Patent ID: 7859713
Filing Date: 2010-12-28
Classification: G06K

Abstract:
1. A printing control apparatus for outputting print data and executing printing, comprising: storage means, to which rendering instructions are input, for storing the rendering instructions page by page; processing means for performing color processing and n-value conversion processing of the rendering instructions stored in the storage means; first rendering means for developing the rendering instructions of each scan line into multivalued bitmap data, performing color processing of the multivalued bitmap data and converting the color processed multivalued bitmap data to n-valued bitmap data, wherein the number of bits associated with the multivalued bitmap data is greater than n; second rendering means for performing rendering processing by pasting n-valued data converted by the n-value conversion processing into an object corresponding to the rendering instructions to generate n-valued bitmap data; determining means for reading out the rendering instructions that have been stored in the storage means and determining whether the rendering instructions include a rendering instruction other than overwriting for each scan line after the processing means has processed the rendering instructions; and control means for extracting edges of objects in the rendering instructions in each scan line and exercising control so as to cause the first rendering means to render the multivalued bitmap data between the edges to convert into the n-valued bitmap data of the scan line if the determining means determines that the rendering instructions include a rendering instruction other than the overwriting for a scan line, and to cause the second rendering means to generate the n-valued bitmap data of the scan line if the determining means determines that the rendering instructions do not include a rendering instruction other than the overwriting for the scan line, wherein the control means causes the first rendering means or the second rendering means to develop the rendering instructions into the n-valued bitmap data line by line, and wherein a phase at the time of conversion to the n-valued bitmap data by the first rendering means is made to conform with a phase at the time of generation of the n-valued bitmap data by the second rendering means, such that irregular rendering is suppressed in switching between the first rendering means and the second rendering means.