JP2008059504A - Printing control apparatus, printing control method, printing control program, recording medium, and printing apparatus including the printing control apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

Even when test printing is performed on a single print medium a plurality of times, it is possible to identify each test print, thereby eliminating the need to prepare a new print medium each time test printing is performed.
A printing control apparatus, a printing control method, a printing control program, a recording medium, and a printing apparatus including the printing control apparatus that can save printing media used in test printing are provided.
When a “trial print mode” is acquired via an operation unit 51 connected to a PC, the remaining amount of ink of each color is acquired from a printer, and based on the remaining amount of ink of each color.
An ink color to be used for each test printing is determined when the test printing is performed a plurality of times. In each test printing, all of the color information included in the print data is converted to the determined hue of the used ink color.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a print control apparatus, a print control method, a print control program, a recording medium, and a printing apparatus including the print control apparatus.

Conventionally, when printing is performed on a printing medium such as a postcard using a printing apparatus, trial printing may be executed in order to confirm in advance the print contents and print layout. For this trial printing, a “trial printing mode” is provided as a printing mode so that the user can select it. For example, in the print control apparatus described in Patent Document 1 below, when printing in the “trial print mode”, in order to minimize the variation in the remaining amount of ink, priority is given to ink with a large amount of ink. Use to print. In the printing apparatus described in Patent Document 2 below, when printing in the “trial print mode”, only character data is printed on a print medium or an image is printed in order to reduce ink consumption. It is possible to select whether to print only the data.

JP-A-11-227173 JP 2003-326814 A

However, in the conventional “trial printing mode” as described above, even in the trial printing, an effect related to ink consumption such as reducing variation in the remaining amount of ink or reducing ink consumption can be obtained. It is not possible to obtain an effect relating to the print medium such as saving the print medium to be subjected to the trial printing. For example, in order to save print media during trial printing, when trial printing is performed a plurality of times on a single printing medium, the contents printed before and the contents printed this time are the same. It becomes impossible to distinguish which is this test print.

The object of the present invention is to enable identification of each test print even when the test print is performed a plurality of times on a single print medium, thereby saving the trouble of preparing a new print medium each time the test print is performed. Another object of the present invention is to provide a printing control apparatus, a printing control method, a printing control program, a recording medium, and a printing apparatus including the printing control apparatus that can save printing media used in trial printing.

A print control apparatus according to the present invention is a print control apparatus that performs control to print print data on a print medium using a plurality of colors of printing recording agents, and is a normal print mode that performs normal printing and a trial that performs test printing. A print mode acquisition unit that acquires any one of a plurality of print modes including a print mode, and when the test print mode is acquired by the print mode acquisition unit, the print medium is printed in a plurality of colors. A color conversion unit that converts the first print data into second print data that is printed in a single color, and a color selection unit that selects a hue that is the single color, and the color selection unit includes one second For the print data, when performing the trial printing a plurality of times, a different hue is selected for each trial printing.

According to the print control apparatus of the present invention, the print mode acquisition unit acquires a print mode such as a normal print mode for performing normal printing and a test print mode for performing test printing. When the trial print mode is acquired, the color selection unit selects a different hue for each trial print, and the color conversion unit prints the print data to be printed in a plurality of colors with the selected single color hue. To print data.
Since print data that is printed in multiple colors is converted to print data that is printed in a different single color hue for each trial print, each trial print can be performed even if multiple trial prints are performed on a single print medium. It becomes possible to identify printing. Thereby, it is possible to save the trouble of preparing a new print medium every time the test print is performed and to save the print medium used in the test print.

In the above-described print control apparatus according to the present invention, in order to identify the print content of the test print printed on the print medium, the identification information that is added to the print content and printed is used as the first print data or the print data. An identification information generation unit that generates the second print data is further included, and the identification information generation unit prints the identification information in the second print data with the same hue as the hue of the print content. The identification information to be generated is generated.

In the above-described printing control apparatus according to the present invention, the identification information includes printing order information for identifying the printing order of the trial printing.

In the above-described print control apparatus according to the present invention, the color selection unit further includes a remaining amount acquisition unit that acquires the remaining amounts of the print recording agents of the plurality of colors, and the print record acquired by the remaining amount acquisition unit. Based on the remaining amount of the agent, the hue of the print recording agent having a large remaining amount is preferentially selected.

In the above-described printing control apparatus according to the present invention, the color selection unit performs each trial printing on adjacent test prints when the test printing is performed a plurality of times for the second print data. It is characterized by preferentially selecting a hue that increases the color difference between hues selected for printing.

In the above-described print control apparatus according to the present invention, when the test print mode is acquired by the print mode acquisition unit, only the frame line indicating the entire image area is printed for the image area to be printed on the print medium. As described above, an image frame conversion unit that converts the first print data or the second print data is further provided.

The above-described printing control apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that, when performing the trial printing, the printing density adjustment for reducing the amount of the printing recording agent used is performed.

The above-described print control apparatus according to the present invention further includes an operation unit that receives an operation from a user, and the print mode acquisition unit acquires the print mode based on an instruction from the operation unit. .

In the above-described printing control apparatus according to the present invention, the printing mode acquisition unit performs the printing based on an instruction from a printing operation unit that receives an operation from a user provided in a printing apparatus that prints the printing data on a printing medium. The mode is acquired.

The print control method according to the present invention is a print control method for controlling printing of print data on a print medium using a plurality of color printing recording agents, and is a normal print mode for performing normal printing and a trial for performing trial printing. A print mode acquisition step of acquiring any one of a plurality of print modes including a print mode, and when the test print mode is acquired by the print mode acquisition step, the print medium is printed in a plurality of colors. A color conversion step for converting the first print data into second print data to be printed in a single color, and a color selection step for selecting a hue to be the single color. For the print data, when performing the trial printing a plurality of times, a different hue is selected for each trial printing.

The print control program according to the present invention is a print control program for performing control to print print data on a print medium using a plurality of colors of printing recording agents, and is a normal print mode for performing normal printing and a test for performing trial printing. A print mode acquisition function for acquiring any one of a plurality of print modes including a print mode, and when the test print mode is acquired by the print mode acquisition function, the print medium is printed in a plurality of colors. A color conversion function for converting the first print data into second print data to be printed in a single color, and a color selection function for selecting a hue to be the single color. For the print data, when performing the trial printing a plurality of times, a different hue is selected for each trial printing.

The recording medium according to the present invention is a recording medium on which the print control program is recorded so as to be readable by a computer.

A printing apparatus according to the present invention is a printing apparatus that prints print data on a print medium using a plurality of color printing recording agents, and includes the print control apparatus.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, a printing system according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

<Configuration of printing system>
First, the configuration of the printing system according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of a printing system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the printing system 1 is mainly a personal computer 10 (hereinafter referred to as a PC 10) including a function as a printing control device, and a printing device that can be connected to the PC 10 and print color images. The printer 60 is a system that prints print data generated by the PC 10 on paper as a print medium.

The PC 10 is a general computer including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, a hard disk (hereinafter referred to as HDD), a USB port, and the like (not shown). The PC 10 includes an operating system (hereinafter referred to as OS) 30 that controls the entire PC 10, for example, an application program 20 such as a word processor or postcard layout software, and a printer driver 40 incorporated in the OS 30.
The PC 10 includes an operation unit 51 such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a voice input microphone,
A display device 52 such as a CRT, a liquid crystal display and a projector is connected via a USB port. Here, under the OS 30, the CPU reads the application program 20 and the printer driver 40 installed in the HDD, expands them on the RAM, and executes them.

The printer driver 40 includes a print mode acquisition unit 41, a remaining amount acquisition unit 42, a color selection unit 43, an image frame conversion unit 44, a color conversion unit 45, and an identification information generation unit 46, and prints received from the application program 20. The target data is generated as print data that can be processed by the printer 60 and transmitted to the printer 60.

The print mode acquisition unit 41 acquires a print mode that is a print condition when executing printing selected by the user from the operation unit 51. Here, it is assumed that the user selects either “normal print mode” in which normal printing is performed or “trial print mode” in which trial printing is performed as the print mode. Note that the type of print mode is not limited to this, and a print mode may be provided and selected in addition to the “normal print mode” and the “trial print mode”. The acquisition of the print mode is not limited to acquisition via the operation unit 51, and the print mode selected by the user may be acquired via the print operation unit 71 connected to the printer 60.

The remaining amount acquisition unit 42 determines the remaining amount of ink of each color that becomes a printing recording agent of a plurality of colors stored in the ink cartridge 64 mounted on the printer 60 from the remaining ink management unit 62 provided in the printer 60. get. In the present embodiment, each ink contained in the ink cartridge 64 is C (cyan), M (magenta), Y (yellow), K (black), B (
Blue and R (red) inks of 6 colors are used.

The color selection unit 43 determines the hue of trial printing to be printed in a single color in the printer 60 based on the remaining amount of ink of each color acquired by the remaining amount acquisition unit 42. Here, when trial printing is performed a plurality of times for one print data, a different hue is assigned to each trial printing. The details of the process for determining the hue of the trial printing based on the remaining amount of each ink will be described later.

When image data such as a picture or a photograph is included in the print data, the image frame conversion unit 44 converts the print data so that only the frame line indicating the entire image area to be printed is printed. . Character data other than image data is printed as it is.

The color conversion unit 45 converts all of the color information included in the print data into the hue determined by the color selection unit 43 for the print data to be subjected to test printing. As a result, print data to be printed in a plurality of colors before conversion becomes print data to be printed in a single color hue determined by the color selection unit 43 after conversion. Note that the first print data of the present invention corresponds to the print data before conversion, and the second print data corresponds to the print data after conversion.

The identification information generation unit 46 generates data for printing the marker on the print data so that the marker as identification information is added to the print content printed by the printer 60.
The marker is used to identify each test print when the test print is performed a plurality of times. The marker has the same hue as the print content to be printed together, and the test print performed at the number of times. A number is included as print order information indicating whether or not there is. Further, the marker printing position is desirably an end portion such as the upper end of the sheet in order to reduce overlap with the printed content. In addition, in order to clarify the printing order and the printing position of the marker does not overlap by multiple test printing,
It is desirable to shift the marker printing position in a certain direction for each test printing.

Here, when the marker data is generated for the print data after conversion by the color conversion unit 45 so that the marker and the print content have the same hue, the color information included in the marker data is converted. The same color as the color information included in the print data. On the other hand, it is also possible to generate marker data for the print data before conversion by the color conversion unit 45. In this case, since the color information is changed by the color conversion unit 45, the marker data It is not necessary that the color information included in the same color as the color information included in the print data.

Next, the printer 60 is an ink jet printer that forms dots using the above-described six colors of inks of C, M, Y, K, B, and R, and a plurality of nozzles that eject the six colors of ink. A storage mechanism 6 for storing various information relating to ink of each color
5 and a printing mechanism management unit 61 that is electrically connected to the printing mechanism 66 and the ink cartridge 64 to manage printing operations. The printer 60 is connected to a print operation unit 71 including a direction key and operation buttons and a display device 72 such as a liquid crystal display via a USB port.
The printer 60 is not limited to an ink jet printer, and may be a color laser printer. The present invention can also be applied to a color laser printer.

The printing mechanism 66 includes a carriage (not shown) equipped with a print head having a plurality of nozzles,
It is composed of various actuators such as a carriage motor for driving the carriage in the main scanning direction and a paper feed motor for conveying paper.

The carriage constituting the printing mechanism 66 is equipped with an integrated ink cartridge 64 that stores six colors of ink, and the printing mechanism management unit 61 adjusts the voltage of a piezo element (not shown) from the ink cartridge 64. Ink droplets are discharged onto a sheet as a printing medium. Of course, it is not limited to an ink jet system using a piezo element, but may be another ink jet system (for example, Bubble Jet (registered trademark)).

The storage element 65 provided in the ink cartridge 64 stores information such as the type of ink, the date and time when the ink cartridge 64 was manufactured, the expiration date of use of the ink, and the remaining amount of ink.

The printing mechanism management unit 61 includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like, and includes a storage element management unit 63 that reads various information about ink from the storage element 65, and an ink that manages the remaining amount of ink among these various types of information. And a remaining amount management unit 62. And PC10
The print data transmitted from the printer is received, the printing mechanism 66 is controlled, and the received print data is printed. The printer 60 includes a USB port (not shown), and the PC 10
The exchange of data with is performed via a USB port.

The ink remaining amount management unit 62 manages the remaining amount of ink for each color of C, M, Y, K, B, and R. When the remaining amount of ink for one color falls below a predetermined value, the remaining amount of ink for each color When the difference exceeds a predetermined value or when a request is received from the PC 10, the remaining amount of ink is transmitted to the printer driver 40. When the remaining amount of ink for one color is lower than the predetermined value, “Ink is likely to run out”, and when the difference in the remaining amount of ink for each color exceeds the predetermined value, this is indicated. Transmit to the driver 40. The printer driver 40 that has received the message “ink is about to run out” can display a “ink cartridge replacement time” warning on the display device 52 of the PC 10.

<Operation of print control device>
Next, the operation of the print control apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the print control apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The operations in each step shown in the figure are operations in the printer driver 40 provided in the PC 10 and are executed by the CPU provided in the PC 10.
Also, the first operation in the figure starts when the printer driver 40 receives data to be printed from the application program 20 and then acquires a print start command instructed from the operation unit 51 by the user. Note that the user can instruct the printing start from the operation unit 51 many times for one piece of data to be printed.

First, in step S110 illustrated in FIG. 2, the CPU acquires a print mode that is a print condition when executing printing selected by the user from the operation unit 51. Here, “Normal Mode”
Or “trial print mode” is acquired.

In step S120, the CPU determines the print mode acquired in step S110.
If the print mode is “trial print mode”, the process advances to step S130 to determine whether or not the data to be printed from now on is the first trial print mode. In the case of the first trial printing mode, the process proceeds to step S150 to acquire the remaining ink amount, and step S16.
At 0, ink usage order data is created.
On the other hand, if it is not the first trial print mode in step S130, the ink use order data has been created, and the process proceeds to step S170.

In step S150, the remaining amount of ink is acquired when the CPU requests the printer 60 to output the current remaining amount of ink (ml), thereby acquiring the remaining amount of ink of each color.
Also, the creation of the ink use order data in step S160 is performed when the CPU performs test printing a plurality of times based on the ink remaining amount of each color acquired in step S150.
Data indicating the order of the ink colors used in each test printing is created. Here, priority is given to using ink colors with a large amount of remaining ink.

As a specific example, FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the remaining ink amount of the printer 60 in a bar graph. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of ink use order data created based on the remaining ink amount in FIG. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the ink remaining amounts (ml) of the ink colors K, M, C, Y, B, and R are 18, 17, 14, 12, 16, and 15, respectively. The ink use order data shown in FIG. 4 is created by sorting the remaining ink levels in descending order and rearranging in the order of K, M, B, R, C, and Y. That is, when test printing is performed a plurality of times, the ink colors are used in order from the one with the largest remaining ink amount. In addition, as shown in the example of FIG. 4, instead of using one ink color in one trial printing, hues printed by combining a plurality of ink colors may be combined.

On the other hand, if the print mode is not “trial print mode” in step S120, that is, “
In the case of “normal print mode”, normal print data is created in step S140, and the process proceeds to step S220, where print data for normal printing is transmitted to the printer 60.

In step S170, the CPU determines the ink color to be used in the trial printing to be performed from now on based on the ink use order data created in step S160.
For example, in the example of the ink use order data shown in FIG. 4, the ink colors are K, M, B, R, C.
, Y in order. That is, the ink colors are used in the order of K (black) in the first trial printing, M (magenta) in the second trial printing, and B (blue) in the third trial printing. Here, when Y (yellow) is used in the sixth test printing and then further test printing is performed, the order of use of the ink colors is changed in such a manner that K (black) is used after returning to the initial order. Turn to click to determine the ink to use.

In step S180, the CPU determines whether the print data includes image data such as a picture or a photograph.
When the image data is included, the process proceeds to step S190, and the print data is converted so that only the frame line indicating the entire image area to be printed is printed.
On the other hand, if the print data does not include image data, for example, print data composed only of character data, the process proceeds to step S200.

In step S200, the CPU converts all the color information included in the print data to be subjected to trial printing from now on to the hue of the used ink color determined in step S170. Thereby, in the trial printing to be performed from now on, all of the print contents are printed with the single color hue determined in step S170.

In step S210, the CPU prints a marker having the same hue as the converted hue on the print data converted to a single hue in step S200 so that the marker is added to the print contents of the trial printing. Generate data for
In step S220, the print data for test printing that has generated the marker is transferred to the printer 6.
Send to 0.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a New Year's card on which test printing has been performed. As shown in FIG.
The test printing is performed twice. In the first test printing, the character areas 91A and 91C,
The image area 91B and the marker 95 are printed with a hue of K (black), and in the second trial printing, the character areas 92A and 92C, the image area 92B, and the marker 96 are M (magenta).
Printed with a hue of. Here, in the image areas 91B and 92B, only the frame line indicating the entire image area is printed without printing the image content. Further, each of the markers 95 and 96 includes numbers “1” and “2” indicating the order in which the trial printing is performed.

The print mode acquisition process and the print mode acquisition function of the present invention are the same as those in step S110.
It corresponds to. Further, the color conversion step and the color conversion function of the present invention correspond to the above step S200. The color selection process and the color selection function of the present invention correspond to the above steps S160 to S170.

As described above, in the printing system 1 according to the present embodiment, when the “trial print mode” is acquired via the operation unit 51 connected to the PC 10, the remaining amount of ink of each color is acquired from the printer 60. Based on the remaining amount of ink of each color, the ink color to be used for each test print is determined when the test print is performed a plurality of times. In each test printing, all of the color information included in the print data is converted to the determined hue of the used ink color.
As a result, when the trial printing is performed many times on one sheet using the printer 60, each trial printing is printed with a different hue. And the contents of the trial printing performed this time can be identified without confusion. Also,
Since the test printing can be repeated many times on one sheet, the user can save time and effort for preparing a new sheet each time the test printing is performed, and the number of sheets used in the test printing can be saved. Become.

Further, as described above, in each test printing, an ink color with a large amount of remaining ink can be used by preferentially using an ink color with a large amount of remaining ink based on the remaining amount of ink of each color. This increases the amount of ink remaining for each color and has the effect of leveling out.
As a result, the replacement timing of the inks of the respective colors is aligned and the number of ink replacement operations is reduced, so that the user's work load for ink replacement can be reduced.

Further, as described above, marker data is generated for print data so that a marker having the same color as the print content is added to the print content, and the marker includes a number indicating the order of trial printing. .
As a result, when the test printing is performed many times on one sheet, the user can refer to the contents of each test print and the same color marker to determine the print contents of the test print performed at the number of times. Can be easily identified.

Further, as described above, when image data such as a picture or a photograph is included in the print data, the print data is converted so that only the frame line of the entire image area is printed.
As a result, with regard to printing an image that consumes a large amount of ink in normal printing, the layout of the image on the paper can be confirmed in the case of trial printing, and the ink consumption can be reduced. .

(Second Embodiment)
Hereinafter, a printing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

<Configuration of printing device>
First, the configuration of a printing apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of a printing apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, in the second embodiment, unlike the printing system 1 according to the first embodiment, it comprises only a printer 60b. The printer 60b is connected to the PC 10 to print a color image,
The printer 60b alone can convert the data acquired from the external storage medium into print data and print it. Further, unlike the printer 60 in the first embodiment, the printer 60b includes a function as a print control apparatus.

The printer 60b includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, an HDD, a USB port, and the like (not shown), and, like the printer 60, an ink jet that forms dots using six colors of C, M, Y, K, B, and R. Printer. Similar to the printer 60, the printer 60b includes a printing mechanism 66, an ink cartridge 64 including a storage element 65, a printing mechanism management unit 61, and the like. Further, the printer 60b includes a print data conversion unit 40b corresponding to the printer driver 40 in the first embodiment. Further, the printer 60b includes a card slot 70 in which a memory card is inserted, a print operation unit 71 including direction keys and operation buttons.
A display device 72 such as a liquid crystal display is connected via a USB port.

Note that a card slot 70 into which a memory card is inserted is a slot corresponding to a plurality of media such as a compact flash (registered trademark) and a microdrive.
b can handle various storage media.

The print data conversion unit 40b includes a print mode acquisition unit 41b, a remaining amount acquisition unit 42b, and a color selection unit 4.
3b, an image frame conversion unit 44b, a color conversion unit 45b, and an identification information generation unit 46b, which convert print target data stored in a memory card attached to the card slot 70 into printable print data To do. Note that the functions of the respective units of the print data converting unit 40b correspond to the functions of the respective units of the printer driver 40 in the first embodiment, and thus description thereof is omitted.

The printing mechanism management unit 61 includes an ink remaining amount management unit 62 and a storage element management unit 63. Then, the print data transmitted from the PC 10 or the print data converted by the print data conversion unit 40b is received, and the print mechanism 66 is controlled to print the received print data. Since the printing mechanism management unit 61, the ink cartridge 64, and the printing mechanism 66 are the same as those of the printer 60 in the first embodiment, description thereof is omitted.

<Operation of print control device>
Next, the operation of the print control apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described.
The operation of the print control apparatus according to the second embodiment is basically the same as the flowchart in the first embodiment shown in FIG. 2, but the process of acquiring the print mode in step S110 and the print data in step S220 are the same. The process to send to the printer is different.
Unlike the case of the first embodiment, the process for acquiring the print mode in step S110 of the second embodiment acquires the print mode selected by the user from the print operation unit 71 connected to the printer 60b. Further, unlike the case of the first embodiment, the process of transmitting the print data in step S220 of the second embodiment transmits the print data converted by the print data conversion unit 40b to the printing mechanism management unit 61.

2 are operations in the print data conversion unit 40b provided in the printer 60b, and are executed by the CPU provided in the printer 60b. Also, the first operation in the figure is that the print data conversion unit 40b receives the data to be printed stored in the memory card mounted in the card slot 70, and then starts the printing instructed by the user from the operation unit 71. Start by getting the command. Note that the user can instruct the printing operation unit 71 to start printing many times for data to be printed.

As described above, in the printer 60b according to the present embodiment, when only the printer 60b is used and trial printing is performed on the data to be printed stored in the memory card mounted in the card slot 70, the remaining ink for each color is printed. The amount of ink is acquired, and the ink color to be used for each test printing is determined when the test printing is performed a plurality of times based on the remaining ink amount of each color. In each test printing, all of the color information included in the print data is converted to the determined hue of the used ink color.
As a result, when trial printing is performed many times on a single sheet using only the printer 60b, each trial printing is printed with a different hue, so that the user can perform the trial printing performed previously. It is possible to identify the content and the content of the trial printing performed this time without confusion.
In addition, since the test printing can be repeated many times on one sheet, the user can save the trouble of preparing a new sheet every time the test printing is performed, and further, the number of sheets used in the test printing can be saved. It becomes possible.

(Modification 1)
In the above-described embodiment, in each test printing, based on the ink remaining amount of each color,
Priority is given to using ink colors with a large amount of remaining ink. However, the order of the ink colors to be used is not limited to this. In the first test printing, the ink color having the largest remaining amount of ink is used, and in the second and subsequent test printings, the test printings are adjacent in the order of the test printing. In this case, an ink color that increases the color difference between the ink colors used in each case may be used. For example,
In the first trial printing, when C (cyan) having the largest ink remaining amount is used, M (magenta) having a large color difference with respect to C (cyan) may be used in the second trial printing.
For test prints that are adjacent to each other in the order of the test prints, the difference in the print positions of the test prints continuously printed on paper by using ink colors that increase the color difference between the ink colors used in each However, it becomes clearer by the difference in hue, and each test print can be more easily identified.

(Modification 2)
In the above-described embodiment, when image data such as a picture or a photograph is included in the print data, the print data is converted so that only the border line indicating the entire image area is printed, and ink consumption in the trial printing is performed. The amount was saved. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and in the case of trial printing, printing may be performed by adjusting the printing density to make the printing density thinner than normal printing. Further, the corners of the frame line indicating the whole may be partially printed.
By using a light print density or partial printing, ink consumption can be further reduced.

1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a printing system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the print control apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the remaining amount of ink in the printer using a bar graph. Explanatory drawing which shows the example of the usage order data of the ink produced based on the ink remaining amount. The figure which shows the example of the New Year's card which performed test printing. Explanatory drawing which shows schematic structure of the printing apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Printing system, 10 ... PC, 20 ... Application program, 30 ... OS, 4
0 ... printer driver, 41, 41b ... print mode acquisition unit, 42, 42b ... remaining amount acquisition unit,
43, 43b ... color selection unit, 44, 44b ... image frame conversion unit, 45, 45b ... color conversion unit, 46
, 46b ... Identification information generation unit, 51 ... Operation unit, 52 ... Display device, 60 ... Printer, 61 ... Printing mechanism management unit, 62 ... Ink remaining amount management unit, 63 ... Storage element management unit, 64 ... Ink cartridge, 65 ... Storage element 66 ... Print mechanism 70 ... Card slot 71 ... Print operation unit 7
2 ... Display device, 90 ... New Year's card, 91A, 91C, 92A, 92C ... Character area, 91B, 9
2B: Image area, 95, 96: Marker.

Claims (13)

A print control apparatus that performs control to print print data on a print medium using a plurality of color printing recording agents,
A print mode acquisition unit for acquiring any one of a plurality of print modes including a normal print mode for performing normal printing and a test print mode for performing test printing;
A color conversion unit that converts first print data that is printed in a plurality of colors on the print medium into second print data that is printed in a single color when the test print mode is acquired by the print mode acquisition unit; A color selection unit that selects a hue to be the single color,
The color selection unit selects a different hue for each test print when the test print is performed a plurality of times for one second print data. Identification information generation for generating, in the first print data or the second print data, identification information that is added to the print content and printed in order to identify the print content of the test print printed on the print medium Further comprising
2. The identification information generation unit, when generating the identification information in the second print data, generates the identification information printed with the same hue as the hue of the print content. The printing control apparatus according to 1. The printing control apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the identification information includes printing order information for identifying a printing order of the trial printing. The color selection unit further includes a remaining amount acquisition unit that acquires the remaining amount of each of the print recording agents of the plurality of colors,
4. The hue of the printing recording material having a large remaining amount is preferentially selected based on the remaining amount of the printing recording material acquired by the remaining amount acquisition unit. 5. The printing control apparatus described. When the test print is performed a plurality of times for one second print data, the color selection unit increases the color difference between hues selected in each test print for test prints in which the printing order is adjacent. The print control apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the hue is preferentially selected. When the test print mode is acquired by the print mode acquisition unit, the first print data or the first print data or the image area printed on the print medium is printed so that only the border line indicating the entire image area is printed. The print control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an image frame conversion unit configured to convert the second print data. The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when performing the test printing, a print density adjustment is performed to reduce a use amount of the print recording agent. It further includes an operation unit that receives an operation from the user,
The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print mode acquisition unit acquires the print mode based on an instruction from the operation unit. The print mode acquisition unit acquires the print mode based on an instruction from a print operation unit that receives an operation from a user provided in a printing apparatus that prints the print data on a print medium. The print control apparatus according to any one of 1 to 7. A print control method for controlling printing of print data on a print medium using a plurality of color printing recording agents,
A print mode acquisition step of acquiring any one of a plurality of print modes including a normal print mode for performing normal printing and a test print mode for performing test printing;
A color conversion step of converting first print data printed in a plurality of colors on the print medium into second print data printed in a single color when the test print mode is acquired in the print mode acquisition step; A color selection step of selecting a hue to be the single color,
In the color selection step, when the trial printing is performed a plurality of times for one second print data, a different hue is selected for each trial printing. A print control program for controlling printing of print data on a print medium using a plurality of color printing recording agents,
A print mode acquisition function for acquiring any one of a plurality of print modes including a normal print mode for performing normal printing and a test print mode for performing test printing;
A color conversion function for converting first print data printed in a plurality of colors on the print medium into second print data printed in a single color when the test print mode is acquired by the print mode acquisition function; A color selection function for selecting the hue to be the single color,
The color selection function selects a different hue for each test print when the test print is performed a plurality of times for one second print data. The recording medium which recorded the printing control program of Claim 11 so that a computer could read. A printing apparatus that prints print data on a print medium using print recording agents of a plurality of colors,
A printing apparatus comprising the printing control apparatus according to claim 1.