Printing apparatus and printing method

A printing apparatus comprising:

• a drawing data storage unit which acquires an output subject identifier, and an image output setting value and a character output setting value which are linked to the output subject identifier through an input interface, produces drawing data containing the output subject identifier, the image output setting value and the character output setting value, and stores the drawing data in a drawing data region;
• an input unit which inputs an identifier of image data which is recorded on an auxiliary recording medium and is mutually communicable between information processing systems in relation to the output subject identifier stored in the drawing data region;
• an image data acquiring unit which transfers image data, which is specified while the identifier of the image data related to the output subject identifier is employed as a retrieve key, and character data belonging to the image data, from the auxiliary recording medium through the input interface to a work area;
• an image processing unit which produces first printing image data from the image data in the work area by employing the image output setting value, and produces second printing image data from the character data in the work area by employing the character output setting value;
• and
• a printing unit which prints out an image on a printing medium based upon the first printing image data and the second printing image data.

A printing method comprising:

• a drawing data storage step of acquiring an image output setting value and an output subject identifier linked to the image output setting value through an input interface, producing a drawing command containing the image output setting value and the output subject identifier, and storing the drawing command in a drawing data region;
• an input step of inputting an identifier of image data which is recorded on an auxiliary recording medium and is mutually communicable between information processing systems in relation to the output subject identifier stored in the drawing data region;
• an image data acquiring step of deriving the drawing data from the drawing data region, and transferring image data which is specified while the identifier of the image data related to the output subject identifier is used as a retrieve key from the auxiliary recording medium through the input interface to a work area;
• an image processing step of producing printing image data from the image data in the work area by employing the image output setting value of the drawing data derived from the drawing data region;
• and
• a printing step of printing out an image on a printing medium based upon the printing image data.

A printing method comprising:

• a drawing data storage step of acquiring an output subject identifier, and an image output setting value and a character output setting value, which are linked to the output subject identifier, through an input interface, producing drawing data which contains the output subject identifier, the image output setting value and the character output setting value, and storing the drawing data into a drawing data region;
• an input step of inputting an identifier of image data which is recorded on an auxiliary recording medium and is mutually communicable between information processing systems in relation to the output subject identifier stored in the drawing data region;
• an image data acquiring step of transferring image data which is specified while the identifier of the image data related to the output subject identifier is used as a retrieve key, and character data belonging to the image data from the auxiliary recording medium through the input interface to a work area;
• an image processing step of producing first printing image data from the image data in the work area by employing the image output setting value, and producing second printing image data from the character data in the work area by employing the character output setting value;
• and
• a printing step of printing out an image on a printing medium based upon the first printing image data and the second printing image data.

An image processing system, comprising:

• an acquiring unit for acquiring region information concerning a region of a printing medium on which an arbitrary image is to be arranged, and an output subject identifier related to the region information;
• a selecting unit for selecting an image including an identifier;
• a relation generating unit for generating relation information which relates the output subject identifier to the identifier of the selected image;
• a storing unit for storing the relation information;
• an image data acquiring unit for acquiring image data specified by the identifier of the image based on the relation information stored in the storing unit;
• and
• a data generating unit for generating print data such that the selected image is arranged on a predetermined region on the printing medium based on the region information.

An image processing system, comprising:

• a storing unit for storing relation information which relates an output subject identifier to information concerning a predetermined image, the output subject identifier being related to region information concerning a region of a printing medium on which the predetermined image is to be arranged;
• an image data acquiring unit for acquiring image data of the image based on the relation information;
• and
• a data generating unit for generating print data such that the image is arranged on a predetermined region of the printing medium based on the region information.