Patent ID: 7502130

Claim:
A control method for a host computer connected to a printer, where a bit map image is printed at the printer based on data described in a printer language, said control method comprising: a determination step of determining whether the data described in the printer language is transmitted to the printer or expanded into a bit map image before transmission, on the basis of a time required to expand the data into the bit map image; and a transferring step of transferring the data described in the printer language to the printer if it is determined in said determination step that the data is transmitted, and expanding the data into the bit map image to transfer the bit map image to the printer if it is determined that the data is expanded into the bit map image before the transmission, wherein, in said determination step, the time required for the printer to expand the data into the bit map image and the time required for the host computer to expand the data into the bit map image are estimated, and if a process that the printer expands a page of data into a bit map image can be performed in parallel with a process that the host computer expands the other page of data into a bit map image, it is determined that the page of data is transmitted as data described in the printer language and the other page of data is expanded into a bit map image before the transmission.