Print Control Program, Print Control Apparatus, And Print Control Method

Abstract

According to the present invention, a print control apparatus for displaying a print preview, comprises the units adapted to: spool print data created by application; issue a rendering instruction of the spooled print data to a graphic engine together with output information indicating one of a preview setting and a print setting; return a response about one of a color profile for previewing when the output information indicates the preview setting and a color profile for printing when the output information indicates the print setting, as a response to an inquiry about a color profile from the graphic engine that receives the rendering instruction; and display image data rendered by the graphic engine when the output information indicates the preview setting, and outputting the rendered image data to the printer when the output information indicates the print setting.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of a printing system according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 2A and 2B are views for explaining a preview image with a color that has undergone matching for a printer;

FIG. 3 shows an example of a user setting window;

FIG. 4 shows a DEVMODE data structure;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the spool sequence when an application requests to print;

FIGS. 6R and 6B are flowcharts showing the sequence for previewing spooled data in the first embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the sequence for printing spooled data in the first embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for selecting a color profile 114;

FIGS. 9A and 9B are flowcharts showing the sequence for previewing spooled data in the second embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the sequence for printing spooled data in the second embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the sequence for determining a color profile by a GDI 102; and

FIGS. 12A and 12B are flowcharts showing the sequence for previewing spooled data in the third embodiment.

Claims

1. A print control apparatus for displaying a print preview on a computer connected to a printer, comprising: a spool unit adapted to spool print data created by application software;a print processor unit adapted to issue a rendering instruction of the print data spooled by said spool unit to a graphic engine together with output information indicating one of a preview setting and a print setting;a color profile determination unit adapted to return a response about one of a color profile for previewing when the output information indicates the preview setting and a color profile for printing when the output information indicates the print setting, as a response to an inquiry about a color profile from the graphic engine that receives the rendering instruction; anda printer driver unit adapted to display image data rendered by the graphic engine on a screen when the output information indicates the preview setting, and outputting the image data rendered by the graphic engine to the printer when the output information indicates the print setting.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the output information is information indicating a resolution of an output device, the preview setting designates a resolution of a display, and the print setting designates a resolution of the printer.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said color profile determination unit returns a response about a color profile used as a default color profile of the graphic engine as the response to the inquiry from the graphic engine when the output information indicates the print setting.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said color profile determination unit returns a response about a color profile, with which an attribute that matches an attribute of an output destination device is associated, of a plurality of color profiles as the response to the inquiry from the graphic engine.

5. A print control apparatus comprising: a response unit adapted to return a response to an inquiry about a color profile for printing without returning any response to an inquiry about a color profile for previewing;a preview unit adapted to, when said response unit does not return any response to the inquiry about the color profile for previewing, display a preview based on data which has undergone color matching using a color profile with a preview resolution, that is found by a search; andan output unit adapted to, when said response unit returns the response to the inquiry about the color profile for printing, output a printer command based on data which has undergone color matching using the color profile for printing.

6. A print control apparatus comprising: a response unit adapted to return a response to an inquiry about a color profile for printing without returning any response to an inquiry about a color profile for previewing;a preview unit adapted to, when said response unit does not return any response to the inquiry about the color profile for previewing, display a preview based on data which has undergone color matching using a default color profile of a system; andan output unit adapted to, when said response unit returns the response to the inquiry about the color profile for printing, output a printer command based on data which has undergone color matching using the color profile for printing.

7. A print control method for an apparatus which is connected to a printer and can display a print preview, comprising: a spool step of spooling print data created by application software;a rendering step of applying color matching processing using a color profile and rendering processing to the print data spooled in the spool step;a print control step of issuing a rendering instruction of the print data spooled in the spool step to rendering unit together with output information indicating one of a preview setting and a print setting;a color profile determination step of returning a response about one of a color profile for previewing when the output information indicates the preview setting and a color profile for printing when the output information indicates the print setting, as a response to an inquiry about a color profile from the rendering unit that receives the rendering instruction; andan output step of displaying image data rendered by the rendering unit on a screen when the output information indicates the preview setting, and outputting the image data rendered by the rendering unit to the printer when the output information indicates the print setting.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the output information is information indicating a resolution of an output device, the preview setting designates a resolution of a display, and the print setting designates a resolution of the printer.

9. The method according to claim 7, wherein the color profile determination step includes a step of returning a response about a color profile used as a default color profile in the rendering step as the response to the inquiry from the rendering unit when the output information indicates the print setting.

10. The method according to claim 7, wherein the color profile determination step includes a step of returning a response about a color profile, with which an attribute that matches an attribute of an output destination device is associated, of a plurality of color profiles as the response to the inquiry from the rendering unit.

11. A print control method comprising: a response step of returning a response to an inquiry about a color profile for printing without returning any response to an inquiry about a color profile for previewing;a preview step of displaying, when the response step does not return any response to the inquiry about the color profile for previewing, a preview based on data which has undergone color matching using a color profile with a preview resolution, that is found by a search; andan output step of outputting, when the response step returns the response to the inquiry about the color profile for printing, a printer command based on data which has undergone color matching using the color profile for printing.

12. A print control method comprising: a response step of returning a response to an inquiry about a color profile for printing without returning any response to an inquiry about a color profile for previewing;a preview step of displaying, when the response step does not return any response to the inquiry about the color profile for previewing, a preview based on data which has undergone color matching using a default color profile of a system; andan output step of outputting, when the response step returns the response to the inquiry about the color profile for printing, a printer command based on data which has undergone color matching using the color profile for printing.

13. A computer-readable recording medium which records a print control program for displaying a print preview on a computer connected to a printer, said print control program comprising: a spool step of spooling print data created by application software;a rendering step of applying color matching processing using a color profile and rendering processing to the print data spooled in the spool step;a print control step of issuing a rendering instruction of the print data spooled in the spool step to rendering unit together with output information indicating one of a preview setting and a print setting;a color profile determination step of returning a response about one of a color profile for previewing when the output information indicates the preview setting and a color profile for printing when the output information indicates the print setting, as a response to an inquiry about a color profile from the rendering unit that receives the rendering instruction; andan output step of displaying image data rendered by the rendering unit on a screen when the output information indicates the preview setting, and outputting the image data rendered by the rendering unit to the printer when the output information indicates the print setting.

14. The medium according to claim 13, wherein the output information is information indicating a resolution of an output device, the preview setting designates a resolution of a display, and the print setting designates a resolution of the printer.

15. The medium according to claim 13, wherein the color profile determination step includes a step of returning a response about a color profile used as a default color profile in the rendering step as the response to the inquiry from the rendering unit when the output information indicates the print setting.

16. The medium according to claim 13, wherein the color profile determination step includes a step of returning a response about a color profile, with which an attribute that matches an attribute of an output destination device is associated, of a plurality of color profiles as the response to the inquiry from the rendering unit.

17. A computer-readable recording medium which records a program for making a computer execute: a response step of returning a response to an inquiry about a color profile for printing without returning any response to an inquiry about a color profile for previewing;a preview step of displaying, when the response step does not return any response to the inquiry about the color profile for previewing, a preview based on data which has undergone color matching using a color profile with a preview resolution, that is found by a search; andan output step of outputting, when the response step returns the response to the inquiry about the color profile for printing, a printer command based on data which has undergone color matching using the color profile for printing.

18. A computer-readable recording medium which records a program for making a computer execute: a response step of returning a response to an inquiry about a color profile for printing without returning any response to an inquiry about a color profile for previewing;a preview step of displaying, when the response step does not return any response to the inquiry about the color profile for previewing, a preview based on data which has undergone color matching using a default color profile of a system; andan output step of outputting, when the response step returns the response to the inquiry about the color profile for printing, a printer command based on data which has undergone color matching using the color profile for printing.