PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To appropriately perform secondary printing on a tablet on which primary printing has been performed without requiring inspection for each tablet. SOLUTION: An end surface of a tablet on which primary printing has been performed is imaged to acquire an image, and based on the acquired image, a printable area that allows secondary printing and a print prohibited area that prohibits secondary printing. Is determined in the image, and a pattern indicating the print request area is defined in the image in order to define the print request area requesting printing in the printable area in accordance with the original appearance characteristics of the tablet and the primary print pattern. When the print-prohibited areas do not overlap with each other in the pattern in the process of displacing and superimposing, and superimposing, the printing unit is controlled based on the displacement amount of the pattern to perform printing. [Selection diagram] Figure 2【課題】１次印刷が行われた錠剤に対し、錠剤毎の検査を要することなく、適切に２次印刷を行うことができるようにする。【解決手段】１次印刷が行われた錠剤の端面を撮像して画像を取得し、当該取得された画像に基づいて、２次印刷を行うことを許容する印刷可能領域および禁止する印刷禁止領域を画像内で判定し、錠剤の本来の外観特徴および１次印刷パターンに対応して、印刷可能領域に印刷を要求する印刷要求領域を定義するために、前記画像に印刷要求領域を示すパターンを変位させて重ね合わせ、重ね合わせの過程でパターン内に印刷禁止領域が重複していない、または重複が最小である場合に、パターンの変位量に基づいて印刷部を制御して印刷を行わせる。【選択図】図２
