Patent Publication Number: US-11650734-B2

Title: Display control device and display control method

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a Continuation of application Ser. No. 17/108,005 filed Dec. 1, 2020, which is a Continuation of application Ser. No. 16/292,449 filed Mar. 5, 2019, which is a Continuation of application Ser. No. 15/047,807 filed Feb. 19, 2016, which is a Continuation of application Ser. No. 13/270,395 filed Oct. 11, 2011, which is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from: U.S. provisional application 61/392,685, filed on Oct. 13, 2010; the entire contents all of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD 
     Embodiments described herein relate to a technique for allocating a plurality of page images to one page. 
     BACKGROUND 
     According to the related art, for example, so-called “Nin1 setting” is performed in printing setting or the like to allocate a plurality of page images to a single page. 
     When the Nin1 setting is performed, a plurality of hierarchies on a user interface screen of a printer driver or the like has to be traced up to the hierarchy of the Nin1 setting by executing a button operation a plurality of times. For this reason, an operation load on users is considerable. 
    
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    is a diagram illustrating the system configuration of an image processing system according to exemplary embodiments. 
         FIG.  2    is a diagram illustrating the hardware configuration of an image processing apparatus. 
         FIG.  3    is a block diagram illustrating various functions of a display control device included in the image processing apparatus. 
         FIG.  4    is a flowchart illustrating the flow of a general process in the display control device. 
         FIG.  5    is a flowchart illustrating the details of a flow of the process (display control method) in the display control device according to the embodiments. 
         FIG.  6    is a diagram illustrating an operation method in allocation setting. 
         FIG.  7    is a diagram illustrating a data table indicating a correspondence relationship between the objects to be displayed in  FIG.  6    and page images which correspond to the objects to be displayed, respectively. 
         FIG.  8    is a diagram illustrating an operation method in allocation setting. 
         FIG.  9    is a diagram illustrating an operation method in allocation setting. 
         FIG.  10    is a diagram illustrating an example of a data table stored in an HDD in a state shown in  FIG.  9   . 
         FIG.  11    is a diagram illustrating an operation method in allocation setting. 
         FIG.  12    is a diagram illustrating an operation method in allocation setting. 
         FIG.  13    is a diagram illustrating an example of a data table stored in the HDD in a state shown in  FIG.  12   . 
         FIG.  14    is a diagram illustrating an operation method in allocation setting. 
         FIG.  15    is a diagram illustrating an operation method in allocation setting. 
         FIG.  16    is a diagram illustrating an operation method in allocation setting. 
         FIG.  17    is a diagram illustrating an operation method in allocation setting. 
         FIG.  18    is a diagram illustrating an operation method in allocation setting. 
         FIG.  19    is a diagram illustrating a form in which two objects to be displayed, allocated to one double-side allocation image selected by a user, are separated from each other in the drawn state. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In general, a display control device according to an exemplary embodiment includes a list display control unit, an operation input unit, a movement object determination unit, an object movement destination determination unit, and an allocation display control unit. 
     The list display control unit displays a list of a plurality of objects to be displayed, which corresponds to page images to be operated, respectively. 
     The operation input unit receives an input operation of a user. 
     The movement object determination unit determines which object is selected as an object to be moved among the plurality of objects to be displayed, which is displayed by the list display control unit, based on the input operation received by the operation input unit. 
     The object movement destination determination unit determines which object is selected as a movement destination object which is a movement destination of the object to be moved among the plurality of objects to be displayed, which is displayed by the list display control unit, based on the input operation received by the operation input unit. 
     The allocation display control unit displays an allocation page image being in a state where a page image corresponding to the object determined as the object to be moved by the movement object determination unit and a page image corresponding to the object determined as the movement destination object by the object movement destination determination unit are allocated to a single page. 
     In general, a display control device according to an exemplary embodiment includes an allocation display control unit, an operation input unit, an exclusion object determination unit, an object movement destination determination unit, a list display control unit. 
     The allocation display control unit displays an allocation page image being in a state where a plurality of objects to be displayed, which corresponds to a plurality of page images, is allocated to a single page. 
     The operation input unit receives an input operation of a user. 
     The exclusion object determination unit determines which object is selected as an object to be excluded, which is moved to be excluded from the allocation page image, among the plurality of objects to be displayed, which corresponds to a plurality of page images included in the allocation page image displayed by the allocation display control unit, based on the input operation received by the operation input unit. 
     The object movement destination determination unit determines a movement destination of the object to be excluded based on the input operation received by the operation input unit. 
     The list display control unit excludes the object to be excluded among the plurality of objects to be displayed, which is included in the allocation page image to which the object to be excluded is allocated, and displaying the object to be excluded as the object to be displayed, which is different from the allocation page image, if the object movement destination determination unit determines that a region which does not correspond to any object to be displayed, which is displayed in correspondence with the page image, is selected as the movement destination of the object to be excluded. 
     First Embodiment 
     Hereinafter, an exemplary embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. 
       FIG.  1    is a diagram illustrating the system configuration of an image processing system according to the exemplary embodiment.  FIG.  2    is a diagram illustrating the hardware configuration of an image processing apparatus Q. 
     An image processing system  900  includes a client terminal  7  and the image processing apparatus Q. The client terminal  7  and the image processing apparatus Q are connected to each other via a LAN (Local Area Network) or a WAN (wide Area Network) so as to electrically communicate with each other. 
     As an example, here, the image processing apparatus Q includes the display control device  1  according to the exemplary embodiment. Of course, the client terminal  7  or the like may include the display control device  1  instead of the image processing apparatus Q. If the entire system can realize the functions of the display control device  1 , the various functions of the display control device  1  may be distributed to, for example, the client terminal  7 , the image processing apparatus Q or the like. 
     For example, the image processing apparatus Q is an MFP (Multi Function Peripheral). The image processing apparatus Q includes a processor  801 , an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit)  802 , a memory  803 , an HDD (Hard Disk Drive)  804 , a touch panel display  805  having the functions of a display unit and an operation input unit, an arithmetic I/O unit  810 , a sheet storage unit  601 , and a printing unit P. The touch panel display  805  stores the details of a setting operation in, for example, the HDD  804  based on an input operation of a user and allows the printing unit P to perform printing based on the set details. 
     For example, the client terminal  7  is a PC (Personal Computer). The client terminal  7  includes a processor  701 , an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit)  702 , a memory  703 , an HDD (Hard Disk Drive)  704 , an input operation unit  705  such as a keyboard or a mouse, and a display  706 . 
     In the image processing system according to the exemplary embodiment, the processors  801  and  701  have a role of performing various kinds of processing of the image processing system and also have a role of realizing various functions by executing a program stored in the memory  803 , the memory  703 , the HDD  804 , the HDD  704 , or the like. Of course, the processors  801  and  701  can be realized by a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or an MPU (Micro Processing Unit) that can execute equivalent arithmetic processing. Further, the HDDs  804  and  704  can be substituted by a storage device such as a flash memory. 
     The memories  803  and  703  can be configured by, for example, a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory), an SRAM (Static Random Access Memory), a VRAM (Video RAM), or a flash memory. Accordingly, the memories  803  and  703  have a role of storing various kinds of information or programs used for the image processing system. 
     In the image processing system according to the exemplary embodiment, a user can operate a printer driver operating on the client terminal  7  in order to give a printing instruction to the image processing apparatus Q via the LAN. Based on an input operation on the touch panel display  805  of the image processing apparatus Q, printing setting and printing can also be performed in the single image processing apparatus Q. 
       FIG.  3    is a functional block diagram illustrating various functions of the display control device  1  included in the image processing apparatus Q. 
     The display control device  1  includes a list display control unit  101 , a movement object determination unit  102 , an object movement destination determination unit  103 , an allocation display control unit  104 , and an exclusion object determination unit  105 . 
     The list display control unit  101  displays a list of a plurality of objects to be displayed, which can be made to correspond to page images to be subjected to an operation. 
     Based on an input operation received on the touch panel display  805 , the movement object determination unit  102  determines whether a given object is selected as an object to be moved among the plurality of objects to be displayed, which are displayed by the list display control unit  101 . 
     Based on an input operation received on the touch panel display  805 , the object movement destination determination unit  103  determines whether a given object is selected as a movement destination object, which is a movement destination of the object to be moved, among the plurality of objects to be displayed, which are displayed by the list display control unit  101 . 
     The allocation display control unit  104  displays an allocation page image which is in a state where a page image corresponding to the object determined as the object to be moved by the movement object determination unit  102  and a page image corresponding to the object determined as the movement destination object by the object movement destination determination unit  103  can be allocated to a single page. 
     Thus, it is possible to obtain the allocation page image, which is in the state where both the display objects can be allocated to a single page, just by selecting any object among the plurality of objects to be displayed, which appears in the list and moving the selected object to a region corresponding to any object. 
     In a user interface of a printer driver according to the related art, the number of pages allocated to a single page has to be first set on an allocation setting screen in order to perform allocation setting. However, according to the technique according to the exemplary embodiment, the allocation setting can be performed with a lesser number of operations. 
     Further, in the allocation setting of the printer driver according to the related art, the allocation setting to be performed is applied to all the pages of an original document to be set. Therefore, the allocation setting may not be performed to only a specific page of the original document. According to the technique according to the exemplary embodiment, however, any pages of the original document can be selected so as to be allocated, thereby achieving flexible allocation setting. 
     The allocation display control unit  104  determines a positional relationship between the page image corresponding to the object to be moved and the page image corresponding to the object determined as the movement destination object in accordance with a location to which the object determined as the object to be moved by the movement object determination unit  102  is moved in a region corresponding to the object determined as the movement destination object by the object movement destination determination unit  103 . 
     In the allocation setting of allocating and disposing the plurality of page images on a single page, a user sometimes desires to arbitrarily arrange the respective images on the page. According to this configuration, even if the user desires to arbitrarily arrange the respective images, the allocation location on the page can simply be determined as the result of the object to be moved just by controlling the movement destination of the selected object to be moved in the region corresponding to the object to be moved. 
     Specifically, for example, when the movement destination of the object to be moved is on the upper side of the middle of the movement destination object, the movement destination of the object to be moved may be allocated to a page location in the front of each page image. When the movement destination of the object to be moved is on the lower side of the middle of the movement destination object, the movement destination of the object to be moved may be allocated to a page location in the rear of each page image. 
     An operation of selecting an object to be moved among a plurality of objects to be displayed, which is displayed by the list display control unit  101 , is performed through dragging. 
     An operation of selecting the movement destination object which is the movement destination of the object to be moved among the plurality of objects to be displayed, which is displayed by the list display control unit  101 , is performed through releasing. 
     Of course, the operation of selecting the object to be moved is not limited to dragging. For example, this operation may be performed by an algorithm for recognizing the object to be moved just by selection. Further, the operation of selecting the movement destination object may be performed through, for example, dropping or simple selection known as operations of a mouse. That is, under an environment of the user interface operation, any operation may be performed as long as the “object to be moved” and the “movement destination object” can be selected consequently. 
     Based on an input operation received on the touch panel display  805 , the exclusion object determination unit  105  determines which object is selected as an object to be excluded, which is to be moved and excluded from the allocation page images, among the plurality of objects to be displayed, which corresponds to the plurality of page images included in the allocation page images displayed by the allocation display control unit  104 . 
     Based on an input operation received on the touch panel display  805 , the object movement destination determination unit  103  determines the movement destination of the object to be excluded. 
     When the object movement destination determination unit  103  determines, as the movement destination of the object to be excluded, a region which does not correspond to any object to be displayed, which are displayed in correspondence with the page image, the list display control unit  101  excludes the object to be excluded from the plurality of objects to be displayed, which is included in the allocation page images to which the object to be excluded is allocated and displays the object to be excluded as an object to be displayed, which is different from the allocation page images. 
     Thus, just by moving any object among the plurality of display objects to be displayed, which is included in the allocation page images, to the outside of the allocation page images, it is possible to simply adjust the number of page images to be allocated to the allocation page images. 
     Further, when the excluded object to be excluded is moved to the region corresponding to another object to be displayed, it is possible to obtain this object to be displayed and the allocation page image to which the object to be excluded is allocated. 
     Of course, as the specification of the user interface, the plurality of objects to be displayed can be selected simultaneously as the objects to be excluded. 
     For example, the allocation page images can be set so that the number of pages of a multiple of 2 can normally be allocated. 
     When the number of objects to be displayed, which are included in the allocation page images, is odd as the result obtained by excluding one object to be displayed as the object to be excluded, the list display control unit  101  also displays the object to be displayed, which is paired with the object to be displayed which is excluded as the object to be excluded, as the object to be displayed, which is different from the allocation page image. 
     When the number of objects to be displayed, which are included in the allocation page images, is odd as the result obtained by excluding one object to be displayed as the object to be excluded, the allocation display control unit  104  allocates the object to be displayed, which is subsequent to and the closest to the allocation page image and corresponds to a single page image, to the allocation page image instead of the object to be excluded. 
     The list display control unit  101  and the allocation display control unit  104  manage the respective objects to be displayed. 
     Specifically, the list display control unit  101  and the allocation display control unit  104  store and manage, in the HDD  804 , the coordinates (involved in movement caused by dragging) of the present locations of each object to be displayed in a screen, which is determined based on an input operation of the user, or information regarding how many pages are allocated to the present objects to be displayed. 
       FIG.  4    is a flowchart illustrating the flow of a general process in the display control device  1 . 
     The processor  801  acquires page images to be printed (ACT  101 ). Here, the page images may be acquired by scanning images of an original document in the image processing apparatus Q, may be acquired by receiving the images as image data via a network, or may be acquired from a portable recording medium such as a USB memory or an SD card. The processor  801  stores the image data of the page images acquired in the above-described way in, for example, the HDD  804 . 
     Subsequently, the processor  801  transmits the image data of the page images acquired in the above-described way to the touch panel display  805 , when the user inputs an instruction to request printing setting on the touch panel display  805 . 
     Based on the input operation of the user on the touch panel display  805 , the processor  801  receives the printing setting of the printing which is based on the acquired image data (ACT  102 ). 
     Based on the printing setting received in the above-described way, the processor  801  supplies sheets from the sheet storage unit  601  to the printing unit P (ACT  103 ). 
     The processor  801  allows the printing unit P to print the acquired image data based on the printing setting (ACT  104 ). 
     The processor  801  allows the printing unit P to discharge the sheet subjected to the printing out of the image processing apparatus Q (ACT  105 ). 
     Next, the allocation setting of the image processing apparatus Q at the printing setting time will be described according to the exemplary embodiment. 
       FIG.  5    is a flowchart illustrating the details of a flow of the process (display control method) performed by the display control device  1  according to the exemplary embodiment. 
     First, the processor  801  allows the touch panel display  805  to display the printing setting screens shown in  FIG.  6    when receiving the printing setting. In the example shown in  FIG.  6   , five objects O 1  to O 5  to be displayed, which correspond to five page images to be printed are displayed on the screen. The user operates the touch panel display  805  to execute various kinds of printing setting on the screen shown in  FIG.  6    and presses down a printing execution button  805   b  to execute the printing in accordance with the desired printing setting. Here, for example, the objects O 1  to O 5  to be displayed are thumbnail images. 
       FIG.  7    is a diagram illustrating a data table indicating a correspondence relationship between the objects O 1  to O 5  to be displayed in  FIG.  6    and page images P 1  to P 5  which correspond to the objects O 1  to O 5  to be displayed, respectively. The data table shown in  FIG.  7    is stored in, for example, the HDD  804 . 
     Regions A 1  to A 5  can correspond to the plurality of objects O 1  to O 5  to be displayed. The regions A 1  to A 5  are each a region (which is a region surrounded by a dotted line shown in  FIG.  6   ) which includes each object to be displayed. In the example shown in  FIG.  6   , the regions A 1  to A 5  are not normally displayed on a screen. Of course, the regions A 1  to A 5  may be temporarily displayed when the user selects the object to be displayed. 
     For example, when the user selects the inside of the region A 1  corresponding to the object O 1  to be displayed, the processor  801  determines that the object O 1  to be displayed is selected in spite of the fact that the selected position does not overlap with the object O 1  to be displayed. 
     Further, when the selected object is moved by an operation of the user, the processor  801  determines the movement destination of the object to be moved based on a contact position of the finger of the user or a stylus pen selecting the object to be moved or the region corresponding to the object to be moved. 
     For example, when releasing is performed in a state where the region A 2  corresponding to the object O 2  to be displayed, which is the object to be moved, overlaps with the region A 1  corresponding to the object O 1  to be displayed (for example, a state shown in  FIGS.  8  and  9   ), the processor  801  can determine that the movement destination of the object O 2  to be displayed is the object O 1  to be displayed. 
     The processor  801  determines that the regions other than the regions A 1  to A 5  corresponding to the objects O 1  to O 5  to be displayed are background regions which do not correspond to the objects O 1  to O 5  to be displayed on the screen displayed on the touch panel display  805  as in  FIG.  6   . 
     First, the processor  801  detects a pressed location of the user on the touch panel display  805  (ACT  201 ). 
     Subsequently, the processor  801  determines whether the pressed location is a region corresponding to one of the plurality of objects O 1  to O 5  to be displayed (ACT  202 ). When the pressed location is the region corresponding to one of the objects to be displayed, detecting a continuous releasing location starts. 
     On the other hand, when the pressed location is not the region corresponding to one of the plurality of objects O 1  to O 5  to be displayed (No in ACT  202 ) and the pressed location is the printing execution button  805   b  (Yes in ACT  208 ), the printing setting ends. 
     Until releasing (separating the finger of the user or the stylus pen from the touch panel display  805 ) the processor  801  moves and displays the object to be displayed with the movement of the pressed location (ACT  203 ). 
     The processor  801  detects the releasing position of the moved object to be moved (ACT  204 ). When the releasing position is not the region corresponding to one of the objects to be displayed (Yes in ACT  205 ), the processor  801  cancels the movement display of the object to be displayed and displays a state (for example, the state shown in  FIG.  6   ) of the original location (ACT  209 ). 
     On the other hand, when the region (for example, the region A 1 ) at which the releasing position of the object to be moved corresponds to one of the objects to be displayed is designated as the movement destination (No in ACT  205 ), the processor  801  additionally allocates and displays the page image (for example, the page image P 2 ) corresponding to this object (for example, the object O 1  to be displayed) to be moved to the object (for example, the region A 1 ) to be displayed, which correspond to the region (for example, the region A 1 ) selected as the movement destination by the releasing (ACT  206  and ACT  207 ) (for example, see  FIG.  9   ).  FIG.  10    is a diagram illustrating an example of a data table stored in the HDD  804  in the state shown in  FIG.  9   . 
     In the example shown in  FIG.  9   , the allocation number of page images per page determined by operating the displayed objects is applied to all the pages, but the invention is not limited thereto. For example, in the example shown in  FIG.  8   , only the page images P 1  and P 2  are displayed as a 2 in 1 image and the other page images remain as 1 in 1 images. 
     As shown in  FIG.  9   , when 2 in 1 allocation is set for all the pages, the processor  801  displays an object O 1 ″ to be displayed in a state where all of the page images P 1 , P 2 , P 3 , and P 4  allocated to two objects O 1 ′ and O 2 ′ to be displayed are rearranged so as to be allocated to a single page (4 in 1), as shown in  FIG.  12   , for example, in a case ( FIG.  11   ) where the region corresponding to the object O 2 ′ to be moved is released over the region corresponding to the object O 1 ′ to which two page images are allocated. 
       FIG.  13    is a diagram illustrating an example of a data table stored in the HDD  804  in the state shown in  FIG.  12   . 
     Next, an example of an operation will be described in which 4 in 1 or 2 in 1 allocation is set, and then the allocation number of page images per page is returned to 2 in 1 or 1 in 1. 
     For example, as shown in  FIG.  14   , when the user drags the page image P 4  allocated to the object O 1 ″ on the touch panel display  805 , moves the page image P 4  out of the region corresponding to the object O 1 ″ to be displayed, and releases the page image P 4  ( FIG.  15   ), the page images P 4  and P 3  managed as a pair of images are excluded from the objects O 1 ″ to be displayed for allocation. 
     Since the page images remaining to be allocated to the objects O 1 ″ to be displayed are only the page images P 1  and P 2 , the two page images are in the same display state as the state of the object O 1 ′ to be displayed as the 2 in 1 image (see  FIG.  15   ). 
     The processor  801  switches the screen display to the display state shown in  FIG.  15    and changes the contents of the data table to the state shown in  FIG.  10   . 
     For example, when the page image P 2  is dragged so as to be moved out of the region corresponding to the object O 1 ′ to be displayed and is released ( FIG.  16   ) from the state shown in  FIG.  15   , the 2 in 1 setting of the objects O 1 ′ to O 3 ′ is canceled and all the objects to be displayed become the 1 in 1 display state, as shown in  FIG.  6   . 
     By combining the above-described operations and setting any allocation, the desired page images can be assigned to the desired objects to be displayed with the desired number of page images. Accordingly, for example, by setting documents of all the ten pages (page images P 1  to P 10 ) for allocation, flexible allocation setting can be achieved as follows: 
     page images P 1  to P 4 : 4 in 1 setting, 
     page images P 5  to P 8 : 3 in 1 setting, and 
     page images P 9  and P 10 : 2 in 1 setting. 
     When such allocation is set and then the processor  801  detects pressing of the printing execution button  805   b  of the user, the printing is performed in the allocation setting. 
     Each operation in the process of the above-described display control device is realized by causing the processor  801  to execute a display control program stored in the memory  802 . 
     According to this exemplary embodiment, the lesser operation load and more flexible allocation setting can be achieved in comparison to the user interface according to the related art in which it is necessary to operate a plurality of taps, buttons, or the like in order to reach an operation screen on which the allocation is set. 
     Further, in the above-described exemplary embodiment, the case was described in which the allocation printing is set on the printing setting screen, but the invention is not limited thereto. For example, the technique described in this exemplary embodiment can be applied, for example, even when allocation of a plurality of pages is desired to be set in word processor software. 
     Of course, as a determination criterion used to determine which object to be displayed is the movement destination object at the time of moving the above-described object to be moved, a determination criterion such as a selection rule used at the time of moving a file to be moved to a movement destination folder in a known operating system or the like. 
     Other Embodiments 
     Next, other exemplary embodiments will be described. 
     In the above-described exemplary embodiment, a setting method of allocating a plurality of page images on one surface of a single page was described. In an exemplary embodiment, a setting method of allocating page images to the front surface and the rear surface of a single page will be described. 
     First, double-side allocation setting based on two display state of 1 in 1 images will be described. 
     For example, when the user operates the touch panel display  805  to simultaneously select two objects O 2  and O 3  to be displayed and to move and draw both of the objects to be mutually moved so that the movement destination of one of the two objects to be displayed becomes the other object to be moved, as shown in  FIG.  17   , the processor  801  displays a double-side allocation image being in a state where one object to be moved can be allocated to the front surface of a single sheet and the other object to be moved can be allocated to the rear surface of the single sheet ( FIG.  18   ). 
     In this way, the processor  801  displays the double-side allocation image being in the state where the objects to be displayed, which correspond to the page images on both surfaces of a single sheet. 
     Next, an operation of returning two page images P 2  and P 3  set to be allocated to both surfaces to the original one-side allocation state will be described. 
     When the exclusion object determination unit  105  selects two points inside the region corresponding to the double-side allocation image and determines the two points are separated from each other in a separation direction, the list display control unit  101  displays the objects to be displayed, which correspond to the page images allocated as the double-side allocation image, as mutually independent objects to be displayed. 
       FIG.  19    is a diagram illustrating a form in which two objects to be displayed, which can be allocated to one double-side allocation image selected by a user, are separated from each other in the drawn state. 
     Of course, when the objects to be displayed, which are operated so as to be drawn to each other in the above-described way, are set mutually as a 2 in 1 image, the double-side page images of the double-side allocation image are allocated as a 2 in 1 image. 
     In the above-described exemplary embodiments, the embodiment of the image processing apparatus having a principal function of the display control device was described, but the invention is not necessarily limited thereto. For example, a printer driver or an application program may be configured in the client terminal  7 . 
     Further, a computer forming the display control device can supply a program executing the above-described processes as a display control program. In the exemplary embodiments, the program realizing the functions of the invention is recorded in advance in the storage region provided inside the apparatus, but the invention is not limited thereto. Instead, the same program may be downloaded to the apparatus via a network or the same program stored in a computer-readable recording medium may be installed to an apparatus. Any recording medium may be used as long as the recording medium can store the program and a computer can read the program from the recording medium. Specifically, examples of the recording medium include an internal storage device, such as a ROM or a RAM, mounted in a computer, a portable storage medium such as a CD-ROM, a flexible disc, a DVD disc, a magneto-optical disc, or an IC card, a database retaining a computer program, the database on another computer, or a transmission medium on a line. A function of installing or downloading the program in this way cooperated with an internal OS (Operating System) inside the apparatus may be realized. 
     A part or the entirety of the program may be an execution module dynamically generated. 
     Of course, in the above-described exemplary embodiments, at least some of various processes realized by causing a processor to execute the program may be executed by a circuit of the ASIC  802 . 
     As described in detail above, it is possible to provide the technique described in the specification to reduce an operation load of the operations of allocating the plurality of page images to a single page. 
     While certain embodiments have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of invention. Indeed, the novel apparatus and methods described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the apparatus and methods described herein may be made without departing from the spirit of the inventions. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the inventions.