FR2513571A1 - Video screen data composition method for on-paper printing - uses screen memory to manipulate text and images from sources to prepare for direct copying to paper - Google Patents

Abstract

The text and illustration are first prepared on a video screen, using established techniques. The video images are encoded and stored in memory. In the second stage the screen image is re-assembled from memory and enlarged or reduced as required to form the final page image. The page image may be oriented as required, or several images merged on the video screen, and images can be taken directly from a suitably encoded output from a video camera. A printing device is coupled to the video data memory and is able to copy faithfully the image on the screen onto a sheet of paper which is used as a source document for taking multiple copies.

Description

Method for composing a page of written information, installation for implementing this method and application of the method to composing the pages of an iournal.

 The invention relates to a method of composing a page of information written on a support such as a sheet of paper.

 The invention relates more particularly, but not exclusively, to a method of composing a page of a newspaper or magazine.

 The object of the invention is, above all, to provide a composition process which makes it possible to establish quickly and at low cost a basic document for reproduction in numerous copies. It is further desirable that the method of the invention makes it possible to easily modify and adapt the basic document as a function of more recent information.

 According to the invention, the method of composing a page of information written on a medium is characterized in that, in a first phase, a coded video image is established, in a manner known per se, this image comprising text and / or graphics, or the like, in black and white and / or in color, corresponding to a part or block of the written information page, the successive coded video images being stored, and , in a second phase, with a view to the composition of the written information page, several coded images are collected, after a possible enlargement or possible reduction of some or all of these coded images, and they are arranged relative to each other so as to cover the format of a page of written information, the page thus composed can be established. in printed form, and serve as a basic document for reproduction in numerous copies, using any suitable process.

 In parallel with the establishment and storage of each coded image, this image, possibly reduced or enlarged, can be printed by a copying device or printer, each image thus printed constituting a block of written information.

 In the second phase of the process, several blocks of written information are then used, possibly enlarged or reduced, and they are arranged in a format corresponding to the page of written information so as to compose the above-mentioned basic document.

 According to another advantageous possibility, in the second phase of the process, a video screen corresponding to the format of the page of written information is used and, after reduction or possible enlargement, several video coded images made previously appear, means of command being provided to allow to have, and / or move and / or orient relative to each other, these different images, forming blocks, on the video screen in order to compose the page of written information: when this composition is complete, store in memory said page corresponding to what appears on the video screen and have it printed.

 The coded video images can be established using a VIDEOTEX page composition terminal.

 To produce at least certain parts of the coded video images, it is possible to use a capture camera capable of directly supplying a coded image from text or graphics established on a support such as a sheet of paper.

 The invention also relates to an installation for implementing the composition method defined above, this installation comprising means for establishing coded video images, memory means in which the various coded video images are stored, and being characterized by the fact that it comprises a video screen of dimensions corresponding to the format of the page of written information and of control means making it possible to extract at will from the memory the various coded images to make them appear on the video screen, these control means being able, moreover, to be arranged to allow a reduction or an possible enlargement of each image extracted from the memory and to allow to move and / or to orient each extracted image compared to the other images written on the screen video, so as to compose the information page.

 The installation advantageously includes a printer connected to the above control means, so that when the composition of the information page on the video screen is completed an operator can print the page thus composed, on the printer.

A particularly interesting application of the method of the invention relates to the composition of a newspaper page, in particular a page of text, drawings, graphics, photos or advertisements, or -small advertisements
The invention consists, apart from the arrangements set out above, of certain other arrangements which will be more explicitly discussed below in connection with a particular embodiment described in detail with reference to the attached drawing but which does not is in no way limiting.

 FIG. 1, of this drawing, diagrammatically illustrates an installation for implementing the method of the invention.

 FIG. 2, finally, illustrates a variant implementation of the method.

 Referring to FIG. 1, one can see a page P of information written on a support, such as a sheet of paper. This page P can be a page from a newspaper, book or brochure, or any written document. The composition of page P is carried out according to the following method.

 In a first phase, a coded video image 1 is established, this image 1 comprising text and / or graphics, drawings, etc. This image 1 can be in black and white and / or in color.

 The production of image 1 can be carried out with control on a display screen 2, in particular on a television screen. The realization can be ensured using a terminal 3 of composition of pages, in particular VIDEOTEX, of the kind of those available in the trade. The terminal 3 includes a keyboard 4, the keys of which are controlled by an operator (not shown) who will thus produce the image 1.

 Many other possibilities can be used for the realization of this image 1, according to the needs and the desired information.

For example, the image l can be constituted by information coming from an external source 5, connected to the terminal 3, the interrogation of the source 5 is carried out using the keyboard 4. According to another example, the coded image 1 can be obtained by capture using a TV camera 6, combined with an image digitizer, and suitable for providing a video coded image from text, a drawing, a graphics or the like, traced on a support 7 such as a sheet of paper.

 Each successive coded image 1 will correspond to a part or block of page P. To facilitate the explanations, there is shown, in FIG. 1, an image 1 entitled "MISCELLANEOUS", appearing on screen 2, and block 8 from the information page P, corresponding to this image.

 The successive coded images 1 which have been produced and which may correspond, for example, to various sections of a newspaper or brochure, to classified advertisements, etc. are stored in memory means 9, for example with flexible disks.

 It should be noted that the control of the coded video image on screen 2 is not essential in certain cases, for example when the information comes from the source 5. The coded video image can be stored directly in memory, without appearing on screen 2.

 Each coded image 1 can, if necessary, be accompanied by an audible, verbal and / or musical message also stored in memory.

In parallel with the establishment and storage of each coded image 1, this image, possibly reduced or enlarged, can be printed by a copying device or printer 10, black and white or colors, available commercially in particular for printing the pages of
VIDEOTEX.

 The printed part 11 corresponds to the image 1 represented on the screen 2. The printed parts 12, 13 which precede the part 11 correspond to previously coded video coded images. These various printed parts 13, 12, 11, follow one another, on the strip 14 of support paper, which takes place on the printer 10.

 Instead of using a printer 10 to reproduce on a support such as paper the coded video image 1, it is possible, when this image 1 is viewed on a screen 2, to photograph or film this image. The reproduction on paper of image 1 is then obtained by conventional photographic development and printing. This reproduction is to be considered equivalent to the printed part 11, 12 or 13 ...

 In a second phase of the process of the invention, with a view to composing the page of written information P, several coded images such as 1 are collected, after a possible enlargement or a possible reduction, of some or all of these coded images and they are arranged in relation to one another so as to cover the format, possibly enlarged or reduced, of a page of written information. The page thus composed is established in printed form or equivalent, so as to serve as basic document and is reproduced in numerous copies using any suitable printing process, in particular offset, photocomposition process.

 During this second phase, for the composition of the page, one can use the printed parts 11, 12, 13 (or equivalent parts, such as photo prints), mentioned above. Each part 11, 12, 13 is separated from the others, by cutting along the dashed lines s (Figure 1). These parts 11, 12, 13 ..., after possibly an enlargement or a reduction, are then manually arranged on a support sheet F (FIG. 2), in the format of the information page.

The operator using several printed or paved parts 11, 12, 13 ... endeavors to cover as much as possible the entire surface of the sheet F in order to obtain the page Pa of written information which will serve as the basic document for a reproduction in numerous copies. Fixing blocks 11, 12, 13 ...

on sheet F is carried out by any suitable means, in particular by bonding.

 According to another possibility, during the second phase, a coded video screen 15 is used corresponding, in particular to an enlargement or to a reduction, in the format of the page of written information. Control means 16 are provided to allow the operator to display, after reduction or possible enlargement, several video coded images 1 produced previously, by extracting them from the memory means 9.

The control means 16 make it possible to assign, to each extracted image, an area of the screen 15, at the operator's choice. The control means 16 also make it possible to move and / or orient the various images, forming blocks, on the video screen 15, in order to compose the page of written information. The control means 16 comprise memory means suitable for storing the coded information corresponding to the page which appears on the screen 15. A printer 17 can be connected to the control means 16.

 When the operator considers that the composition of the page appearing on the screen 15 is satisfactory, he ensures the storage in memory of the page thus composed, in the event that this storage is not automatic. By controlling the switching on of the printer 17, the operator can establish the page P of written information; according to another possibility, the page P can be formed by a photograph, possibly enlarged, of the screen 15. This page P can be produced at the instant, or later thanks to storage in memory. The page P can be reproduced in large numbers by any suitable process; it includes the various blocks, such as the page Pa.

 The composition process of the invention makes it possible to quickly and economically obtain the basic document P or Pa intended for reproduction.

Each block such as 11, 12, 13 ... of this basic document having been produced in the form of a coded video image, is stored in memory in an immediately exploitable form for its remote transmission by any appropriate means: cable, fiber optics, radio link, etc. and its reproduction, in particular on black and white video screens, or in colors of any size or on ordinary screens (by projection), or on advertising or other panels. An audible message can accompany the reproduced image. This is particularly interesting for information, advertising, classified ads, education, road traffic.

 The method of the invention makes it possible to modify and adapt easily and in a reduced time the pages of information composed and stored in memory.

Updates therefore pose few problems. Such a method is advantageous for the composition of the pages of newspapers, leaflets, books, brochures, written, spoken or visualized.

 It should be noted that the successive pages, composed on the video screen 15 can be stored or recorded in particular on cassettes, using a video recorder. These recorded cassettes can be broadcast to allow the public to display information on the television screen, in particular the newspaper thus composed. This distribution on cassettes can be combined with the traditional distribution of the newspapers reviewed. etc. information written on canier. -

Claims (9)

 1. Method for composing a page of information written on a medium, such as a sheet of paper, characterized in that in a first phase, in a manner known per se, a video image is established coded (1), this image comprising a text and / or graphics, etc., in black and white and / or in colors, corresponding to part or block of the page (P, Pa) of written information, the images successive coded video being stored in memory (9), and that, in a second phase, with a view to composing the page of written information, several coded images are collected, after a possible enlargement or possible reduction of some or of all of these coded images, and they are arranged in relation to one another so as to cover the format of a page (P, Pa) of written information, the page thus composed can be established in printed form so to serve as a basic document and to be reproduced in numerous copies, using any suitable process.  2. Method according to claim 1, according to which, parallel to the establishment and storage of each coded image (1), this image (11, 12, 13 ...) is printed, in particular by a copying device or printer (10), each image thus printed constituting a block of written information, characterized in that, in the second phase, several blocks (11, 12, 13 ...) of written information are used, possibly enlarged or reduced , and they are available in a format corresponding to the page of information written so as to compose the above-mentioned basic document (Pa).  3. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that, in the second phase, a video screen (15) is used corresponding to the format of the page (P) of written information and that is shown, after reduction or possible enlargement, several video coded images produced previously, control means (16) being provided to make it possible to arrange, and / or move and / or orient relative to each other, these different images, forming blocks , on the video screen (15) in order to compose the page of written information, and that, when this composition is complete, said page is printed corresponding to what appears on the video screen.  4. Method according to claim 3, characterized in that one records, in particular on cassettes, using a video recorder the pages composed on the video screen (15), for subsequent dissemination  5. Method according to any one of  previous claims, characterized in that  the coded video images are established using a  VIDEOTEX page composition terminal (3).  6. Method according to any one of  previous claims, characterized in that  we use to make at least some parts  coded video images capture camera (6)  suitable for directly providing a coded image from  of a text or a graphic established on a support (7)  such as a sheet of paper.  7. Installation for the implementation of a  method according to any of the claims  previous, characterized by the fact that it includes  a page composition terminal (3) and a screen  visualization (2) allowing the control of the image (1:  carried out,  8 Installation for the implementation of  method according to claim 3 comprising means  (3) to establish coded video images, means of  memory (9) in which the various are stored  coded video images, characterized by the fact that it comprises a video screen (15) of dimensions corresponding to the format of the page (P) of written information and control means (16) making it possible to extract at will from the memory (9) the various coded images to make them appear on the video screen (15), these control means being able to be arranged to allow a reduction or an possible enlargement of each image extracted from the memory and to allow to move and / or to orient each extracted image with respect to the other images recorded on the video screen, so as to produce the composition of the information page.  9. Application of a method according to any one of claims 1 to 5 to the composition of a newspaper page, brochure, book or the like.