Industrial printing system, print server, and variable printing method that guarantees print quality even when requesting peer-to-peer variable printing

1 . An industrial printing system having a plurality of print servers, printing apparatuses, and inspecting apparatuses and performing variable printing of print data for production printing, wherein

each of the plurality of print servers comprises:

an inspection master generating unit configured to generate master data for inspection in which inspection processing and good-quality standard are set for the print data;

a processing management unit configured to transmit the print data and the master data generated by the inspection master generating unit to another print server and request processing;

each of the inspecting apparatuses is configured to inspect printed matter of the print data based on the master data; and

the master data includes a character and image master, wherein the character and image master is character data of an object for inspection or image data of an area of the object, and serves as an inspection master for comparison.

2 . The industrial printing system according to claim 1 , wherein:

the master data includes variable data for inspecting each record of the print data, and

each of the inspecting apparatuses is configured to inspect each record, wherein

the variable data is a subset or reduced data generated by extracting a portion of variable data in the print data.

3 . The industrial printing system according to claim 2 , wherein:

the print data includes ID data printed for each record, and

each of the inspecting apparatuses is configured to read the ID to identify the record, wherein

the inspection master generating unit is configured to make the ID data printed for each record include in the print data in an area outside a cutting area or a cover, which can be recognized by the inspecting apparatuses.

4 . The industrial printing system according to claim 1 , wherein:

the inspection processing and good-quality standard are set for each object of the print data, wherein

in the object, the area is identified by categories of fixed character string object, variable character string object, fixed image object, variable image, or barcode data, and

the inspection master generating unit is configured to set the inspection processing and the good-quality standard for inspection in the master data for each identified area.

5 . The industrial printing system according to claim 1 , wherein:

the other print server is configured to select whether to print again based on the master data or report the poor-quality to a print server, of the plurality of print servers, that requested the processing when an inspecting apparatus of the inspecting apparatuses determines that the printed matter is poor-quality by a threshold value of a reporting standard included in the master data; and

the print server that requested the processing is configured to send the print data corresponding to the printed matter, which has been reported to be the poor-quality, to a print server different from the other print server.

6 . The industrial printing system according to claim 5 , wherein the system is configured such that

the print server that requested the processing extracts only a defective record and transmits the defective record to a print server different from the other print server.

7 . The industrial printing system according to claim 5 , wherein the system is configured such that

the print server that requested the processing transmits a command via broadcast to a plurality of print servers to inquire about processing availability and selects the print server whose reply meets the conditions as the other print server.

8 . A print server for an industrial printing system that performs variable printing of print data for production printing, comprising:

an inspection master generating unit configured to generate master data for inspection in which inspection processing and good-quality standard are set for the print data;

a processing management unit configured to transmit the print data and the master data generated by the inspection master generating unit to another print server and request processing, wherein

the master data includes a character and image master, wherein the character and image master is character data of an object for inspection or image data of an area of the object, and serves as an inspection master for comparison.

9 . The print server according to claim 8 , wherein:

the master data includes variable data for inspecting each record of the print data; and

the variable data is a subset or reduced data generated by extracting a portion of variable data in the print data.

10 . The print server according to claim 9 , wherein:

the print data includes ID data printed for each record; and

the inspection master generating unit is configured to make the ID data printed for each record include in the print data in an area outside a cutting area or a cover, which can be recognized by an inspecting apparatus.

11 . The print server according to claim 8 , wherein:

the inspection processing and good-quality standard are set for each object of the print data; and

in the object, the area is identified by categories of fixed character string object, variable character string object, fixed image object, variable image, or barcode data, and

the inspection master generating unit is configured to set the inspection processing and the good-quality standard for inspection in the master data for each identified area.

12 . The print server according to claim 8 , wherein:

the print server is configured such that,

when the print server is one of a plurality of print servers, each of said plurality of print servers having an inspection master generating unit configured to generate master data for inspection in which inspection processing and good-quality standard are set for print data, and a processing management unit configured to transmit print data and the master data generated by the inspection master generating unit to another print server and request processing,

the print server can receive the transmitted print data and the master data and select whether to print again based on the master data or report the poor-quality to a print server that requested the processing when an inspecting apparatus determines that the printed matter is poor-quality by a threshold value of a reporting standard included in the master data; and

when the print server requested the processing, the print server can send the print data corresponding to the printed matter, which has been reported to be the poor-quality, to a print server different from the other print server.

13 . A variable printing method executed by an industrial printing system having a plurality of print servers including own print server and other print server and performing variable printing of print data for production printing, comprising the steps of:

by the own print server, generating master data for inspection in which inspection processing and good-quality standard are set for the print data;

by the own print server, transmitting the print data and the generated master data to other print server and requesting processing;

by an inspecting apparatus of the other print server, inspecting printed matter of the print data based on the master data;

wherein the master data includes a character and image master, wherein the character and image master is character data of an object for inspection or image data of an area of the object, and serves as an inspection master for comparison.

14 . The variable printing method according to claim 13 , wherein:

the master data includes variable data for inspecting each record of the print data; and the method further includes a step of:

by the inspecting apparatus, inspecting each record;

wherein the variable data is a subset or reduced data generated by extracting a portion of variable data in the print data.

15 . The variable printing method according to claim 14 , wherein:

the print data includes ID data printed for each record; and the method further includes steps of:

by the inspecting apparatus, reading the ID to identify the record,

by the own print server, making the ID data printed for each record include in the print data in an area outside a cutting area or a cover, which can be recognized by the inspecting apparatuses.

16 . The variable printing method according to claim 13 , wherein:

the inspection processing and good-quality standard are set for each object of the print data,

in the object, the area is identified by categories of fixed character string object, variable character string object, fixed image object, variable image, or barcode data, and

the method further includes a step of: by the own print server, setting the inspection processing and the good-quality standard for inspection in the master data for each identified area.

17 . The variable printing method according to claim 13 , and further include steps of:

by the other print server, selecting whether to print again based on the master data or report the poor-quality to a print server requested the processing when the inspecting apparatus determines that the printed matter is poor-quality by a threshold value of a reporting standard included in the master data; and

by the own print server, sending the print data corresponding to the printed matter, which has been reported to be the poor-quality, to a print server different from the other print server.

18 . The variable printing method according to claim 17 , comprising

extracting, by the print server that requested the processing, only a defective record and transmits the defective record to a print server different from the other print server.

19 . The variable printing method according to claim 17 , comprising

transmitting, by the print server that requested the processing, a command via broadcast to a plurality of print servers to inquire about processing availability and selecting the print server whose reply meets the conditions as the other print server.