AU2014201619A1

AU2014201619A1 - Personalisation of printed material

Info

Publication number: AU2014201619A1
Application number: AU2014201619A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Susan Matthews
Original assignee: STICKER ART Pty Ltd
Current assignee: STICKER-ART PTY Ltd
Priority date: 2013-03-15
Filing date: 2014-03-17
Publication date: 2014-10-02
Also published as: WO2014138826A1

Abstract

Personalisation of printed material Abstract: A computer-implemented method for label design and / or creation, the method comprising: receiving a user instruction in relation to a proposed label; optionally one or more of: (i) querying a data store comprising one or more label templates; (ii) storing one or more labels and / or label templates in one or more data stores; (iii) displaying one or more label templates; and providing one or more tools to optionally facilitate one or more of: (a) creation of a label and / or a label template; (b) an amendment to a label and / or a label template. Figures FIGURE 1- Smart App & Registration Smart Apps A A Store World Wide WebAnternet m MServer Buies/r (Faniin AB1 B Af1

Description

Personalisation of printed material Background of the invention Currently if you want to personalise printable items such as tags, invitations, labels etc. that appear in sheet/roll format you are locked into using a specific program by the manufacture of those sheets/rolls. These programs are often inflexible/limited in features and sometimes incompatible with computer systems. It takes time to learn how to customise using their programs and there is no simple solution that is usable across a wide range of products. Currently if you want to purchase a predesigned layout from a designer over the internet to print you must purchase the layout, wait till the file has downloaded and then load that file in a different program to customise it or wait until the designer has customised it. This can lead to problems including not having the correct program to be able to customise the file; the file corrupting on download and then trying to go back to the designer to get the file again which takes time and resources. If you are having the designer customise the file for you then often there is a delay from when the design has been purchased to the time that the designer has sent the file to you to be printed. This delay can be significant especially if there is a different time zone between the designer and the buyer; if the designer has many works to customise and is backed up with the volume of work to be done. There is no quick and easy solution to this issue. The reference to any prior art in this specification is not, and should not be taken as, an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that the prior art forms part of the common general knowledge. Summary of the invention: According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a computer-implemented method for printed item design and / or creation and /or importation of an existing design and/or exportation of an existing design and /or purchasing/licensing/selling an existing design, the method comprising: receiving a user instruction in relation to a proposed printed item; optionally one or more of: (i) querying a data store comprising one or more printed item templates; (ii) storing one or more printed items and / or printed item templates in one or more data stores; (iii) displaying one or more printed item templates; and providing one or more tools to optionally facilitate one or more of: (a) creation of a printed item and / or a printed item template; (b) an amendment to a printed item and / or a printed item template; (c) an importation of an existing printed item and / or a printed item template; (d) an exportation of an existing printed item and / or printed item template; (e) purchasing/licensing/selling a print item and / or a printed item template which can be personalised by another user within the system. 1 Personalisation of printed material In another aspect, there is provided a computer storage medium encoded with a computer program, the program comprising instructions that when executed by a data processing apparatus cause the data processing apparatus to perform operations, comprising: receiving a user instruction in relation to a proposed printed item; optionally one or more of: (i) querying a data store comprising one or more printed item templates; (ii) storing one or more printed items and / or printed item templates in one or more data stores; (iii) displaying one or more printed item templates; and providing one or more tools to optionally facilitate one or more of: (a) creation of a printed item and / or a printed item template; (b) an amendment to a printed item and / or a printed item template; (c) an importation of an existing printed item and / or a printed item template; (d) an exportation of an existing printed item and / or printed item template; (e) purchasing/licensing/selling a print item and / or a printed item template which can be personalised by another user within the system. In one aspect, there is provided a system for printed item design and / or creation and /or importation of an existing design and/or exportation of an existing design and /or purchasing/licensing/selling an existing design, the system comprising: one or more processing elements; and a computer memory storage system storing instructions that, when executed by one or more of the processing elements, cause the processing elements to: receiving a user instruction in relation to a proposed printed item; optionally one or more of: (i) querying a data store comprising one or more printed item templates; (ii) storing one or more printed items and / or printed item templates in one or more data stores; (iii) displaying one or more printed item templates; and providing one or more tools to optionally facilitate one or more of: (a) creation of a printed item and / or a printed item template; (b) an amendment to a printed item and / or a printed item template; (c) an importation of an existing printed item and / or a printed item template; (d) an exportation of an existing printed item and / or printed item template; (e) purchasing/licensing/selling a print item and / or a printed item template which can be personalised by another user within the system. In another aspect there is provided a system, comprising: a data processor; a processor subsystem stored in a memory device in data communication with the data processor and upon execution by the data processor cause the processor to: receive a user instruction in relation to a proposed printed item; optionally one or more of: (i) query a data store comprising one or more printed item templates; (ii) store one or more printed items and / or printed item templates in one or more data stores; (iii) display one or more printed item templates; and provide one or more tools to optionally facilitate one or more of: (a) creation of a printed item and / or a printed item template; (b) an amendment to a printed item and / or a printed item template; (c) an importation of an existing printed item and / or a printed item template; (d) an exportation of an 2 Personalisation of printed material existing printed item and / or printed item template; (e) purchasing/licensing/selling a print item and / or a printed item template which can be personalised by another user within the system. One aspect of the invention is a computer program product tangibly embodied on one or more computer readable media storing instructions that, when executed by one or more computing devices, cause operations to be performed comprising: receiving a user instruction in relation to a proposed printed item; optionally one or more of: (i) querying a data store comprising one or more printed item templates; (ii) storing one or more printed items and / or printed item templates in one or more data stores; (iii) displaying one or more printed item templates; and providing one or more tools to optionally facilitate one or more of: (a) creation of a printed item and / or a printed item template; (b) an amendment to a printed item and / or a printed item template; (c) an importation of an existing printed item and / or a printed item template; (d) an exportation of an existing printed item and / or printed item template; (e) purchasing/licensing/selling a print item and / or a printed item template which can be personalised by another user within the system. In another aspect, there is provided a system for print item design and / or creation and /or importation of an existing design and/or exportation of an existing design and /or purchasing/licensing/selling an existing design, the system comprising: one or more servers; an interface for the one or more servers that receive instructions from a user, at least one data store comprising one or more print items and / or print item templates, a computational module to query the at least one data store, a display module to display a print item and / or print item template and a computational module to enable use of one or more tools to optionally facilitate one or more of creation of a print item and / or a print item template; and an amendment to a print item and / or a print item template; an importation of an existing printed item and / or a printed item template; an exportation of an existing printed item and / or printed item template; purchasing/licensing/selling a print item and / or a printed item template which can be personalised by another user within the system. A printed item in accordance with the invention may be of any suitable type either physical and / or digital, for example it may be a label, a sticker, a tag, an invitation, a note, a card etc. A user instruction in accordance with the method of the invention may be of any suitable type and may be communicated in any suitable way. In some embodiments it may comprise for example, a mouse click, a tap on a button on a file on a website, touch screen, an email, a voice command and so on. The instruction from the user is associated with a proposed print item that the user wishes to create, amend, modify, share, etc. The one or more data stores of the invention may be of any suitable type and are typically located on a server associated with a system of the invention. Querying the data store may be 3 Personalisation of printed material done by any suitable method, for example a lookup table may be used which comprises information about one or more print items and / or print item templates. Storage of print items and / or print item templates (such as labels and / or label templates) may be on any suitable data store. In some embodiments there are separate data stores for print items and print item templates. In some embodiments, they are stored in a single data store with additional information to determine whether an item is one or the other. In some implementations of these embodiments, a draft print item may be used as a template for the same or another user. Display of a print item or print item template may occur by any suitable means. In some embodiments, display is on a computing device and preferably a mobile computing device. In some embodiments, use of such a device provides greater overall benefit to the user as the user can view, create, amend and share etc. print items when away from a desktop computer. The tools used to facilitate amendment or modification to a print item or print item template may be of any suitable type. In some embodiments, they comprise standard graphical and text design and creation tools found in common word processing, drawing and design software. Throughout this specification (including any claims which follow), unless the context requires otherwise, the word 'comprise', and variations such as 'comprises' and 'comprising', will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or step or group of integers or steps but not the exclusion of any other integer or step or group of integers or steps. Brief description of the drawings: Figure 1 depicts system elements for one example embodiment of the invention in which a smart phone app may be used for registration. Figure 2 depicts system elements for one example embodiment of the invention in which a smart phone is used and a printout is created from the system. Figure 3 depicts system elements for an example embodiment of the invention in which data is accessed via a computer. Figure 4 depicts system elements of another example embodiment of the invention. Figure 5 depicts process flow for one example implementation of a system of the invention. Figure 5 shows a flow diagram representation of the application from download to main menu depending on what user type has been selected. 4 Personalisation of printed material Figure 5a shows a flow diagram representation of the main menu for the casual user type selection from figure 5. Figure 5b shows a flow diagram representation of the favourite menu for the casual user type selection from figure 5. Figure 5c shows a flow diagram representation of the template menu for the casual user type selection from figure 5. Figure 5d shows a flow diagram representation of the Print menu for the casual user type selection from figure 5. Figure 5e shows a flow diagram representation of the share menu for the casual user type selection from figure 5. Figure 5f shows a flow diagram representation of the settings menu for the casual user type selection from figure 5. Figure 6 shows a flow diagram representation of the main menu for the standard user type selection from figure 5. Figure 6a shows a flow diagram representation of the favourite menu for the standard user type selection from figure 5. Figure 6b shows a flow diagram representation of the template menu for the standard user type selection from figure 5. Figure 6c shows a flow diagram representation of the Print menu for the standard user type selection from figure 5. Figure 6d shows a flow diagram representation of the share menu for the standard user type selection from figure 5. Figure 6e shows a flow diagram representation of the settings menu for the standard user type selection from figure 5. Figure 7 shows a flow diagram representation of the main menu for the business user type selection from figure 5. Figure 7a shows a flow diagram representation of the favourite menu for the business user type selection from figure 5. Figure 7b shows a flow diagram representation of the template menu for the business user type selection from figure 5. 5 Personalisation of printed material Figure 7c shows a flow diagram representation of the Print menu for the business user type selection from figure 5. Figure 7d shows a flow diagram representation of the share menu for the business user type selection from figure 5. Figure 7e shows a flow diagram representation of the settings menu for the business user type selection from figure 5. Detailed description of exemplary embodiments: It is convenient to describe the invention herein in relation to particularly preferred embodiments. However, the invention is applicable to a wide range of situations and it is to be appreciated that other constructions and arrangements are also considered as falling within the scope of the invention. Various modifications, alterations, variations and or additions to the construction and arrangements described herein are also considered as falling within the ambit and scope of the present invention. According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a Smart phone; ipad; computer application system/method that enables the user to create/ buy/sell/license/save/edit designs that can be personalised within the same system for printing on items such as labels and stationery on the fly and then the ability to apply the designs to templates and send those designs to print/view(i.e. display)/ other file format/upload if required. The application allows the user to buy/ licence/ select/import/sell/create templates to be printed such as a label template sheet. The application allows the user to buy/select/import/sell/create designs to be printed by any suitable means. The application allows the user to select the object within the template that can be personalised; the number of objects for personalisation; the details of the personalisation (either by direct entry/import or previously saved). In some embodiments, the invention provides an application that allows you to purchase and use templates to print or be printed if you do not have the time to create or design your own. In some embodiments, there is provided a smart computerised device/iphone application and ipad application that allows a template to be purchased/licensed/imported/created and customisation to that template where the template being printed can have the format saved so that the computer system knows what items are still to be printed where there is more than one item on a product to be printed for example a sheet of labels. In some embodiments, there is provided an easy "touch and go" facility of which items you want to print on, for example if you want to select different items on the sheet of items to print and those items do not have to be in order, for example to print on only certain labels on a label sheet. 6 Personalisation of printed material Some embodiments allow selection to print for example 5 labels all at different locations on a template. Once you have printed on those labels, you may save the format that has been printed where the computer system knows what labels are used so that when you want to use that sheet again everything does not need to be reset up. Some embodiments comprise a way of viewing what you are going to print and then selecting to edit such as move the personalization from one label to another and making other "on the go" changes. A system according to the invention may also provide an easy move facility - for example you might want some labels to be offset by different spacing to other labels on the sheet. You also can group labels into groups for editing changes. For example I might want to have a group of labels that I can make the change to that will populate the change through the group. In some forms, the invention also allows multiple groups for editing purposes on a template. In some embodiments, the invention enables information to be integrated between one label template to another template, i.e. reuse of design components as a whole such as text, images etc or reuse of an individual component. A system according to the invention may also comprise an automatic resize option or manual resize option, i.e. resize to fit template. In some implementations of the system of the invention, the system comprises a mobile computing device. In some of these embodiments, the system comprises an application for the device that will allow you to purchase/ license/ edit personalise a printable template (or create your own template), save the file and then print/view/edit/send at a later stage. For example if I am on the bus home and I have free time I may want to use that time to personalise labels for a party and then send those labels to my printer at home remotely. Alternatively I may send those labels to be quoted on by printing companies; and /or send to a commercial printer to be printed and / or a print vending machine to be printed. I may send the request for quotation and printing to users within the system or entities external to the system. For example I may send the quoting requests to printing companies registered as users within the system or I may send the quote request to a printing company external to the system in any suitable electronic format such as e-mail, sms, mms etc. In some implementations a system of the invention enables a user to electronically send a file format to another to import and then make changes and then to export the file format and the first user to import the file changes. For example this would be useful with a function to ensure that all the details such as name details were correct where a function planner could send the file to the client, the client make the changes and then have the file either returned to the function planner or go directly to the printer. 7 Personalisation of printed material In some embodiments the system enables multiple users to make changes and to view those changes whilst the users are both in the same file in the system. Users would be granted permissions to access the same file at the same time to enable multi user editing/viewing/printing capability. Users do not need to be in the same location or on the same device to enable this. One user may be in a different part of the world to another user as well as on different devices. Users may look at the file and make changes at different times as well as the same time. Changes could be tracked by the system. For example this would be useful with a function to ensure that all the details such as name details were correct where a function planner and the client could view and make changes on the same design in the system at the same time, i.e. live view and edit capabilities between multiple users at multiple locations. Some embodiments of the invention comprise social media so that for example a user may wish to integrate the template file to social media that will allow other users through the social media to use/create or change the template file. Some embodiments further enable an artist and / or designer and / or user to allow their designs and / or design components to be sold through an application template program where an end user can select use the design and /or design component to personalise within the same system. The artist and / or designer and /or user can lock down areas of their template to prevent the purchaser and / or licensee to edit and / or copy those specific areas within the template. For example I would lock down the design of my artwork but still allow for the purchaser and / or licensee to be able to edit other sections for example add a name to a label for personalisation without allowing the purchaser and / or licensee to edit the picture on the label that forms part of the label design. Some embodiments further enable a user to select areas of the template which are and are not printable. For example I go to the shop to purchase a pack of labels that have a pre- printed design on them. I want to see this design in its entirety on the system but do not want to print the areas that are already pre-printed on the labels; I only want to print the areas that I have personalised on the labels. In some embodiments, the system enables a plurality of print companies to quote on the template for print to the user and then have that user select to use a print company rather than printing the template themselves. Some embodiments also comprise a cost effective solution available to small print/design companies to label and integrate into their own systems for their customer group, i.e. a white label product. The white label product may be a standalone system or part of a larger system, i.e. integrated access to the full system. For example XZY print company may just want to have a standalone system that integrates with their own web based system that does not have 8 Personalisation of printed material access to other designers' works. One example of this is where a printing company may have its customer's artwork live online where the customer / user may change via the white label system the personalisation on the artwork, i.e. the name on the business card. In another example of an integrated white label system, CXY print company may want to have a white label product which enables their customers / users to have access to all of CXY products as well as being part of a larger system that has access to designers' works which could be on sold; licensed to CXY's customer / users. The user has the ability to have all their artwork in one place which is easily able to be modified to be in a print ready format The extent of the access to the full system by the white label product is determined by the entity that has purchased and/ or licensed the white label product. According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a computer implemented design/print application that enables the user to a) import/create/customise/buy/sell/licence templates as well as using existing templates. b) import/create/customise/buy/sell/licence design components as well as using existing design components. c) smart object/component editing/grouping/section d) smart design/component editing/viewing/printing by grouped users e) smart "used object" memory system f) smart information/components template integration g) smart designer/customer integration h) smart printer/customer integration i) smart social media integration j) be distributed as a white label product An embodiment of the system allows the user to use an existing template where a template came with the system or was populated into the system by a system update; or where a template that has been previously saved in the system. An embodiment of the system allows the user to use multiple templates from multiple entities for multiple products. For example you may purchase a label product from supplier K and an invitation product from supplier R. Both supplier K and supplier R have templates available to personalise their products. Both of these templates would be able to be used within the system. 9 Personalisation of printed material An embodiment of the system allows the user to import templates from other systems in multi file formations. An embodiment of the system allows the user to create new templates within the system and save/copy/edit/delete those templates as required. An embodiment of the system allows the user to use and / or buy and / or license an existing design component where a design component came with the system or was populated into the system by a system update; or where a design component that has been previously saved in the system. An embodiment of the system allows the user to import design components from other systems in multi file formations. For example the design component may be an image taken with the phone and that image bought into the system. An embodiment of the system allows the user to create / buy/ licence / sell new design components within the system and save/copy/edit/delete those design components as required. For example the design component may be a new font that is created within the system by use of a stylist on a touch pad or by use of free hand drawing. The font could then be on sold and / or licensed to other users. An embodiment of the system that allows the user to select objects to be edited within the template or multiple templates, this selection may be by touch, or by key stroke or by voice command. For example the user may want to print only a few labels within the template and these labels may different labels scattered over the template and may not be in order with each other. The user can then select the labels by touching (i.e. touch and go facility)/use of mouse/stylist on the labels within the template individually or by using a continuous motion to group the labels, i.e. to either do a circle around the group of labels to be edited or by touching/use of mouse/stylist more than one label at a time. Alternatively the user can select to use the keypad to select the label (s) for editing. An embodiment of the system is the group editing, if an object/component is assigned to a group then the application can remember the group of objects/components to be edited. The user can select to edit the group or just edit the object/component. For example the user may have group together a several components and wants to have these components offset and spaced differently within the object on the template to other components within objects on the same template. The user can select that group of components and then select the spacing that she requires as well as offsetting the group of components within the objects to her specification by a select and drag approach or by keyboard strokes. Alternatively she may want a font change for the group of components within objects on the template. She would just select the group to be edited and select the new font that she would like to see. 10 Personalisation of printed material An embodiment of the system that allows the user to select components to be edited within the template or multiple templates, this selection may be by touch, or by key stroke or by voice command. For example the user may want to edit the colour of some or an individual label. The user can then select the colour to be edited by touching/use of mouse/stylist on the colour within the system and then by selecting the option to replace the colour with, i.e. replacement colour or maybe the colour is deleted. Alternatively the user can select to use the keypad to select the colour for editing. Editing may consist of adding an object/component; removing of an object/component; moving of an object/component; size increase/size decrease of an object/component; replacing an object/component; change to an object/component. An embodiment of the system is that it enables the use to have a "real live view" of what is on the template to be printed, and allows the user to select to edit that view if there is changes that the user wants to make. The editing is a live editing and the user views the changes before accepting the changes in a "real live view" format. Users can zoom in and out and focus the view on a particular area in the template. Users can select objects (such as certain labels) in the template that can be highlighted i.e. to be showed brightly whilst other objects are shown in a faded light if the user wants to highlight an objects or objects to a 3rd party user. An embodiment of the system is that printing can be scheduled via the printing schedule if the user has decided to print the templates themselves. For example the user can be at work and can remotely schedule the home printer to print the job if required or place the job on a timer. Or alternatively the user can save the job to be printed at a later time and date; or the user can print on demand to any printer selected by the user. An embodiment of the system is that can print in an electronic format and be distributed in an electronic format. The system can allow the user to include with the electronic print the ability to collect data. For an example an invitation may be printed in electronic format allowing it to be sent to other users within the system or electronically external to the system. When the user opens the electronic invitation they have the option to accept or reject the invitation. The system collects this date for example the acceptances and rejections of the invitations and displays this data to the user in a user friendly format. The system also has the ability to send reminders that responses needed to be received by a set date or time. The system has the ability to issue and collect data from more than one electronic file that requires data to be collected and collated. The system has the ability to group data collected and collated. An embodiment of the system is that it has the ability to move components either individually or as a group to different objects on the same template or to an existing template or to a new template using a select and drag approach. For example if you wanted to move the 11 Personalisation of printed material personalisation from one label to another label you would select the personalisation to be moved and then drag it to the label that you wish to have it moved to. An embodiment of the system is that it allows the user to determine the number and position of the objects that the user was to personalise with the system. For example the user may only want to print 3 labels - in different positions with the same personalisation details such as a child's name and school grade. The system allows the user to select the labels that she wants to print and then to either enter in the personalised details via touch, drop down list, keypad, voice control, created new works, saved works, etc. Once the user entered in the personal details these details are automatically replicated to the objects. An embodiment of the system is that it can automatically resize components to fit a template. For example using the above example once the details (components) have been automatically replicated to the objects on the template then these details can be auto sized and auto positioned within the object by the system or the user can manually alter the size and position of the personalised details within the object such as a select and drag method. An embodiment of the system is that it allows the user to set up personalisation groups and personalisation items as well as a selection popular items and the system will give the user to add personalisation items to the list if desired upon creation. For example if a user is printing labels for her two children, she may have each child's preferences such as name, font format as well as size and the child's favourite picture set up as a personalised list under the title of the child's name, this way where she goes to print more labels she does not need to reset up each personalisation and can auto select the details from the personalised items list and have those details automatically populate the object as well as having them resized and positioned automatically if desired. An embodiment of the system is that the system has a smart "used object" template memory. The system can identify a template that has been used previously and apply a template name and / or identifier which can be scanned / manually read and/ or digitally read to the printed sheet from which the template has been used for. Once that template has been personalised and the objects have been successfully used (for example labels printed) then the system remembers those objects and makes them unavailable to be used on that individual template the next time that the individual template is selected for use. I.e. Once you have printed on a sheet of labels, the system saves the template that has been printed in a format where the computer system knows what labels are used so that when you want to use that sheet again the computer system will automatically give you a choice of a new sheet or using the existing sheet. If the existing sheet has been selected then the computer system will bring up the labels that are available to be printed on. The printer will print the file name and / or identifier 12 Personalisation of printed material which can be scanned / manually read and / or digitally read on the first use thus allowing the user to match up the file name with the saved file format. An embodiment of the system is that the system can also bring up other information from a template name and / or identifier which can be scanned / manually read and / or digitally read. For example this information may contain the print dimensions needed for example A5 page to be printed on; and / or it may contain information about the designer; and / or it may contain legal information such as copyright ownership and licensing agreement. The system also allows for the flexibility for the use to print multiple sheets and new sheets using the template as well as allowing the user to manually make modifications to the sheet where some objects have been used outside of the system, for example some labels have been manually used off the sheet, or a sheet is to be printed on which has not been previously used with the system. An embodiment of the system is that it allows for smart information/components template integration. For example the system allows for the reuse of design components as a group such as text, images or reuse of an individual component such as image. For example if one template I had a group of components that I want to replicate on another template I would be able to select the group to replicate/duplicate/copy and then select the template that I wanted those details to go to and then accept the changes if I was happy with the preview. An embodiment of the system is to allow for template design component and object locking where a designer or individual can lock and make certain components and objects as well as areas of the template un-editable. This may be used by a designer who wishes to sell their template design, but allow for some personalisation of the template such as names. An embodiment of the system is to allow for template design component and object locking where a designer or individual can lock and make certain components and objects as well as areas of the template un-printable. This may be used by a designer who wishes to sell their pre-printed product to go with their template design, but allow for some personalisation of the template such as names but not allow for the printing of the design as it is already pre-printed onto the product. An embodiment of the system is its smart designer/customer integration, which includes allowing designers to showcase and sell and license design components, templates to customers to use i.e. these templates might be in the form of printable templates that can have certain personalisation by the customer. Allowing designers to take on commissioned jobs/works for customers requested by customers. Allowing designers to bid/quote on jobs/works requested by customers either by private request or by open request. The customer will have the flexibility to select groups or individual designers for jobs including 13 Personalisation of printed material commissioned jobs, quoted jobs and allowing for customers to have multiple designers bid on their works as well as allowing customers to request non-disclosure/confidential agreements. The system allows the individual and designer to keep track of agreements; design jobs including the history and status of those jobs. The system can allow users to view other designs that are available to purchase / licensed on the system or to use for free. The system has privacy levels built into it allowing for user to decide what designs can be private (including to what extent of privacy) or can be made public. An embodiment of the system is that the user can invite third parties to view/edit the template depending on the options selected. Alternatively the system allows the user to export/send template (on a non purchased template) to another user allowing that new user to make changes to the template and then exporting/sending the template back to the original user. This depends on the permissions set by the originating user as to how much flexibility the receiving user can have. For example an events co-ordinator would be able to send her client the invitation/labels file that would allow the client to view and/or correct items such as names if they were incorrect and then to send the invitation/labels back to the event co-ordinator to print. An embodiment of the system is its smart social media integration allowing designers and individual to comment on/buy/sell/license/share/edit/create/print files, designs and templates by social media and social media networks. An embodiment of the system is that it can be distributed as a white label product by businesses to their clients. This allows for small businesses that may not have the resources to design and program such as system to use the system to integrate with their clients as well as allowing their clients to use their templates and designs. The system also allows for management of the client's saved template by the business, including tracking of payments, event dates such as due dates, etc. The business would also be able of offer the printing service to their clients using the system. The business can also integrate this white label system into the business's own system/application/website. As well as retailers being able to offer their clients to use the system (via the white label method) to gain access to free templates or purchase templates that can be used to specific products (such as labels and invitations) sold in their stores. The white label system can allow the designer to give the retail stores that their products are sold in access to their designed templates/layouts. An embodiment of the system allows users to put forward jobs to quote to print without having to load up the artwork into another system. This allows the users quoting on the job to view the required artwork without having to go to another program to do so. This also allows for the file to be in a print ready format or easily converted into to a print ready format by the printer within the system. This also allows the user to track the quotations select the printer that they want to use and to see the tracking information of the shipment. As well as allowing the users that 14 Personalisation of printed material have quoted to see data such as the number of quotes successfully won as well as job tracking information. For example as a user I could click a button to submit my template to be quoted on for printing job being my wedding invitations. I could set a deadline for the quotes to come back by, view the quotes in the system and then click on the successful quote, pay for the job and have the shipment tracking information all in one system without having to send my template individually to multiple different suppliers external to the system. I therefore would save myself time and have the advantage of the convenience of having it all in one place. An embodiment of the system is that it can have different types of users set up with different permissions and functionality. For example you may have Casual users which can have limited functionality; Registered users which have more functionality then a casual user; Retail users that have differing functionality such as display of products and related templates for users to use; Designer users which have functionality to suit that user groups, such as enabling them to design and sell/licence templates and design components as well as using other designer components to create new templates to be sold/licensed; Business users which would have functionality to suit their needs such as a Printer who would be able to have their customers use their own templates for the printer to print for personalization such as a change of name on a business card without having to have professional graphic artist services just to change a name. An embodiment of the system is that there can be groups of users linked together to form user groups for a multitude of purposes for example planning a wedding a user who is getting married may have her wedding planner, her groom, her bridesmaids and her mother in a group called her inner group of users to edit, view and discuss the wedding stationery. A user may be in more than one group or may group together users for a particular purpose. A group may be public or private or a combination of both. A user can be registered for multiple groups. A group can exist within a group. An embodiment of the system is that it can run as a standalone system updating as the user requires or it can run on a network for example allowing for businesses to use the system. An embodiment of the system is that it the data can be backed up automatically to an offsite storage unit or it can be manually backed up. Turning now to the figures, Figure 1 to 4 - These figures are not to scale and they show the flow of information from businesses, to servers, to smart devices, to computer systems via the internet Figure 5 - Not to scale. Figure 5 shows a flow diagram representation of the application from download to main menu depending on what user type has been selected. 15 Personalisation of printed material Figure 5a - Not to scale. Figure 5a shows a flow diagram representation of the main menu for the casual user type selection from figure 5. From figure 5a you can see the menu selections of Favourites; Template; Print; Share; Settings. Figure 5b - Not to scale. Figure 5b shows a flow diagram representation of the favourite menu for the casual user type selection from figure 5. From figure 5b you can see the menu selections of Template Favourites; Print Favourites; Display Favourites; Company Favourites; Social Media; Inner Circle. Figure 5c - Not to scale. Figure 5c shows a flow diagram representation of the template menu for the casual user type selection from figure 5. From figure 5c you can see the menu selections of Add Template; Create Template; Copy Template; Edit Template; Import Template; Export Template; Template Settings. Figure 5d - Not to scale. Figure 5d shows a flow diagram representation of the Print menu for the casual user type selection from figure 5. From figure 5d you can see the menu selections of Print Preview; Print Now; Print Settings. Figure 5e - Not to scale. Figure 5e shows a flow diagram representation of the share menu for the casual user type selection from figure 5. From figure 5e you can see the menu selections of Social Media; Inner Circle; Print; Export; Share Settings. Figure 5f - Not to scale. Figure 5f shows a flow diagram representation of the settings menu for the casual user type selection from figure 5. From figure 5f you can see the menu selections of Favourite Settings; Template Settings; Print Settings; Share Settings; Display Settings; User Settings. Figure 6 - Not to scale. Figure 6 shows a flow diagram representation of the main menu for the standard user type selection from figure 5. From figure 6 you can see the menu selections of Favourites; Template; Print; Share; Settings. Figure 6a - Not to scale. Figure 6a shows a flow diagram representation of the favourite menu for the standard user type selection from figure 5. From figure 6a you can see the menu selections of Template Favourites; Print Favourites; Display Favourites; Company Favourites; Social Media; Inner Circle; Designer Favourites; Job Favourites; Account Favourites; Share Favourites; Quote Favourites. Figure 6b - Not to scale. Figure 6b shows a flow diagram representation of the template menu for the standard user type selection from figure 5. From figure 6b you can see the menu selections of Add Template; Buy Template; Create Template; Copy Template; Edit Template; Import Template; Export Template; Commission Job; Request Quote; Template Settings. 16 Personalisation of printed material Figure 6c - Not to scale. Figure 6c shows a flow diagram representation of the Print menu for the standard user type selection from figure 5. From figure 6c you can see the menu selections of Print Preview; Print Now; Schedule Print; Delay Print; Print Settings. Figure 6d - Not to scale. Figure 6d shows a flow diagram representation of the share menu for the standard user type selection from figure 5. From figure 6d you can see the menu selections of Social Media; Inner Circle; Print; Export; Designers; Business; Share Settings. Figure 6e - Not to scale. Figure 6e shows a flow diagram representation of the settings menu for the standard user type selection from figure 5. From figure 6e you can see the menu selections of Favourite Settings; Template Settings; Print Settings; Share Settings; Display Settings; Designer Settings; Job Settings; Quote Settings; Backup Settings; Account Settings; User Settings. Figure 7 - Not to scale. Figure 7 shows a flow diagram representation of the main menu for the business user type selection from figure 5. From figure 7 you can see the menu selections of Favourites; Template; Print; Share; Settings. Figure 7a - Not to scale. Figure 7a shows a flow diagram representation of the favourite menu for the business user type selection from figure 5. From figure 7a you can see the menu selections of Template Favourites; Print Favourites; Display Favourites; Company Favourites; Social Media; Inner Circle; Designer Favourites; Job Favourites; Account Favourites; Share Favourites; Quote Favourites; Client Favourites. Figure 7b - Not to scale. Figure 7b shows a flow diagram representation of the template menu for the business user type selection from figure 5. From figure 7b you can see the menu selections of Add Template; Buy Template; Create Template; Copy Template; Edit Template; Import Template; Export Template; Jobs; Quotes; Sell Templates; Template Settings. Figure 7c - Not to scale. Figure 7c shows a flow diagram representation of the Print menu for the business user type selection from figure 5. From figure 7c you can see the menu selections of Print Preview; Print Now; Schedule Print; Delay Print; Print Settings. Figure 7d - Not to scale. Figure 7d shows a flow diagram representation of the share menu for the business user type selection from figure 5. From figure 7d you can see the menu selections of Social Media; Inner Circle; Print; Export; Clients; Designers; Business; Share Settings. Figure 7e - Not to scale. Figure 7e shows a flow diagram representation of the settings menu for the business user type selection from figure 5. From figure 7e you can see the menu selections of Favourite Settings; Template Settings; Print Settings; Share Settings; Display 17 Personalisation of printed material Settings; Client Settings; Job Settings; Quote Settings; Backup Settings; Account Settings; User Settings. 18

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for printed item design and / or creation, the method comprising: receiving a user instruction in relation to a proposed printed item; optionally one or more of: (i) querying a data store comprising one or more printed item templates; (ii) storing one or more printed items and / or printed item templates in one or more data stores; (iii) displaying one or more printed item templates; and providing one or more tools to optionally facilitate one or more of: (a) creation of a printed item and / or a printed item template; (b) an amendment to a printed item and / or a printed item template.

2. A computer storage medium encoded with a computer program, the program comprising instructions that when executed by a data processing apparatus cause the data processing apparatus to perform operations, comprising: receiving a user instruction in relation to a proposed printed item; optionally one or more of: (i) querying a data store comprising one or more printed item templates; (ii) storing one or more printed items and / or printed item templates in one or more data stores; (iii) displaying one or more printed item templates; and providing one or more tools to optionally facilitate one or more of: (a) creation of a printed item and / or a printed item template; (b) an amendment to a printed item and / or a printed item template.

3. A system for printed item design and / or creation, the system comprising: one or more processing elements; and a computer memory storage system storing instructions that, when executed by one or more of the processing elements, cause the processing elements to: receiving a user instruction in relation to a proposed printed item; optionally one or more of: (i) querying a data store comprising one or more printed item templates; (ii) storing one or more printed items and / or printed item templates in one or more data stores; (iii) displaying one or more printed item templates; and providing one or more tools to optionally facilitate one or more of: (a) creation of a printed item and / or a printed item template; (b) an amendment to a printed item and / or a printed item template.

4. A system, comprising: a data processor; a processor subsystem stored in a memory device in data communication with the data processor and upon execution by the data processor cause the processor to: receive a user instruction in relation to a proposed printed item; optionally one or more of: (i) query a data store comprising one or more printed item templates; (ii) store one or more printed items and / or printed item templates in one or more data stores; (iii) displa one or more printed item templates; and provide one or more tools to optionally facilitate one or more of: (a) creation of a printed item and / or a printed item template; (b) an amendment to a printed item and / or a printed item template. 19 Personalisation of printed material

5. A computer program product tangibly embodied on one or more computer readable media storing instructions that, when executed by one or more computing devices, cause operations to be performed comprising: receiving a user instruction in relation to a proposed printed item; optionally one or more of: (i) querying a data store comprising one or more printed item templates; (ii) storing one or more printed items and / or printed item templates in one or more data stores; (iii) displaying one or more printed item templates; and providing one or more tools to optionally facilitate one or more of: (a) creation of a printed item and / or a printed item template; (b) an amendment to a printed item and / or a printed item template.

6. A system for print item design and / or creation the system comprising: one or more servers; an interface for the one or more servers that receive instructions from a user, at least one data store comprising one or more print items and / or print item templates, a computational module to query the at least one data store, a display module to display a print item and / or print item template and a computational module to enable use of one or more tools to optionally facilitate one or more of creation of a print item and / or a print item template; and an amendment to a print item and / or a print item template.

7. A system / computer program / software that more than one template that can be personalised for printable products from more than one company.

8. A system / computer program / software that allows for the purchase of templates which can be then personalised in the system / computer program / software that they were purchased.

9. A system / computer program / software that allows for the purchase of templates from more than one artist / designer which can be then personalised in the system / computer program / software that they were purchased.

10. A system/ computer program / software that allows for sale of templates which can be personalised in the system / computer program / software that they were sold.

11. A system/ computer program / software that allows for sale of templates by more than one artist / designer which can be personalised in the system / computer program / software that they were sold.

12. A system/ computer program / software that allows for licensing of templates which can be personalised in the system / computer program / software that they were licensed.

13. A system/ computer program / software that allows for licensing of templates by more than one artist / designer which can be personalised in the system / computer program / software that they were licensed. 20 Personalisation of printed material

14. A system / computer program / software that allows for the purchase of design components which can be used in templates in the system / computer program / software that they were purchased.

15. A system / computer program / software that allows for the purchase of design components from more than one artist / designer which can be used in templates in the system / computer program / software that they were purchased.

16. A system/ computer program / software that allows for sale of design components which can be which can be used in templates in the system / computer program / software that they were sold.

17. A system/ computer program / software that allows for sale of design components by more than one artist / designer which can be used in templates in the system / computer program / software that they were sold.

18. A system/ computer program / software that allows for licensing of design components which can be used in templates in the system / computer program / software that they were licensed.

19. A system/ computer program / software that allows for licensing of design components by more than one artist / designer which can be used in templates in the system / computer program / software that they were licensed.

20. A system / computer program / software that allows for the purchase of templates which can be then personalised in the system /computer program / software that they were purchased and printed directly on to products.

21. A system / computer program / software that allows for the creation of templates which can be then personalised and printed directly on to products produced by different companies.

22. A system / computer program / software that allows for multiple users in different locations to view and/ or edit and/ or print the same template at the same time.

23. A system / computer program / software that allows for multiple businesses to view a file created within one system / computer program and quote on a job simultaneously in the same system / computer program.

24. A system / computer program / software that can be used as a white label product which can be run as a standalone system or run as part of a larger system.

25. A system / computer program / software that has smart "used object" memory system that allows the system / computer program / software to know which items have been used in a template for example a sheet of labels were some labels have been printed from that sheet. 21 Personalisation of printed material

26. A system / computer program / software that can place an identifier onto to a template that prints onto the product that is used to identify the physical product to the template used to personalise that product. The identifier may also contain other information such as information about the designer; information to the printer relating to page size.

27. A system / computer program / software that can integrate with a printer and /or commercial print machine and / or print vending machine/device where the design can be done in a different location or same location to the device.

28. A system / computer program / software that has smart social media integration allowing designers and individual to comment on/buy/sell/license/share/edit/create/print files, designs and templates by social media and social media networks.

29. A system / computer program / software that allow users to issue/digitally print smart digital invitations; save the date; notifications to be sent from the system with a response built into the digital invitations that allows persons to accept or reject and collates the information for the user. 22