Device, system and method for making custom printed products

A system for making stickers, comprising:

• a computer comprising a memory and a processor coupled to the memory, wherein the memory has executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed by the processor, cause the computer to:
• receive, via a communication module of the computer, an image for the printed product;
• receive, via the communication module, a size of the printed product;
• perform pixel edge detection on the image to generate a plurality of polygons corresponding to all shapes in the image;
• detect and remove any polygons in the plurality of polygons having a size below a size threshold to generate a reduced set of polygons;
• apply an offset to each polygon in the reduced set of polygons to generate a set of modified polygons;
• combine the polygons in the set of modified polygons to generate a combined polygon;
• apply a smoothing algorithm to the combined polygon;
• determine a set of one or more curves that define the smoothed polygon, wherein the set of one or more curves that define the smoothed polygon are determined by applying spline approximation to the combined polygon;
• and
• dynamically generate a cut path for the printed product in real-time in dependence on the set of one or more curves and the received size so that the cut path has a shape dependent on the set of one or more curves and a size dependent on the received size;
• a printer coupled to the computer for printing the image on a substrate in dependence on the received size and the offset so that the printed image has a printed size equal to the received size less the offset;
• and
• a cutter coupled to the computer for cutting the substrate in dependence on the cut path.

A computer-implemented method for making a printed product, comprising:

• receiving, via a communication module of the computer, an image for the printed product;
• receiving, via the communication module, a size of the printed product;
• performing pixel edge detection on the image to generate a plurality of polygons corresponding to all shapes in the image;
• detecting and removing any polygons in the plurality of polygons having a size below a size threshold to generate a reduced set of polygons;
• combining the polygons in the reduced set of polygons to generate a combined polygon;
• applying an offset to the combined polygon to generate a modified polygon;
• applying a smoothing algorithm to the modified polygon;
• determining a set of one or more curves that define the smoothed polygon, wherein the set of one or more curves that define the smoothed polygon are determined by applying spline approximation to the combined polygon;
• dynamically generating a cut path for the printed product in real-time in dependence on the set of one or more curves and the received size so that the cut path has a shape dependent on the set of one or more curves and a size dependent on the received size;
• causing a printer to print the image on a substrate material for the image product in dependence on the received size and the offset so that the printed image has a printed size equal to the received size less the offset;
• and
• causing a cutter to cut the substrate in dependence on the cut path.