Auto-adjusted print location on center-tracked printers
First Claim
1. A method of automatically configuring a print location on a center-tracked printer, comprising:
- parsing, via the printer, print commands of incoming data comprising an image;
rendering, via the printer, an image buffer;
determining, via the printer, a location of leftmost black pixel of the image;
determining, via the printer, a location of rightmost black pixel of the image;
determining, via the printer, an image width, wherein the image width equals a distance between the rightmost black pixel and the leftmost black pixel;
in response to determining the image width, calculating, via the printer, a left margin by subtracting the image width from a width of a print head of the printer and dividing difference by two;
in response to calculating the left margin, adding, via the printer, the left margin to the image width to determine a centered image position for printing on a label;
sending, via the printer, the image and the centered image position to the print head for printing on the label; and
printing, via the print head and based upon the centered image position, the image centered on the label, wherein the printing is performed without the printer detecting or otherwise receiving input regarding the width of the label.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention embraces methods to automatically adjust print locations on a label on center-tracked printers. The methods are applicable for the initial out of the box setup and when changing media/print scripts after deployment of the printer. A novelty of the present invention is that no additional hardware may be required and the method is implemented with a relatively simple software algorithm. By utilizing a simple software algorithm and an analysis of the objects (barcode, text, shape, graphics, etc.) in the rendered image buffer, the centered position for the label can be calculated. The calculation of the centered position for the label is based on the print head width and the image width. An additional benefit with this invention is that the risk of printing outside the physical label (due to mechanical or label media roll variations) is minimized, since the image is printed centered.
439 Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A method of automatically configuring a print location on a center-tracked printer, comprising:
-
parsing, via the printer, print commands of incoming data comprising an image; rendering, via the printer, an image buffer; determining, via the printer, a location of leftmost black pixel of the image; determining, via the printer, a location of rightmost black pixel of the image; determining, via the printer, an image width, wherein the image width equals a distance between the rightmost black pixel and the leftmost black pixel; in response to determining the image width, calculating, via the printer, a left margin by subtracting the image width from a width of a print head of the printer and dividing difference by two; in response to calculating the left margin, adding, via the printer, the left margin to the image width to determine a centered image position for printing on a label; sending, via the printer, the image and the centered image position to the print head for printing on the label; and printing, via the print head and based upon the centered image position, the image centered on the label, wherein the printing is performed without the printer detecting or otherwise receiving input regarding the width of the label. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
-
-
6. A method implemented on a printer comprising a print head, comprising:
-
parsing, via the printer, incoming data of an image and rendering an image buffer; determining, via the printer, a left edge and a right edge of the image inside the image buffer; calculating, via the printer, an image width of the image; in response to calculating the image width, calculating, via the printer, a white space to be added to left of the image during printing using the image width and the width of the print head; and printing, via the print head and based upon the calculated white space, the image centered on a label having the white space added to the left of the image; wherein the printing of the image centered on the label is performed without the printer detecting or otherwise receiving input regarding the width of the label. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
-
-
13. A method implemented on a center-tracked printer, comprising:
-
parsing, via the printer, incoming data of an image and rendering an image buffer; determining, via the printer, a left edge and a right edge of the image inside the image buffer; calculating, via the printer, image width; and if the image is to be centered on a label; calculating, via the printer, a white space to be added to left of the image during printing based upon the image width and the width of a print head of the printer to determine a centered image position, and printing, via the print head, the image centered on the label based upon the centered image position, wherein the printing of the image centered on the label is performed without the printer detecting or otherwise receiving input regarding the width of the label. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
Specification