JP7684477B2 - Raster image conversion device, program and printing system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a raster image device, a program, and a printing system.

When printing on substrates of various shapes using a printing device such as an inkjet printer, it is necessary to accurately position the substrate on the table (platen) of the printing device in advance. For this reason, a positioning jig that can be set on the table is sometimes used. This type of positioning jig has been used, for example, by cutting rigid media using a laser cutter or the like to match the outer shape of the substrate. This has led to the problem that it is time-consuming to create the jig.

Therefore, there is also known a technique for easily creating a jig for positioning a printed material using a printing device that prints the printed material (Patent Documents 1 and 2). In this conventional technique, frame data is created automatically or manually based on data on the contour line of the printed material contained in the print data, and a frame for positioning the printed material is created by multi-layer printing of UV-curable ink depending on the print mode of this frame data.

Patent Publication 2018-114702 Patent Publication 2018-144451

However, in the above-mentioned conventional technology, frame data is generated based on contour data extracted from print data, so the jig depends on the print position and range of that print data. Therefore, even if a jig that has been generated once is used to print different print data, the print position and range may not match the position of the print substrate fixed to the jig. Also, for example, when multiple different print data are assigned to multiple frames for printing, it is necessary to create a single print data set in which the multiple print data are arranged in advance, and generate frame data based on this print data. Also, when frame data is created using print data with a special shape, there is a problem in that it is extremely difficult to use.

The present invention was made in consideration of the above circumstances, and aims to provide a raster image conversion device, program, and printing system that are easy to use and versatile, and can easily assign multiple different print data to a jig.

A raster image conversion device according to an embodiment of the present invention is a raster image conversion device that inputs print data, converts the print data into raster image data, and outputs the data to a printing device, and includes a storage unit that stores print environment data that specifies conditions for converting the print data into the raster image data, an operation unit for setting or editing the print environment data stored in the storage unit, and a conversion processing unit that converts the print data into the raster image data based on the print environment data stored in the storage unit. The print environment data includes jig layout information for generating a jig that positions a print substrate in the printing device. The operation unit has an operation mode that can generate or edit the jig layout information. The conversion processing unit executes a jig creation process that generates and outputs jig image data for printing out the jig in the printing device based on the jig layout information, and a print data allocation process that allocates a print position and a print range of the print data in the printing device based on the jig layout information.

A printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a raster image conversion device that inputs print data and converts the print data into raster image data, and a printing device that prints on a substrate based on the raster image data converted by the raster image conversion device. The printing device is an inkjet printer capable of multi-layer printing using UV curable ink. The raster image conversion device includes a storage unit that stores print environment data that specifies conditions for converting the print data into the raster image data, an operation unit that generates or edits the print environment data stored in the storage unit, and a conversion processing unit that converts the print data into the raster image data based on the print environment data stored in the storage unit. The print environment data includes jig layout information for generating a jig that positions the substrate in the printing device. The operation unit includes an operation mode that allows the jig layout information to be generated or edited. The conversion processing unit executes a jig creation process for generating and outputting jig image data for printing the jig by the printing device based on the jig layout information, and a print data allocation process for allocating a print position and a print range of the print data in the printing device based on the jig layout information. The printing device prints the jig image data in one layer or multiple layers with the UV curable ink on a means for placing the printing substrate.
It should be noted that the "means for placing the printing material" here includes "media" such as paper, backing paper, film, resin, and plate-like bodies, as well as "placement tables" such as tables and platens of printing devices.

The raster image conversion program according to an embodiment of the present invention is a print processing program that inputs print data, converts the print data into raster image data, and outputs the data to a printing device. The program causes a computer to execute a storage step of storing print environment data that specifies the conditions for converting the print data into the raster image data, an operation step of generating or editing the print environment data stored in the storage step, and a conversion processing step of converting the print data into the raster image data based on the print environment data stored in the storage step. The print environment data includes jig layout information for generating a jig that positions a print substrate in the printing device. The operation step includes a step of generating or editing the jig layout information. The conversion processing step includes a jig creation processing step of generating and outputting jig image data for printing out the jig in the printing device based on the jig layout information, and a print data allocation processing step of allocating the print position and print range of the print data in the printing device based on the jig layout information.

The present invention makes it possible to provide a raster image conversion device, program, and printing system that are easy to use and versatile.

1 is a functional block diagram illustrating a printing system using a raster image conversion device according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the contents stored in a memory unit of the device. FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a procedure for creating a jig in the apparatus. 13 is a schematic diagram for explaining a setting operation of a jig layout in the device. FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing types of frames for jig layout in the device. FIG. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an example of a jig produced by the apparatus. 4 is a flowchart showing a printing process of the device. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of multi-page single-layer print data input to the device. FIG. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of layout information of simultaneous print data. 13 is a schematic diagram showing an example in which print data is allocated to each print slot based on the layout information. FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a multi-page single layer allocation process. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of multi-page, multi-layer print data input to the device. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of layout information of the print data. 13 is a schematic diagram showing an example in which print data is allocated to each print slot based on the layout information. FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a multi-page/multi-layer allocation process. 11A and 11B are schematic diagrams showing an example of generating multi-page/multi-layer print data from print data of a single job; FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing an example of generating multi-page, multi-layer print data by nesting multiple jobs. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of layout information of the print data. 13 is a schematic diagram showing an example in which print data is allocated to each print slot based on the layout information. FIG. FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing an example of generating multi-page, multi-layer print data by nesting multiple jobs with multiple layers. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of layout information of the print data. 13 is a schematic diagram showing an example in which print data is allocated to each print slot based on the layout information. FIG.

Below, a detailed description of a raster image conversion device, program, and printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be given with reference to the attached drawings. However, the following embodiments do not limit the inventions according to the claims, and not all of the combinations of features described in the embodiments are necessarily essential to the solution of the invention.

[Embodiment]
[Device configuration]
1 is a functional block diagram showing the schematic configuration of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention, which includes a print data generating device 20, a raster image converting device 10, and an inkjet printer 30 as a printing device.

The print data generating device 20 generates a print job consisting of image data obtained by compressing an image, for example, in a vector-format page description language such as PDF (Portable Document Format) or PS (PostScript: registered trademark), or an image such as JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) or TIFF (Tagged Image File Format), and outputs the print job to the inkjet printer 30 via the raster image converting device 10. Note that the term "print job" here refers to a print command including "print data" and described for printing the print data. Also, the term "print data" refers to data including characters, figures, images, etc., which are printed according to the print job. Hereinafter, information output from the print data generating device 20 may be referred to as "print data" or "print job". Also, the print data including the print environment data when the print data is converted into raster image data and output in the raster image converting device 10, and the series of processes up to outputting the raster image data to the inkjet printer 30 after performing the conversion process according to the print environment data may be referred to as a "print job" and a "print workflow", respectively, in a broad sense.

The raster image conversion device 10 converts print data consisting of input vector data into raster image data and outputs it to the inkjet printer 30. The raster image conversion device 10 can be configured as an RIP device realized by, for example, having a CPU (not shown) execute an RIP (Raster Image Processor) program. The inkjet printer 30 can be configured as a printing device capable of multi-layer printing using, for example, UV (Ultra-Violet) curable ink.

The raster image conversion device 10 functionally has one or more hot folders 11, a raster image conversion processing unit 12, a memory unit 13, and an operation unit 14.

The hot folder 11 is a folder that stores print data output from the print data generating device 20. This hot folder 11 is associated with print environment data. When print data is stored in the hot folder 11, the print workflow is started by referencing the print environment data corresponding to that hot folder 11.

The raster image conversion processing unit 12 monitors whether print data has been stored in the hot folder 11, and when print data has been stored in the hot folder 11, it performs rasterization processing, color matching processing, halftone processing, etc. on the print data in accordance with the printing environment data corresponding to that hot folder 11, and outputs it to the inkjet printer 30 as raster image data.

As shown in FIG. 2, the storage unit 13 stores printing environment data that defines a printing workflow for executing conversion processing in the raster image conversion processing unit 12. The printing environment data stores information on the color profile and color management required for color matching, layout information for the print data, jig layout information for generating a jig if a jig is required for printing, layer printing information in the case of multi-layer printing, and hot folder information corresponding to the printing workflow.

The operation unit 14 has an input unit 14a such as a keyboard and a mouse, and a display unit 14b such as a display device. The operation unit 14 has functions for using the input unit 14a and the display unit 14b to store print data in the hot folder 11, perform various operations on the raster image conversion processing unit 12, and generate and edit print environment data to be stored in the memory unit 13.

[Creating a jig]
Next, the process of creating a jig prior to the printing process will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, it is determined whether or not there is an instruction to set a jig layout (step S11). If there is an instruction to set a jig layout, the jig layout setting process is executed (step S12). If there is no instruction to set a jig layout, the setting process for other printing environment data is executed (step S13). If the jig layout setting process is selected, the settings of the print template when allocating the print data included in the jig layout information and the information of the frame that constitutes the jig are set.

4 is a schematic diagram showing each parameter of the print template. An image of the jig layout and input boxes for each parameter are displayed on the display unit 14b. The parameters of the print template in the jig layout include the width (x1) and height (y1) of the jig 15, the distance (x2, y2) between the reference position O1 and the print start position O2, the width (x3) and height (y3) of the print slots 16 arranged in the jig 15, and the gap (x4, y4) between the print slots 16. As shown in the figure, a slot number may be associated with each print slot 16.

On the other hand, the information on the frame of the jig layout includes the type of frame required for creating the jig, the width and length of the frame, the distance of the frame from the printing slot 16, and the number of printing layers with UV curable ink. Figure 5 is a diagram showing the types of frames. As shown in the figure, the types of frames include a "fence" in (a), a "corner" in (b), and a "rectangle" in (c). A "fence" is a linear frame in which the left and right frames 17 are located at the center of the left and right sides of the printing slot 16 in the vertical direction with respect to the printed material 31, and the top and bottom frames 17 are located at the center of the top and bottom sides of the printing slot 16 in the horizontal direction. A "corner" is an L-shaped frame that regulates the positions of the four corners of the printed material 31. A "rectangle" is a square ring-shaped frame that continuously surrounds the periphery of a square printed material 31. When the substrate 31 is rectangular and thin, the "fence" and "corner" in Figures (a) and (b) have areas where the frame 17 is not present, making it easier to remove the substrate 31 from the jig. As shown in Figures (d) and (e), the "fence" and "rectangle" can be used to position even a circular substrate 31, and as shown in Figure (f), the "rectangle" can be used to position even a triangular substrate 31. Therefore, by appropriately selecting the type of frame, the substrate 31 can be used in common even if the outer shape of the substrate 31 is different.

When the jig layout setting is complete, this jig layout information is stored in the memory unit 13 (step S14). Also, when other printing environment data is set, it is stored in the memory unit 13 (step S14). Next, whether or not to print the jig is determined based on instruction information from the operation unit 14 (step S15), and if jig creation is instructed, printing of the jig is executed (step S16). In the jig printing process, the raster image conversion processing unit 12 generates raster image data of the jig frame based on the jig layout information, and outputs this raster image data to the inkjet printer 30 for the number of print layers. As a result, the jig is printed by the inkjet printer 30.

6 shows an example of a jig created when the frame type is a "fence." The jig 15 is created by printing and forming a frame 17, for example, by multi-layer printing of UV-curable ink, on a sheet-like print medium 18 such as a rigid medium, based on the jig layout information. Since the frame 17 is formed by thick printing, the print substrate 31 can be stably positioned.
The aforementioned "fence" and "corner" are also effective in shortening the time required for printing the frame 17 of the jig 15 and reducing the amount of ink used. Since the optimal values of the side lengths of the "fence" and "corner" depend on the shape (size and thickness) of the printing substrate 31, the input unit 14a has a function of editing each side length.
Once a tool is created, it can be used repeatedly for other print jobs. In this case, the raster image conversion device 10 can search through multiple stored print environment data and select the tool layout to be used.

In this way, the jig layout information is created based on a print template that defines the printing position and range, so no matter what print data is being printed, the position of the printed material on the jig will match the printing position by assigning the print data to the print template.

[Conversion of print data to raster image data]
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the raster image conversion process (printing workflow) in the raster image conversion processing unit 12.
First, the print job is set in advance, such as the initial value setting of the print environment data shown in FIG. 3 (step S21). Next, print data is read from the hot folder 11 (step S22). If it is determined that the print job needs to be edited for the newly read print data (step S23), the print job is edited (step S24). Examples of print job editing include nesting of multiple print jobs, which will be described later, and editing of print environment data. Next, a rasterization process is performed, including allocation of print data to a print template (step 25). This process allocates raster image data (CMYK data) to each print slot of the print template.

Next, the raster image conversion processing unit 12 executes color matching processing on the raster image data assigned to the print template (step S26). In the color matching processing, the raster image data is subjected to color conversion processing by referring to color profile information and color management information, including the input profile and the output profile of the inkjet printer 30, contained in the printing environment data stored in the storage unit 13. Specifically, the raster image conversion processing unit 12 first performs color management processing by referring to an input profile (ICC profile) such as Japan Color (registered trademark) stored in the storage unit 13, expanding the raster image data (e.g., 8-bit_CMYK data) into a color space of the L*a*b* color system, for example, and converting the color into the L*a*b* value of the device-independent color.

Then, the raster image conversion processing unit 12 refers to the output profile (ICC profile) of the inkjet printer 30 and converts the L*a*b* values again into device-dependent color CMYK values (8-bit CMYK data).

In addition, the raster image conversion processing unit 12 can perform color calibration processing, such as generating light ink colors (Lc, Lm, Lk), generating spot ink colors (W: White/V: Varnish) for base color printing and thick printing, and adjusting the ink amount (tone curve adjustment). In this way, the raster image conversion processing unit 12 performs the so-called color matching processing in general, including color management processing and color calibration processing.

Next, the raster image conversion processing unit 12 performs halftone processing using an error diffusion method or the like based on the CMYK values (8-bit CMYKLcLmLkWV data) (step S27). This converts, for example, the 8-bit CMYK data into CMYK values (2-bit CMYKLcLmLkWV data) of multi-sized dots of device-dependent colors.

Then, the raster image data consisting of the converted CMYK values of the multi-size dots (2-bit CMYKLcLmLkWV data) is output to the inkjet printer 30 (step S28).

[Print Data Allocation Processing]
Next, the process of allocating print data to a print template, which is described in step S25 of FIG. 7, will be described in detail.
In addition, when the above-mentioned jig 15 is used, this process is started in a state where the jig 15 is installed on a table (platen) (not shown) of the inkjet printer 30 in a state where the reference position of the table and the reference position O1 of the jig 15 are aligned, and the printed material 31 is set in each frame 17. However, this process does not necessarily assume the use of the above-mentioned jig 15, and a jig on which the shape of the print slot is normally printed on a print medium may be used. In addition, this allocation process is also applicable in a case where the outer frame image of the print slot 16 is directly printed on the table (platen) (not shown) of the inkjet printer 30, and the printed material 31 is set in accordance with each print slot 16. In short, it is sufficient that the printed material 31 is placed in the correct print position.

(1) Multi-page single layer printing When multiple different print data are assigned to separate print slots of a print template for printing, the multiple print data are usually created as, for example, separate PDF files in the print data generating device 20, and an assignment operation is required to assign each separate PDF file to a separate print slot. In contrast, in this embodiment, these separate PDF files are input to the raster image conversion device 10 as print data for a single multi-page PDF file, and the raster image conversion processing unit 12 has a function of automatically assigning each page to each print slot and a print workflow for this function.

Figure 8 shows an example of input multi-page, single-layer print data. This print data has three pages with different image data. The conversion of multiple PDF data into multi-page PDF data may be performed using the print data generation device 20, or may be performed by editing the print job in the raster image conversion device 10 (step S24). However, when using the print data generation device 20, in order to automate the print workflow from inputting the print job into the hot folder 11 to printing out the inkjet printer 30, the series of processes must be described in advance in the print environment data. When created in advance by the print data generation device 20, the layout information of each page of the multi-page PDF can be stored as print environment data and automated as a print workflow.

The print job also includes the print environment data shown in FIG. 2, and the layout information therein includes, for example, information on whether each page is skipped (Skip) and the number of pages to be printed (Print), as shown in FIG. 9. FIG. 9 shows an example in which the number of pages P of the print data is "3" and the number of slots S of the print template is "4". In the example of FIG. 9, the number of pages to be printed of the first and third pages is set to "1", the number of pages to be printed of the second page is set to "2", and no skip pages are set. Under such conditions, when the print data consisting of the multi-page PDF shown in FIG. 8 is input to the hot folder 11, as shown in FIG. 10, the first page (Page1) is assigned to the first slot (Slot1) of the print template, the second page (Page2) is assigned to the second slot (Slot2), the second page (Page2) is copied and assigned to the third slot (Slot3), and the third page (Page3) is assigned to the fourth slot (Slot4).

FIG. 11 is a flow chart showing such a multi-page single layer allocation process. First, the page number p and the slot number s are set to the initial value "1" (step S31). Next, it is determined whether the pth page is skipped or not (step S32). If it is not skipped, the print position and print range of the sth slot are calculated based on the jig layout information (step S33), and the print data of the pth page is allocated to the sth slot (step S34). The slot number s is updated (step S35). If the slot number s exceeds the number of slots S, the process ends (step S36). If the slot number s does not exceed the number of slots S, it is determined whether the pth page has been allocated for the number of sheets specified by Print (step S37). If the allocation of the specified number of sheets has not been completed, the process returns to the calculation of the print slot position from step S33. If the allocation of the specified number of sheets has been completed, the page number p is updated (step S38). If the page number p is equal to the number of pages P
If it does not exceed the number of pages P, the process returns to step S32 for determining whether or not the pth page is to be skipped. If it is determined in step S32 that the pth page is to be skipped, the process jumps to step S38 for updating the page number p.

According to this embodiment, the print data to be allocated is simply converted into multiple pages and stored in the hot folder 11, and allocation processing according to the print environment data is executed, so there is no need to allocate the print data for each page. In addition, since the print data is allocated to each print slot based on the jig layout information, there is no misalignment between the position of the printed material and the printing position.

In the above embodiment, whether or not to skip a page is specified, but whether or not to skip the use of a print slot may be specified. In this case, information on the print slot to be skipped is specified in advance as skip slot information in the layout information. Then, based on the skip slot information, it is determined whether or not to skip the s-th slot before or after step S32 in FIG. 11. If there is a skip, proceed to step S35 to update the slot number s, and if there is no skip, execute the allocation process for the s-th slot. By performing such processing, for example, if the frame 17 of the print slot 16 containing the jig 15 created by multi-layer printing of the above-mentioned UV curable ink is unusable due to damage, the relevant print slot 16 can be specified from the input unit 14a, and the allocation of pages to that print slot 16 can be skipped.

(2) Multi-page/multi-layer printing For example, when performing thick printing with UV-curable ink on a transparent smartphone case, multi-layer printing may be performed by printing a white ink over the entire surface as a base layer, printing an image with CMYK ink on top of that, and then performing thick printing using varnish ink on top of that. Below, an example of multi-layer printing using a multi-pass printing method in which the inkjet head is moved back and forth in the sub-scanning direction by the number of printing layers relative to the table (platen) of the inkjet printer 30 will be described. However, it goes without saying that it can also be applied to a single-pass printing method in which the nozzles that eject the ink of each layer are shifted slightly in the sub-scanning direction, and the ink of each layer is ejected simultaneously, and each printing layer is printed at a pitch of the shift amount with one head scan operation.

In this embodiment, print data for performing multi-layer printing as described above is also input as multi-page data. Figure 12 shows an example of input multi-page, multi-layer print data. This print data contains three pages of image data, each corresponding to one of the three layers that make up an image. The first page is image data for printing with white ink, the second page is image data for printing with CMYK inks, and the third page is image data for printing with varnish ink.

FIG. 13 is an example of layer print information in this case. FIG. 13 shows an example in which the number of pages P of the print data is "3" and the number of slots S of the print template is "4". In the example of FIG. 13, the layer of the first page is set to "1", the color mode is "White", the layer of the second page is set to "2", the color mode is "CMYK", and the layer of the third page is set to "3", the color mode is "Vernish". In addition, the presence or absence of skipping of each page (Skip) is set to none, the number of overlapping layers of the print data (Multiplex) is also set to none, and the number of prints (Print) from the first page to the third page is set to "4". In addition, by using the Mirror conversion of image processing, multi-layer printing (for example, in the order of "CMYK" and "White") is performed on a transparent medium such as acrylic, and when the print image is shown from the back side, the same orientation (appearance) as the original image can be maintained. For this reason, the Mirror conversion is set to the layer print information.
It may also include r.

When print data consisting of the multi-page PDF shown in FIG. 12 is input into the hot folder 11 under these conditions, the first page is assigned to the first layer of the first to fourth slots of the print template, the second page is assigned to the second layer, and the third page is assigned to the third layer, as shown in FIG. 14. The first layer is output to the inkjet printer 30 in the form of raster image data for the first print, the second layer for the second print, and the third layer for the third print.

Figure 15 is a flowchart showing this multi-page/multi-layer allocation process. First, the layer number l and page number p are set to the initial value "1" (step S41). Next, the slot number s is set to the initial value "1" (step S42). Next, it is determined whether or not the pth page is skipped (step S43). If not, the print position and print range of the sth slot are calculated based on the jig layout information (step S44), and the print data of the pth page is allocated to the lth layer of the sth slot (step S45). The slot number s is updated (step S46), and if the slot number s exceeds the number of slots S, the process ends (step S47). If the slot number s does not exceed the number of slots S, it is determined whether or not the pth page has been allocated for the number of sheets specified by Print (step S48). If the allocation of the specified number of sheets has not been completed, the process returns to the calculation of the print slot position from step S44. If the allocation of the specified number of sheets has been completed, it is determined whether the allocation of layers for the number of overlapping layers specified by Multiplex has been completed (step S49). If the allocation of layers for the number of overlapping layers has not been completed, a layer is added, the layer number l is updated (step S50), and the process returns to step S42, where the slot number s is initialized to "1". If the allocation of layers for the number of overlapping layers has been completed in step S49, the page number p is updated (step S51). If the page number p exceeds the number of pages P, the process ends (step S52). If the page number p does not exceed the number of pages P, the process returns to step S42, where the slot number s is initialized to "1", and the presence or absence of a skip designation for the pth page is determined (step S43). If it is determined in step S43 that the skip designation for the pth page is present, the process jumps to the update process of the page number p (step S51).

As described above, by inputting print data for multi-layer printing as multi-page print data, the multi-layer print data can be assigned to each print slot of the print template under the conditions specified in the print environment data. Here, as described above, if the frame 17 of the print slot 16 containing the jig 15 is unusable due to damage or other reasons, the relevant print slot 16 can be specified from the input unit 14a, and a process of skipping the assignment of pages to that print slot 16 can be added to the process of FIG. 15.

The input multi-page print data for multi-layer printing may be created in advance by the print data generating device 20, or may be created by editing the print job in the raster image conversion device 10. However, when using the print data generating device 20, in order to automate the print workflow from inputting the print job into the hot folder 11 to printing output by the inkjet printer 30, the series of processes must be described in advance in the print environment data. When created in advance by the print data generating device 20, the layer printing information for each page of the multi-page PDF can be stored as print environment data and automated as a print workflow.

The above multi-page, multi-layer print data can also be created from single-layer print data.
FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of generating multi-page, multi-layer print data from one print data (Job1). In the raster image conversion device 10, layers such as a base image, a color image, and a varnish image are automatically or semi-automatically extracted from one print data using image processing technology, and one print data is generated in which these are respectively allocated to the first, second, and third pages. When automatically generating layers, it is also possible to perform processing such as extracting the entire surface of an image, extracting a colored portion, extracting a colorless portion, extracting an image with an arbitrary flat density for the entire page, and extracting a black and white inverted image of the same image. In addition, when automatically generating layers, it may have a function of specifying bleeding (enlarged from the original image) and choke (reduced from the original image). Note that the layout information can be specified using the same information as that shown in FIG. 13, for example.

Figure 17 shows an example of creating multi-page, multi-layer print data by nesting different single-page print data (Job1, Job2) created for layer printing. Such nesting processing may be performed by the print data generating device 20, or may be performed by editing the print job in the raster image conversion device 10.

Figure 18 is a diagram showing another example of layout information for the multi-page, multi-layer print data shown in Figure 17. In this layout information, the first page is specified as the first layer (color mode = CMYK), the second page is specified as the second layer (color mode = Vernish), the number of prints (Print) is set to "4" for each, and the number of overlaps (Multiplex) for the second layer is set to "1."

When print data is stored in the hot folder 11 under these conditions, the layout process shown in Figure 19 is executed. That is, after the layout of the second layer is completed, since Multiplex is "1", a third layer is added and the print data of the second layer is copied to the third layer. In this way, the number of print layers can be changed as desired by specifying the number of layer copies in the layout information.

Figure 20 shows an example of nesting multiple pieces of print data (Job1, Job2), each of which is multi-page and multi-layer, to create one piece of multi-page and multi-layer print data. The nesting process may be performed by the print data generating device 20, or by editing the print job in the raster image conversion device 10. This example also includes the case where each page of the multi-page single-layer print data shown in Figure 8 is made multi-layered, as shown in Figure 16.

In this example, as shown in FIG. 20, the first page corresponds to the first page of Job1 and the first layer, the second page corresponds to the second page of Job1 and the second layer, the third page corresponds to the first page of Job2 and the first layer, and the fourth page corresponds to the second page of Job2 and the second layer.
21 shows an example of layer print information. In this example, the color mode of the first and third pages is set to "CMYK", the color mode of the second and fourth pages is set to "Vernish", the number of prints of the first and second pages is set to "3", and the number of prints of the third and fourth pages is set to "1".

When print data is stored in hot folder 1 under these conditions, as shown in FIG. 22, the first page is assigned to the first layer from the first slot to the third slot, the second page is assigned to the second layer from the first slot to the third slot, the third page is assigned to the first layer of the fourth slot, and the fourth page is assigned to the second layer of the fourth slot.

The above process can be achieved by executing the flowchart shown in Figure 15 for each print job and changing the initial value of the slot number for each print job.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be embodied in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the scope of the invention and its equivalents as set forth in the claims.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10 Raster image conversion device 11 Hot folder 12 Raster image conversion processing unit 13 Storage unit 14 Operation unit 20 Print data generation device 30 Inkjet printer

Claims (5)

A raster image conversion device that receives print data, converts the print data into raster image data, and outputs the data to a printing device, comprising:
a storage unit that stores printing environment data that defines conditions for converting the print data into the raster image data;
an operation unit for setting or editing the printing environment data stored in the storage unit;
a conversion processing unit that converts the print data into the raster image data based on the printing environment data stored in the storage unit;
having
The printing environment data includes jig layout information for generating a jig for positioning a print substrate in the printing device,
The operation unit has an operation mode capable of generating or editing the jig layout information,
The conversion processing unit is
a raster image conversion device which, when an instruction to create the jig is given, executes a jig creation process which generates and outputs jig image data for printing out the jig by the printing device based on the jig layout information, and when the print data is printed, executes a print data allocation process by a print workflow which allocates the print position and print range of the print data in the printing device based on the jig layout information. 2. The raster image conversion device according to claim 1, wherein the jig layout information includes print template information having a plurality of print slots for defining a print position and a print range of the print data. The raster image conversion device according to claim 2 , wherein the jig layout information includes information on a frame along an outer periphery of the printing slot for positioning the printing material. a raster image conversion device which receives print data and converts the print data into raster image data;
a printing device that prints on a printing medium based on the raster image data converted by the raster image conversion device;
In a printing system comprising:
The printing device is an inkjet printer capable of multi-layer printing using UV-curable ink,
The raster image conversion device includes:
a storage unit that stores printing environment data that defines conditions for converting the print data into the raster image data;
an operation unit for generating or editing the printing environment data stored in the storage unit;
a conversion processing unit that converts the print data into the raster image data based on the printing environment data stored in the storage unit;
having
The printing environment data includes jig layout information for generating a jig for positioning a print substrate in the printing device,
The operation unit has an operation mode capable of generating or editing the jig layout information,
the conversion processing unit, when receiving an instruction to create the jig, executes a jig creation process that generates and outputs jig image data for printing out the jig by the printing device based on the jig layout information, and when printing the print data, executes a print data allocation process by a print workflow that allocates a print position and a print range of the print data in the printing device based on the jig layout information;
The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the printing device prints the jig image data on the means for placing the printing material in one layer or multiple layers using the UV curable ink. A print processing program for inputting print data, converting the print data into raster image data, and outputting the data to a printing device, comprising:
On the computer,
a storage step of storing printing environment data defining conditions for converting the print data into the raster image data;
an operation step for generating or editing the printing environment data stored in the storage step ;
a conversion processing step of converting the print data into the raster image data based on the printing environment data stored in the storage step;
Run the command,
The printing environment data includes jig layout information for generating a jig for positioning a print substrate in the printing device,
The operating step includes a step of generating or editing the jig layout information,
a print processing program characterized in that, in the conversion processing step, when an instruction to create the jig is given, a jig creation processing step is executed in which jig image data for printing out the jig on the printing device is generated and output based on the jig layout information, and when the print data is printed, a print data allocation processing step is executed by a print workflow in which a print position and print range of the print data on the printing device are allocated based on the jig layout information.

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