Abstract: There is provided a tape printing apparatus for printing desired character string data on a tapelike printing object, in which a plurality of functions can be set with a single physical operator. When a character size setting function key is operated (S14), the position of a cursor existing on a display screen is detected. The character size is set over the whole sentence (S24) if the cursor is positioned on the right side of a line head mark, set by paragraph (S23) if the cursor is positioned at the head of the first line of each paragraph, and set by line (S22) if the cursor is positioned on the right side of the head of a line of each paragraph. In other cases, the size of characters from the cursor on is set or the character size is set word by word (S20, 21).

Abstract: A process is described for printing a print image on a continuous support material relative to a pre-set position in an electrophotographic printer in which a stepper motor controlled by an electric impulse sequence drives a transport device.

Abstract: An adjustment value for printing deviation between forward and reverse printing passes is set for each width of printing paper. The printing deviation is adjusted by, for example, varying, in the main scanning direction, the frequency of the drive clock signal applied to the print head. The drive clock signal frequency is individually set for each of a plurality of regions into which the main scanning range is divided.

Abstract: A printer for forming images in accordance with print jobs from computers connected to a network, and which discharges the sheets bearing the formed image to a plurality of bins per job. A printer which outputs to a computer a signal warning that sheets have not been removed at a specific event of turning ON the power source of a computer or power source of a printer, or canceling a sleep mode when paper has been forgotten and remains in a bin.

Abstract: A method is provided for making a paper card with printed graphics and a magnetically encoded stripe in an in-line process. The printed graphics information is synchronized with the magnetically encoded information to provide a card with information targeted to a particular customer.

Abstract: A print system is disclosed which comprises a printer; a setting device for receiving a setting value specifying a print mode which is entered by a user; a storage device for storing the setting value determined by the setting device; a selector for selecting the setting value selected by the user from the existing setting values stored in the storage device; and a printer controller which processes a document through use of the setting value selected or newly entered by the user to thereby produce print data and which supplies the produced print data to the printer.

Abstract: Print media drying time need not be set to an artificially high "worst case" drying time. Instead a reliable drying time is estimated based upon factors, such as temperature, humidity, media type, print quality and ink drop volume. When the estimated drying time is undesirably slow, the estimated and actual drying time is reduced by altering the ink composition of the image to be printed. One technique is to over-print or under-print with composite black rather than a true pigment black. Another technique is to deplete the black ink used throughout the image.

Abstract: A tape printing device includes a key input for inputting characters and symbols, a memory for storing data representing the input characters and symbols, a tape-width detector for detecting width of a loaded tape, an enlargement printing command receiver for receiving command information concerning an enlargement printing mode. In the enlargement printing mode a pseudo label, whose size is N times that of a label in a normal printing mode, is obtained when arranging tape-sections widthwise of the tape in such a manner as to join, after dividing the printed tape into N tape length sections, wherein N is an integer of at least two. A computer determines the printing attribute for each of the N tape sections in accordance with the characters and symbols stored in memory and tape width detected by the tape-width detector. A printer serially prints on the end character-string portions in the manner determined by the computer for the respective tape length sections.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a character printing apparatus in which an input character string is printed on a plurality of print mediums loaded in the apparatus and having a transversal dimension, on which limitation is imposed, and different longitudinal dimensions.

Abstract: A printer and control method for printing to various types of recording media store printing modes appropriate to those various types of recording media in a mode/media memory section. When a particular printing mode is selected while a particular type of recording media is selected, the correlation between that printing mode an recording media is stored. Whenever that type of recording media is subsequently selected for printing, the corresponding printing mode is automatically selected from memory to control the printing operation. It is therefore possible to select what printing mode is used with what recording media, and thereafter automatically select, by simply selecting the type of recording media, the printing mode that is most appropriate to the type of recording media, the thickness of the media, and other particular media specifications. Printing appropriate to the type of recording media is then possible by simply selecting the type of recording media used.

Abstract: A serial printer apparatus comprises a print heat for printing on a medium according to a received character signal, a carrier on which the print head is provided and which runs the print head over an unprintable region and a printable region, and a control circuit for monitoring the running speed of the carrier and controlling the speed of the carrier by accelerating or decelerating the carrier while suppressing the amount of fluctuation of the speed at least in the printable region.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for printing digital graphic images directly onto a bottle. First, an electronically storable and retrievable digital image is generated. Next, the digital image is transferred to a printing site. Finally, the digital image is digitally printed directly onto bottle at the printing site. The step of digitally printing the digital image directly onto packaging material can include digitally printing the digital image directly onto a preformed bottle, such as a PET bottle. The ink can be provided as a UV-reactive ink, in which instance the UV-reactive ink, after the step of printing, can be cured by exposure to UV light. The present invention allows for full color digital graphic images to be printed directly onto the surface of a bottle.

Abstract: A predictive function expressed by a dot matrix is applied to binary image data and an object dot is converted into, e.g., white data so as to increase the number of white data. A run length coding is performed on the image data where the number of the white data is increased, thus compression is performed on the image data at high compression rate. When expanded, the compressed image data is expanded by run length decoding. A reverse prediction is performed by using the predictive function, thus, original image data is obtained.

Abstract: A printing apparatus, a control method therefor, and a medium on which the control method is stored, enable selection of a resume operation to be performed when the printing apparatus resumes operation following an off-line state. The resume operation to be performed after an off-line state is determined by a command received from a host device according to the cause for the off-line state. The resume operation thus determined is performed when the printing apparatus goes on-line again following the off-line state. A marker indicating a particular location in a continuous data stream can be set. If the marker is placed at the beginning of a particular data stream, printing can be resumed from the beginning of the data stream after recovery from an off-line state. By also storing various printer definitions (settings) when a marker is set, the printing apparatus can also be restored to the printer definitions in use when the printer went off-line.

Abstract: There is provided a printing apparatus for printing on a continuous tape. When a portion of a continuous tape having passed a thermal head is cut at a predetermined cutting position, a stepping motor is caused to stop driving the platen roller for rotation to stop feeding of the tape, and then the tape is cut off. During tape-cutting operation, the stepping motor is held in an energized state. When the printing operation is resumed after stopping the feeding and printing of the tape, the thermal head is caused to print on a portion of the tape printed by an immediately preceding printing operation by the thermal head, in an overlapping manner, by the use of identical printing data or printing data for a next line of dots.

Abstract: There are provided a print image-forming device and device for forming print images and a printing apparatus incorporating the device. A basic image is created which has a plurality of elementary images including at least one fixed-sized elementary image and at least one variable-sized elementary image. A reduced image of the basic image is formed as the print image by reducing at least one of the at least one variable-sized elementary image of the basic image, when the basic image cannot be printed as the print image within the printing area.

Abstract: A serial recording apparatus is disclosed which is capable of continuously printing even if a dot-forming element (or elements) of the element array of the recording head is defective, by substituting for the defective dot-forming element, a substitution dot-forming element. The serial recording apparatus also automatically detects a defective dot-forming element of the element array of the recording head. In operation, print data of the defective dot-forming element, which loses its dot-forming function, is saved in a second print-data storing device, and a first printing pass is carried out. In the second printing pass, a normal dot-forming element is moved to a location on a recording sheet which would otherwise be subjected to printing by the defective dot-forming element, and reads out the print data from the second print-data storing device to print it on that location.

Abstract: A printing apparatus which can improve a print throughput in consideration of a color processing mode suitable for print data is provided. The color processing mode is decided on the basis of information of color attribute included in the print data and added to output data, the resultant data is transferred to the printing apparatus, and further, the color processing mode is decided by a page unit.

Abstract: For printing a label with user desired margins, a tape printer determines a first region in which a character string is to be printed, and determines a second region encompassing the first region and in which an array of dots is to be printed. The array of dots with the character string superimposed thereon is printed onto the tape. This array of dots is used as a reference to guide cutting of the tape to form a label with user desired margins.

Abstract: An ink jet recording apparatus includes an edge detection unit that detects the positions of pixels in one pixel line in which data changes from 0 to 1 in accordance with the data serially converted from ORed data in a state where the data representing OR of each recording data on each ink color, and a discharge control data formation unit that forms fixing process driving data including data 1 at a given ratio to AND data obtainable by operating AND between the serially converted data from the ORed data and the detection output from the edge detection unit.

Abstract: Ink jet printing apparatus for forming a borderless image on a receiver in response to a digital image file having a digital image and the desired size of the image to be formed, including an ink jet print bar for delivering ink to the receiver and disposed at an image transfer position. The apparatus moves the receiver along a path onto a platen past the ink jet print bar at the image transfer position; a receiver detector unit disposed adjacent to the path for detecting the leading edge of the receiver prior to its moving to the image transfer position; a receiver cutter for cutting the receiver to an appropriate size; and control circuitry responsive to the digital image file for determining the appropriate size of the borderless image on the receiver and for actuating the ink jet printer to cause an ink image to be formed on the receiver as it moves past the image transfer position and for actuating the receiver cutter to cut the receiver so a borderless image is formed on the receiver.

Abstract: The present invention provides an improved tape printing device for printing a desirable series of characters in a preferable balance on a tape through a simple operation. The tape printing device of the invention is used for printing text data in a plurality of lines along a width of the tape and in a plurality of `paragraphs` along a predetermined length of the tape. The `paragraph` in the tape printing device is different from a paragraph in a word processor and includes a fixed number of lines. Even when text data in a certain line of a paragraph is deleted, the certain line is kept in the paragraph as a vacant line. In another application, the tape printing device of the invention includes a predetermined menu for printing text data in a plurality of lines. The plurality of lines are arranged in a good balance when the user selects one of possible choices for each required information in the predetermined menu.

Abstract: A tape printing apparatus prints at least one line of a character string formed of characters on a tape. The at least one line of the character string is/are entered. At least one character size rank is/are designated respectively for the at least one line of the character string. The at least one character size rank designated are converted to at least one numerical value, respectively, to thereby determine at least one line-by-line relative character size corresponding respectively to the at least one character size rank. At least one line-by-line absolute character size corresponding respectively to the at least one line-by-line relative character size is/are determined based on a total absolute size corresponding to a tape width of the tape. At least one line of the character string on the tape is/are printed based on the line-by-line absolute character size.

Abstract: There are provided a method and apparatus for printing a print image on a print material by using a print head based on dot information of the print image by causing at least one of the print head and the print material to move to thereby effect relative motion between the print head and the print material at a relative speed dependent on a rotational speed of a DC motor as a drive source. Driving of the DC motor and the print head is controlled for printing of the print image. A distance from a predetermined length start position selected from a front end position, a print start position, and a print end position of the print material to a predetermined length end position at which the relative motion is to be terminated, is set to a predetermined length. Braking of the DC motor is controlled by varying a braking load on the DC motor in dependence on the relative speed and the predetermined length so as to terminate the relative motion at the predetermined length end position.

Abstract: A method of controlling a speed of a print medium through a printer includes the step of providing a print medium transport assembly with a range of print medium transport speeds between a minimum print medium transport speed and a maximum print medium transport speed. A print engine is provided with a print engine speed. The range of print medium transport speeds is divided into subranges of print medium transport speeds. A requested speed is provided to the print medium transport assembly which corresponds to the print engine speed. For each subrange, an acceleration profile control equation, a constant speed control equation, and a deceleration profile control equation is determined. The constant speed control equation is dependent upon the requested speed. One of the subranges of print medium transport speeds is identified which encompasses the requested speed.

Abstract: Disclosed is a printing control apparatus for controlling a printing process performed on recording media according to printing information input from a data processing apparatus via a particular communication medium, the recording media being fed one by one to a printing mechanism and ejected out of the main part of a printer. The apparatus has a variably setting unit for variably setting the resolution of the printing mechanism; a calculator for calculating the time required for the printing process on a recording medium until ejecting the recording medium out of the main part of the printer, depending on the resolution variably set by the variably setting unit; a time measurement mechanism for measuring an elapsed time; and a judgment unit for judging whether a recording medium has been ejected on the basis of the elapsed time measured by the time measurement mechanism and also on the basis of the time calculated by the calculator.

Abstract: A printing method for producing a print having large visual effects mat processing the surface of a print made by an ink ribbon and a thermal transfer head. The images of color components of yellow, magenta, and cyan 52 are sequentially formed on a printing paper 23, and thereafter, a lamination film 53 is stuck to the entire image face in the same process. At this time, a silk texture or random concave-convex pattern is formed on the lamination film 53 and the mat processing having the large visual effects is performed.

Abstract: In a facsimile apparatus having a printing mechanism, the number of consumed printing papers is accumulated. When an ink ribbon is exchanged, a manual reset operation is requested. In one aspect, the request is made only when the accumulated value is in excess of a predetermined reference. In another aspect, two counters are used to accumulate the number of consumed printing papers separately from each other. If one counter is not reset when the reset operation is requested and a recovery of correct accumulated value is instructed manually, the accumulated value in that counter is updated by the other accumulated value in the other counter.

Abstract: A printing apparatus and a printing registration method permits printing registration between a forward and a reverse scan of a head cartridge between a plurality of head cartridges without troubling a user and simply. By forward and reverse scan of the head cartridge, a plurality of patterns, in which a print start timing of the reverse scan is shifted per a predetermined amount relative to that of the forward scan, are printed. These patterns may vary an area factor by the dots formed by printing depending upon offset amount. On the other hand, the plurality of patterns are optically read an average density. By this, the timing, at which the read average density is maximum is set as the printing registration condition.

Abstract: The present invention provides an improved tape printing device for printing a desirable series of characters in a preferable balance on a tape through a simple operation. The tape printing device of the invention is used for printing text data in a plurality of lines along a width of the tape and in a plurality of paragraphs along a predetermined length of the tape.

Abstract: A character string including one or more full-width characters and one or more half-width numerical characters is input and printed on a tape. The half-width characters are input by a symbol entering mode and have widths which are one-half the widths of ordinary characters. Two half-width numeric characters to be printed consecutively are developed in a font development area corresponding to that required for one full-width character so that the two half-width numeric characters can be handled as a single character.

Abstract: A printing system in which print data created by an application program and transferred to a printer is stored and managed in a print data storage device, providing that the print data is authorized for reprinting. A printer monitor is provided to constantly monitor the printer for a request to retransmit data that has already been printed. When such a retransmission request from the printer is detected, the print data requested for retransmission is specified in the print data storage device and is transmitted to the printer for reprinting.

Abstract: A printer, in which nozzles for printing dots are positioned in a zigzag formation, has a simple circuit for sending to these nozzles printing data that has been expanded into a bit-map image. When sending data to a print head in which odd-numbered nozzles and even-numbered nozzles are alternately positioned, the bit data of string n+l and the bit data of string n that correspond to respective nozzles inside image buffer 20 are converted from parallel to serial before being sent. Odd-numbered bit data and even-numbered bit data are then selected from the bit data using divided clock signals, and are converted from serial to parallel for printing.

Abstract: This printing apparatus is provided having a regular status data generating circuit for regularly generating status data. An automatic status selection and transmission circuit selects the status condition to be transmitted by the automatic status transmission operation, and a status data comparator compares the status data. By executing the automatic status selection and transmission command, the status is thereafter transmitted each time the selected status changes.

Abstract: A printer allows changing the number of images printed on a single sheet of said recording medium, changing the layout of the print images, and changing the size of the print images. Said printer is provided with a means for determining whether or not each printed image size is larger or smaller than a predetermined size by comparing the size of a print image with a predetermined size. High quality print images are obtained by accomplishing image processing for contrast emphasis when an image is small than a predetermined size, and accomplishing image processing for edge emphasis when an image is larger than a predetermined size.

Abstract: A label printing apparatus for printing characters on a label. The apparatus includes a controller operable to perform various functions, such as (1) recalling stored common font data for each character selected and being operable to apply a scaling factor to the font data to produce print pixel data for printing the character; (2) deriving characters from the font data to determine sequentially intersections of lines and/or curves of the character with a print line extending heightwise to generate therefrom a set of pixel data for directly printing a column of dots corresponding to the set of pixel data defined at that print line; and/or (3) implementing a preview function which enables all characters of an entire label to be displayed at one time on a display even when the length of the label is greater than the size of the display.

Abstract: A method and software program for determining printability of a defect on a reticle or photomask onto a substrate during processing. That is performed by creating a pixel grid image having a plurality of individual pixel images showing the defect. A gray scale value is assigned to each pixel image of the pixel grid image and a probable center pixel of the defect is selected. Then the polarity of the defect is determined, with a coarse center pixel of the defect optionally selected using the probable center defect and polarity of the defect. If a coarse center pixel is selected, then a fine center of the defect can optionally be selected from the coarse center pixel and polarity of the defect. From the center pixel the physical extent of the defect can be determined followed by the determination the transmissivity energy level of the physical extent of the defect.

Abstract: A digital still camera combines a display pattern received from a printing apparatus and a photographed image with each other, and displays the resultant image on a viewfinder. A user adjusts the balance between the display pattern and the image of the object both being displayed on the viewfinder, and depresses a shutter release button. The digital still camera fetches the photographed image. The digital still camera sends to the printing apparatus the fetched image and a pattern name specifying the display pattern used at the time of photographing. The printing apparatus combines the decoration pattern specified by the pattern and the image received from the digital still camera into composite image data. The printing apparatus prints the composite image data.

Abstract: Disclosed is a new printing apparatus and process for inkjet printers which incorporates spectral modeling of ink mixing and the technology of halftoning in device-independent color space. In addition no colormap building or color mapping processing is necessary, because color correction is conducted in device-independent space and is built into the halftoning process. also disclosed is an automatic self-calibration by the printer without user intervention or user preferences by using an optical sensing unit on the printer. The procedure corrects for print cartridge to print cartridge variance, and variance of print cartridges over time and also provides for faster processing of color images.

Abstract: A printer has a print head with multiple nozzles and an encoder to encode print head data into firing bits used to determine various firing patterns of the print head nozzles. A decoder is integrated on the print head to decode the firing bits into firing pulses used to fire selected print head nozzles. The encoder encodes the print head data in such a manner that there are fewer firing bits than there are possible firings controlled by the firing bits. For instance, the encoder encodes the print head data such that "n" firing bits define 2.sup.n firing levels (where "n" is an integer), with each firing level defining a different number of firings. With the multi-level encoding, the encoder is able to control more than n possible firings with each n firing bits.

Abstract: In a double-side printing control method, a printing request transmitted by a host computer is received, the printing request including print data and a given resolution of the print data. The print data is expanded to image data at the given resolution. The image data is stored in a system control part of a printing apparatus. A double-side printing is performed with the stored image data when the printing request is a double-side printing request. Before performing the double-side printing at the given resolution, it is determined whether an image memory area of the system control part that stores two pages of image data is held, and it is determined whether an image memory area of an external storage part that stores one page of image data can be held.

Abstract: There is provided an output apparatus for outputting an image pattern by dots on the basis of a vector font. The apparatus comprises: a memory to store coordinate point data indicative of an outline of a pattern; a first mode to arrange into dots on the basis of the coordinate point data stored in the memory; a second mode to reduce the number of outline points than that in the first mode and to arrange into dots; a mode indicating device to indicate the first or second mode; and an output device to output dots in accordance with the first or second mode on the basis of the indication from the mode indicating device. By properly selecting the first or second mode, an image pattern can be displayed or printed by dots at a desired quality and a desired speed on the basis of the vector font.

Abstract: A tape printing apparatus selects one of a plurality of kinds of print formats as a designated print format. Characters entered are arranged to form a character string. Print image data is formed by editing the character string based on the designated print format. Printing is carried out on a recording medium in the form of a tape being fed, based on the print image data.

Abstract: An apparatus for demonstrating printers is provided. Associated with each printer is a demo control box having at least one button that may be pressed to initiate the printing of a demonstration page by that printer. Each demo control box for each printer is connected to a printer control that contains a set of demo images stored in memory. The printer control receives signals from each of the demo control boxes and selects a demo image from the set of demo images to send to the printers which are connected to printer control outputs. Multiple printers can be printing demo pages at the same time. The controller has a download input for updating the set of demo images to reflect changes in the printers and to provide customized demo pages for the retailer.

Abstract: A printer and method of printing including in a feedback mechanism having an imaging head for imaging, digitizing, or sampling at least a portion of a symbol, a comparator for comparing the imaged portion to a print command provided by a print logic print driver so as to generate print logic update information, whereby the print logic is updated in real time in response to the print logic update information.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method and an apparatus for driving and controlling a thermal head used in a printing device, such as a tape printer, in response to the temperature variations of the printing device environment and the thermal head. According to the present invention, in the printing operation of the tape printer, measurements are made of the initial temperature T1 immediately after the power is switched on, the temperature prior to printing T2, and the ambient temperature of the thermal head each time the thermal head prints T3 (i). If the temperature difference between the initial temperature T1 and the temperature prior to printing T2 is small, the duration of the current signals provided to the thermal head is controlled in accordance with the temperature prior to printing T2, which is the most recently measured thermal head ambient temperature best reflecting the printing device environmental temperature.

Abstract: A process corrects geometric errors in the transfer of information without mechanical intervention on the printing form, to compensate for the errors that occur and thus attain optimized print quality prior to imaging. The corrections are visually indiscernible, so that the artifacts created in the printed result by the corrections do not stand out in the image. A device-independent description of the page information to be printed is converted by a Raster Imaging Process into at least one device-dependent digital matrix. Each matrix with m rows and n columns contains the information for a certain color to be printed. After the individual matrices are produced, they are supplied to a matrix manipulation device, which subjects each matrix to a correction transformation using specific parameters. After the matrices are adjusted, they are supplied by a matrix transfer device to the digital imaging devices in the printing mechanisms.

Abstract: A tape printing apparatus is provided. Document data including character data, line feed data and division break-inserting data is input. An editing document formed of the document data is displayed. A position within the editing document is designated. A selected one of registered documents stored is called and inserted into the editing document as document data forming a new division of the editing document, at a predetermined one of a forward position immediately before a desired division within the editing document and a backward position immediately after the desired division, the desired division containing the designated position.

Abstract: A host computer checks the frequency of type data such as a character code or a graphic pattern in print data. Type data with a high frequency is registered in a registered character management area in correspondence with a data ID and sent to a printer. The printer registers the received ID and data in a print data registration area. Thereafter, the host computer sends print data obtained upon replacement of the type data with the ID to the printer. The printer identifies an ID included in the print data, replaces the ID with the corresponding type data, and outputs the print data. With this processing, data with a high use frequency can be registered in the printer. Therefore, the data transfer amount from the host computer can be decreased, and the printing processing speed is increased. In addition, since the frequency is totalized, the memory in the printer can be effectively used.

Abstract: A method of forming a high-quality image on an elongated recording medium, such as a roll of paper sheet. When an image includes a character which stretches between two print regions, a blank line portion of the image is detected. When image forming operation is performed for forming a portion of the image up to the blank line, sheet feed operations are performed. Then, image forming operation for a remaining portion of the image is performed. Because the sheet feed operation will not be performed in the middle of printing of such image, undesirable broken line or gap will not be formed on the printed image.