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US 8,713,430 B2Granted
Document layout method
AssigneeCanon Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorAlan Valev Tonisson
Life of this patent
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AssigneeCanon Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorAlan Valev Tonisson
Estimating the term…
Methods and apparatus for variable document printing are disclosed in which a graphical user interface is configured to allow user manipulation of layout rules associated with content containers within a template for variable document generation. One method involves laying out (626) container objects (407, 408) forming part of a template (624) intended for a variable data document. The objects each have a rectangular boundary in two-dimensional space, and the method comprises detecting an operation (628, 2800) to modify a position of at least one edge of at least one of the objects. Then, rules of association between edges of the objects having a corresponding orientation to the one edge are identified. A position of at least the one edge is then modified while observing the rules of association between all the correspondingly oriented edges. Finally an objective function derived from the rules of association between the correspondingly oriented edges is minimized (3009) to thereby balance a layout of the objects in at least the dimension of modification. Other methods involve maintaining the objective function for a group of edges, the addition and removal of constraints in respect of correspondingly oriented edges, the removal, addition and then removal of constraints in modifying the width of a container, the calculation of text container sizes, and the creation of tables, particularly for text containers.
A layout method for generating a document using a template, the layout method comprising:
A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having a computer program recorded thereon, the program being executable by computer apparatus to perform a layout method for generating a document using a template, the program comprising:
Computer apparatus generating a document using a template, the apparatus comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.
Editing, e.g. inserting or deleting: templates
Text processing: formatting, i.e. changing of presentation of documents
Computing and data processing
Term ended 9 Jun 2026 (estimated)
The present invention relates to software implemented methods and processes for creation, editing, and printing of documents composed of text and graphics and, in particular, to the creation, editing and printing of variable data documents.
Variable Data Printing
Traditionally, when printing large numbers of documents, the printing processes used have been analogue processes that required physical representations of the documents. These included bromides and/or printing plates that had to be created before printing. This has meant that it was expensive to produce customized documents and large runs of documents typically involved printing multiple copies of exactly the same document.
At least one embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings in which:
FIG. 1A illustrates a computer system configuration for variable data printing;
FIG. 1B is a schematic block diagram representation of the computer module of FIG. 1A;
1. Overview
A variable data document creation and printing system is disclosed which is preferably implemented as a software application. The application allows a plurality of documents to be created that have a similar form yet whose contents may differ. This is achieved by the creation and editing of a document template, and the association of areas on the document template with various data.
A document template may contain a plurality of containers, each of which is configured to hold content, such as text or image data. Containers can be fixed in position and size, or may vary in dimensions or position from document to document in accordance with user specified rules. The content of these containers can be static or variable (i.e. dependent on some data source, such as a database).