Brother Kogyo Kabushiki-kaisha

Kousuke Fukaya

Norio Mizutani

Naoki Hashimoto

Akiko Niimi

Katsuya Watarai

Sunao Kawai

Hiroyuki Sasaki

Ryohei Komiya

Kunihiko Sakurai

Yoshiyuki Ban

Hiroshi Sumiya

Sadaaki Miyazaki

Kiyoji Muramatsu

Shigetaka Yoshida

An image forming device includes a printing unit configured to print images on a recording sheet, a page number acquiring unit configured to acquire a common page number which is common among a plurality of files subject to be printed, a page extracting unit configured to extract a page of image from page data contained in each of the plurality of files based on the common page number acquired by the page number acquiring unit, and a print control unit configured to control the printing unit to print a plurality of images respectively extracted from the plurality of files, which are extracted by the page extracting unit, on a page of a recording sheet.

Image forming device and method for laying out and printing pages from multiple files

There is provided a printing device which comprises a print data receiving unit, a transparent property judgment unit, a transparency processing unit, a transparency processing buffer which stores the transparency-processed data generated in the transparency processing, an image data generating unit configured to generate image data based on at least one of the transparency-processed data and the objects, an image data storage control unit, a print engine, and an object placement judgment unit which regards the page memory as a set of bands defined as prescribed areas and judges in which bands each of the objects is to be placed by use of the objects. The transparency processing unit judges whether to execute the transparency processing for a band based on whether the band is judged by the object placement judgment unit to have at least a part of a transparent object.

Transparency and overlay processing for print data

An image forming apparatus is provided. The image forming apparatus includes an input unit which inputs a keyword; a preparation unit which prepares list data relating to a print file containing the keyword among a plurality of print files stored in a storage unit; and a printing unit that prints a list based on the list data.

Image forming apparatus

An image forming device capable of forming index images that correspond to a plurality of files, respectively, onto a recording medium includes an image data generating unit configured to generate one of first image data and second image data as data for forming the index image corresponding to each of the plurality of files, a file selecting unit configured to select, from the plurality of files, files for which at least one parameter related to file processing is to be detected, a parameter detecting unit configured to detect the at least one parameter for each of the selected files, a parameter judging unit configured to judge whether the at least one parameter as detected satisfies a predetermined condition, and a control unit configured to control the image data generating unit to generate one of the first image data and the second image data based on the judgment.

Image forming devices configured to form index images and computer readable media therefor

An image forming apparatus includes: a selection section which selects a print target to be printed; an input section which inputs a print job for printing the print target selected by the selection section; an instruction section which instructs to continue the print job; and a printing section which executes a trial printing of printing a part of the print job including a plurality of pages input by the input section as a trial page, and thereafter, restarting and finishing the print job in response to that the instruction section instructs to continue the print job.

A printer which has a direct-printing function for reading and printing information stored in a storage device and which includes: an interface unit which receives the storage device, the storage device storing file information including content information for print or display and restrictive information for controlling output of the content information; a reading unit which reads the restrictive information from the storage device; a setting unit which sets indication information indicating the file information according to the content information and the restrictive information; and an indication outputting unit which outputs information based on the indication information set by the setting unit.

Printers and print methods for image data with security settings

A printer having a direct-printing function for reading and printing data stored in a storing unit, the printer including a connecting device, a user storage that stores user information including information of users permitted to print using the direct-printing function, a reading unit that reads identification information from data stored in the storing unit, a determining unit that determines whether the identification information corresponds to the user information, a direct-printing controlling unit that permits printing of the data using the direct-printing function if the determining unit determines that the identification information corresponds to the user information and prohibits printing of the data using the direct-printing function if the determining unit determines that the identification information does not correspond to the user information, and a print-executing unit executing printing if the direct-printing controlling unit permits printing of the data using the direct-printing function.

Direct-printing systems and methods

An inkjet type fabric printing apparatus is provided with an inkjet head, a platen and a positioning member. The inkjet head reciprocally moves in main scanning direction and auxiliary scanning direction relative to a fabric (e.g., clothes). The platen holds the fabric to extend on a plane parallel with the main scanning direction and the auxiliary scanning direction with a first predetermined distance spaced from the inkjet head. On the positioning member, the fabric is set. The fabric is positioned on the platen in place in a direction parallel with the main scanning direction and the auxiliary scanning direction. The positioning member supports at least one of a neck portion and a shoulder portion of the fabric such that the neck portion and/or a shoulder portion is spaced from the inkjet head by a second predetermined distance.

Inkjet printing apparatus with multiple platens

Inkjet printing apparatus

An image processing method of binarizing a plurality of multi-level tone value images including at least a first multi-level tone value image and a second multi-level tone value image, the image processing method having the processes of: converting the first multi-level tone value image into a first bitmap image consisting of binary values; replacing each binary value of the first bitmap image representing an on condition by a maximum value in a tone value range of the second multi-level tone value image and replacing each binary value of the first bitmap image representing an off condition by a minimum value in the tone value range of the second multi-level tone value image; managing the first bitmap image, whose each binary value has been replaced by the maximum value or the minimum value in the tone value range of the second multi-level tone value image, and the second multi-level tone value image as a single intermediate image; converting the intermediate image into a second bitmap image consisting of binary values, by using a threshold data matrix; and outputting the second bitmap image.

Method and system for processing multi-level tone value images including text, graphic images and continuous tone images by using halftoning technique

A printing control apparatus having a semiconductor storage device of a reduced capacity allows an inexpensive printer to provide large-sized, high-resolution and high-quality printout. The apparatus comprises a band buffer and a page buffer. The band buffer formed in a semiconductor storage device develops therein part of print bit image data. The page memory formed in an external storage device stores one page of print bit image data. With incoming print bit image data developed in the band buffer, the developed print bit image data are transferred from the band buffer to the page memory for printout.

Printing control apparatus

Print data sent from a host computer can be printed in a specified print range even if the print data received from the host computer has a fixed print range. Both the fixed print range and the specified print range are represented by coordinates on a sheet of paper, and the coordinates of an image for the fixed range are converted to another coordinates adapted to print in the specified print range while changing the size of the entire image.

Printer capable of printing in a desired print range

A print control apparatus for use with a printer for forming a print output based on command data generated by a computer. The print control apparatus includes a line segment data conversion unit for converting computer-generated command data to successive pieces of line segment data each having a position and a length in a raster direction, and a raster image data conversion unit for converting the line segment data to raster image data based on which printing is performed by the printer.

Growing community of inventors

Chiryu, Japan

Kousuke Fukaya