Image processing device, image processing method, and image forming apparatus

An image processing method comprising:

• transferring, to a first region included in a first storage unit, a drawing command for generating image data for at least one page stored in a third region that is included in a second storage unit, to store the drawing command in the first region;
• analyzing the drawing command stored in the first region so as to acquire a command included in the drawing command, determining the first region in accordance with a size of the drawing command stored in the third region, and determining a region obtained by subtracting the first region from a region of the first storage unit to be a second region;
• generating band image data in units of a band having a height lower than a height of one page and a width determined previously, in accordance with the drawing command stored in the first region;
• transferring the band image data for one band that has been generated at the generating to the second region and storing the band image data in the second region;
• and
• transferring the band image data stored in the second region to a fourth region that is included in the second storage unit and is capable of storing therein image data for each page to store the image data in the fourth region.

An image forming apparatus comprising:

• an image processing device;
• and
• an image forming unit, wherein
• the image processing device comprising:
• a first storage unit including a first region and a second region;
• a second storage unit including a third region storing therein a drawing command for generating image data for at least one page, and a fourth region capable of storing therein image data for each page;
• a drawing command transfer unit configured to transfer the drawing command stored in the third region to the first region to store the drawing command in the first region;
• a drawing unit configured to generate band image data in units of a band having a height lower than a height of one page and a width determined previously, in accordance with the drawing command stored in the first region;
• a band image data transfer unit configured to transfer the band image data for one band that has been generated by the drawing unit to the second region to store the band image data in the second region;
• and
• an image transfer unit configured to transfer the band image data stored in the second region to the fourth region to store the band image data in the fourth region,
• the drawing unit determines the first region in accordance with a size of the drawing command stored in the third region, and determines a region obtained by subtracting the first region from a region of the first storage unit to be the second region, and
• the image forming unit forms an image on a recording medium in accordance with the image data stored in the fourth region.