JP2007172245A - Form image generation program, form image generation method, printing instruction device and printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printing data generation program capable of generating a form image in an appropriate size corresponding to various kinds of page sizes and demonstrating a copying checking function, a printing data generation method and a printing data generator. <P>SOLUTION: A PC 2 is provided with a form image generation part 20 for acquiring the form size of the form image and the page size during printing in a form size acquisition part 23 and a page size acquisition part 24, calculating the magnification α of the form size to the page size on the basis of the form size and the page size in a superimposition propriety judgement part 25, judging whether or not to superimpose the form image on document data on the basis of the magnification α, and generating a new form based on the magnification α in a form regeneration part 27. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a form image generation program, a form image generation method, a print instruction apparatus, and a printing apparatus that generate a tint block image (form image) including a background pattern that is not reproduced during copying and a hidden pattern that is reproduced during copying.

  In recent years, a copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image (copy check pattern) in which a predetermined character string (document name, date, printer, etc.) appears when copied is combined with the background of the original document for the purpose of preventing unauthorized copying and tracing the copy path. A printing system that performs printing is known (for example, see Patent Document 1).

In this conventional printing system, when the size of the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image is different from the paper size, the size of the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image is enlarged and reduced so that the size of the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image matches the size of the paper.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-298717 (paragraph [0041], FIGS. 1 and 4)

  However, according to the conventional printing system, when the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image is enlarged, the size and shape of the dots constituting the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image become large, and the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image can be seen in the original document, so that it does not function as a copy check pattern. is there.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a form image generation program, a form image generation method, a print instruction device, and a form image generation program capable of generating a form image in an appropriate size corresponding to the page size and exhibiting a copy check function. To provide a printing apparatus.

  In order to achieve the above object, a first aspect of the present invention provides a form image generation program for causing a computer to generate a form image composed of a background pattern that is not reproduced during copying and a hidden pattern that is reproduced during copying. There is provided a form image generation program characterized by including a scaling step for scaling the form image corresponding to a page size without changing the size and shape of the constituent elements of the background pattern.

  In order to achieve the above object, a second aspect of the present invention is a form image generation program for causing a computer to generate a form image composed of a background pattern that is not reproduced during copying and a hidden pattern that is reproduced during copying. An input step of inputting a magnification of the form image of the form image with respect to a page size at the time of printing; and an expansion / contraction step of expanding or reducing the form image based on the magnification without changing the size and shape of the components of the background pattern; The form image generation program characterized by including this is provided.

  In order to achieve the above object, a third aspect of the present invention is a form image generation program for causing a computer to generate a form image composed of a background pattern that is not reproduced at the time of copying and a hidden pattern that is reproduced at the time of copying. A calculation step of calculating a magnification of the form size of the form image with respect to a page size at the time of printing; and a scaling step of scaling the form image based on the magnification without changing the size and shape of the components of the background pattern; The form image generation program characterized by including this is provided.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a form image generation program for causing a computer to generate a form image including a background pattern that is not reproduced at the time of copying and a hidden pattern that is reproduced at the time of copying. In the input step of inputting the magnification of the form size of the form image with respect to the page size at the time of printing, the determination step of determining whether or not the form image can be superimposed on the document data based on the magnification, and the determination step A form image generation program comprising: an enlargement / reduction step for enlarging / reducing the form image based on the magnification without changing the size and shape of the constituent elements of the background pattern when determined to be superimposable To do.

  The determination step may determine that superimposition is possible based on the magnification, or may determine that superimposition is not possible when the hidden pattern when enlarged or reduced is a predetermined size or less. If the size of the hidden pattern after the enlargement / reduction is too small, it cannot be recognized when copied, and therefore, it is determined that it cannot be superimposed.

  The determination step includes a confirmation step of confirming whether or not there is an output when it is determined that superimposition is impossible based on the magnification, or when it is determined that superimposition is not possible based on the size of the hidden pattern, and the scaling step includes When the output is determined in the confirmation step, the form image may be scaled. For example, even if it is determined in the determination step that superimposition is not possible, it may be determined that human eyes can superimpose, and such a case can be dealt with.

  The enlargement / reduction step may enlarge / reduce the form image so that the entire hidden pattern is included in the logical page.

  In the enlargement / reduction step, when the print mode is an N-up mode in which an image of N pages is printed on a sheet of paper, the form image is enlarged / reduced so that each logical page includes the entire hidden pattern. May be. Even if each page of the paper printed in the N-up mode is cut off, since the entire hidden pattern is included in each page, information necessary for tracking is not lost.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, a form image generation program for causing a computer to generate a form image composed of a background pattern that is not reproduced at the time of copying and a hidden pattern that is reproduced at the time of copying. A generation step of generating the form image based on the form setting information, a first acquisition step of acquiring a form size from the form image generated in the generation step, and a second of acquiring a page size at the time of printing An acquisition step, a calculation step of calculating a magnification of the form size with respect to the acquired page size, a creation step of creating new form setting information based on the form setting information and the magnification, and the new Based on the form setting information, the form image is converted to the background pattern. A regenerating step for regenerating a form image without changing the size and shape of the components of the screen, and the form image regenerated in the regenerating step based on the magnification. A determination step for determining whether or not the image can be superimposed, and an output step for outputting the form image generated in the regeneration step and combining it with the document data when it is determined in the determination step that the image can be superimposed A form image generation program characterized by including:

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, in the form image generation method for generating a form image composed of a background pattern that is not reproduced at the time of copying and a hidden pattern that is reproduced at the time of copying, the form image is converted into the background. There is provided a form image generation method characterized by including a scaling step for scaling according to the page size without changing the size and shape of the components of the pattern.

  In a seventh aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, the size and shape of the constituent elements of the background pattern are changed from a form image composed of a background pattern that is not reproduced during copying and a hidden pattern that is reproduced during copying. A form image generation unit that expands and contracts in accordance with the page size without any change, and a combination unit that combines the form image generated by the form image generation unit with document data and outputs the combined image to a printing apparatus. A print instruction apparatus is provided.

  In an eighth aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, the size and shape of the constituent elements of the background pattern are changed from a form image composed of a background pattern that is not reproduced during copying and a hidden pattern that is reproduced during copying. A form image generation unit that expands and contracts in accordance with the page size without any combination, a combination unit that combines the form image generated by the form image generation unit and the document data transmitted from the print instruction apparatus, and the combination unit There is provided a printing apparatus comprising an image forming unit for printing synthesized data.

  According to the first to eighth aspects, it is possible to include the entire form image in the page size by scaling the form image in accordance with the page size. In addition, by scaling the form image according to the page size without changing the size and shape of the constituent elements of the background pattern, the form image is not seen in the original document, and the copy check function is exhibited. Can do.

  Constituent elements of the background pattern include, but are not limited to, dot shapes and diagonal lines. The hidden pattern includes symbols, graphics, and the like in addition to characters such as confidential information, copy prohibition, and document data creation source.

  As the print instruction device, an information terminal device capable of creating or handling document data such as a personal computer (PC) or PDA (Personal Digital Assistance) can be used.

  As the printing apparatus, in addition to a copying machine and a printer, a multifunction machine having a plurality of functions such as a copy, a printer, a scanner, and a fax can be used.

  According to the present invention, a form image can be generated with an appropriate size corresponding to a page size, and a copy check function can be exhibited.

[First Embodiment]
(Configuration of image processing system)
FIG. 1 shows an image processing system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The image processing system 1 includes a local area nutwork (LAN), a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as “PC”) 2 as a printing instruction apparatus connected to a network (NW) 4 such as the Internet, and a printing apparatus. The printer 3 is configured.

  In this image processing system 1, when a document data print instruction is issued from the PC 2, the document data is converted into print data described in PDL (Printer Description Language) by a printer driver installed in the PC 2, and is transmitted via the NW 4. Is transmitted to the printer 3, and printing is performed by the printer 3.

(Configuration of personal computer)
FIG. 2 shows a detailed configuration of the PC 2. The PC 2 is created by a form image generation unit 20 as a print data generation apparatus that generates a copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image (hereinafter referred to as “form image”) composed of hidden characters (hidden patterns) and a background pattern, and word processing software in the PC 2. The document data storage unit 30 that stores the document data converted into PDL data by the printer driver, the form image generated by the form image generation unit 20 and the document data in the document data storage unit 30 are combined, and the combined PDL data is obtained. And a combining unit 31 that outputs to the printer 3. In addition to the above-described configuration, the PC 2 includes a CPU, ROM, RAM, hard disk, interface circuit, keyboard, mouse and other input devices (not shown), a display unit such as an LCD (liquid crystal display), and the like.

  The document data storage unit 30 includes, for example, a semiconductor memory, and the document data may be imported from a storage medium such as FD (trademark) or CD-ROM, or a network such as a LAN or the Internet.

  The form image generation unit 20 includes a form setting storage unit 21, a form setting storage unit 21, a form generation unit 22, a form size acquisition unit 23, a page size acquisition unit 24, a superimposition determination unit 25, a form setting change unit 26, and a form reproduction. The formation part 27 is provided.

  The form setting storage unit 21 includes, for example, a semiconductor memory and stores form setting information F1 for generating a form image. The form setting information F1 includes hidden character information including a character string, font, font size, character decoration, character string angle, and the like, and background pattern information.

  The form generation unit 22 generates a form image including a bitmap based on the form setting information F1 stored in the form setting storage unit 21. Note that the form image is not limited to a bitmap.

  The form size acquisition unit 23 acquires a size (form size) including the width and height of the form image from the form image generated by the form generation unit 22.

  The page size acquisition unit 24 acquires the page size of the print data output to the printer 3 from the printer driver. Here, the page size is a paper size of a logical page. When N-up (a mode in which N original images are printed on one paper) is set by the printer driver, the page size is 1 / of the paper size. N is the page size.

The superimposition permission / non-permission determination unit 25 is configured such that the ratio of the form size (width w ₂ × height h ₂ ) acquired by the form size acquisition unit 23 to the page size (width w ₁ × height h ₁ ) acquired by the page size acquisition unit 24. That is, the magnification α is calculated, and it is determined whether or not the form image can be superimposed on the document data based on the magnification α. For the magnification α, for example, w ₂ / w ₁ and h ₂ / h ₁ are obtained, and the larger one of these is adopted. Alternatively, it may be calculated as a ratio of the longer size of the form sizes w ₂ and h _{2 to} the shorter size of the page sizes w ₁ and h ₁ .

The case where it is determined that superimposition is impossible by the superimposition permission determination unit 25 is a case where one or more of the following conditions are satisfied.
(1) When the magnification α is a predetermined value or more:
By reducing the form size, the characters and figures of the form image 28 become so small that they cannot be visually recognized.
(2) When the magnification α is not more than a predetermined value:
Since it cannot be output by the form setting in the form setting storage unit 21, it is determined that superimposition is impossible.
(3) When setting of setting information F2 does not satisfy a predetermined standard:
For example, when the font size of the setting information F2 is a predetermined size (for example, 20 points) or less, it is too small to function as the hidden character 33, so it is determined that superimposition is impossible. However, the font size can also be determined under the same conditions as in (1) above.

  When the magnification α is approximately 1, that is, when F1≈F2, the form image 28 created with the first form setting information F1 can be superimposed as it is, so that it is not converted into new form setting information F2.

  The form setting changing unit 26 changes only the hidden character without changing the size of the dots of the background pattern, based on the form setting value F1 from the form setting storage unit 21 and the magnification α from the superimposition possibility determination unit 25. The setting is performed, and the changed form setting information F2 is output to the form regeneration unit 27. The form setting changing unit 26 changes at least one of the font size of the character, the angle of the character string, and the length of the character string.

  The form regeneration unit 27 regenerates the form image in accordance with the form setting information F2 when it is determined that the superimposition is possible and the form setting value is F1 ≠ F2.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of a form image generated by the form regeneration unit 27. FIG. 3A shows an example of a form image, and FIG. 3B shows a copy image obtained by copying the form image 28 of FIG. 3A with a normal copying machine (printer). The form image 28 shown in FIG. 3A is a binary monochrome image with 1 bit per pixel, and includes a background pattern 32 and hidden characters 33. The character “COPY” in FIG. 3A is an example of the hidden character 33 and is superimposed on a dot-like background pattern 32 (shown by hatching in FIG. 3A). Since the hidden character 33 is actually set to the same density as the background pattern 32, it is not clearly visible as shown in FIG. 3A, but is drawn for easy understanding. FIG. 3C is an enlarged view of the portion 28a surrounded by the square frame of the hidden character 33. The white rectangle and the black rectangle represent a white pixel and a black pixel, respectively.

  As shown in FIG. 3C, the hidden characters 33 have relatively large dot patterns arranged relatively coarsely, and the background pattern 32 has relatively small dot patterns arranged relatively densely. The hidden characters 33 and the background pattern 32 are provided so that the average density (black pixel area per unit area) when printed on paper is the same. Accordingly, the human eyes cannot distinguish between the hidden character 33 and the background pattern 32, and the entire surface appears to be a uniform gray background.

  When print data obtained by combining the form image 28 of FIG. 3A with document data is once printed by the printer 3 and the printed paper is copied by another general-purpose copying machine or the like, the hidden character 33 having large dots is faithfully displayed. However, the background pattern 32 with small dots is not reproduced faithfully. Therefore, the area of the background pattern 32 is white, so that a copy image 29 as shown in FIG. 3B in which a hidden character 33 appears on the document image is obtained. Thereby, unauthorized copying can be suppressed. Note that what is actually printed on the sheet is an image obtained by synthesizing the document image from the document data storage unit 30 with the form image 28 in FIG. 3A by the synthesizing unit 31, but in FIG. For ease of explanation, the document image is not shown.

  FIG. 4 shows another example of the background pattern used for the form image. In FIG. 3, a dot pattern is used as the background pattern 32. However, as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, a background pattern 32 having a hatched pattern can be used. The background pattern 32 shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B can express digital data such that one is “0” and the other is “1”, and these are used to prohibit copying. Etc. can be embedded to control the printer 3.

(Operation of image processing system)
Next, the operation of the image processing system will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 shows the relationship between the form size (width w ₂ × height h ₂ ) acquired by the form size acquisition unit 23 and the page size (width w ₁ × height h ₁ ) acquired by the page size acquisition unit 24. FIG. 6 shows a form image at 4-up. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the PC 2.

  First, the user operates the input device of the PC 2 to set attribute information to be added to document data to be printed. The attribute information input here includes document data specification information to be printed, information for controlling document data copying, a background pattern type to be superimposed (background pattern information), a hidden character string, font, There are hidden character information such as font size, character decoration, character string angle, superimposed position of hidden character, width, height, color, and the like. Form setting information including background pattern information and hidden character information is stored in the form setting storage unit 21.

  Next, the CPU of the PC 2 activates the form image generation unit 20. The form image generation unit 20 reads out the form setting information F1 from the form setting storage unit 21 by the form generation unit 22, and based on the form setting information F1, the form image including the background pattern and the hidden characters 33 as shown in FIG. 28 is generated (S101). Here, it is assumed that three lines of character strings “conference material”, “first sales department”, and “Fuji department manager” are used as the hidden character 33.

Next, the page size acquisition unit 24 acquires the page size (w ₁ × h ₁ ), and the form size acquisition unit 23 acquires the form size (w ₂ × h ₂ ) (S102).

Next, the overlay determination unit 25 determines the form size (width w ₂ × height h ₂ ) acquired by the form size acquisition unit 23 for the page size (width w ₁ × height h ₁ ) acquired by the page size acquisition unit 24. ) Is calculated as a ratio (S103).

  The form setting change unit 26 changes the form setting information F1 from the form setting storage unit 21 to new form setting information F2 based on the magnification α from the superimposition permission determination unit 25 (S104).

For example, as shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, the page size (w ₁ ×) of the sheet printed by the printer 3 with respect to the form size (w ₂ × h ₂ ) of the form image 28. When h ₁ ) is small, according to the magnification α, as shown in FIG. 5C, the hidden character 33 enters the w ₁ and the hidden character 33 fills the height h ₁ in the paper. Is converted to form setting information F2. At this time, regardless of the magnification α, the size of the dots of the background pattern 32 is not changed, and only the hidden character 33 is changed.

  Next, the superimposition determination unit 25 determines whether or not the magnification α is within a predetermined range (S105). If the magnification α is within the predetermined range (S105: Yes), new form setting information F2 is determined. It is determined whether or not the font size exceeds the predetermined value (20 points) (S106). If the font size exceeds the predetermined value (20 points) (S106: Yes), whether F1 ≠ F2 is satisfied or not. Is determined (S107). If F1 ≠ F2 (S107: Yes), the form regenerator 27 generates a form image 28 as shown in FIG. 5C based on the form setting information F2 (S108).

  When the magnification α is out of the predetermined range (S105: No) and when the font size is equal to or less than the predetermined value (20 points) (S106: No), the user confirms the output with the display unit or the like and outputs OK. Or NG by the input unit (S110). If the output is OK (S110: Yes), the process proceeds to step S109. If the output is NG (S110 No), the process ends without combining with the document data. If F1 = F2 (S107: No), the process proceeds to step S109.

  The form image 28 generated by the form regenerating unit 27 or the form generating unit 22 is sent to the combining unit 31, converted into PDL, and combined with the document data by PDL read from the document data storage unit 30 ( S109). The PDL image synthesized by the synthesis unit 31 is sent as print data to the NW 4 via the interface in the PC 2 and further transmitted to the printer 3.

  In the printer 3, the print data by the PDL from the form image generation unit 20 of the PC 2 is converted into bitmap data, and the designated paper is displayed on the designated sheet as shown in FIG. An image in which the form image 28 composed of the hidden character 33 and the background pattern 32 shown in FIG. 3C is combined with the document data is printed.

  If the printer 3 is compatible with a bitmap, processing by the combining unit 26 and the printer 3 is performed using a bitmap.

In the case of 4-up printing that prints out four original documents as one, the width of the form image 28 (the length of the upper side) is matched to the width of the logical page as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 6B, the form image 28 can appear at least once on each of the logical pages P _{1 to} P ₄ . The broken lines indicate the boundaries of the logical page _P 1 to P _4. Here, 4-up has been described, but N-up is similarly processed.

(Effects of the first embodiment)
According to the first embodiment, since the form image 28 can be generated in an appropriate size corresponding to the print page size, the entire form image 28 can always appear on one page size. it can. Further, when the form image is scaled according to the page size, the hidden characters are scaled without scaling the background pattern, so that it is possible to prevent the hidden text from being seen in the original document.

  In the case of N-up printing, since the form image 28 appears at least once on each logical page P1 to P4, even if the printed paper is cut out in units of logical pages, the origin of the portion is determined. It becomes possible to track.

[Second Embodiment]
FIG. 8 shows an image processing system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, the form image generation unit 20 and the composition unit 31 are provided on the printer 3 side in the first embodiment, and the other configurations are the same as those in the first embodiment.

  The printer 3 includes, for example, an electrophotographic image forming unit 100, and a composition unit 31 is connected to the image forming unit 100. The composition unit 31 receives document data from the PC 2 and a form image from the form image generation unit 20.

  Since the operation of the form image generation unit 20 in the present embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, description thereof is omitted here. Document data composed of PDL is transmitted from the PC 2 via the NW 4, and the synthesis unit 31 synthesizes the form image and document data generated by the form generation unit 22 or the form regeneration unit 27, and displays the synthesized print data. Output to the image forming unit 100. The image forming unit 100 converts the print data from the combining unit 31 into bitmap data, and then prints it on a sheet.

  According to the second embodiment, by providing the form image generation unit 20 and the synthesis unit 31 in the printer 3, a general-purpose commercial product can be used for the PC 2, and the cost of the PC 2 can be reduced.

[Other embodiments]
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

1 is a configuration diagram illustrating an image processing system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the detailed structure of the personal computer (PC) of FIG. (A)-(c) is a figure for demonstrating the form image produced | generated by the form production | generation part and form regeneration part of FIG. (A), (b) is a figure which shows the other example of the background pattern used for a form image. (A)-(c) is explanatory drawing which shows the relationship between the form size acquired by the form size acquisition part, and the page size acquired by the page size acquisition part. (A), (b) is a figure for demonstrating the form image at the time of 4-up. It is a flowchart which shows the process in PC of FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the image processing system which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1 Image processing system 2 Personal computer (PC)
3 Printer 4 Network (NW)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Image formation part 20 Form image generation part 21 Form setting memory | storage part 22 Form generation part 23 Form size acquisition part 24 Overlay possibility determination part 25 Page size acquisition part 26 Form setting change part 27 Form regeneration part 28 Form image 29 Copy image 30 Document data storage unit 31 Composition unit 32 Background pattern 33 Hidden character 100 Image forming unit P Pages P _{1 to} P ₄ Logical pages

Claims (12)

In a form image generation program for causing a computer to generate a form image composed of a background pattern that is not reproduced at the time of copying and a hidden pattern that is reproduced at the time of copying,
A form image generation program comprising a scaling step for scaling the form image in accordance with the page size without changing the size and shape of the constituent elements of the background pattern. In a form image generation program for causing a computer to generate a form image composed of a background pattern that is not reproduced at the time of copying and a hidden pattern that is reproduced at the time of copying,
An input step of inputting a magnification of the form size of the form image with respect to the page size at the time of printing;
A form image generation program comprising: a scaling step for scaling the form image without changing the size and shape of the constituent elements of the background pattern based on the magnification. In a form image generation program for causing a computer to generate a form image composed of a background pattern that is not reproduced at the time of copying and a hidden pattern that is reproduced at the time of copying,
A calculation step of calculating a magnification of the form size of the form image with respect to a page size at the time of printing;
A form image generating program, comprising: a scaling step for scaling the form image without changing the size and shape of the constituent elements of the background pattern based on the magnification. In a form image generation program for causing a computer to generate a form image composed of a background pattern that is not reproduced at the time of copying and a hidden pattern that is reproduced at the time of copying,
An input step of inputting a magnification of the form size of the form image with respect to the page size at the time of printing;
A determination step of determining whether or not the form image can be superimposed on document data based on the magnification;
And a scaling step of scaling the form image without changing the size and shape of the constituent elements of the background pattern based on the magnification when it is determined that the superimposing is possible in the determining step. Image generation program.   5. The determination step according to claim 4, wherein even if it is determined that superimposition is possible based on the magnification, it is determined that superimposition is impossible if the hidden pattern when enlarged or reduced is equal to or smaller than a predetermined size. Form image generation program. The determination step includes a confirmation step of confirming the presence or absence of output when it is determined that superimposition is impossible based on the magnification, or when it is determined that superimposition is not possible based on the size of the hidden pattern,
6. The form image generation program according to claim 5, wherein the enlargement / reduction step performs enlargement / reduction of the form image when an output is given in the confirmation step.   The form image generation program according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the enlargement / reduction step enlarges / reduces the form image so that the entire hidden pattern is included in a logical page.   In the enlargement / reduction step, when the print mode is an N-up mode in which an image of N pages is printed on one sheet, the form image is enlarged / reduced so that each logical page includes the entire hidden pattern. The form image generation program according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the form image generation program is provided. In a form image generation program for causing a computer to generate a form image composed of a background pattern that is not reproduced at the time of copying and a hidden pattern that is reproduced at the time of copying,
Generating the form image based on the form setting information;
A first acquisition step of acquiring a form size from the form image generated in the generation step;
A second acquisition step of acquiring a page size at the time of printing;
A calculation step of calculating a magnification of the form size with respect to the acquired page size;
A creation step of creating new form setting information based on the form setting information and the magnification;
A regeneration step for regenerating the form image by scaling the form image without changing the size and shape of the components of the background pattern based on the new form setting information;
A determination step of determining whether or not the form image regenerated in the regeneration step can be superimposed on document data based on the magnification;
A form image generation program comprising: an output step of outputting the form image generated in the regeneration step and combining the document image with the document data when it is determined in the determination step that superimposition is possible. In a form image generation method for generating a form image composed of a background pattern that is not reproduced at the time of copying and a hidden pattern that is reproduced at the time of copying,
A method of generating a form image, comprising a step of scaling the form image according to a page size without changing the size and shape of the constituent elements of the background pattern. A form image generation unit that enlarges / reduces a form image composed of a background pattern that is not reproduced at the time of copying and a hidden pattern that is reproduced at the time of copying without changing the size and shape of the constituent elements of the background pattern;
A printing instruction apparatus comprising: a combining unit that combines the form image generated by the form image generation unit and document data and outputs the combined image to a printing apparatus. A form image generation unit that enlarges / reduces a form image composed of a background pattern that is not reproduced at the time of copying and a hidden pattern that is reproduced at the time of copying without changing the size and shape of the constituent elements of the background pattern;
A synthesizing unit that synthesizes the form image generated by the form image generating unit and the document data transmitted from the print instruction device;
An image forming unit that prints data combined by the combining unit.

Images