Printing control apparatus and printing control method
AssigneeCanon Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsAkihito Mori, Akihiko Noda
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Abstract
This invention discloses a printing control apparatus capable of allowing even an inexperienced operator to execute a printing process by properly and efficiently using a plurality of printing devices in accordance with the contents of each job, printing conditions, and the like. A printing control apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of this invention determines device combinations suitable for the attributes of a printing job from performance information of the devices and the attributes of the printing job. The printing control apparatus presents the combinations so as to be able to select one of them, and displays an explanation of printing process steps using the selected combination.
Claims10
A printing control apparatus which is connectable to a plurality of devices via a network, comprising:
- an acquisition unit configured to acquire an attribute of a printing job to be processed;
- a determination unit configured to determine a device combination capable of executing the job based on performance information representing performance of each of the plurality of devices and the acquired attribute of the job, the device combination including a first device and a second device which executes a process using a print product printed by the first device;
- a display unit configured to display a process flow list representing a process flow to execute the job by using the device combinations determined by the determination unit,
- the process flow list being a list in which display areas of a plurality of procedures which constitute the job are listed in the order of execution, the plurality of procedures including a process procedure to be performed by the first device, a work procedure in which a user moves the print product printed by the first device from the first device to the second device, and a process procedure to be performed by the second device;
- and
- a receiving unit configured to receive, via the network, information indicating that the first device has completed the process procedure to be performed by the first device,
- wherein said display unit changes a display form of a display area of the process procedure which is to be performed by the second device, among the plurality of procedures in the process flow list in a case where the receiving unit receives the information.
A printing control method for controlling a printing control apparatus which is connectable to a plurality of devices via a network, comprising:
- an acquisition step of acquiring an attribute of a job to be processed;
- a determination step of determining a device combination capable of executing the job based on performance information representing performance of each of the plurality of devices and the acquired attribute of the job, the device combination including a first device and a second device which executes a process using a print product printed by the first device;
- a display step of displaying a process flow list representing a process flow to execute the job by employing the determined device combinations and an operation method to be performed by a user in the second device,
- the process flow list being a list in which display areas of a plurality of procedures which constitute the job are listed in the order of execution, the plurality of procedures including a process procedure to be performed by the first device, a work procedure in which a user moves the print product printed by the first device from the first device to the second device, and a process procedure to be performed by the second device;
- and
- a receiving step of receiving, via the network, information indicating that the first device has completed the process procedure to be performed by the first device,
- wherein said display step changes a display form of a display area of the process procedure which is to be performed by the second device, among the plurality of procedures in the process flow list in a case where the information is received in said receiving step.
A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing program code for causing a computer to execute a method for controlling a printing control apparatus which is connectable to a plurality of printing devices, comprising:
- an acquisition step of acquiring an attribute of a job to be processed;
- a determination step of determining a device combination capable of executing the job based on performance information representing performance of each of the plurality of printing devices and the acquired attribute of the job, the device combination including a first device and a second device which executes a process using a print product printed by the first device;
- a display step of displaying a process flow list representing a process flow to execute the job by employing the determined device combinations and an operation method to be performed by a user in the second device,
- the process flow list being a list in which display areas of a plurality of procedures which constitute the job are listed in the order of execution, the plurality of procedures including a process procedure to be performed by the first device, a work procedure in which a user moves the print product printed by the first device from the first device to the second device, and a process procedure to be performed by the second device;
- and
- a receiving step of receiving, via the network, information indicating that the first device has completed the process procedure to be performed by the first device,
- wherein said display step changes a display form of a display area of the process procedure which is to be performed by the second device, among the plurality of procedures in the process flow list in a case where the information is received in the receiving step.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.