S&F Ref: 888265 AUSTRALIA PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT Name and Address Canon Kabushiki Kaisha, of 30-2, Shimomaruko 3 of Applicant: chome, Ohta-ku, Tokyo, 146, Japan Actual Inventor(s): Jaco Graaff Address for Service: Spruson & Ferguson St Martins Tower Level 35 31 Market Street Sydney NSW 2000 (CCN 3710000177) Invention Title: Document editing method The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us: 5845c(1901934_1) - 1 DOCUMENT EDITING METHOD FIELD OF INVENTION The current invention relates generally to the field of user interfaces for document editing and, in particular, to a method and apparatus for arranging a visual object in a virtual document. The current invention also relates to a computer program product including a 5 computer readable medium having recorded thereon a computer program for arranging a visual object in a virtual document. DESCRIPTION OF BACKGROUND ART Capability and performance of computer processors (CPUs) and graphics processors (GPUs) today have allowed people to create highly realistic or contextual digital D representations (or previews) of complex documents such as staple bound books or ring bound calendars. Such digital representations may be referred to as virtual documents. Conventionally the virtual documents have been used for previewing only, and do not allow a user to review and edit the documents. However, there is an increase in the number of editors that allow users to directly edit a virtual document. Examples of such editors include online 5 Web applications for creating photo album books. The photo album books may be created remotely and sent to a centralised fulfilment house. A number of editors present a user with a virtual photo album book providing a representation (or preview) of a printed photo album book. The editors allow the user to navigate the virtual photo album book by 'flipping' each page of the book as photos or other 0 visual objects are inserted. However, the ability for users to interact with visual objects, including images, on a page of the virtual photo album book is generally limited as the user can only view a single page or a single page spread at any one time. A more abstract representation of a virtual photo album book has been used previously to present an 'all-pages' view of the virtual photo album book. In this instance, each printable 25 page is displayed and arranged in a grid. However, such abstractions compromise any realistic visualisation of the virtual document. Further, less skilled users of an editor offering such an abstract representation can experience a sense of disorientation as a cause of drastic switching between representations. Still further, abstraction can have the effect of alienating display of the virtual photo album book to a user's perception. 30 (190054 lvl) 888265_Final - 2 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to substantially overcome, or at least ameliorate, one or more disadvantages of existing arrangements. According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of 5 arranging a visual object in a virtual document, said method comprising the steps of: displaying a page of the virtual document in an area of a display screen; selecting the displayed visual object so as to move the visual object relative to the area; displaying at least a part of a further page of the virtual document in the area, upon D at least a part of the visual object being moved to a specified region of the area; and scaling at least one dimension of the displayed virtual document, as the further page is displayed in the area, to accommodate the display of the further page in the area. According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided an apparatus for arranging a visual object in a virtual document, said apparatus comprising: 5 means for displaying a page of the virtual document in an area of a display screen; means for selecting the displayed visual object so as to move the visual object relative to the area; means for displaying at least a part of a further page of the virtual document in the area, upon at least a part of the visual object being moved to a specified region of the area; and 0 means for scaling at least one dimension of the displayed virtual document, as the further page is displayed in the area, to accommodate the display of the further page in the area. According to still another aspect of the present invention there is provided a system for arranging a visual object in a virtual document, said system comprising: 25 a memory for storing data and a computer program; a processor coupled to said memory for executing said computer program, said compute program comprising instructions for: displaying a page of the virtual document in an area of a display screen; selecting the displayed visual object so as to move the visual object relative to 30 the area; displaying at least a part of a further page of the virtual document in the area, upon at least a part of the visual object being moved to a specified region of the area; and (1900541vl) 888265_Final -3 scaling at least one dimension of the displayed virtual document, as the further page is displayed in the area, to accommodate the display of the further page in the area. According to still another aspect of the present invention there is provided a computer 5 readable medium having a computer program recorded thereon, said computer program comprising: code for displaying a page of the virtual document in an area of a display screen; code for selecting the displayed visual object so as to move the visual object relative to the area; 0 code for displaying at least a part of a further page of the virtual document in the area, upon at least a part of the visual object being moved to a specified region of the area; and code for scaling a at least one dimension of the displayed virtual document, as the further page is displayed in the area, to accommodate the display of the further page in the area. 5 Other aspects of the invention are also disclosed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS One or more embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the following drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a flow diagram showing a method 100 of arranging a visual object in a virtual 0 document; Fig. 2 shows a graphical user interface displaying the virtual document; Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the virtual object being dragged to a boundary region; and Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the displayed virtual document of Fig. 2 after 25 the virtual document has been scaled down and two further (or hidden pages) have been displayed (or revealed) in accordance with the method of Fig. 1; and Figs. 5A and 5B form a schematic block diagram of a general purpose computer system upon which arrangements described can be practiced. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION 30 Where reference is made in any one or more of the accompanying drawings to steps and/or features, which have the same reference numerals, those steps and/or features have for the purposes of this description the same function(s) or operation(s), unless the contrary intention appears. (1900541vl) 888265_Final - 4 A method 100 (see Fig. 1) of arranging a visual object in a virtual document, will be described in detail below with reference to Figs. I to 5B. The virtual document is a digital representation of a printable document. The printable document may be a book that is bound in the middle with a left and a right side page configuration. Alternatively, the printable 5 document may be a calendar, a poster, a compact disk cover, or a 6x4 photographic print. The method 100 allows visual objects, such as an image, a video or a block (or page) of text, from one page of the virtual document to be dragged onto another page. This other page may be hidden due to the nature of the page as the page exists in the printed version of the virtual document. Accordingly, the method 100 allows content to be moved around in the 3 virtual document. The visual object, such as the image, video, block (or page) of text, may be clicked and dragged to a specified boundary region of the virtual document. Such clicking and dragging triggers an operation to rescale the virtual document to accommodate one or more hidden pages to be revealed. The hidden pages are editable. Context of where the object is to be 5 moved in the virtual document is maintained by anchoring an original page of the virtual document and maintaining an aspect of the original view, whilst providing an expanded view of the virtual document with extra pages being displayed. In accordance with the method 100, visibility of pages of the virtual document, is indicated interactively as areas to be influenced by edits. 0 Figs. 5A and 5B collectively form a schematic block diagram of a general purpose computer system 500, upon which the various arrangements described can be practiced. As seen in Fig. 5A, the computer system 500 is formed by a computer module 501, input devices such as a keyboard 502, a mouse pointer device 503, a scanner 526, a camera 527, and a microphone 580, and output devices including a printer 515, a display 25 device 514 and loudspeakers 517. An external Modulator-Demodulator (Modem) transceiver device 516 may be used by the computer module 501 for communicating to and from a communications network 520 via a connection 521. The network 520 may be a wide-area network (WAN), such as the Internet or a private WAN. Where the connection 521 is a telephone line, the modem 516 may be a traditional "dial-up" modem. Alternatively, where 30 the connection 521 is a high capacity (e.g.: cable) connection, the modem 516 may be a broadband modem. A wireless modem may also be used for wireless connection to the network 520. (1900541vl) 888265_Final - 5 The computer module 501 typically includes at least one processor unit 505, and a memory unit 506 for example formed from semiconductor random access memory (RAM) and semiconductor read only memory (ROM). The module 501 also includes a number of input/output (I/O) interfaces including an audio-video interface 507 that couples to the video 5 display 514, loudspeakers 517 and microphone 580, an I/O interface 513 for the keyboard 502, mouse 503, scanner 526, camera 527 and optionally a joystick (not illustrated), and an interface 508 for the external modem 516 and printer 515. In some implementations, the modem 516 may be incorporated within the computer module 501, for example, within the interface 508. The computer module 501 also has a local network interface 511 which, via a ) connection 523, permits coupling of the computer system 500 to a local computer network 522, known as a Local Area Network (LAN). As also illustrated, the local network 522 may also couple to the wide network 520 via a connection 524, which would typically include a so called "firewall" device or device of similar functionality. The interface 511 may be formed by an EthernetTM circuit card, a Bluetoothm wireless arrangement or an IEEE 802.11 wireless 5 arrangement. The interfaces 508 and 513 may afford either or both of serial and parallel connectivity, the former typically being implemented according to the Universal Serial Bus (USB) standards and having corresponding USB connectors (not illustrated). Storage devices 509 are provided and typically include a hard disk drive (HDD) 510. Other storage ) devices such as a floppy disk drive and a magnetic tape drive (not illustrated) may also be used. An optical disk drive 512 is typically provided to act as a non-volatile source of data. Portable memory devices, such optical disks (e.g.: CD-ROM, DVD), USB-RAM, and floppy disks for example may then be used as appropriate sources of data to the system 500. The components 505 to 513 of the computer module 501 typically communicate via an 5 interconnected bus 504 and in a manner which results in a conventional mode of operation of the computer system 500 known to those in the relevant art. Examples of computers on which the described arrangements can be practised include IBM-PC's and compatibles, Sun Sparcstations, Apple Mac or alike computer systems evolved therefrom. The method 100 may be implemented using the computer system 500 wherein the 0 processes of Figs. I to 4, to be described, may be implemented as one or more software application programs 533 executable within the computer system 500. In particular, the steps of the method 400 are effected by instructions 531 in the software that are carried out within the computer system 500. The software instructions 531 may be formed as one or more code (1900541v1) 888265_Final - 6 modules, each for performing one or more particular tasks. The software may also be divided into two separate parts, in which a first part and the corresponding code modules performs the described methods and a second part and the corresponding code modules manage a user interface between the first part and the user. 5 The software 533 is typically stored in the HDD 510 or the memory 506. The software is loaded into the computer system 500 from a computer readable medium, and then executed by the computer system 500. Thus for example the software may be stored on an optically readable CD-ROM medium 525 that is read by the optical disk drive 512. A computer readable medium having such software or computer program recorded on it is a computer o program product. The use of the computer program product in the computer system 500 preferably effects an advantageous apparatus for implementing the method 100. In some instances, the application programs 533 may be supplied to the user encoded on one or more CD-ROM 525 and read via the corresponding drive 512, or alternatively may be read by the user from the networks 520 or 522. Still further, the software can also be 5 loaded into the computer system 500 from other computer readable media. Computer readable storage media refers to any storage medium that participates in providing instructions and/or data to the computer system 500 for execution and/or processing. Examples of such storage media include floppy disks, magnetic tape, CD-ROM, a hard disk drive, a ROM or integrated circuit, USB memory, a magneto-optical disk, or a computer readable card such as 0 a PCMCIA card and the like, whether or not such devices are internal or external of the computer module 501. Examples of computer readable transmission media that may also participate in the provision of software, application programs, instructions and/or data to the computer module 501 include radio or infra-red transmission channels as well as a network connection to another computer or networked device, and the Internet or Intranets including e 25 mail transmissions and information recorded on Websites and the like. The second part of the application programs 533 and the corresponding code modules mentioned above may be executed to implement one or more graphical user interfaces (GUIs) to be rendered or otherwise represented upon the display 514. For example, Fig. 2 shows a graphical user interface 200 suitable for use with the method 100. Through manipulation of 30 typically the keyboard 502 and the mouse 503, a user of the computer system 500 and the application may manipulate the interface in a functionally adaptable manner to provide controlling commands and/or input to the applications associated with the GUI 200. Other forms of functionally adaptable user interfaces may also be implemented, such as an audio (190054lvl) 888265_Final - 7 interface utilizing speech prompts output via the loudspeakers 517 and user voice commands input via the microphone 580. Fig. 5B is a detailed schematic block diagram of the processor 505 and a "memory" 534. The memory 534 represents a logical aggregation of all the memory modules 5 (including the HDD 509 and semiconductor memory 506) that can be accessed by the computer module 501 in Fig. 5A. When the computer module 501 is initially powered up, a power-on self-test (POST) program 550 executes. The POST program 550 is typically stored in a ROM 549 of the semiconductor memory 506. A hardware device such as the ROM 549 is sometimes referred D to as firmware. The POST program 550 examines hardware within the computer module 501 to ensure proper functioning, and typically checks the processor 505, the memory (509, 506), and a basic input-output systems software (BIOS) module 551, also typically stored in the ROM 549, for correct operation. Once the POST program 550 has run successfully, the BIOS 551 activates the hard disk drive 510. Activation of the hard disk drive 510 causes a 5 bootstrap loader program 552 that is resident on the hard disk drive 510 to execute via the processor 505. This loads an operating system 553 into the RAM memory 506 upon which the operating system 553 commences operation. The operating system 553 is a system level application, executable by the processor 505, to fulfil various high level functions, including processor management, memory management, device management, storage management, 0 software application interface, and generic user interface. The operating system 553 manages the memory (509, 506) in order to ensure that each process or application running on the computer module 501 has sufficient memory in which to execute without colliding with memory allocated to another process. Furthermore, the different types of memory available in the system 500 must be used properly so that each 25 process can run effectively. Accordingly, the aggregated memory 534 is not intended to illustrate how particular segments of memory are allocated (unless otherwise stated), but rather to provide a general view of the memory accessible by the computer system 500 and how such is used. The processor 505 includes a number of functional modules including a control 30 unit 539, an arithmetic logic unit (ALU) 540, and a local or internal memory 548, sometimes called a cache memory. The cache memory 548 typically includes a number of storage registers 544 - 546 in a register section. One or more internal busses 541 functionally interconnect these functional modules. The processor 505 typically also has one or more (1900541vl) 888265_Final - 8 interfaces 542 for communicating with external devices via the system bus 504, using a connection 518. The application program 533 includes a sequence of instructions 531 that may include conditional branch and loop instructions. The program 533 may also include data 532 which 5 is used in execution of the program 533. The instructions 531 and the data 532 are stored in memory locations 528-530 and 535-537 respectively. Depending upon the relative size of the instructions 531 and the memory locations 528-530, a particular instruction may be stored in a single memory location as depicted by the instruction shown in the memory location 530. Alternately, an instruction may be segmented into a number of parts each of which is stored in ) a separate memory location, as depicted by the instruction segments shown in the memory locations 528-529. In general, the processor 505 is given a set of instructions which are executed therein. The processor 505 then waits for a subsequent input, to which the processor 505 reacts to by executing another set of instructions. Each input may be provided from one or more of a 5 number of sources, including data generated by one or more of the input devices 502, 503, data received from an external source across one of the networks 520, 502, data retrieved from one of the storage devices 506, 509 or data retrieved from a storage medium 525 inserted into the corresponding reader 512. The execution of a set of the instructions may in some cases result in output of data. Execution may also involve storing data or variables to the 0 memory 534. The disclosed arrangements use input variables 554, that are stored in the memory 534 in corresponding memory locations 555-558. The disclosed arrangements produce output variables 561, that are stored in the memory 534 in corresponding memory locations 562-565. Intermediate variables may be stored in memory locations 559, 560, 566 and 567. 25 The register section 544-546, the arithmetic logic unit (ALU) 540, and the control unit 539 of the processor 505 work together to perform sequences of micro-operations needed to perfonn "fetch, decode, and execute" cycles for every instruction in the instruction set making up the program 533. Each fetch, decode, and execute cycle comprises: (a) a fetch operation, which fetches or reads an instruction 531 from a memory 30 location 528; (b) a decode operation in which the control unit 539 determines which instruction has been fetched; and (1900541vl) 888265_Final - 9 (c) an execute operation in which the control unit 539 and/or the ALU 540 execute the instruction. Thereafter, a further fetch, decode, and execute cycle for the next instruction may be executed. Similarly, a store cycle may be performed by which the control unit 539 stores or 5 writes a value to a memory location 532. Each step or sub-process in the processes of Figs. 1 to 4 is associated with one or more segments of the program 533, and is performed by the register section 544-547, the ALU 540, and the control unit 539 in the processor 505 working together to perform the fetch, decode, and execute cycles for every instruction in the instruction set for the noted segments ) of the program 533. The method 100 may alternatively be implemented in dedicated hardware such as one or more integrated circuits performing the functions or sub functions of the described method 100. Such dedicated hardware may include graphic processors, digital signal processors, or one or more microprocessors and associated memories. 5 The method 100 of arranging a visual object in a virtual document will now be described in detail below with reference to 4. The method 100 will be described by way of an example virtual document 210 with reference to Figs. 2 to 4. The method 100 provides a document editing function. The display device 514 may be used for displaying a graphical user interface (GUI) 200, as seen in Fig. 2, comprising the 3 virtual document 210 forming a digital representation of a printable document (not shown). In the example of Figs. 2 to 4, the printable document is a book that is bound in the middle with a left page 202 and a right page 203. However, as described above, the virtual document 200 may be a digital representation of a calendar, a poster, a compact disk cover, or a 6x4 photographic print. The mouse 503 may be used for interacting with the virtual document 5 210. There are a number of scenarios that require the document editing provided by the method 100. For example, photo album book editing software for kiosks, web applications or stand-alone software, word processors and document design and layout applications for magazines, catalogues or newspapers, all require the type of document editing provided by the 0 method 100. All of these examples require layout editing which involves moving content around the page or between pages. "What you see is what you get" (WYSIWYG) editing provides a user with a much better overall perspective of a finished document and context of edits being made to the document. (1900541v1) 888265_Final - 10 Fig. 2 shows the GUI 200 suitable for use with the method 100. The GUI 200 provides a scaled digital representation 210 of a book which may be printed using the printer 115. The GUI 200 allows a user to edit the virtual document 210 in a WYSIWYG manner. The GUI 200 is split into a view area 201 for displaying the scaled virtual document 210 representing 5 the book and a toolbar or thumbnail image gallery 230 for allowing the user to add content to the virtual document 210. The view area 201 shows an aerial view of the virtual document 210 (looking down) with the document (or book) open and showing one 'spread' at a time (i.e., one left page 202 and one right page 203). Accordingly, the view area 201 is displaying a first page 202 and a ) second page 203 of the virtual document 210 in the view area 201 of the GUI 200 displayed on the display device 514. The user can navigate by 'turning' (or flipping) the pages 202 and 203 as the user would with a normal hard copy book, by clicking on the page (e.g., 202, 203) they wish to turn using the mouse 503 in a conventional manner. Alternatively, the user may turn the 5 pages 202, 203 via a different control or button, for example, displayed on the display 514. Thus, the GUI 200 provides the user with a view of one spread at a time. The content on the pages 202 and 203 can include any virtual object including text, images and/or videos. The virtual document 210 being edited is a template with the layout of the content already specified. The layout of content is represented using holding areas or 3 'placeholders' (e.g., 220, 221, 222, 223) that define whether text or images can be placed within a boundary of a particular placeholder. The user editing the virtual document 210 modifies the content by interacting with the placeholders (e.g., 220, 221) in the virtual document 210. The GUI 200 also provides the thumbnail gallery 230 comprising one or more 5 thumbnails (e.g., 240). In the example of Figs. 2 to 4, each of the thumbnails (e.g., 240) is a representation (e.g., low resolution image or icon) of an image stored as an image file on the hard disk drive 510 or text stored as a text file on the hard disk drive 510. In another embodiment, one or more of the thumbnails (e.g., 241) in the thumbnail gallery 230 may be in the form of an icon or an image representing a video file stored on the hard disk drive 510. 0 The user may click and drag the thumbnail 240 in the thumbnail gallery 230 into a placeholder (e.g., 220), using the mouse 503, hence reducing the amount of work required to link images to placeholders. Such a method of dragging thumbnails provides a much more (1900541v1) 888265_Final - 11 efficient and faster form of editing because the editing can be done in one action or hand movement. Apart from populating placeholders with text and images the user may need to manipulate the virtual document 210 after the text and images have been inserted. For 5 example, the user may need to reposition images or text within a page (e.g., 202) or between pages of the virtual document 210. The GUI 200 allows the user to move text and/or images from one placeholder (e.g., 220) to another (e.g., 221). Alternatively, the text, or image can be cut or deleted and inserted or pasted into a new location within the virtual document 210. In one embodiment, an 'all-pages' representation of the virtual document 210 may be D provided for viewing and editing the virtual document 210 where all pages (e.g., 202, 203) are rendered to a grid or scroll panel. The method 100 allows objects, such as images 310 and text 315, to be moved between pages (202, 203) of the virtual document 210 by revealing pages hidden from view and rescaling the displayed virtual document 210 to fit the original spread (i.e., the left page 5 202 and the right page 203) plus the revealed page(s). The method 100 begins at step 101, where the application program 533, under execution of the processor 505, detects selection of the visual object 310 on the virtual document 210. The processor 505 detects selection of the visual object 310 upon the visual object 310 being selected by the user using, for example, the mouse 503, so as to move the 0 visual object 310 relative to the view area 201. Alternatively, when the display device 514 comprises a touch screen, the user may use their finger to select the visual object. As seen in Fig 3, the visual object is the image 310. The image 310 may be selected by clicking and dragging the image 310, using the mouse 503 and corresponding mouse pointer 330, from within the virtual document 210 to a boundary region 340 of the view area 201. In the Z5 example of Fig. 3, the boundary region 340 is a right edge of the right page 203. In the present example of Figs. 2 to 4, the method 100 begins with virtual document 210 showing only the pages 202 and 203 being displayed within the view area 201. In other examples, the method 100 may begin with one or more further pages (or hidden) pages being displayed within the view area 201, as will be described in detail below. 30 Once the application program 533, under execution of the processor 505, detects selection of the image 310, a graphical image 320 representing image 310 is rendered by the application program533 and the image 320 follows the pointer 330 of the mouse 503. The original placeholder 223 for the image 310 may be highlighted by the application program 133 (1900541v1) 888265_Final - 12 to signify that the image 310 is being edited. The page spread of the placeholder 223 provides an anchor point for the user to begin moving the image 310 to its new location. In an alternative example, an image may be selected by selecting one of the thumbnails (e.g., 240) from the thumbnails gallery 230. For example, the thumbnail 240 may be selected from the i thumbnails gallery 230 and dragged into the virtual document 210. By dragging the image 320 to a specified boundary region (e.g., 340) within the view area 201, the user signals the processor 505 (or the application program 133 under execution of the processor 505) an intention to move the image 310 beyond an area within the displayed pages 202 and 203. The boundary area 340 can be either the edge (e.g., 340) or corner (e.g., ) 341) of the page 203 for example. Accordingly, upon detecting that at least a part of the image 320 (i.e., the visual object) has been moved to a specified boundary region (e.g., 340) of the view area 201, the application program 533, under execution of the processor 505, determines an intention to move the image 310 beyond an area within the displayed pages 202 and 203. 5 Dragging the image 320 to the boundary region 340 triggers a resealing process (in the horizontal and/or vertical direction). In particular, at the next step 110, the application program 533, under execution of the processor 505, determines a scale factor. The scale factor is determined each time a visual object is moved to a boundary region. As described in detail below, in subsequent steps of the methods 100, the application program 533 displays (or 3 reveals) any further (or hidden) page(s) of the virtual document 210 based on the determined scale factor. The application program 533 may display one or more further (or hidden) pages depending on position of the dragged image 320 in relation to the boundary region 340. The scale factor determined at step 102 may be based, for example, on some configurable value of the application program 533. Alternatively, the scale factor, and 5 therefore the scaling of the virtual document 210, is based on a constant value. In another alternative, the scale factor may be dynamically determined at step 102 based on input from the user. For example, the scale factor may be determined based on speed at which the user drags the image 320 over the boundary region 340. In one embodiment, the faster the user drags the image 320, the more pages will be displayed (or 0 revealed) and the smaller the virtual document 210 is scaled. Accordingly scaling of the virtual document 210 may be dependent on speed of movement of the visual object (i.e., the image 320) within the view area 201. In still another alternative, the scale factor may be based on a dimension (e.g., height) of the view area 201. (1900541v) 888265_Final - 13 Also at step 102, the application program 533, under execution of the processor 505, determines a number of hidden pages to display (or reveal) based on the determined scale factor. In the method 100, a threshold value is specified to prevent the displayed virtual 5 document 210 from being scaled down indefinitely to an unusable size. At step 103, if the application program 133, under execution of the processor 505, determines that the scale factor is equal to the threshold value, then the method 100 proceeds to step 107. Otherwise, the method 100 proceeds to step 104. The threshold value may be configured depending on screen size of the display device 514 or pixels of the display device 514. For example, 3 displaying more than five (5) pages of the virtual document 210 on the display device 514 would result in an unacceptable loss of detail or a page that is difficult to recognize for the user editing the virtual document 210. Accordingly, the scaling of the virtual document and number of further (or hidden) pages is bound by the threshold value. At step 104, the application program 533, under execution of the processor 505, scales 5 at least one dimension (eg., a horizontal and/or vertical dimension) of the displayed virtual document 210 (as seen in Fig. 2) using a "best-fit" method. That is, the application program 533 determines an optimal scale factor to fit as much of the displayed virtual document 210 in the available view area 201. In accordance with the best-fit method, the application program 533 determines new dimensions for the displayed virtual document 210 based on the number 0 of hidden pages to display (or reveal). As more hidden pages are required to be displayed (or revealed) within the view area 201, the dimensions of the displayed virtual document 210 will increase and hence, at the determined scale factor, the virtual document 210 may not fit in the view area 201. The application program 533, under execution of the processor 505, compensates for the increase in dimensions by scaling the displayed virtual document 210 to 25 an appropriate size so that all displayed pages can be seen within the view area 201. The scaling only scales the displayed view of the virtual document 210 and not the actual dimensions of the printable document represented by the virtual document 210. At the next step 105, the application program 533, under execution of the processor 505, performs the step of displaying at least a part of one or more further pages of the virtual 30 document 210 within the view area 201. The further pages of the virtual document 210 are displayed according to the scale factor determined at step 102. The further pages displayed at step 105 are the pages of the virtual document 210 that are hidden in the virtual document 210 as seen in Fig. 2. The application program 533 may generate an animation to smoothly (1900541vl) 888265_Final - 14 transition between the displayed virtual document 210 as seen in Fig. 2, and the scaled virtual document 210 as seen in Fig. 4. For example, a simple scaling animation which progressively shrinks the displayed virtual document 210 to the new scale may be used to display the hidden pages. In one embodiment, the dimensions of the displayed virtual document 210 are scaled as the further pages are displayed in the view area 201, to accommodate the display of the further pages in the view area 201. As the further pages (i.e., hidden pages) are displayed, the threshold value is incremented accordingly. Further, as the further pages are displayed at step 105, the virtual document 210 slides across the view area 201 in order to accommodate the ) further pages. Fig. 4 shows the displayed virtual document 210 with two further pages in the form of the hidden pages 410, 420 being displayed (or revealed) and scaled down to fit the view area 201 (as at step 104). In one embodiment, upon at least a part of the dragged visual object (e.g., the image 320) being moved to the boundary region (e.g., 340) of the view area 201, the 5 rescaling is triggered (as at step 102) and n hidden (or further) pages are displayed (or revealed), where n is the threshold value. In this instance, there is a possible 1-n pages displayed (or revealed) as a result of the rescaling depending on how many pages are left in the virtual document 210. The application program 533 may incrementally bring each hidden (or further) page (e.g., 410, 420) into view within the view area 201. Each subsequent hidden ) page brought into view may be scaled down further to show perspective of the pages being underneath each other. This also gives the user a sense of spatial context that each page that is displayed (or revealed) is further away in the virtual document 210 (e.g., book) with the original location of the visual object as an anchor point. At step 107, as the scale factor is equal to the threshold value, any currently displayed 5 pages (e.g., the pages 410 and 420) are re-shuffled to accommodate a next hidden page. For example, the page 420 may be slid back beneath the page 410 to allow the next hidden page to be displayed (or revealed). In this instance, as each subsequent hidden page is incrementally displayed (or revealed) a previously displayed page may be hidden again. Accordingly, the application program 533, under execution of the processor 505, shifts pages incrementally 0 when the threshold value is reached. Alternatively, at step 107, the application program 533 may simply stop displaying (or revealing) hidden pages. In this case, the threshold serves as an upper limit for the number of displayed pages. (1900541vl) 888265_Final - 15 In one embodiment, the number of hidden (or further) pages (e.g., 410, 420) of the virtual document 210 displayed (or revealed) may be dependent on speed of movement of the visual object (i.e., the image 320) within the view area 201. For example, the faster the image 320 is dragged to the boundary region 340, the larger the number of hidden pages that are displayed. In another embodiment, the number of hidden (or further) pages (e.g., 410, 420) of the virtual document 210 displayed (or revealed) may be dependent on position of the visual object (i.e., the image 320) within the boundary region 340. For example, the further the image 320 is dragged to the furthest edge of the boundary region 340, the larger the number of hidden pages that are displayed. In another embodiment, the number of hidden (or further) pages (e.g., 410, 420) of the virtual document 210 displayed (or revealed) may be based on a constant value. For example, upon the image 320 being dragged to the boundary region 340, two hidden pages may be displayed. In one embodiment, hidden pages are displayed (or revealed) at step 105 by sliding the hidden pages from beneath the displayed pages. However, hidden pages may be brought into view in some other suitable manner such as, for example, appearing or fading into view. At the next step 106, the application program 533, under execution of the processor 505, detects that the visual object is dropped within the view area 201. In the present example, the image 320 is dragged to a desired location over a page 420 displayed at step 105 and dropped into a placeholder 440 of the page 420. To assist the user in locating the correct placeholder 440 for the dragged object (i.e., the image 320) a border or boundary line surrounding the placeholder 440 may be highlighted as the object (i.e., the image 320) hovers near or over the placeholder 440. The highlighting of the placeholder 440 is particularly 5 advantageous for displayed pages that have been scaled down as a result of the resealing, thus making the placeholder 440 appear too small for the object (i.e., the image 320). Once the visual object has been dropped into a placeholder (or cancels the action) the application program 533 may reset the view area 201 and rescale the virtual document 210 to display the virtual document 210 (i.e. the original book) to its original dimensions as the 0 virtual document 210 is seen in Fig. 3. Again, resealing the virtual document 210 back to its original dimensions, may be performed with an animation to show a transition. For example, the animation may consist of sliding the displayed (or revealed) pages 410 and 420 back into (1900541v1) 888265_Final - 16 the virtual document 210 (book) thus becoming hidden and scaling up the virtual document 210 (i.e., book) to fit the size of the view area 201. As described above, the user can navigate by 'turning' (or flipping) the pages 202 and 203 of the virtual document as the user would with a normal hard copy book, by clicking on 5 the page (e.g., 202, 203) they wish to turn using the mouse 503 in a conventional manner. As a particular page is turned, a page hidden below that page is displayed (or revealed). For example, as seen in Fig. 4, the page 410 is below the page 203. If the page 203 is turned, then the page 410 would be revealed and become one of the pages in the spread of the virtual document 210. For example, the page 410 may replace the page 203 in the view of the virtual D document 210 seen in Fig. 2. In the example of Figs. 2 to 4, the further (or hidden) pages (e.g., 410 and 402) are displayed at one side (i.e., a right side of the virtual document 210. In another embodiment, further (or hidden) pages of the virtual document 210 may also be displayed at the left side of the virtual document 210. Depending on the virtual document the further pages may also be 5 displayed at top, bottom or at an angle to the virtual document. For example, if the virtual document is a calendar, then further (or hidden) pages may be displayed below the virtual document. The method 100 described above allows faster navigation between subparts or pages of the virtual document 210, during editing of the document 210. The method 100 also 0 provides visual feedback on modifications that influence changes on different parts of the virtual document 210. In the method 100 described above, there is less chance of a user becoming disorientated since there is no hard-switch necessary between a preview-mode and an all pages view to enable dragging content (e.g., the image 310) between pages. The user is also 25 less likely to feel alienated using the described method 100, since the method 100 provides a more representative styled control than more abstract conventional methods. The methods described above also use maximum screen-real-estate when interaction with virtual document 210 stops by applying the best-fit method. However, further pages are only displayed when necessary, so screen real-estate usage is optimised. Further, visibility of 30 initially hidden content (i.e., the further pages) allows the user to interact with the content and have a better contextual view of the content. (1900541vl) 888265_Final - 17 Industrial Applicability The arrangements described are applicable to the computer and data processing industries and particularly for the image processing. The foregoing describes only some embodiments of the present invention, and 5 modifications and/or changes can be made thereto without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention, the embodiments being illustrative and not restrictive. In the context of this specification, the word "comprising" means "including principally but not necessarily solely" or "having" or "including", and not "consisting only of'. Variations of the word "comprising", such as "comprise" and "comprises" have correspondingly varied : meanings. (1900541vl) 888265_Final