Patent Application
20060132813
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a program for a printer driver and a displaying method for the printer driver in a printing system in which a personal computer and a printer are connected.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the prior art, a printer driver GUI contains about 100 items of operation settings, such as selection of a paper size and setting of a print job. All setting items cannot be displayed on a single screen. Thus, setting items are grouped on the basis of a preset standard, and the setting items that belong to the respective groups are displayed on different screens (tabs). In this method, the user is required to change the screen (tab) in accordance with settings that are to be executed, and he/she cannot view all setting items at a time. To avoid this problem, a “setting confirmation screen” is provided to display all settings that have been executed on the respective screens (tabs).
This “setting confirmation screen”, however, permits only confirmation of the settings. If the settings need to be changed after confirmation, the user is required to change the screen to a desired screen (tab) on which actual setting is to be executed.
There is known a prior-art printer driver in which a print setting screen includes a tab that is provided with a preview image for displaying a print setting status. However, there is a case where a common preview image is not used. Consequently, whenever the user confirms a preview on the print setting screen of the printer driver, he/she is required to open a tab that displays the preview.
The object of an aspect of the present invention is to provide a program and a displaying method for a printer driver with enhanced operability of a printer driver GUI.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program for a printer driver that operates a printing apparatus in a system in which a personal computer and the printing apparatus are connected, the program comprising: displaying, when the printing apparatus is operated, one of a Graphical Preview and a Text Preview as a setting confirmation screen with which various settings that are input are confirmed.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a displaying method for a printer driver that operates a printing apparatus in a system in which a personal computer and the printing apparatus are connected, the method comprising: displaying, when the printing apparatus is operated, one of a Graphical Preview and a Text Preview as a setting confirmation screen with which various settings that are input are confirmed.
Additional objects and advantages of an aspect of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of an aspect of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out hereinafter.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate preferred embodiments of the invention, and together with the general description given above and the detailed description of the embodiments given below, serve to explain the principles of an aspect of the invention.
An embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The printing system is configured such that a personal computer 1 and a printer 2 are directly connected via a USB, a parallel cable, etc. or connected via a network such as an Ethernet.
The personal computer 1 comprises a CPU 3 that executes an overall control, a ROM 4 that stores a control program, etc., a RAM 5 for data storage, a hard disk drive (HDD) 6, a display unit 7, an operation unit 8, and an interface (I/F) 9 that is connected to the printer 2.
The HDD 6 stores an application 11, a printer driver 12 and a spooler 13.
Next, a description is given of the operation of the printer driver 12 of the embodiment by the CPU 3 in the above-described structure.
The setting confirmation screen of “Graphical Preview” shown in
In short, according to the printer driver 12 of the present embodiment, the content of settings can be confirmed in greater detail with text, in stead of the Graphical Preview screen.
Next, referring to a flow chart of
If a print instruction is issued from the application (ST1), the printer driver 12 causes the display unit 7 to display a printer driver screen (ST2).
If a setting item is selected on the setting confirmation screen of “Graphical Preview” or “Text Preview” (ST3), the printer driver 12 causes the display unit 7 to display a setting screen relating to the selected setting item (ST4).
Consider the case where the paper size is to be changed.
On the setting confirmation screen of “Graphical Preview” shown in
On the setting confirmation screen of “Text Preview” shown in
As has been described above, according to the printer driver 12 of the present embodiment, the setting items displayed on the “setting confirmation screen” are linked to locations for executing actual setting. Only by clicking a setting item to be changed on the 'setting confirmation screen”, can a jump be executed to the location for actual setting. Thereby, compared to the prior art, a more intuitive operation is possible and the operability is enhanced.
Next, a description is given of common display on the Graphical Preview screen between the respective tabs.
As is shown in
Similarly, on the setting confirmation screen of the Text Preview, the common Text Preview is displayed at the same location even if the tab screen is changed.
Thereby, the user can confirm the Graphical Preview or Text Preview in any of the tabs of the printer driver 12.
Next, a description is given of the arrangement of display on the display unit 7 on the menu of the printer driver 12.
As is indicated by arrow A in
What are required for the user interface (UI) are the usability and the ease in understanding. According to the printer driver 12 of the present embodiment, these requirements are satisfied in association with the flow of printing.
In the settings of print, there are a more frequently used item and a less frequently used item. For example, when the setting for the number of copies and the setting for the toner save are compared, the frequency of the former is obviously higher.
In the printer driver 12 of the present embodiment, the setting items are arranged in accordance with the frequency of use by the user. Thereby, the user can execute settings with a smooth flow, and the time from input to output can be shortened.
In addition, by arranging the setting items in consideration of functions, the setting error is prevented.
Specifically, the setting items that are associated with functions are gathered and arranged in the same tab. In the tab, the setting items are arranged from the upper side to the lower side in accordance with the frequency of use, as shown in
For example, in the setup tab shown in
As has been described above, the embodiment of the invention can provide a program for a printer driver and a displaying method for the printer driver with enhanced operability of a printer driver GUI.
Additional advantages and modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details and representative embodiments shown and described herein. Accordingly, various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
