JP2011182351A - Image processing apparatus, printing processing method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent duplication of printing of generated intermediate page image data when overwriting with a specific object drawn later on an object drawn earlier.
When the intermediate page printing mode is designated, if it is determined that the objects overlap, the characters are respectively obtained from the intermediate page image data after the objects are overlapped and the intermediate page image data drawn before the objects are overlapped. Information is extracted (S410). Then, it is determined whether the character information of the previous page is all included in the character information of the subsequent page (S411). If it is determined that all the character information of the subsequent page is included, the intermediate page image data before being overlaid is deleted (S412).
[Selection] Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, a print processing method, and a program for processing print data received from an information processing apparatus.

  Conventionally, when page information is generated by overlapping a plurality of objects by executing a specific application, the objects are sometimes overwritten on the objects because the drawing is performed according to the drawing order of the objects. In that case, the overwritten object information cannot be visualized.

  In particular, when recording and displaying application data using the animation function of Microsoft's PowerPoint (trade name), the objects are printed in the order of animation. Therefore, the information of the object overwritten on the animation object is not recorded and displayed.

  To solve this problem, there is a technique of recording and displaying two states, an intermediate page state before overwriting and a final page state after overwriting an object (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2009-65284 A

However, the conventional techniques described above have the following problems.
In the prior art, duplication detection is only performed in the character attribute object and other objects based on the object drawing order.
For this reason, when a transparent object is superimposed on a character attribute object, it is determined that there is duplication, and pages before and after duplication are generated and printed.
However, in recent years, transparent objects have been actively used in Microsoft PowerPoint.
For this reason, when the conventional technology is applied to a presentation file to which transparent objects are applied, characters with overlapping transparent objects generate character pages even though the character information can be read even if the objects overlap. It was. For this reason, the number of printed sheets may increase unnecessarily.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a mechanism that can prevent image data of each object from being duplicated when printing overlapping objects. Is to provide.

The image processing apparatus of the present invention that achieves the above object has the following configuration.
An image processing apparatus that obtains an object from print data received from an information processing apparatus and performs a print process, and generates an image data by expanding the object, and analyzes the print data and follows a drawing order When the determination unit determines whether or not the objects overlap, and when the determination unit determines that the objects overlap, the image data before the generation generated by the generation unit and the image data after the overlap are compared and overlapped. And determining means for determining whether to print the previous image data and the image data after being superimposed separately or to print the image data after being superimposed without printing the image data before being superimposed. Features.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, when printing the overlapping object, it can prevent printing the image data of each object overlapping.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of an image processing system. It is a figure which shows the example of an object process in an image processing apparatus. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a drawing process in the image processing apparatus. It is a figure which shows the example of an object process in an image processing apparatus. It is a figure which shows the example of an object process in an image processing apparatus. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a drawing process in the image processing apparatus. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a drawing process in the image processing apparatus. It is a figure which shows the overlap exclusion item table managed with an image processing apparatus. FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a UI displayed on the information processing apparatus. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a drawing process in the image processing apparatus.

Next, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[First Embodiment]
<Description of overall configuration of image processing system>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image processing system including an image processing apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, an information processing apparatus 1001 transmits a print job generated by an installed printer driver to an image processing apparatus. Here, the print job is composed of PDL data (print data) according to a predetermined PDL.
The information processing apparatus 1001 is connected to the image processing apparatus via a network cable. Here, Ethernet (registered trademark) is generally used as the network.
A print job sent from the information processing apparatus 1001 is temporarily stored in the reception buffer 1002. A ROM 1003 stores a program that can be executed by the image processing apparatus. The ROM 1003 stores a program that functions as the following processing unit.
A command analysis unit 1004 analyzes a PDL command of a print job stored in the reception buffer 1002.
Reference numeral 1005 denotes an intermediate object creation unit that performs drawing processing and creates an intermediate data object from PDL data stored in the PDL data memory 1017 on the RAM 1016. The intermediate object creation unit 1005 stores the created intermediate data object in the intermediate data object memory 1018 on the RAM 1016.

A rendering data creation unit 1006 stores rendering data (bitmap data) obtained by rendering the intermediate data object in the rendering data memory 1019.
Reference numeral 1007 denotes a scanner data analysis unit which analyzes scanner data. Reference numeral 1008 denotes an object attribute / drawing order control unit which controls object attributes and drawing order information.
Reference numeral 1009 denotes an image reduction layout unit, which reduces and lays out a plurality of pages into one page for recording and display. An additional information creation unit 1010 creates additional information.
An image determination unit 1011 performs image comparison by performing character detection processing before and after object duplication in the “intermediate page display mode” (described later). A network control unit 1012 performs network control. A panel i / f control unit 1013 controls the panel interface. A device i / f control unit 1014 controls an interface with the scanner unit 1030.

A character information extraction unit 1032 performs character information extraction on data stored in a rendering data memory 1019 described later. A vector information extraction unit 1033 extracts vector information from data stored in the rendering data memory 1019.
A CPU 1015 executes a control program stored in the ROM 1003 using a work memory of the RAM 1016, and performs data processing, communication processing, and image processing of each unit.
The RAM 1016 stores the following memories.
A PDL data memory 1017 stores command analysis data analyzed by the command analysis unit 1004.
An intermediate data object memory 1018 stores an intermediate data object created by the intermediate object creation unit 1005 from PDL data stored in the PDL rendering data memory 1017.
A rendering data memory 1019 stores rendering data created by the rendering data creation unit 1006 from an intermediate object stored in the intermediate data object memory 1018.

A scanner data analysis memory 1020 is used when analyzing scanner data. A presentation time memory 1021 stores a presentation time assigned to each page or object by the command analysis unit 1004. An intermediate page information memory 1022 holds intermediate page image data drawn in the “intermediate page display mode”. An additional information storage memory 1023 stores additional information created by the load information creation unit 1010. Reference numeral 1024 denotes a panel display memory which is used for panel display.
An engine transfer unit 1025 transfers bitmap information to the engine unit (printing unit) 1028. A panel i / f unit 1026 transfers panel information to the panel unit 1029.
A device i / f unit 1027 communicates with the scanner unit 1030. An engine unit 1028 performs paper output. Reference numeral 1029 denotes a panel unit. Reference numeral 1030 denotes a scanner unit. Reference numeral 1031 denotes an HDD.

<Description of general image forming process>
Next, a printing operation with the above-described system configuration will be described below.
When the execution of printing is designated by the user, the information processing apparatus 1001 transmits a print job including a control code and data to the image processing apparatus. The image processing apparatus analyzes the data in the print job received via the reception buffer 1002 according to a program described in the command analysis unit 1004 and stores the data in the PDL data memory 1017.
Thereafter, data processing is performed in accordance with a program described in the intermediate object creation unit 1005 to generate an intermediate data object for each graphic image, character, image data, etc. (image object).
After generating intermediate data objects for all image objects in one page, the data is expanded into rendering data (bitmap data) according to a program described in the rendering data creation unit 1006. The developed bitmap data is sent to the engine unit 1028 via the engine transfer unit 1025, printed on a transfer material, fed from the designated paper feed port, and discharged from the designated paper discharge port. Will be papered.

<Description of Processing Flow of Image Processing Device>
Next, the processing flow of the image processing apparatus, which is a feature of the present invention, will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of object processing in the image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. This example is an example of object processing for PDL data in which an intermediate page print mode is designated on a print setting screen provided by a printer driver of an information processing apparatus.
In FIG. 2, original image data 3001 is image data formed by overlapping two objects 3002 and 3003. In the original image data 3001, as shown in the table 3004, the attribute of the object 3002 is a character, and the drawing order is first. The attribute of the object 3003 to which transparency processing has been applied is a graphic or image other than characters, and the drawing order is second. Hereinafter, in the original image data 3001, the following cases 1 and 2 will be described as an example.

  Case 1 is an example of a conventional example (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2009-65284). Since the non-character object 3003 overlaps the object 3002 having the character attribute, an intermediate page is generated, and the original image data 3001 is printed as two pages of the intermediate page image data 3005 and the print page 3006.

Case 2 is an example of the present embodiment, and an intermediate page is generated because an object 3003 other than a character overlaps an object 3002 having a character attribute.
Thereafter, character information detection is performed on the intermediate page image data 3005 and 3006, and character information extraction results 3007 and 3008 are detected. Next, the character information extraction unit 1032 compares the character information extraction results 3007 and 3008. As a result, since “bbbb” of the character information extraction result 3007 is included in the character information extraction result 3008, it is determined that the intermediate page image data 3005 is unnecessary, and the intermediate page image data 3005 is deleted.
As a result, the final print page to which the character information is applied takes the form of a print page 3009.

  Hereinafter, the image data before being superimposed from the image data generated from the object is compared with the image data after being overlaid, and the image data before being overlaid and the image data after being overlaid are printed separately or before being overlaid. A process for determining whether to print the image data after being overlaid without printing the image data will be described.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of print processing in the image processing apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment. S401 to S414 indicate steps, which are realized by the CPU 1015 loading a control program from the ROM 1003 to the RAM 1016 and executing it.
First, the image processing apparatus receives original image data 3001 as PDL data (print data) from the information processing apparatus 1001 via the reception buffer 1002, and starts print processing (S401).
The object attribute / drawing order control unit 1008 acquires the object attribute (character or graphic or image other than characters) and drawing order information of the received PDL data (S402). Specifically, it is information related to the attributes, drawing order, and drawing position of each object as shown in the table 3004 shown in FIG.

  Next, the rendering data creation unit 1006 uses the rendering data memory 1019 on the RAM 1016 to render the objects in the drawing order (S403). Thus, intermediate page image data according to the drawing order of the objects is generated on the rendering data memory 1019.

  Next, the object attribute / drawing order control unit 1008 checks whether the drawing order of the object rendered in the rendering data memory 1019 is the last (S404). Note that the object attribute / drawing order control unit 1008 is configured to be able to determine whether the drawing order is the last or not based on whether a print drawing command is received.

  If the object attribute / drawing order control unit 1008 determines that the rendering order of the rendered object is not the last, the CPU 1015 checks whether the “intermediate page printing mode” is set (S405). Here, the “intermediate page printing mode” is a mode for recording and displaying the state of the intermediate page immediately before overwriting when the object is overwritten by overlapping objects and the object below the character or the like cannot be read.

The “intermediate page print mode” is set from a print setting screen displayed on the information processing apparatus 1001 described later with reference to FIG. 9, and is designated as print data.
In addition, since the “intermediate page print mode” can be designated for each “page” on the print setting screen described later, a page for which the “intermediate page print mode” is not designated is described in <General image forming process>. As described, the “intermediate page printing mode” can be processed at a higher speed than the designated page.
If the CPU 1015 determines that the “intermediate page printing mode” is not set, the rendering data is stored in the rendering data memory 1019 (S413), and the process of S403 is performed again.
On the other hand, when the CPU 1015 determines that the “intermediate page printing mode” is set in S405, the object attribute / drawing order control unit 1008 determines whether the objects overlap (S406). Here, the object attribute / drawing order control unit 1008 can easily determine whether or not the objects overlap by examining the drawing position of the object.

  If the object attribute / drawing order control unit 1008 determines that the objects do not overlap, the process proceeds to S413. In step S413, the rendering data (intermediate page image data) is stored in the rendering data memory 1019, and the processing in step S403 is performed again.

On the other hand, when the object attribute / drawing order control unit 1008 determines that the objects overlap, the object attribute / drawing order control unit 1008 determines whether the attribute of the overlapping objects is a character (S407).
If the object attribute / drawing order control unit 1008 determines that the attribute of the overlapping object is a character, the CPU 1015 stores the rendering data after the next object is superimposed in the intermediate page information memory 1022 ( S408).
When the object attribute / drawing order control unit 1008 determines that the attribute of the overlapping object is not a character, the process proceeds to S413.
Next, the character information extraction unit 1032 performs character information extraction processing on the rendering data after the next object stored in the intermediate page information memory 1022 in S408 is overlaid, and the result recognized as character information is the intermediate page information. The data is stored in the memory 1022 (S409). The character information extraction performed here is a general character information extraction process generally referred to as OCR.

Next, the CPU 1015 compares the character information stored in the intermediate page information memory 1022 with the character information extracted by the same process on the previous page of the page stored in the same location (S410). .
Then, as a result of comparing the character information in S410, the CPU 1015 determines whether or not all the character information on the previous page is included in the character information on the next page (S411).
That is, the CPU 1015 determines whether the character information extracted from the intermediate page image data drawn earlier can be recognized from the character information extracted from the intermediate page image data drawn later. Here, if it is determined that the same character information has been extracted, it can be determined that the intermediate page image data previously drawn is duplicated.

Therefore, the CPU 1015 advances the process to S413 when determining that the character information of the page does not include all the character information of the previous page, and proceeds to S412 when determining that the character information of the previous page includes all the character information of the previous page. Proceed. In this way, the CPU 1015 compares the image data before overlapping generated with the object and the image data after overlapping, and prints the image data before overlapping and the image data after overlapping separately. Then, it is determined whether to print the image data after being overlaid without printing the image data before being overlaid.
If the CPU 115 determines that the character information of the page is included in the character information of the previous page in S411, the CPU 1015 deletes the intermediate page image data previously drawn from the rendering data memory 1019 (S412), and proceeds to S413. . In this example, the CPU 1015 deletes the intermediate page image data 3005. As a result, intermediate page image data 3005 that does not need to be printed can be deleted, and the number of sheets used for printing can be reduced.

In step S413, the CPU 1015 records the data of the page on which the above processing has been performed in the rendering data memory 1019.
On the other hand, if the CPU 1015 determines that the object is the last object in S404, if the rendering order of the rendered object is the last, the rendering data in the rendering data memory is transferred to the engine unit 1028 (S414), and the printing process is executed. Then, this process ends.
Next, an example in which the intermediate page image data is not deleted in S412 will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of object processing in the image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment.
In FIG. 4, original image data 2001 is image data configured by overlapping two objects 2002 and 2003. The object 2002 is hidden under the opaque object 2003. In the original image data 2001, as shown in the table 2004, the attribute of the object 2002 is a character and the drawing order is first.
The attribute of the object 2003 that has not been subjected to transparency processing is a graphic or image other than characters, and the drawing order is second. Hereinafter, the original image data 2001 will be described.

Since the non-character object 2003 overlaps the object 2002 having the character attribute, an intermediate page is generated. Thereafter, character information detection is performed on the intermediate page image data 2005 and 2006, and character information extraction results 2007 and 2008 are detected. Next, the character information extraction unit 1032 compares the character information extraction results 2007 and 2008. Since the character information extraction result 2007 is not included in 2008, it is determined that the intermediate page data 2005 is necessary, and the intermediate page data 2005 is held. As a result, the final print page to which the character information is applied takes the form of print pages 2009 and 2010.
Note that the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and in the embodiment, the rendering process is performed in the image forming apparatus. However, even if it is performed in the information processing apparatus, the same effect can be obtained.
The character object described in this embodiment can be implemented with either a character code or an image with a character attribute attached to it, and the same effect can be obtained.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, an example of image processing in the image processing apparatus showing the second embodiment will be described.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of object processing in the image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment.
In FIG. 5, original image data 5001 is image data configured by overlapping two objects 5002 and 3003. In the original image data 5001, as shown in a table 5004, the attribute of the object 5002 is a graphic or image other than characters, and the drawing order is first. The attribute of the object 5003 to which transparency processing has been applied is a graphic or image other than characters, and the drawing order is second. Hereinafter, a case of the following Case 3 in the original image data 5001 will be described as an example.

  Case 3 generates an intermediate page because the non-character object 5003 overlaps the non-character object 5002. Thereafter, vector information detection is performed on the intermediate page image data 5005 and 5006, and vector information detection results 5007 and 5008 are detected. Next, the vector information extraction unit 1033 compares the vector information detection results 5007 and 5008. As a result, since the vector information detection result 5007 is all included in the vector information detection result 5008, it is determined that the intermediate page image data 5005 is unnecessary, and the intermediate page image data 5005 is deleted. As a result, the final print page to which the vector information is applied takes the form of a print page 5009.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of object print processing in the image processing apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment. S601 to S613 represent steps, which are realized by the CPU 1015 loading a control program from the ROM 1003 to the RAM 1016 and executing it.
First, the image processing apparatus receives original image data 5001 as print data (PDL data) from the information processing apparatus 1001 via the reception buffer 1002, and starts print processing (S601).
The object attribute / drawing order control unit 1008 acquires the above information because the PDL data includes attributes (characters or graphics other than characters or images) and drawing order information for each object (S602). Specifically, the attributes and drawing order information of each object as shown in a table 5004.

  Next, the rendering data creation unit 1006 uses the rendering data memory 1019 to render the objects in the drawing order (S603). Next, the object attribute / drawing order control unit 1008 determines whether the drawing order of the object rendered in the rendering data memory 1019 is the last (S604). Note that the object attribute / drawing order control unit 1008 is configured to be able to determine whether or not the drawing order of the object is the last by determining whether or not a print drawing command is received.

  If it is determined that the rendering order of the rendered object is not the last, the CPU 1015 determines whether the “intermediate page printing mode” is set (S605). If it is determined that the “intermediate page printing mode” is not selected, the process advances to step S612 to store the rendering data in the rendering data memory 1019, and the process returns to step S603.

  On the other hand, if the CPU 1015 determines that the “intermediate page printing mode” is set in S605, the object attribute / drawing order control unit 1008 determines whether or not the objects overlap (S606). Note that the object attribute / drawing order control unit 1008 can easily determine whether or not the objects overlap by examining the drawing positions of the objects.

If the object attribute / drawing order control unit 1008 determines that the objects do not overlap, the process advances to step S612, and the process returns to step S603, where the rendering data creation unit 1006 performs the rendering process again.
On the other hand, if the object attribute / drawing order control unit 1008 determines in step S606 that the objects overlap, the CPU 1015 stores the rendering data before overlapping the objects in the intermediate page information memory 1022 (S607).
Next, the vector information extraction unit 1033 performs vector information extraction processing on the rendering data stored in the intermediate page information memory 1022, and stores the result recognized as vector information in the intermediate page information memory 1022 (S608). . The vector information extraction performed here is performed using a known vector information extraction technique.

Then, the CPU 1015 compares the vector information stored in the intermediate page information memory 1022 with the vector information of the previous page stored in the same location (S609).
Next, as a result of comparing the vector information in S609, the CPU 1015 determines whether all the vector information of the previous page is included in the vector information of the next page (S610). If the CPU 1015 determines that the vector information on the page does not include all the information on the previous page, the process proceeds to S612. If the CPU 1015 determines that all the vector information on the previous page is included, the process proceeds to S611.

If it is determined in S610 that the vector information of the page is included in the vector information of the previous page, the CPU 1015 deletes the rendering data of the previous intermediate page from the rendering data memory 1019 (S611), and the process proceeds to S612. In this example, the intermediate page image data 5005 is deleted.
Then, the CPU 1015 stores the data of the page subjected to the above processing in the rendering data memory 1019 (S612), and returns to S603.
On the other hand, if it is determined in step S604 that the rendering order of the object rendered by the object attribute / rendering order control unit 1008 is the last, the CPU 1015 transfers the rendering data in the rendering data memory to the engine unit 1028 (S613). Print processing is executed, and this processing ends.
In this embodiment, the rendering and rendering processes are performed in the image processing apparatus. However, the present invention can be implemented in the information processing apparatus, and similar effects can be obtained.

[Third Embodiment]
In the present embodiment, the case of Case 3 will be described as an example of original image data. The process described here is an example in which a process using an object that cannot be overlapped with other transparent objects even if it can be visually recognized, such as a trademark and a logo, is added as a process of removing unnecessary intermediate pages.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of object print processing in the image processing apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment. S701 to S714 indicate steps, which are realized by the CPU 1015 loading a control program from the ROM 1003 to the RAM 1016 and executing it.
First, the image processing apparatus receives original image data 5001 as print data (PDL data) from the information processing apparatus 1001 via the reception buffer 1002, and starts print processing (S701).
Next, the object attribute / drawing order control unit 1008 acquires the above information because the PDL data includes attributes (characters or graphics other than characters or images) and drawing order information for each object (S702). Specifically, the attributes and drawing order information of each object as shown in a table 5004.

Then, the rendering data creation unit 1006 renders the objects in the drawing order (S703). Next, the object attribute / drawing order control unit 1008 determines whether or not the drawing order of the rendered object is the last (S704). Here, the object attribute / drawing order control unit 1008 is configured to be able to determine whether or not the drawing order of the rendered object is the last based on whether or not a print drawing command is received.
If the object attribute / drawing order control unit 1008 determines that the drawing order of the rendered object is not the last, the CPU 1015 checks whether the “intermediate page printing mode” is set (S705). If the CPU 1015 determines that the “intermediate page printing mode” is not set, the process advances to step S713 to store the rendering data in the rendering data memory 1019, and the process returns to step S703.

On the other hand, if the CPU 1015 determines that the “intermediate page printing mode” is set in S705, the object attribute / drawing order control unit 1008 determines whether the objects overlap (S706).
Here, the object attribute / drawing order control unit 1008 is configured to be able to easily determine whether or not the objects overlap by examining the drawing position of the object.
If the object attribute / drawing order control unit 1008 determines that the objects do not overlap, the rendering data creation unit 1006 executes S713 and returns to S703.
On the other hand, if the object attribute / rendering order control unit 1008 determines in step S706 that the objects overlap, the CPU 1015 stores the rendering data before the objects are overlapped in the intermediate page information memory 1022 (S707).
Next, the vector information extraction unit 1033 performs vector information extraction processing on the rendering data stored in the intermediate page information memory 1022, and stores the result recognized as vector information in the intermediate page information memory 1022 (S708). . The vector information extraction performed here is performed using a known vector information extraction technique.

  Next, the image determination unit 1011 determines whether the vector information stored in the intermediate page information memory 1022 in S708 matches the content of the overlap exclusion item (FIG. 8) (S709). Here, if the CPU 1015 determines that the vector information stored in the intermediate page information memory 1022 matches the contents of the overlap exclusion item (FIG. 8), the process proceeds to S713, and if it does not match, , Go to S710.

Next, the CPU 1015 compares the character information stored in the intermediate page information memory 1022 with the character information of the previous page of the page stored in the same location, and the character information of the previous page becomes the character information of the next page. It is determined whether or not all are included (S710).
If the CPU 1015 determines that the character information of the previous page is not included in the character information of the next page as a result of comparing the character information, the process proceeds to S713.
On the other hand, if the CPU 1015 determines in step S711 that the character information of the page includes the character information of the previous page, the CPU 1015 deletes the rendering data of the previous intermediate page from the rendering data memory 1019 (S712), and proceeds to S713. .
In step S713, the CPU 1015 stores the data of the page on which the above processing has been performed in the rendering data memory 1019, and the process returns to step S703.
On the other hand, if it is determined in step S704 that the drawing order of the object rendered by the object attribute / drawing order control unit 1008 is the last, the process advances to step S714. In step S714, the CPU 1015 transfers the rendering data in the rendering data memory to the engine unit 1028 to execute the printing process (S714), and the process ends.
In this embodiment, the rendering process is performed in the image processing apparatus. However, the rendering process can be performed in the information processing apparatus, and the same effect can be obtained.

[Fourth Embodiment]
Next, overlap exclusion item processing in the image processing apparatus showing the present embodiment will be described. This example is a processing example when the user inputs a check to apply the exclusion table on the print setting screen shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of the overlap exclusion item table displayed by the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. In this table, the printer driver of the information processing apparatus acquires and displays the exclusion table stored in the image processing apparatus.
This table is displayed by pressing an exclusion table button 9003 shown in FIG. The exclusion table is stored in the intermediate page information memory 1022.
10001 “No.” is a number indicating an object registered in the exclusion table. Reference numeral 10002 denotes “registration information” in which specific specific information of an object registered as an overlap exclusion target is registered. The registered contents are image information, vector information, and character information of each object.
Reference numeral 10003 denotes an “attribute”, which specifies a specific attribute of a registered object. Reference numeral 10004 denotes “remarks”, which clearly indicate the memorandum of the object registrant.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a user interface displayed on the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. This user interface is displayed by a printer driver related to image processing prosecution installed in the information processing apparatus.
In the driver setting screen shown in FIG. 9, reference numeral 9001 denotes an “intermediate page print mode” setting unit, which includes an input unit for setting “intermediate page print mode” to “page designation”. Reference numeral 9003 denotes an exclusion table button. When the exclusion table button 9003 is pressed, the overlap exclusion table shown in FIG. 8 is displayed on the display device of the information processing apparatus.

Reference numerals 9004 and 9005 denote check boxes. When an object that is overwritten and cannot be seen is printed in the “intermediate page print mode”, the check box 9004 is checked.
In addition, in order to set application of the overlap exclusion table, a check box 9005 is checked when an exclusion table is applied.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of object print processing in the image processing apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment. FIG. 8 shows details of steps S708 to 711 in the flowchart shown in FIG. S708, S711, S801, and S802 indicate steps, and are realized by the CPU 1015 loading a control program from the ROM 1003 into the RAM 1016 and executing it.
First, in step S <b> 708, the vector information extraction unit 1033 performs vector information extraction processing on the rendering data stored in the intermediate page information memory 1022, and stores the result recognized as vector information in the intermediate page information memory 1022.
Next, the image determination unit 1011 compares the vector information extracted in S708 with the contents registered in the overlap exclusion table shown in FIG. 8 (S801).
Then, the CPU 1015 determines whether or not the extracted vector information matches the overlap exclusion table as a result of the comparison in S801 (S802). If it is determined in step S801 that the extracted vector information does not match the specific information in the overlap exclusion table, the process advances to step S713.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S801 that the extracted vector information matches the specific information in the overlap exclusion table, the rendering data after overlapping the objects is stored in the intermediate page information memory 1022. The process proceeds to S711.
In addition, although the vector information and the overlap exclusion item were compared here, even when the overlapping object is character information, the same processing can be performed by changing the vector information extraction processing to character information extraction processing. .
Although the case where the object overlap determination process is performed in the image processing apparatus has been described, the present invention can be provided even when print data is generated and output to the image processing apparatus by the printer driver of the information processing apparatus. .
In this case, it can be realized by performing the control of transferring the print data generated as a result of the comparison, the comparison processing of the image data generated from the object, and the comparison shown in FIG.
By performing the above processing, it is possible to protect an object such as a logo, a trademark, and the like whose color change due to overlapping is not allowed without being superimposed under the transparent object.
The present invention can also be realized by executing the following processing. That is, software (program) that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or apparatus via a network or various storage media, and a computer (or CPU, MPU, or the like) of the system or apparatus reads the program. It is a process to be executed.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications (including organic combinations of the embodiments) are possible based on the spirit of the present invention, and these are excluded from the scope of the present invention. is not.
Although various examples and embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, those skilled in the art will not limit the spirit and scope of the present invention to the specific description in the present specification.

1001 Information processing apparatus 1002 Reception buffer 1015 CPU
1016 RAM

Claims (7)

An image processing apparatus that acquires an object from print data received from an information processing apparatus and performs print processing,
Generating means for expanding the object to generate image data;
Analyzing the print data and determining whether or not the objects overlap according to the drawing order;
When the determination unit determines that the objects overlap, the image data before being superimposed by the generation unit is compared with the image data after being superimposed, and the image after being superimposed with the image data before being superimposed Determining means for determining whether to print the data separately or to print the image data after being overlaid without printing the image data before being overlaid;
An image processing apparatus comprising:   The determining means compares whether the image data before being generated generated by the generating means matches the character information extracted from the image data after being overlapped, and the image data before being overlapped 2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image processing apparatus determines whether to print the image data after being overlaid separately or to print the image data after being overlaid without printing the image data before being overlaid. .   The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the intermediate page print mode is designated for the print data, the determination unit analyzes the print data and determines whether the objects overlap. . A print processing method in an image processing apparatus that acquires an object from print data received from an information processing apparatus and performs print processing,
A generation process of expanding the object to generate image data;
Analyzing the print data and determining whether the objects overlap according to the drawing order;
When the determination step determines that the objects overlap, the image data before the overlap generated by the generation step is compared with the image data after the overlap, and the image after the overlap with the image data before the overlap A determining step for determining whether to print the data separately or to print the image data after being overlaid without printing the image data before being overlaid;
A print processing method comprising:   The determination step compares whether or not the character data extracted from the image data before the generation generated by the generation step and the image data after the overlap match, and the image data before the overlap 5. The printing processing method according to claim 4, wherein printing is performed separately from the image data after being overlaid or whether the image data after being overlaid is printed without printing the image data before being overlaid. .   5. The print processing method according to claim 4, wherein the determination step analyzes the print data when an intermediate page print mode is designated for the print data, and determines whether or not the objects overlap. .   A program for causing a computer to execute the image processing method according to any one of claims 4 to 6.

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