Patent Description:
In financial contract operations such as insurance or banking, for example, various types of data for contracts are generated and stored in a server or a storage medium in a mixed manner. These data are scanned data of a business form or text data of a trial balance. As to contracts, the data are printed and stored as a set of documents in a storage, for example, a file cabinet or a safe.

In the case of printing an important document, it is demanded to confirm whether each page of the document has been printed. Such confirmation is demanded since a missing page may occur due to jam, multiple feeding, absence of sheet, interrupt printing, and print cancellation.

In order to address such inconveniences, a system that confirms printing of requested document has been disclosed. <CIT> discloses a form printing system that performs printing pages each having a two-dimensional code added to each page to specify each page, reads the printed pages, and then analyzes the two-dimensional code to determine whether any page is missing. When a page is missing, the page is automatically reprinted by the form printing system.

However, such a typical technique has an inconvenience that information not included in the source data is printed on the printed pages. In addition, such a typical technology cannot be used for a printing system that is not capable of adding a two-dimensional code, a photograph, or an image.

<CIT> discloses a method of assessing the quality of output of a printing device.

<CIT> discloses an information processing apparatus for displaying a print job including a page having at least one abnormality in the image formed on the recording medium based on checking result information.

<CIT> discloses an image inspection system for specifying, from a formed image, a portion of the formed image which does not satisfy a predetermined requirement.

<CIT> discloses a method of inspecting a read image by comparing with an inspection image generated from a preprint image and an output target image.

Aspects of the present invention provide a printing system and comparison method, as set out by the appended set of claims.

An object of the present disclosure is to provide a printing system for easily confirming whether each page of a document is printed with a relatively small processing load.

Descriptions are given of a printing system and a comparison method executed by the printing system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, with reference to the drawings.

First, a technique compared with the present embodiment is described below with reference to <FIG>. For example, there are the following two methods for confirming that each page of a document has been printed. <FIG> is a diagram illustrating a comparison method as a control sample.

First, a printing system adds a serial number <NUM> (page number) or a two-dimensional code <NUM> (or bar code) to the original print data (<FIG>) and performs printing (<FIG>). The printing system reads the serial number and the two-dimensional code of a printed material to determine whether each page has been printed (<FIG>).

The printing system then converts the original print data into an image and prints the image. Then, the printing system compares the overall image data generated by reading the printed material with the image of the original print data.

However, in First Method, the printing system is demanded to change the printing format of the form in advance to add the serial number or the two-dimensional code, and further to print the serial number or the two-dimensional code on the printed material. In Second Method, imaging processing is easy when the print data is image data such as portable document format (PDF) or tagged image file format (TIFF). However, when the print data is in a page description language (PDL) format such as PostScript® (PS) or Epson standard code for printers (ESC/P®), the image data is to be generated from the print data. Further, since the data amount increases for the overall comparison, a high-speed information processing apparatus is to be prepared.

In order to address the above-described inconveniences, the present embodiment employs the following comparison method.

The printing system records a part (character or image) that is different from a processed page in each print page of a print target material as comparison data together with position information. Then, the printing system compares image data obtained by reading the printed material with the comparison data to determine whether each page is printed. Further, when the image data includes characters, optical character recognition (OCR) may be employed to read the printed material. A processed page refers to a page for which comparison processing or comparison data generation has been completed for print data or image data obtained by performing image formation processing on the print data.

<FIG> are diagrams, each illustrating the comparison method according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Specifically, <FIG> is a diagram illustrating print data <NUM> of the first page, comparison data <NUM>, and image data <NUM> of the printed material. <FIG> is a diagram illustrating print data <NUM> of the second page, comparison data <NUM>, and image data <NUM> of the printed material. <FIG> is a diagram illustrating print data <NUM> of the third page, comparison data <NUM>, and image data <NUM> of the printed material.

First, the printing system generates the comparison data <NUM> of the first page. The comparison data <NUM> of the first page includes a character or an image (including a figure), and the position information. The character or the image is acquired from the print data <NUM> of the first page in accordance with acquisition position information set and stored in advance. The position information specifies the position of the character or the image. The acquisition position information is related to a position at which a character or an image is acquired in a page of the received print data. The acquisition position information may include not only position information to acquire comparison data in the page (start point coordinates and end point coordinates in the case of a rectangle) but also the number of characters to be acquired or the range size of an image to be acquired in the page. The acquisition position information may be set in advance. Therefore, the acquisition position information may be referred to as setting information or reference information. The position and the number of characters, or the range, each serving as a reference for acquiring a character or an image in a page are set in such setting information or reference information. The acquisition position information may be set by inputting the position, the number of characters, and the range displayed on a setting screen of an operation panel of an apparatus, or a web browser of a personal computer (PC) connected to the apparatus or a network. In a case where the print data from which the comparison data is to be acquired is in a language such as PDL, the setting screen may display the position of characters, the number of characters, and the characters included in the PDL data, with reference to the included data in the print data, so that a user may select the characters. In a case where the print data is image data such as PDF or joint photographic experts group (JPEG), an input screen that allows the user to input a position or range by dragging and dropping may be displayed. The setting screen may be automatically switched according to the file format of the print data. The acquisition position information may be randomly determined by a random number.

In <FIG>, the characters "ABCD", which is the first four characters of "ABCD <NUM>" in the print data <NUM>, is the comparison data <NUM>.

The comparison data of the second and subsequent pages includes a character or an image different from the processed page in the print data. The acquisition position information may be set for each page or may be different for each page, so that a character or an image different from the processed page is specified, based on the acquired position information. The number of characters or range size of the image may be set in advance or may be randomly set by a random number. The comparison data of the second and subsequent pages is also stored together with the position information. Note that the comparison data of the second and subsequent pages may include characters or images different from the acquired comparison data. That is, in the print data, the comparison data of the subsequent page is a character or an image different from the comparison data that has already been acquired up to the previous page. Since the comparison data is the comparison target alone, the load of comparison may be reduced.

In <FIG>, the characters "ABCD" of "ABCD <NUM>" in the print data <NUM> match "ABCD" in the print data <NUM> of the previous page illustrated in <FIG>. Since the characters "<NUM>" in the print data <NUM> do not match the print data <NUM> of the previous page, the characters "<NUM>" are included in the comparison data <NUM>.

The similar method to the above-described method is applied to the third page. In <FIG>, the characters "EF" of "EFCD" in the print data <NUM> of <FIG> do not match the print data <NUM> of the first page of <FIG> and the print data <NUM> of the second page of <FIG>. In <FIG>, the numbers "<NUM>" of "<NUM>" do not match the print data <NUM> of the first page of <FIG> and the print data <NUM> of second the page of <FIG>. Therefore, the characters "EF" and the numbers "<NUM>" are included in the comparison data <NUM>.

According to the comparison method described above, since different comparison data is extracted for each page. Due to this method, when the image data of the printed material and the print data are compared with each other, it is determined that each page of the print data is printed by comparing with a relatively small amount of data. Since the print data is not compared with the overall page of the printed material, misjudgment in comparison is not likely to occur depending on the presence or absence of dust on the page or faint in the character or image of the page. A difference in a page state such as page omission or insertion of incorrect page in the printing of a form may be accurately detected when printing a form in which the quality does not matter whether a printed material is printed according to print data.

The print data is data for printing described in a language that is interpreted by an image forming apparatus such as PDL. However, the print data may be a file such as PDF created by an application program.

The comparison data includes a character or an image that is included in a part of each page and is not included in the rest of the pages. The comparison data may not be completely included in the rest of the pages. However, since the frequency of overlapping is relatively low, the comparison data may be data that ensure no missing pages.

A comparison result may include both match and mismatch in association with a page or may include a mismatched page alone or a matched page alone to be stored as a result.

Descriptions are given of an example of a system configuration of a printing system <NUM> with reference to <FIG> is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the printing system <NUM> according to embodiments of the present disclosure. As illustrated in <FIG>, the printing system <NUM> includes a client PC <NUM>, a digital front end (DFE) <NUM>, an image forming apparatus <NUM>, and a management server <NUM>. These components are communicably connected to each other via the Internet.

The client PC <NUM> creates a print job in response to an instruction by a user, and then transmits the print job to the DFE <NUM> or the management server <NUM>. The client PC <NUM> includes a display unit such as a liquid crystal display, and input devices such as a mouse and a keyboard.

The DFE <NUM> receives a print job from the client PC <NUM>, or the management server <NUM>, creates image data by a raster image processor (RIP) engine based on the received print job, and transmits the created image data to the image forming apparatus <NUM>. The image data is also referred to as a drawing data. The DFE <NUM> is an example of an image processing apparatus.

The image forming apparatus <NUM> forms an image on a recording medium based on the image data received from the DFE <NUM>.

The management server <NUM> manages the print jobs received from the client PC <NUM>. In response to a request from the DFE <NUM>, the management server <NUM> transmits the print job to the DFE <NUM>.

Note that the printing system <NUM> may communicably connect a plurality of image forming apparatuses <NUM> and a plurality of client PCs <NUM>.

Next, descriptions are given of a hardware configuration of the DFE <NUM> with reference to <FIG> is a block diagram illustrating the hardware configuration of the DFE <NUM> of the printing system <NUM>. The DFE <NUM> includes a central processing unit (CPU) <NUM>, a read only memory (ROM) <NUM>, a random access memory (RAM) <NUM>, a storage device <NUM>, and an interface (I/F) <NUM>. The storage device <NUM> may include a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid state drive (SSD).

The CPU <NUM> executes a program stored in the ROM <NUM> using the RAM <NUM> as a work area. By so doing, the overall operations of the DFE <NUM> are controlled to provide various functions.

The storage device <NUM> such as the HDD or the SSD is used as a memory and stores setting values set in advance. The information stored in the storage device <NUM> may be used when the CPU <NUM> reads and executes the program.

The I/F <NUM> is an interface that allows the DFE <NUM>, the client PC <NUM>, the image forming apparatus <NUM> and the management server <NUM> communicably connect to each other.

Next, descriptions are given of the hardware configuration of the image forming apparatus <NUM>, with reference to <FIG> is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the image forming apparatus <NUM> of the printing system <NUM>. The image forming apparatus <NUM> includes a CPU <NUM>, a ROM <NUM>, a RAM <NUM>, a storage device <NUM>, an I/F <NUM>, an image forming device <NUM>, a reading device <NUM>, and an operation panel <NUM>. The storage device <NUM> may include the HDD or the SSD.

The CPU <NUM> executes a program stored in the ROM <NUM> using the RAM <NUM> as a work area. By so doing, the overall operations of the image forming apparatus <NUM> are controlled to provide various functions.

The storage device <NUM> is used as a memory and stores setting values set in advance. The information stored in the storage device <NUM> may be read and used by the CPU <NUM> when the CPU <NUM> executes a program.

The I/F <NUM> is an interface that allows the image forming apparatus <NUM>, the DFE <NUM>, the client PC <NUM> and the management server <NUM> communicably connect to each other.

The image forming device <NUM> is a print engine that forms an image on a printing sheet. The reading device <NUM> reads the image formed on the printing sheet. The operation panel <NUM> includes a display that displays an operation menu and a state of the image forming apparatus <NUM> and a touch panel for receiving an operation.

Next, descriptions are given of the configuration of the image forming apparatus <NUM>, with reference to <FIG> is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the image forming apparatus <NUM> of the printing system <NUM> of <FIG>. As illustrated in <FIG>, the image forming apparatus <NUM> includes a tandem-type, electrophotographic photoconductor drums 403Y, <NUM>, 403C, and <NUM>, an intermediate transfer belt <NUM>, a secondary transfer roller <NUM>, a sheet feeding device <NUM>, a conveyance roller pair <NUM>, a fixing roller pair <NUM>, inline sensors 406a and 406b, a reversal passage <NUM>, and a conveyance passage <NUM>. The image forming apparatus <NUM> further includes a controller <NUM>.

The image forming device <NUM> illustrated in <FIG> includes the photoconductor drums 403Y, <NUM>, 403C, and <NUM>, the intermediate transfer belt <NUM>, the secondary transfer roller <NUM>, and the fixing roller pair <NUM>. The reading device <NUM> illustrated in <FIG> includes the inline sensors 406a and 406b.

The image forming apparatus <NUM> is a tandem-type image forming apparatus that has a configuration in which the photoconductor drums 403Y, <NUM>, 403C, and <NUM> of colors of black, magenta, cyan, and yellow are aligned in a row along the intermediate transfer belt <NUM> that functions as a moving device having an endless loop. Hereinafter, the photoconductor drums 403Y, <NUM>, 403C, and <NUM> may be referred to as the "photoconductor drums <NUM>" in a singular form. In the image forming apparatus <NUM>, a print sheet is fed from the sheet feeding device <NUM> and conveyed by the conveyance roller pair <NUM>. An intermediate transfer image that is to be transferred onto the recording medium is formed on the intermediate transfer belt <NUM>. The photoconductor drums 403Y, <NUM>, 403C, and <NUM> are aligned along the intermediate transfer belt <NUM>, sequentially from upstream in a conveyance direction of the recording medium.

In the image forming apparatus <NUM>, a latent image is formed on a circumferential surface of each of the photoconductor drums <NUM> for different colors and is developed with toner into a visible toner image. The toner images in different colors are transferred from the respective photoconductor drums <NUM> onto the circumferential surface of the intermediate transfer belt <NUM> such that the toner images are superimposed one atop another on the intermediate transfer belt <NUM>. Thus, a composite full-color toner image (i.e., intermediate transfer image) is formed on the intermediate transfer belt <NUM>.

Then, in the image forming apparatus <NUM>, at a position closest to the conveyance passage <NUM> of the print sheet indicated by a broken line in <FIG>, the secondary transfer roller <NUM> transfers the full-color image from the intermediate transfer belt <NUM> onto the print sheet conveyed along the conveyance passage <NUM>.

The image forming apparatus <NUM> further conveys the print sheet bearing the full-color image on the surface to the fixing roller pair <NUM> by which the full-color image is fixed to the print sheet (for image formation). The fixing roller pair <NUM> applies heat and pressure to the print sheet bearing the full-color toner image to fix the full-color toner image onto the print sheet. The fixing roller pair <NUM> generates heat by a built-in heater such as a halogen heater to heat the print sheet.

When duplex printing is performed, the image forming apparatus <NUM> forms an image on the front side (first face) of the print sheet, then conveys the print sheet to the reversal passage <NUM> in the conveyance passage <NUM>, reverses the front and back sides (first and second faces) of the print sheet, and then conveys the print sheet again to the position of the secondary transfer roller <NUM>.

The sheet feeding device <NUM> accommodates a plurality of sheets (print sheet) piled one on another. The sheet feeding device <NUM> picks up the print sheet loaded and stored in the order from the top by a pickup roller and conveys the print sheet to the conveyance roller pair <NUM> by using sheet feed rollers as a pair of rollers.

Further, the image forming apparatus <NUM> includes the inline sensors 406a and 406b disposed downstream from the fixing roller pair <NUM> in the conveyance direction of the print sheet. The inline sensors 406a and 406b read both sides of the print sheet conveyed by the fixing roller pair <NUM> and obtains read image data of the image fixed on the print sheet. Note that the inline sensors may not be two inline sensors (inline sensors 406a and 406b) and may be a single inline sensor, e.g., the inline sensor 406a. When the image forming apparatus <NUM> includes the inline sensor 406a alone, the inline sensor 406a first reads the recording medium at the time at which an image is formed on the front side (first face) of the print sheet. Thereafter, an image is formed on the back side (second face) of the print sheet.

A scanner <NUM> is disposed on an upper portion of the image forming apparatus <NUM>. The image forming apparatus <NUM> includes an automatic document feeder (ADF) <NUM> that serves as a sheet feeder and a cover of the scanner <NUM>. The ADF <NUM> includes a tray on which a plurality of printed material P is loaded. The ADF <NUM> is a device that sends one page at a time to the scanner <NUM> so that each page is scanned in order. The image forming apparatus <NUM> scans a printed material by the scanner <NUM> or the inline sensors 406a and 406b.

Note that the image forming apparatus including the scanner <NUM> may be different from the image forming apparatus <NUM> that prints printed material.

<FIG> is a functional block diagram illustrating functions of the printing system <NUM> in blocks. In <FIG>, the DFE <NUM> and the image forming apparatus <NUM> have the functions described below. Instead of the DFE <NUM>, however, the management server <NUM> may have the function of the DFE <NUM>. Alternatively, the image forming apparatus <NUM> may have the functions of the DFE <NUM> in <FIG>. In <FIG>, the functions of the overall printing system are shared by the DFE <NUM> and the image forming apparatus <NUM> for the sake of convenience. Some functions in <FIG> that are operable without using specific hardware, such as a printer <NUM> and an image generation unit <NUM>, may be included in any apparatus of the printing system <NUM>.

The DFE <NUM> includes a communication unit <NUM>, an input unit <NUM>, a data converter <NUM>, a comparison data acquisition unit <NUM>, an image acquisition unit <NUM>, a comparison unit <NUM>, an output unit <NUM>, and a comparison data storage unit <NUM>. The functions of the DFE <NUM> are functions or methods achieved by the CPU <NUM> executing instructions included in one or more programs loaded from the storage device <NUM> to the RAM <NUM> illustrated in <FIG>.

The communication unit <NUM> receives print data from the client PC <NUM> and transmits image data including ripped print data to the image forming apparatus <NUM>. Further, the communication unit <NUM> receives image data generated by reading a printed material from the image forming apparatus <NUM>. Note that the descriptions of known functions of the DFE <NUM> are omitted in the present embodiment.

The print data may be transmitted in a file format such as PDF or TIFF or may be transmitted after being converted into PDL data by the client PC <NUM>.

The input unit <NUM> receives print data as input data via the communication unit <NUM>. In a case where print data is in a file format such as PDF or TIFF, the data converter <NUM> converts the print data into PDL data in the same manner as a printer driver. In other words, in the PDL, the position, size, color, and font of each character are designated, and the position of the image is designated.

Thus, the comparison data acquisition unit <NUM> acquires the comparison data from the print data. The comparison data acquisition unit <NUM> acquires characters or images that are not included in the processed pages, together with the position information. In a case where N pages are processed starting from page <NUM>, the range of the processed pages is page <NUM> to page N-<NUM>. Alternatively, the comparison data acquisition unit <NUM> acquires characters or images that are not included in the comparison data of the processed page, together with the position information. The detailed description of this operation is described below.

In a case where the comparison data is a character, two formats are the comparison data, which are character data (character code) and image data.

In a case where the comparison data is a character, an OCR process is executed on the image data of the printed material transmitted from the image forming apparatus <NUM>. In a case where the comparison data is image data, the comparison data acquisition unit <NUM> converts the character data into image data.

The image acquisition unit <NUM> extracts read image data from the image data of the printed material transmitted from the image forming apparatus <NUM> based on the position information of the comparison data. The read image data may be referred to as original image data. The comparison unit <NUM> compares the read image data with the comparison data and transmits a comparison result to the management server <NUM>. When a page in which the read image data and the comparison data do not match, the comparison unit <NUM> determines that the page is a missing page. The management server <NUM> manages the execution state of a print job together with a management number and a file name of a print target and records the missing page in association with the print job.

The output unit <NUM> outputs the comparison result to a console of the DFE <NUM> or the client PC <NUM>. The output unit <NUM> may function as a web server. Further, the output unit <NUM> transmits the comparison result to the image forming apparatus <NUM> so that the image forming apparatus <NUM> displays the comparison result.

Table <NUM> indicates an example of the comparison data. In the comparison data storage unit <NUM>, character data or image data as comparison data is stored for each page in association with the position information. In a case where the comparison data is a character, the comparison data may be stored as a character code or as image data. The details of the method of generating the comparison data are described below, with reference to <FIG>. Further, although a single set of position information is associated with multiple consecutive characters in Table <NUM>, the position information may be associated with each character.

Table <NUM> indicates print data when the print data described in PDL is PostScript®. In a case where the print data is described in PostScript®, the print data is created as a set of coordinates and characters. The item of PDL data in Table <NUM> includes character information and position information for a character string of one or more characters. The item of PDL character information in Table <NUM> is the character information related to a character string of one or more characters acquired from the PDL data. The item of PDL position information in Table <NUM> is the position information of a character string acquired from the PDL data. For example, the PDL position information is information indicating a position (for example, coordinates) for printing the PDL character information corresponding to the PDL position information. The PDL character information and the PDL position information indicated in Table <NUM> are generated before the comparison data is generated.

The image forming apparatus <NUM> includes a communication unit <NUM>, the printer <NUM>, the image generation unit <NUM>, and an operation unit <NUM> provided with a display. These functions of the image forming apparatus <NUM> are achieved by the CPU <NUM> illustrated in <FIG> executing instructions included in one or more programs loaded from the storage device <NUM> to the RAM <NUM>, or by controlling the hardware illustrated in <FIG> by one or more programs.

The communication unit <NUM> receives the image data including ripped print data from a DFE <NUM>. In addition, the image generation unit <NUM> transmits the generated image to the DFE <NUM>. When the image forming apparatus <NUM> includes the comparison data storage unit <NUM> or the comparison data is shared, the communication unit <NUM> transmits the scanned image alone acquired from the image data of the printed material to the DFE <NUM> based on the position information of the comparison data.

The image generation unit <NUM> scans a printed material and generates image data of the printed material. The operation unit <NUM> is implemented by an operation panel <NUM> including a touch screen and keyboard and displays information and receives user operations.

<FIG> is a diagram illustrating an overall flow of a process for determining, by using comparison data, whether a page of a printed form is missing, according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

A user operates the client PC <NUM> to select a document file (electronic data) to be printed, such as a contract document, and performs printing (step S1). The client PC <NUM> transmits the document file selected by the user or print data converted from the document file into PDL data, to the DFE <NUM>.

The comparison data acquisition unit <NUM> of the DFE <NUM> creates comparison data for each page and stores the comparison data in the comparison data storage unit <NUM> (step S2).

When the storage of the comparison data is finished or while the comparison data is being generated, the image data ripped by the DFE <NUM> is transmitted to the image forming apparatus <NUM> (step S3). The image forming apparatus <NUM> prints the image data. The image data ripped by the DFE <NUM> may be transmitted to the image forming apparatus <NUM> even if the storage of the comparison information for each page is not finished. In other words, when the storage of the comparison data is advanced by one or more pages from the printing, the read image data and the comparison data are compared in real time.

The image generation unit <NUM> of the image forming apparatus <NUM> reads (scans) the printed material in parallel with the printing to generate an image data (step S4). Alternatively, the image generation unit <NUM> of the image forming apparatus <NUM> generates the image data of the printed material when the printing of each page (or more than a certain number of pages) is finished, and the user operates the scanner <NUM> to read the printed material.

The DFE <NUM> acquires image data of the printed material, and the image acquisition unit <NUM> of the DFE <NUM> acquires read image data from the image data by referring to the position information of the comparison data of the page to be compared (step S5). The comparison unit <NUM> of the DFE <NUM> compares the comparison data with the read image data.

The comparison unit <NUM> of the DFE <NUM> stores the comparison result for each page, and transmits the comparison result to the management server <NUM> (step S6). The user may display and view the comparison result on, for example, the client PC <NUM>, the console of the DFE <NUM>, or the operation panel <NUM>.

<FIG> is a sequence diagram illustrating a process in which the printing system <NUM> determines whether a page of a printed form is missing by using the comparison data.

First, the client PC <NUM> transmits print data to the DFE <NUM> in response to a user operation (step S11).

The communication unit <NUM> of the DFE <NUM> receives the print data, and the input unit <NUM> of the DFE <NUM> receives the print data as input data (step S12). The comparison data acquisition unit <NUM> of the DFE <NUM> acquires comparison data from the print data. The detailed description of this operation is described below with reference to <FIG>. Note that, before acquiring the comparison data, the data converter <NUM> of the DFE <NUM> converts the print data into a PDL data accordingly.

The communication unit <NUM> in the DFE <NUM> transmits the image data including ripped print data to the image forming apparatus <NUM> (step S13).

The communication unit <NUM> of the image forming apparatus <NUM> receives the image data, and the printer <NUM> of the image forming apparatus <NUM> performs printing in the order of the pages.

In the sequence diagram illustrated in <FIG>, it is assumed that the image generation unit <NUM> is provided in the image forming apparatus <NUM>, and the image generation unit <NUM> reads a printed material and generates image data while printing (step S15).

Immediately after reading the printed material (in real time), the communication unit <NUM> of the image forming apparatus <NUM> transmits the image data to the DFE <NUM> (step S16). The image forming apparatus <NUM> may attach a page number or the DFE <NUM> may assign a page number.

The communication unit <NUM> of the DFE <NUM> receives the image data from the image forming apparatus <NUM>, and the comparison unit <NUM> starts comparison with the comparison data (step S17). The detailed description of this process is described below with reference to <FIG>.

The comparison unit <NUM> stores the comparison result for each page, and transmits the comparison result to the management server <NUM> (step S18).

In a case where the comparison result indicates a mismatch, the communication unit <NUM> transmits print interruption to the image forming apparatus <NUM> (step S19). As a result, the image forming apparatus <NUM> displays a warning screen <NUM> as illustrated in <FIG>.

<FIG> is a flowchart of an example of a method of extracting a character or an image different from a processed page as comparison data. The comparison data acquisition unit <NUM> determines whether the print data is the first page, based on the page break of the print data (step S101).

When the print data is the first page (YES in step S101), since a processed page for the first page of the print data is not present, the comparison data acquisition unit <NUM> extracts a certain number of characters or a randomly determined number of characters from a position determined based on the acquisition position information and stores these characters as comparison data. Alternatively, the comparison data acquisition unit <NUM> extracts an image from a position determined based on the acquisition position information and stores these characters as comparison data (step S106). The choice of whether to use characters or images as comparison data may be predetermined or determined at random.

<FIG> are schematic diagrams, each illustrating a method of acquiring comparison data. <FIG> are illustrated with reference to Table <NUM> as an example. <FIG> illustrates a method of acquiring comparison data of the first page. When four characters are used as the comparison data, "ABC" and "X" are acquired in order by referring to the print data of the first page based on the acquisition position information <NUM>, and "ABC" and "X" are used as the comparison data together with the position information. The position information of the print data <NUM> of P1 indicates (xs1, ys1) (xe1, ye1), (xs2, ys2) (xe2, ye2) as the vertices of the bounding rectangle of "ABC" and "X".

These four characters are examples, and the amount of data for detecting a difference between pages may be set by a user. Since the upper limit is set for the data amount (the number of characters), a comparison of the overall page is prevented.

Returning to <FIG>, descriptions of the method of extracting a character or an image are further given. In the case of the second and subsequent pages, the comparison data acquisition unit <NUM> extracts one character or one image from a position determined based on the acquisition position information <NUM> or a position randomly determined. Although the same acquisition position information is used in <FIG>, different acquisition position information may be prepared for each page. After the first character is determined, the following characters may be acquired one by one in order. The choice of whether to use characters or images as comparison data may be predetermined or determined at random. Alternatively, characters and images may be acquired alternately within a page.

Next, the comparison data acquisition unit <NUM> determines whether the same character or image is present at the same position on the processed page (step S103).

In response to a determination of "YES" in step S103, the process returns to step S102, and the next character or image is acquired. The detailed description of this process is described below with reference to <FIG>.

<FIG> illustrates a method of acquiring comparison data of the second page. When four characters are used as the comparison data, "A" is specified in order based on the acquired position information <NUM>. However, "A" is present at the same position in the processed page (the first page). Similar to "A", "B" is also present at the same position in the processed page. "D" is not present at the same position of the processed page. Therefore, "D" is used as the comparison data. Next, "P", "Q", and "R" are not present at the same position of the processed page. Therefore, "D", "P", "Q", and "R" are used as the comparison data together with the position information. The position information of the print data <NUM> of P2 indicates (xs3, ys3) (xe3, ye3), (xs4, ys4) (xe4, ye4) as the vertices of the bounding rectangle of "D" and "PQR".

<FIG> illustrates a method of acquiring comparison data of the third page. When four characters are used as the comparison data, "A" is specified in order based on the acquired position information <NUM>. However, "A" is present at the same position in the processed pages (the first page and the second page). "E" is not present in the same position of the processed page (the first page and the second page). Therefore, "E" is used as the comparison data. "D" is preset at the same position in the processed pages (the second page). Next, "S", "T" and "U" are also not present at the same position of the processed page (the first page and the second page). Therefore, "E", "S", "T", and "U" are used as the comparison data together with the position information. The position information of the print data <NUM> of P3 indicates (xs5, ys5) (xe5, ye5), (xs6, ys5) (xe5, ye6) as the vertices of the bounding rectangle of "E" and "STU". Note that the position information of the first page is the same information as the position information set in advance as the acquired position information. On the other hand, the position information created for each of the second page and the third page is the position information indicating a position where a character or image that is not present in the processed page is present in the region of the position information set in the acquired position information (or the position information created in the first page). Therefore, since the position information (i.e., region information, start point coordinates and end point coordinates in an image) changes for each page, the load of a comparison process is reduced.

Table <NUM> is a table for indicating comparison data created from the print data of Table <NUM>. The PDL character information and the PDL position information in Table <NUM> are the same as the PDL character information and the PDL position information in Table <NUM>. Comparison character information indicated in Table <NUM> is a character string to be acquired for comparison since the comparison character information has not been included on each page by the previous page. Comparison position information is the position information of the comparison character information.

The comparison data acquisition unit <NUM> creates (converts) a character different from a processed page as comparison data, from the character information and position information both being acquired from PostScript® (PDL) data. When the comparison data include four characters, the comparison unit <NUM> of the DFE <NUM> compares "A", "B", "C", and "X" of the data of the first page with the comparison data of the first page. For the second page, data of "D", "P", "Q", and "R" not included in the processed page are used as the comparison data of the second page. For the third page, data of "E", "S", "T", and "U" not included in the processed page are used as the comparison data of the third page. In other words, the comparison data acquisition unit <NUM> acquires comparison data from the head of the page, for each page. The comparison data include position information and character information of a predetermined number of characters that have not been acquired as comparison data by the previous page.

Note that the acquisition position information may be a fixed range (position). The comparison data acquisition unit <NUM> extracts a character or an image at a fixed position from the print data and sets the extracted character or image as comparison data in association with the position information.

When the page is a blank page without characters or images, the comparison data acquisition unit <NUM> records the comparison data as a blank page.

Although characters are acquired as comparison data in <FIG>, an image may be acquired in the same manner. Since the print position of an image such as an image formatted in JPEG or formatted in graphics interchange format (GIF) is specified in the print data, the comparison data acquisition unit <NUM> specifies the image in the order of appearance in the page and determines whether the same image is present at the same position in the past page. In a case where the images are compared, colors of the images at the same pixel positions are compared.

Returning to <FIG>, descriptions of the method for extracting a character or an image are further given. The comparison data acquisition unit <NUM> stores the position information and the character or image in the comparison data storage unit <NUM> (step S104). When storing the character, a method of storing characters is used such as converting characters into image data or storing character codes without performing any conversion.

The comparison data acquisition unit <NUM> determines whether a predetermined number of characters or images has been stored (step S105). Since it is less likely that the images are less likely, than characters, to have the same images printed on a plurality of pages, a relatively smaller number of images may be stored when compared with the number of characters of the comparison data.

In response to a determination of "No" in step S105, the process returns to step S102.

As described above, comparison data that does not overlap in any pages is stored in the comparison data storage unit <NUM>.

Further, as illustrated in <FIG>, the comparison data acquisition unit <NUM> may extract a character or an image different from the comparison data of the processed page, as comparison data. <FIG> is a flowchart of a method of extracting a character or an image different from the comparison data of the processed page, as comparison data. The description given in reference to <FIG> mainly includes the differences from <FIG>.

In the process of <FIG>, the processing of step S203 is different from the processing of step S103 of <FIG>. In other words, in step S203, the comparison data acquisition unit <NUM> determines whether the same character or the same image is registered at the same position in the comparison data of the processed page (step S203).

<FIG> including <FIG> is a schematic diagram illustrating a method of acquiring comparison data. Similar to <FIG>, <FIG> depicts the comparison data of the first page.

<FIG> illustrates a method of acquiring the comparison data of the second page. When four characters are used as the comparison data, "A" is specified in order based on the acquired position information <NUM>. However, "A" is present at the same position in the comparison data of the processed page (the first page). Similar to "A", "B" is also present at the same position in the comparison data of the processed page. "D" is not present at the same position in the comparison data of the processed page. Therefore, "D" is used as the comparison data. Next, "P", "Q", and "R" are not present at the same position in the comparison data of the processed page. Therefore, "D", "P", "Q", and "R" are used as the comparison data together with the position information. The position information of the print data <NUM> of P2 indicates (xs3, ys3) (xe3, ye3), (xs4, ys4) (xe4, ye4) as the vertices of the bounding rectangle of "D" and "PQR".

<FIG> illustrates a method of acquiring comparison data of the third page. When four characters are used as the comparison data, "A" is specified in order based on the acquired position information <NUM>. However, "A" is present at the same position in the comparison data of the processed page (the first page). "E" is not present in the same position in the comparison data of the processed page (the first page and the second page). Therefore, "E" is used as the comparison data. "D" is preset at the same position in the comparison data of the processed pages (the second page). Next, "S", "T" and "U" are also not present at the same position in the comparison data of the processed page (the first page and the second page). Therefore, "E", "S", "T", and "U" are used as the comparison data together with the position information. The position information of the print data <NUM> of P3 includes (xs5, ys5) (xe5, ye5), (xs6, ys6) (xe6, ye6) as the vertices of the bounding rectangle of "E" and "STU".

The method of extracting the comparison data by comparing the contents of the pages with the comparison data has an advantage in that the load of the comparison process is relatively smaller than the method of comparing the contents of the pages. In other words, in a case where the number of pages of the print data is significantly large, for example, several thousands of pages to several tens of thousands of pages, the number of objects to be compared is relatively smaller when compared with the comparison data.

Although the comparison data in each of <FIG> is the same as the comparison data in each of <FIG> of <FIG>, the comparison data may be different depending on which of the processed page and the comparison data of the processed page is to be compared.

<FIG> is flowchart of an example of a procedure in which the comparison unit <NUM> compares the image data of the printed material with the comparison data. Note that the comparison may be executed in parallel with the printing or may be performed after the printing is finished.

The DFE <NUM> receives the image data of the printed material (step S301).

Based on the page number attached to the image of the printed material (or by counting the page number), the image acquisition unit <NUM> extracts the read image data from the image data referring to the position information of the comparison data of the page to be compared (step S302).

In a case where the comparison data is a character, the comparison unit <NUM> executes OCR process on the read image data to convert the data into a character code (step S303).

Next, the comparison unit <NUM> compares the read image data with the comparison data (step S304). When the read image data and the comparison data match (YES in step S305), the process proceeds to step S307. Note that the comparison between the image data is executed on a pixel-by-pixel basis. When the pixels match at a ratio equal to or greater than a certain ratio, the image data may be deemed that the image data match (complete matching is not desired).

When the read image data and the comparison data do not match (NO in step S305), the output unit <NUM> outputs a warning display (step S306). In a case where the DFE <NUM> executes the comparison process, the output unit <NUM> may transmit the comparison result to the operation panel <NUM> of the image forming apparatus <NUM>. Alternatively, the output unit <NUM> may display the comparison result on the console of the management server <NUM>. The output unit <NUM> may display the comparison result on the console of the DFE <NUM>. In a case where the image forming apparatus <NUM> executes the comparison, the image forming apparatus <NUM> may automatically execute the warning display without an instruction from the DFE <NUM>.

When printing and comparison are executed in parallel, the communication unit <NUM> requests the image forming apparatus <NUM> to interrupt the printing.

When another page to be processed remains, the comparison unit <NUM> continues the comparison process (step S307). Even if the printing is interrupted, the comparison is executed. However, in a case where a page is missing, the comparison data and the read image data high likely do not match in pages subsequent to the page in which the comparison data and the read image data do not match. For this reason, the comparison process may also be interrupted.

In reading a printed material, the orientation of the printed material may change depending on the setting direction in the ADF <NUM>, and the orientation of the printed material may be rotated by the angle of <NUM>° (degrees), <NUM>° (degrees) or <NUM>° (degrees). The image acquisition unit <NUM> may rotate the image data of the printed material and acquire the read image data from each rotation angle.

When printing and comparison are executed in parallel, the comparison unit <NUM> stops printing of the image forming apparatus <NUM>. The output unit <NUM> displays and prints the mismatched page number and waits for confirmation by a user.

Alternatively, the image forming apparatus <NUM> may further include a setting in which the user responds to a page difference after printing. When the setting is valid, the image forming apparatus <NUM> prints each page of the image data even if a page difference has occurred. After the printing is finished, the image forming apparatus <NUM> displays and prints the corresponding page number of the mismatch. This printing may be performed by another image forming apparatus <NUM>.

<FIG> is a diagram illustrating an example of the warning screen <NUM> displayed by the operation unit <NUM> of the image forming apparatus <NUM>. <FIG> illustrates an example of the warning screen <NUM> in a case where printing and comparison are performed in parallel. The image forming apparatus <NUM> that displays the warning screen <NUM> may be different from the image forming apparatus <NUM> that performs printing. A display message <NUM> indicates that printing is currently being performed. A display message <NUM> indicates the page number of printed pages or of mismatched page on the left, out of the total number of pages on the right. A display message <NUM> displays "page difference occurs" and indicates that the comparison result is mismatched. A cancel button <NUM> is a button for receiving cancellation of the printing. In other words, since the printing is being interrupted, the user may instruct cancellation of the printing at the time point when the mismatch occurs. A continue button <NUM> is a button for receiving continuation of the printing. In other words, since the printing is being interrupted, the user may instruct continuation of the printing even though the mismatch occurs. The page designation print button <NUM> is a button for displaying another dialog box and receiving a page number or a page range to be printed. In other words, since the printing is being interrupted, the user may instruct printing again, the page (and subsequent pages) in which the mismatch has occurred. The image forming apparatus <NUM> may be another printer.

Note that the output unit <NUM> may display the comparison data and the read image data not matching each other, on the warning screen <NUM>. In addition, the output unit <NUM> may display page difference content as to which of a character or an image is different.

In a case where a reading mechanism is not included in a sheet conveyance passage of the image forming apparatus <NUM> and the scanner <NUM> performs the reading, the DFE <NUM> starts comparison between comparison data and read image data after a user specifies a form name. Since the DFE <NUM> is not informed in advance of the form of a printed material to be read, the DFE <NUM> starts comparison after the user specifies the name of the form to be read. Alternatively, the image forming apparatus <NUM> may read the first page of the printed material and identify a matching form from the comparison data. When a form to be read is not identified in the first page, the image forming apparatus <NUM> reads the second and subsequent pages of the printed material to identify a matching form from the comparison data.

In a case where the comparison result is not matched, the comparison unit <NUM> of the DFE <NUM> stops reading. The output unit <NUM> displays or prints the page difference content or the corresponding page number and waits for confirmation by the user. Alternatively, when a reading mechanism do not stop reading and a mismatch is detected, each page is read to display or print the page difference content and the number of corresponding pages. The page difference content and the number of corresponding pages may be printed after each page is compared.

<FIG> is a diagram illustrating an example of the warning screen <NUM> displayed by the operation unit <NUM> of the image forming apparatus <NUM>.

<FIG> illustrates an example of the warning screen <NUM> in a case where comparison is executed after printing is completed.

A display message <NUM> displays "checking page difference" and indicates that comparison is being executed at present.

A display message <NUM> indicates a page number being compared or a page number for which the comparison result indicates a mismatch on the left, out of the total number of pages on the right.

A display message <NUM> displays "page difference occurs" and indicates that the comparison result is mismatched.

A cancel button <NUM> is a button for receiving cancellation of the comparison.

A continue button <NUM> is a button for receiving continuation of the comparison.

Note that the output unit <NUM> may display the comparison data and the read image data not matching with each other on the warning screen <NUM>.

The management server <NUM> manages an execution state of a print job. A comparison result between the comparison data and the read image data is also registered in the execution state of the print job managed by the management server <NUM>. A console of the management server <NUM> and the client PC <NUM> may display the executing state of the print job.

<FIG> is a diagram illustrating an example of a print job management screen <NUM> displayed by the console of the management server <NUM> or the client PC <NUM>. The print job management screen <NUM> includes items of a print job management number <NUM>, a form name <NUM>, an image forming apparatus <NUM>, a state of print job <NUM>, and the number of pages <NUM>. The print job management number <NUM> is identification information for identifying a print job. The form name <NUM> is the name of a printed form. The form name <NUM> may be referred to as a file name. The image forming apparatus <NUM> is the name or identification information of the image forming apparatus <NUM> to which the print job is assigned. The state of print job <NUM> indicates the state of the print job. The state of the print job <NUM> includes the states of print completion, printing, page difference occurrence, and print waiting. The number of pages <NUM> indicates the total number of pages of the print job.

A print job indicating the state of page difference occurrence is emphasized by a color, and a sub screen <NUM> is displayed when the user clicks on the corresponding state of print job. The sub screen <NUM> displays a page number <NUM> in which a mismatch has occurred, a difference content <NUM>, a cancel button <NUM>, and a continue button <NUM>. The user may also cancel or continue printing from the print job management screen <NUM>.

<FIG> is a diagram illustrating an example of the form. Characters are electronically input to the form via a PC. In the case of handwriting input, the comparison data may be image data. <FIG> illustrates a cover of a form as an example. However, a plurality of pages such as another page of an accompanying form, a trial balance, and an image data are included. The method of confirming the page of the present embodiment achieves determination of whether each page has been printed.

According to the present embodiment, different comparison data is extracted for each page. Due to such a configuration, when the image data of the printed material and the comparison data are compared, it is determined that each page of the print data is printed by comparing a relatively small amount of data. Since the print data is not compared with the overall page of the printed material, misjudgment in comparison is not likely to occur on the presence or absence of dust on the page or faint in the character or image of the page. A difference in a page state such as page omission or insertion of incorrect page in the printing of a form may be accurately detected when printing a form in which the quality does not matter whether a printed material is printed according to print data.

The present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications and improvements are possible without departing from the gist of the present disclosure.

For example, although an electrophotographic image forming apparatus has been described in the present embodiment, another type of image forming apparatus such as inkjet image forming apparatus that employs an inkjet system may perform printing.

The numbers such as ordinal numbers and numerical values that indicates quantity are all given by way of example to describe the technologies to implement the embodiments of the present disclosure, and no limitation is indicated to the numbers given in the above description. In addition, the above-describe connections among the components are examples for specifically describing the technology of the present invention, and connections for implementing functions of the present invention are not limited to the above-described examples.

Further, the division of blocks in the functional block diagrams is given by way of example. A plurality of blocks may be implemented as one block, or one block may be divided into a plurality of blocks. Alternatively, some functions may be moved to other blocks. Further, the functions of a plurality of blocks that have similar functions may be processed in parallel or in a time-division manner by a single unit of hardware or software.

Claim 1:
A printing system (<NUM>) comprising:
an input unit (<NUM>) configured to acquire print data of a plurality of pages;
a comparison data acquisition unit (<NUM>) configured to extract comparison data from the print data for each page together with position information on the position corresponding to the comparison data for each page, wherein the comparison data acquisition unit (<NUM>) extracts comparison data for said each page until the comparison data acquisition unit (<NUM>) determines that the extracted comparison data is different from comparison data at the same position on a processed page,
wherein the processed page refers to a page for which comparison data acquisition has been completed;
the system further comprising:
an image acquisition unit (<NUM>) configured to, from first image data read from a printed material on which the print data is printed, acquire second image data at a position corresponding to the comparison data, based on the position information for each page of the printed material; and an output unit (<NUM>) configured to output a comparison result of the comparison data and the second image data for each page.