Method of printing, program for realizing the same, recording medium, apparatus for printing, printer driver, merchandise sales data processing device, and point-of-sale system

A method of printing receipt print data on a receipt by using a printing apparatus, said receipt print data being prepared by obtaining payment transaction print data generated by an application execution unit on a host computer based on input information concerning merchandise sales, and then by superposing the payment transaction print data on background image data, the method comprising:

• a background image data storing step for storing the background image data which represent the background image;
• a print data obtaining step for obtaining the print data from the application execution unit;
• a character string detecting step for detecting a start character string indicating a position to start addition of the background image data and an end character string indicating a position to end addition of the background image data out of the payment transaction print data;
• and
• a printing step for printing the background image on the receipt within a region defined by the start character string and the end character string so that the background image is superposed on the printed payment transaction information.

An apparatus for printing data for printing on a printing medium together with an image, comprising:

• first means for storing background image data representing a background image to be printed on the printing medium;
• second means for obtaining data payment transaction based on input information;
• third means for detecting a start character string indicating a position to start addition of the background image data and an end character string indicating a position to end addition of the background image data out of the data for printing obtained in the second means;
• and
• fourth means for printing, on the printing medium, the background image and the data for printing, said background image being printed within a region defined by the start character string and the end character string in a manner to overlap the data for printing.

An apparatus for printing, on a receipt, printing data prepared by obtaining payment transaction data generated by a host computer based on input information concerning merchandise sales, the payment transaction print data being printed so that the image is superposed on the payment transaction information, the printing apparatus comprising:

• image data storing means for storing the image data which represents an image;
• character string storing means for storing a character string indicating a position to start addition of the background image data or a position to end addition of the background image data;
• print data obtaining means for obtaining the payment transaction print data from the host computer;
• character string detecting means for detecting a predetermined character string out of the payment transaction print data;
• and
• printing means for printing the image on the receipt in a region of which at least one end is designated by the character string, thereby printing the image by superposing it on the payment transaction print information.

A printer driver incorporated in a host computer, said printer driver generating background image-added print data by adding image data representing an image to payment transaction print data generated by an application execution unit in the host computer based on input information concerning merchandise sales, and transmitting the background image-added print data to a printer, said printer driver comprising:

• image data storing means for storing files of the image data which represent the background image;
• print data obtaining means for obtaining the payment transaction print data from the application execution unit;
• character string detecting means for detecting a start character string indicating a position to start addition of the image data or a position to end addition of the image data out of the payment transaction print data;
• background image-added print data generating means for generating the image-added print data by synthesizing the image data with the payment transaction print data such that the image is printed within a region of which at least one edge is defined by the character string;
• and
• transmitting means for transmitting the background image-added print data to the printer.

A POS system that prints payment transaction information with an image comprising:

• a controller that fetches payment transaction print data generated based on input merchandise sales data;
• a memory that stores image data representing an image;
• a detector that detects a predetermined character or character string for indicating a position of an edge of the image to be printed;
• a printing controller that prints the payment transaction print data and the image data on a printing medium by superposing the image on the payment transaction information in a region of which at least one edge is defined by the character or character string.