JP2004038833A - Printer driver, print control method, and program for executing the method - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to reduce the consumption of ink and toner in applications where it is only necessary to be able to distinguish the colored portion from the non-colored portion without affecting the normal OA business. It is another object of the present invention to provide a printer driver, a print control method, and a program for executing the method, which can reduce the economic burden.
A printer driver according to the present invention investigates colors of print data requested to be printed, and changes C, M, Y, and K colors for each detected color of the print data, thereby obtaining C, M, and Y colors. Means are provided for changing a mixed color portion other than the color designated as a single color of M, Y, and K to a single color.
[Selection diagram] Fig. 1

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a printer driver, a print control method, and a program for executing the method, and more particularly, to a method for controlling an output color based on print data.
[0002]
[Prior art]
With the recent widespread use of color printing apparatuses, the user performs color printing as usual, without being particularly concerned about output to paper. Few prints actually need to be color. Since most users do not open the UI of the printer driver, colored printing is performed unconsciously.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
On the other hand, the color printing apparatus outputs color colors using three color inks and toners of C (cyan), M (magenta), and Y (yellow). In such color printing, the amount of the ink or toner used is considerable, and it is not economically advantageous.
[0004]
In view of the above, the present invention considers the consumption of ink and toner in applications where it is sufficient that the color can be distinguished from the non-colored and non-colored portions without any hindrance in normal OA business. It is an object of the present invention to provide a printer driver, a print control method, and a program for executing the method, which can reduce an amount and an economic burden.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above problems, a printer driver of the present invention includes a host device that converts a print request such as a document from an application that performs document creation and editing into a printer language that can be interpreted by a printer; , Means for setting various functions at the time of printing, means for detecting the color of an object to be printed, and means for changing the color for each object. Further, by examining the colors of the print data requested to be printed, and changing the colors of C, M, Y, and K for each of the detected colors of the print data, a single color of C, M, Y, and K is designated. Means for changing a mixed color portion other than the color to be used to a single color. Therefore, when printing from an application, the printer driver performs printing processing via the OS. At this time, the objects in the page are separated and managed, text objects are extracted, the colors are obtained, and C, M, By replacing the colors with Y and K, the amount of toner consumption can be reduced, and the economic burden can be reduced.
[0006]
The print data is characters, images, or graphics, and is subjected to color conversion according to the result detected for each print data, so that the print data is provided with a colored portion without any problem in the normal OA business. It is possible to reduce the consumption of ink and toner and reduce the economical burden in applications at a level that only needs to be distinguished from non-existent parts.
[0007]
Further, according to the print control method as another invention, a print request of a document or the like from an application for performing document creation and editing is converted into a printer language that can be interpreted by a printer on the host device, and the print request is output from the application. Are set, the color of the object to be printed is detected, and the color is changed for each detected object. Then, the colors of the print data requested to be printed are checked, and the colors of C, M, Y, and K are changed for each of the detected colors of the print data, so that the colors are designated by a single color of C, M, Y, and K. The color mixture portion other than the color to be changed is changed to a single color. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the toner consumption and the economic burden.
[0008]
Further, a program for executing a print control method according to another aspect of the present invention uses a computer to check the colors of print data requested to be printed and to determine the colors of C, M, Y, and K for each detected color of the print data. Is a program for executing a procedure of changing the mixed color portion other than the color designated by the single color of C, M, Y, and K into a single color. Therefore, a printer driver according to the print control method of the present invention can be generally constructed using a host device such as a personal computer, and the amount of toner consumption can be reduced, and the economic burden can be reduced.
[0009]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
The printer driver of the present invention investigates the colors of the print data requested to be printed, and changes the colors of C, M, Y, and K for each of the detected colors of the print data, so that C, M, Y, There is means for changing a mixed color portion other than the color designated by the single color in K to a single color.
[0010]
【Example】
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a host device to which a print control method according to one embodiment of the present invention is applied. In FIG. 1, a host device 10 to which a printer driver according to the print control method of the present embodiment is applied is connected to a printer 20. The host device 10 includes an application 11 that issues a print request to an operating printer driver 13, an OS module 12 that mediates between the print request application 11 and the printer driver 13, a printer driver 13, 20 and an output port 14 such as a USB or network. The printer driver 13 is a module in the printer driver. The UI driver 13-1 is a UI processing module that displays a UI screen displayed and activated from a print dialog from the application 11 and sets various print settings. The configuration includes a graphic driver 13-2 for generating print data, which is a command group that can take in settings and be interpreted by a printer, and a color conversion module 13-3 for performing color conversion processing.
[0011]
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a print control process according to the print control method of the present invention. In the figure, first, it is determined whether or not the print data of the print request is a color character conversion specification (step S101). If the color data conversion specification, the color character conversion process is performed by the color conversion module 13-3 of FIG. That is, by changing the color to C (cyan), M (magenta), Y (yellow), and K (black) for each color in which a color character is detected, the color specified by C, M, Y, and K single colors A process is performed to change the color mixture portion other than the color mixture to a single color (step S101; YES, step S102). Then, it is determined whether or not the print data of the print request is a color image conversion specification (step S103). If the color image conversion is specified, the color conversion module 13-3 in FIG. By changing the color to C (cyan), M (magenta), Y (yellow), and K (black) for each detected color, color mixture other than the color designated by C, M, Y, and K single colors A process of changing the set to a single color is performed (step S103; YES, step S104). Further, it is determined whether or not the print data of the print request is a color / graphic conversion specification (step S105). If the color / graphic conversion specification is specified, the color conversion module 13-3 in FIG. By changing the color to C (cyan), M (magenta), Y (yellow), and K (black) for each detected color, mixed colors other than the colors designated by C, M, Y, and K single colors A process of changing the set to a single color is performed (step S105; YES, step S106).
[0012]
It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and it goes without saying that various modifications and substitutions can be made within the scope of the claims.
[0013]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, the printer driver of the present invention includes a unit that converts a print request such as a document from an application that performs document creation and editing into a printer language that can be interpreted by a printer on a host device. Means for setting various functions, a means for detecting a color of an object to be printed, and a means for changing a color for each object. Further, by examining the colors of the print data requested to be printed, and changing the colors of C, M, Y, and K for each of the detected colors of the print data, a single color of C, M, Y, and K is designated. Means for changing a mixed color portion other than the color to be used to a single color. Therefore, when printing from an application, the printer driver performs printing processing via the OS. At this time, the objects in the page are separated and managed, text objects are extracted, the colors are obtained, and C, M, By replacing the colors with Y and K, the amount of toner consumption can be reduced, and the economic burden can be reduced.
[0014]
The print data is characters, images, or graphics, and is subjected to color conversion according to the result detected for each print data, so that the print data is provided with a colored portion without any problem in the normal OA business. It is possible to reduce the consumption of ink and toner and reduce the economical burden in applications at a level that only needs to be distinguished from non-existent parts.
[0015]
Further, according to the print control method as another invention, a print request of a document or the like from an application for performing document creation and editing is converted into a printer language that can be interpreted by a printer on the host device, and the print request is output from the application. Are set, the color of the object to be printed is detected, and the color is changed for each detected object. Then, the colors of the print data requested to be printed are checked, and the colors of C, M, Y, and K are changed for each of the detected colors of the print data, so that the colors are designated by a single color of C, M, Y, and K. The color mixture portion other than the color to be changed is changed to a single color. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the toner consumption and the economic burden.
[0016]
Further, a program for executing a print control method according to another aspect of the present invention uses a computer to check the colors of print data requested to be printed and to determine the colors of C, M, Y, and K for each detected color of the print data. Is a program for executing a procedure of changing the mixed color portion other than the color designated by the single color of C, M, Y, and K into a single color. Therefore, a printer driver according to the print control method of the present invention can be generally constructed using a host device such as a personal computer, and the amount of toner consumption can be reduced, and the economic burden can be reduced.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a host device to which a print control method according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a print control process according to the print control method of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
10; host device, 11; application, 12; OS module,
13; a printer driver; 13-1; a UI driver;
13-2: graphic driver, 13-3: color conversion module,
14; output port, 20; printing device.

Claims (5)

Means for converting a print request such as a document from an application for creating and editing a document into a printer language which can be interpreted by a printer on the host device; means for setting various functions at the time of printing from the application; A printer driver having means for detecting the color of the object and means for changing the color for each object.
By examining the colors of the print data requested to be printed and changing the colors of C, M, Y, and K for each of the detected colors of the print data, the colors specified by C, M, Y, and K are designated. A printer driver having means for changing a mixed color portion other than a color to a single color. The printer driver according to claim 1, wherein the print data is a character, an image, or a graphic. The host device converts a print request of a document or the like from an application for creating and editing a document into a printer language that can be interpreted by a printer, sets various functions at the time of printing from the application, and detects a color of an object to be printed. And in a print control method for changing a color for each detected object,
By examining the colors of the print data requested to be printed and changing the colors of C, M, Y, and K for each of the detected colors of the print data, the colors specified by C, M, Y, and K are designated. A printing control method characterized by changing a mixed color portion other than a color to a single color. 4. The print control method according to claim 3, wherein the print data is a character, an image, or a graphic. The computer checks the colors of the print data requested to be printed, changes the colors of C, M, Y, and K for each of the detected colors of the print data, and designates a single color of C, M, Y, and K. A program that executes the procedure to change the mixed color part other than the color to be used to a single color.

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