1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus capable of handling a copy-forgery-inhibited pattern document and a method for controlling the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In known copy-forgery-inhibited pattern control using access right concerning an image forming apparatus, an information processing apparatus performs copy-forgery-inhibited pattern control using a printer driver (not shown) (refer to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-078752).
FIG. 10 shows the configuration of a system for performing the known copy-forgery-inhibited pattern control.
Reference numeral 1001 denotes an administration server, numeral 1002 denotes an information processing apparatus, and numeral 1003 denotes an image forming apparatus.
They are networked over a LAN 1004.
FIG. 11 shows a flowchart of a procedure for copy-forgery-inhibited pattern control by the information processing apparatus 1002 with this system.
The processes of steps S1101 to S1106 in the flowchart are controlled by a CPU (not shown) of the information processing apparatus 1002. Step S1107 is controlled by a CPU (not shown) of the information processing apparatus 1002.
When a user gives a print instruction to the image forming apparatus 1003 from the information processing apparatus 1002 (S1101), first, the information processing apparatus 1002 makes a request to the administration server 1001 for authentication (S1102).
If it is determined in authentication processing (S1103) that the user is registered in the administration server 1001, the information processing apparatus 1002 generates print data in which a copy-forgery-inhibited pattern is added to the original (S1104).
If it is determined in the authentication processing (S1103) that the user is not registered in the administration server 1001, the information processing apparatus 1002 generates print data in which no copy-forgery-inhibited pattern is added to the original (S1105). The information processing apparatus 1002 transmits the generated print data to the image forming apparatus 1003 (S1106). The image forming apparatus 1003 prints the received print data (S1107). Thus, the addition/non-addition of a copy-forgery-inhibited pattern can be controlled using user right.
Furthermore, an authenticated user ID can be embedded in the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern; thus, if the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern document drains, the user can be identified.
There is another known system for changing the output format of a copy-forgery-inhibited pattern document that an image forming apparatus handles (refer to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-331313).
FIG. 12 shows the configuration of the known system for copy-forgery-inhibited pattern control.
Reference numeral 1201 denotes an information processing apparatus, numeral 1202 denotes an image forming apparatus having a resolution of 1200 dpi, and numeral 1203 denotes an image forming apparatus having a resolution of 600 dpi.
They are networked over a LAN 1204.
FIG. 13 shows a flowchart of a procedure for copy-forgery-inhibited pattern control by the information processing apparatus 1201 with this system.
The processes of the steps in the flowchart are controlled by a CPU (not shown) of the information processing apparatus 1201 or a CPU (not shown) of the image forming apparatus 1202 or 1203.
The print data of a copy-forgery-inhibited pattern document that the image forming apparatus 1202 or 1203 receives from the information processing apparatus 1201 includes original data, copy-forgery-inhibited pattern bitmap data, and copy-forgery-inhibited pattern vector data. When receiving the print data (S1301), the image forming apparatus 1202 or 1203 analyzes the resolution of the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern bitmap data (S1302).
Then, it is determined whether the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern bitmap data in the print data can be output without converting the resolution (S1303).
If it is determined that the image forming apparatus 1202 or 1203 can output it, the image forming apparatus 1202 or 1203 combines the original bitmap data and the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern bitmap data and prints it (S1304).
For example, if the image forming apparatus 1202 receives data having a resolution of 1200 dpi from the information processing apparatus 1201, the data can be output. Therefore, the image forming apparatus 1202 combines the original bitmap data and the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern bitmap data and prints it.
If the image forming apparatus 1202 or 1203 determines that the data cannot be output, it generates copy-forgery-inhibited pattern bitmap data having a resolution that allows output from the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern vector data (S1305).
For example, if the image forming apparatus 1203 receives data having a resolution of 1200 dpi, the data cannot be output. Therefore, the image forming apparatus 1203 generates copy-forgery-inhibited pattern bitmap data having a resolution that allows output from the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern vector data.
Then the generated original bitmap data and the generated copy-forgery-inhibited pattern bitmap data are combined and printed (S1306).
This prevents incorrect printing of the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern due to a difference in resolution.
That is, the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern can be changed depending on the conditions of the destination apparatus.
However, when transmitting a copy-forgery-inhibited pattern document that is temporarily stored in one image forming apparatus to another image forming apparatus or the information processing apparatus, this method performs editing, such as deleting copy-forgery-inhibited pattern bitmap data or copy-forgery-inhibited pattern vector data from the print data of the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern document. This has the possibility of transmitting only original data of a confidential document whose duplication should be inhibited using a copy-forgery-inhibited pattern to any persons having no right.
To prevent it, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-166303, there is a method for forcing an image forming apparatus to combine an original and a copy-forgery-inhibited pattern always when transmitting copy-forgery-inhibited image data, such as a copy-forgery-inhibited pattern document, to an information processing apparatus.
In printing by the above-described known method for controlling a copy-forgery-inhibited pattern document, the information processing apparatuses makes an authentication, and as a result, the information processing apparatus determines whether to generate the print data of only the original, or print data in which the original and the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern are combined, and transmits it to the image forming apparatus.
However, with the method of storing the print data in which the original and the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern are combined by the image forming apparatus in the image forming apparatus, it is difficult to again separate the print data into the original data and the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern data in the image forming apparatus.
As described above, with the method of forcing the image forming apparatus to always combine the original and the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern when transmitting a copy-forgery-inhibited pattern document to the information processing apparatus, image data in which the original and the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern are combined is transmitted also to a document owner, who is a creator, who desires to obtain only the original.
Here, data to which the original is to be combined is not limited to the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern document.
This poses the problem of limiting the convenience of the document owner.