then, the printer driver 34 determines the upper end of the partial image (hereinafter, referred to as "image base end") so that the detected character is included in the upper end portion of the partial image (S108). The image base edge is determined to be located above the upper end of the detected character by a set distance, for example. Next, the printer driver 34 extracts a partial image from the entire image starting from the image base end. That is, for example, in the image shown in FIG. 6, characters are located near the upper end of the entire image, and the upper end of the entire image is determined as the image base end. Then, the printer driver 34 extracts an image having a size corresponding to the print area size information X1 having the image base end as the upper end, that is, a gray scale image of FIG. 6 as a partial image (S110).

Then, the printer driver 34 creates image data for printing of the extracted partial image (S112) and transmits it to the printer 50 (S114). As a result, the printer 50 executes an image printing process based on the image data for printing, and the grayscale image of FIG. 6 is printed on the printing paper. In this way, the printer driver 34 outputs the margin / print area information for printing without margins to the application 30 instead of the margin / print area information for normal printing, so that an appropriate image without character breaks can be printed. It becomes possible to print on paper.

The margin / print area information for normal printing and the margin / print area information for printing without margins output from the printer driver 34 to the application 30 are not stored in the printer driver 34, but are stored in the driver-dedicated file 40. It is remembered. Therefore, in S100, the printer driver 34 acquires the margin / print area information from the driver-dedicated file 40 and outputs it to the application 30.

Specifically, first, the application 30 outputs a request for margin / print area information to the printer driver 34. Next, the printer driver 34 outputs a request for margin / print area information to the driver-dedicated file 40. Subsequently, the driver-dedicated file 40 outputs the margin / print area information for normal printing and the margin / print area information for printing without margins to the printer driver 34. Then, the printer driver 34 outputs the margin / print area information for normal printing or the margin / print area information for printing without margins to the application 30 (S100).

On the other hand, since the image forming program 32 creates image data in consideration of the margins of the printing paper, printing breaks do not occur and it is not necessary to execute the printing process without margins. Specifically, the image forming program 32 acquires the margin / print area information for normal printing by the processes of S220 to S230 described later, and based on the margin / print area information for normal printing, the image forming screen shown in FIG. 100 is displayed on the LCD 16. At this time, the image forming program 32 displays the printing paper frame 102 corresponding to the size of the printing paper indicated by the paper size information Z on the image forming screen 100. Further, the image forming program 32 corresponds to the size of the printable area indicated by the print area size information X1 in a state of being separated from the upper end of the print paper frame 102 by the size of the margin indicated by the margin size information Y. The printable area frame 104 is displayed inside the print paper frame 102. Then, in the image forming program 32, it is possible to input an image such as text only inside the printable area frame 104. For convenience, if the texts "ABC" to "JKL" are described as being input to the image forming program 32, the image forming program 32 considers the margin size information and uses the same margin size information Y as in FIG. An image such as characters is not included in the indicated area, and an image including an image such as characters is included only in the area indicated by the print area size information X1 is displayed on the image formation screen 100. That is, in the image forming program 32, although the area inside the printable area frame 104 contains images such as characters, the area between the print paper frame 102 and the printable area frame 104 includes images such as characters. The image formation screen 100 that does not include the above is displayed.

As described above, the image forming program 32 allows the input of the image only to the inside of the printable area frame 104 in consideration of the area indicated by the margin size information Y, that is, the margin, and the inside of the printable area frame 104. Create image data for images drawn only. When the image data created by the image forming program 32 is output to the OS 37, the image is printed by the same processing as in S102 to S110. That is, the grayscale image of FIG. 6, which corresponds to the image displayed on the image forming screen 100, is printed on the printing paper. Although the description is omitted, even when an image other than the texts of "ABC" to "JKL" is input to the image forming program 32, the image forming program 32 displays the image forming screen 100 including the input image. Then, the image data including the input image is output to the OS 37.

As described above, the image forming program 32 normally requires margin / print area information for printing, and does not require margin / print area information for printing without margins. However, as described above, the printer driver 34 may output margin / print area information for normal printing and may output margin / print area information for printing without margin (see FIG. 3: S100). ). When the margin / print area information for printing without margins is acquired, the image forming program 32 displays the image forming screen 100 including the same image as in FIG. However, even if the image data created by the image forming program 32 is output to the OS 37, the same image as in FIG. 6 is printed because the printer driver 34 is set to print without margins. Since the image displayed on the image forming screen 100 and the printed image are different, the user of the image forming program 32 feels uncomfortable. In view of this, the image forming program 32 outputs the request for margin / print area information to the linter characteristic providing module 36, and acquires only the margin / print area information for normal printing from the printer characteristic providing module 36. do.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 8, the image forming program 32 outputs a request for margin / print area information to the printer characteristic providing module 36 (S220). Next, the printer characteristic providing module 36 outputs a request for margin / print area information to the driver-dedicated file 40 (S222). Subsequently, the driver-dedicated file 40 outputs the margin / print area information for normal printing and the margin / print area information for printing without margins to the printer characteristic providing module 36 (S224).

Then, the printer characteristic providing module 36 removes information that cannot be handled by the printer 50, that is, margin / print area information for printing without margins, from the acquired margin / print area information (S226). That is, the printer characteristic providing module 36 picks up the information that can be handled by the printer 50, that is, the margin / print area information for normal printing from the acquired margin / print area information. Subsequently, the printer characteristic providing module 36 outputs only the information that can be handled by the printer 50, that is, the margin / print area information for normal printing, to the image forming program 32 (S228). Then, the image forming program 32 displays the image forming screen 100 on the LCD 16 based on the acquired margin / print area information for normal printing (S230).

In this way, the printer characteristic providing module 36 acquires the margin / print area information for normal printing and the margin / print area information for printing without margin from the driver-dedicated file 40, and obtains the acquired margin / print area information. By outputting only the information that can be handled by our printer 50, that is, the margin / print area information for normal printing to the image formation program 32, the image formation program 32 can handle the margin / print area that can be handled by the printer 50. It is possible to create image data of an image according to the information.

The CPU 12 that executes S100 is an example of the first output means. The CPU 12 that executes S106 is an example of the first receiving means. The CPU 12 that executes S112 is an example of the first creation means. The CPU 12 that executes S114 is an example of transmission means. The CPU 12 that executes S220 is an example of the receiving means. The CPU 12 that executes S224 is an example of acquisition means. The CPU 12 that executes S228 is an example of the generation means. The CPU 12 that executes S228 is an example of an output means and a second output means.

<Effect of Examples>
According to the above-described embodiment, the following effects are obtained.

When the printer characteristic providing module 36 receives a request for margin / print area information from the image forming program 32, the driver-dedicated file 40 provides the margin / print area information for normal printing and the margin / print area information for printing without margin. To get. Then, the printer characteristic providing module 36 removes the information that cannot be handled by the printer 50 among the acquired margin / print area information, that is, the margin / print area information for printing without margin, and the margin / print for normal printing. Only the area information is output to the image forming program 32. As a result, the image forming program 32 can create image data of an image corresponding to the margin / print area information that can be handled by the printer 50.

The printer characteristic providing module 36 acquires the margin / print area information from the driver-dedicated file 40, and the printer driver 34 also acquires the margin / print area information from the driver-dedicated file 40. As a result, the storage destination of the margin / print area information can be limited to the driver-dedicated file 40.

Since the margin / print area information includes the paper size information Z, the image forming program 32 can create image data according to the paper size. Further, since the margin / print area information includes the print area size information X1 and the margin size information Y, the image forming program 32 can create image data in which the image is drawn in the printable area, and the margin / print area information can be created. Since the print area information includes the enlarged print area size information X2 and the margin size information Y, the application 30 can prevent the occurrence of print breakage by the print process without margins.

The printer driver 34 outputs the margin / print area information for printing without margins to the application 30 when the print processing without margins is set. The margin / print area information for printing without margins includes margin size information Y indicating that there is no margin and enlarged print area size information X2. The area indicated by the enlarged print area size information X2 is the same as the entire area in the vertical direction of the printing paper. As described above, when the margin / print area information for printing without margins is output to the application 30, the printer driver 34 acquires the image data of the image of the size corresponding to the enlarged print area size information X2 from the OS 34. Subsequently, the printer driver 34 extracts an image having a size corresponding to the print area size information X1 from an image having a size corresponding to the enlarged print area size information X2, and creates print image data of the extracted image. Then, the printer driver 34 transmits the created image data for printing to the printer 50. This makes it possible to print an appropriate image without character breaks on printing paper.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and can be carried out in various embodiments with various modifications and improvements based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art. Specifically, for example, in the above embodiment, the margin / print area information indicating the paper size, the margin, the printable area, etc. is adopted as the parameter information, but if it is the information related to the setting of the print process, it is various. Information, for example, information on print color, etc. can be adopted as parameter information.

The enlarged print area size information X2 included in the margin / print area information for printing without margins is the same as the paper size information Z, but the enlarged print area size information X2 may be a value larger than 1941. That is, the printer driver 34 may output to the application 30 information indicating an area larger than the actual paper size as the enlarged print area size information X2 included in the margin / print area information for printing without margins. As a result, the printer driver 34 can acquire image data in a larger area, and can suitably prevent character cutoff printing.

Further, in the above embodiment, in the printing process without margins, there is no margin, and the area indicated by the enlarged print area size information X2 is the same as the entire area in the vertical direction of the printing paper, but the printing process without margins. In the above, if the margin is made smaller than the margin at the time of the normal printing process and larger than the printable area at the time of the normal printing process, it is possible to prevent the character break printing. Therefore, by making the margin size information Y of the margin / print area information smaller than 59 and the enlarged print area size information X2 larger than 1822, character break printing can be prevented.

Further, the printer driver 34 may output the margin / print area information for normal printing and the margin / print area information for printing without margins to the application 30 in S100. In this case, the application 30 from which the information output in S100 has been acquired displays a selection screen on the LCD 16 for selecting either the normal print process or the blankless print process, via the input I / F. Image data corresponding to the print process selected by the operation may be created. Then, the information indicating which print process is selected may be output from the application 30 to the printer driver 34. The printer driver 34 may execute the printing process indicated by the information indicating which printing process is selected.

Further, in the above embodiment, an example in which the processes shown in FIGS. 3 and 8 are executed by the CPU 12 has been described, but these processes are not limited to the CPU 12, and may be executed by an ASIC or another logic integrated circuit. These processes may be executed by the cooperation of a CPU or the like, an ASIC, or another logic integrated circuit.

10: PC, 12: CPU, 30: Application, 32: Image formation program, 34: Printer driver, 36: Printer characteristic providing module, 37: OS, 40: Driver dedicated file, 50: Printer

Claims (6)

A control program that can be read by the computer of the information processing device.
The control program is a program installed in the information processing apparatus in association with the printer driver.
The printer driver outputs parameter information indicating a range of setting parameters for printing processing to an operating system installed in the information processing apparatus, and after outputting the parameter information, outputs image data corresponding to the parameter information. It is configured to receive from the operating system, create print image data based on the image data, and then send the print image data to the printer.
The computer
A receptionist that accepts a request for the parameter information from an image forming program configured to create print image data to be printed by the printer corresponding to the parameter information and output the print image data. Means and
An output means for outputting the parameter information to the image forming program in response to the reception of the request by the reception means, and an output means.
A generation means for generating removed parameter information, which is parameter information obtained by excluding incompatible parameter information from the parameter information output by the printer driver to the operating system.
To make it work
The unsupportable parameter information is information indicating a range of parameters that cannot be handled by the printing process by the printer without going through the printer driver.
The output means is
The removed parameter information generated by the generation means is output to the image forming program, and the removed parameter information is output to the image forming program.
The computer
It functions as an acquisition means for acquiring the parameter information from the storage area.
The storage area is a storage area dedicated to the printer driver, and is a storage area dedicated to the printer driver.
The printer driver is configured to acquire the parameter information from the storage area and output the acquired parameter information to the operating system.
The generation means is
A control program characterized by generating removed parameter information excluding incompatible parameter information from the parameter information acquired by the acquisition means . The generation means is
The control program according to claim 1 , wherein the removed parameter information is generated in response to receiving a request by the receiving means. The control program according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the parameter information is information indicating a paper size of printing paper as a setting parameter of a printing process. The claim is characterized in that the parameter information is at least one of information indicating the size of the margin of the printing paper and information indicating the size of the printable area excluding the margin from the paper size as a setting parameter of the printing process. Item 6. The control program according to any one of Items 1 to 3 . It is a group of programs composed of a printer driver that can be read by a computer of an information processing apparatus, a control program, and an image forming program.
The printer driver uses the computer.
A first output means for outputting parameter information indicating a range of setting parameters for printing processing to an operating system installed in the information processing apparatus, and
A first receiving means that receives image data corresponding to the parameter information from the operating system in response to the output of the parameter information by the first output means.
The first creating means for creating image data for printing based on the image data received by the first receiving means, and
A transmission means for transmitting print image data created by the first creation means to a printer, and a transmission means.
To make it work
The control program controls the computer.
A receiving means for receiving a request for the parameter information from the image forming program, and
A second output means that outputs the parameter information to the image forming program in response to the reception of the request by the reception means.
A generation means for generating removed parameter information, which is parameter information obtained by excluding incompatible parameter information from the parameter information output by the printer driver to the operating system.
To make it work
The unsupportable parameter information is information indicating a range of parameters that cannot be handled by the printing process by the printer without going through the printer driver.
The second output means is
The removed parameter information generated by the generation means is output to the image forming program, and the removed parameter information is output to the image forming program.
The image forming program uses the computer.
A second creating means for creating print image data to be printed by the printer in response to the output of the removed parameter information by the second output means, corresponding to the removed parameter information.
A third output means for outputting print image data created by the second creation means, and a third output means.
A group of programs characterized by functioning. The parameter information includes print size information indicating the size of the printable area excluding margins from the paper size, and enlarged size indicating the size of the enlarged printable area larger than the size of the printable area indicated by the print size information. Including information
The first reception means is
When the first output means outputs the enlarged size information to the operating system, the image data of the image of the size of the enlarged printable area indicated by the enlarged size information is received from the operating system.
The first preparation means is
Create image data for printing showing a partial image,
The partial image is a partial image included in the whole image based on the image data received by the first reception means, and is a partial image of the size of the printable area indicated by the print size information.
The generation means is
The print size information obtained by removing the enlarged size information as the incompatible parameter information from the parameter information is created as the removed parameter information.
The second output means is
The print size information generated by the generation means is output to the image forming program as the removed parameter information.
The second creation means is
The program according to claim 5 , wherein after the output of the print size information by the second output means, the print image data of the image of the size of the printable area indicated by the print size information is created. group.

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