Print processing method and printing system

Abstract

A server constituted by a plurality of processors which process page description language data receives a print instruction from a client, and decides the number of layers into which a page is to be segmented based on render instructions included in the page description language data. The server decides the number of processors which perform parallel processing of the generation of print data from the page description language data based on the decided number of layers. The server generates print data equal in number to the number of layers based on which the number of processors is decided. An output device requests the server to transmit print data. The server transmits print data in accordance with the request from the output device. Upon receiving the print data from the server, the output device processes the print data and outputs it onto a sheet.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A print processing method for a printing system in which a client which issues a print instruction, a server including a plurality of processors which process page description language data, and an output device which outputs print data generated from the page description language data are connected to each other via a network,
 wherein the server executes:   a reception step of receiving a print instruction from the client;   a decision step of deciding the number of layers into which a page is segmented, based on render instructions included in the page description language data, and deciding the number of processors which perform parallel processing for generation of print data from the page description language data, based on the decided number of layers;   a generation step of generating the print data equal in number to the number of layers based on which the number of processors is decided in the decision step; and   a transmission step of transmitting the print data generated in the generation step in accordance with a request from the output device, and   wherein the output device executes:   a requesting step of requesting the server to transmit the print data; and   an output step of processing the print data upon receiving the print data from the server in the requesting step, and outputting the print data onto a sheet.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein in the generation step, it is determined whether the processor renders the print data into a bitmap, and the processor renders the print data into the bitmap when it is determined that the processor renders the print data into the bitmap. 
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 2 , wherein in the determination, it is determined whether a band between the processor and the output device is wider than a predetermined band, and the processor renders the print data into the bitmap when the band is wider than the predetermined band. 
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the output device transmits information to reduce a segmentation unit of the page description language data if no print data is received from the server when a predetermined period of time has elapsed after the server is requested to transmit print data. 
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the server increases a segmentation unit of the page description language data if a charge is imposed in accordance with the number of processors when the number of layers is decided. 
     
     
         6 . A printing system in which a client which issues a print instruction, a server including a plurality of processors which process page description language data, and an output device which outputs print data generated from the page description language data are connected to each other via a network,
 wherein said server comprises:   a reception unit configured to receive a print instruction from the client;   a decision unit configured to decide the number of layers into which a page is segmented, based on render instructions included in the page description language data, and decide the number of processors which perform parallel processing for generation of print data from the page description language data, based on the decided number of layers;   a generation unit configured to generate the print data equal in number to the number of layers based on which the number of processors is decided by said decision unit; and   a transmission unit configured to transmit the print data generated in the generation step in accordance with a request from the output device, and   wherein said output device comprises:   a requesting unit configured to request said server to transmit the print data; and   an output unit configured to process the print data when said requesting unit receives the print data from said server, and output the print data onto a sheet.   
     
     
         7 . A computer-readable recording medium recording a program for causing a computer to execute a print processing method defined in  claim 1 . 
     
     
         8 . An information processing apparatus comprising:
 a segmentation unit configured to segment page description language data for each layer such that the number of layers decreases toward a background; and   a transmission unit configured to transmit page description language data segmented by said segmentation unit for each layer to a plurality of generation units.   
     
     
         9 . A printing system comprising:
 a segmentation unit configured to segment page description language data for each layer such that the number of layers decreases toward a background;   a plurality of generation units configured to generate print data based on page description language data segmented by the segmentation unit for each layer; and   a printing unit configured to print based on print data generated by said generation unit.