JP2007130947A - Multiple layout editing method and apparatus of general-purpose variable print - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a layout editing method and apparatus of variable print for easily creating multiple layout information of a variable printer. <P>SOLUTION: The layout editing method of multiple variable print comprises a process for performing layout editing of a layout unit including one or more layout frames of variable print information and creating page editing data including layout frame information of variable print information that indicates a layout unit subjected to layout editing, a multiple layout process for duplicating the page editing data and performing multiple layout editing of the duplicated page editing data on the entire surface of a printing plate, a process for producing variable printer controlling data in which a name and a position coordinate of the duplicated layout frame information were corrected so that the variable print information is appropriately cast every layout unit based on order information of each of layout units determined by the result of the multiple layout editing. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to a variable print layout editing method and apparatus for creating multi-face layout information of a variable printer apparatus in variable printing. The variable print is a technique for printing together with variable print information (print information different for each page, such as a recipient's address and name) and other print information.

Conventionally, in a variable print layout editing process, a layout editing device is used to create multi-page layout information for allocating a plurality of pages of variable prints on a printing plate based on the page description language of the variable printer device.

For example, Non-Patent Document 1 discloses a variable printing technique (conventional technique 1) using a page description language of a variable printer apparatus manufactured by Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. By using the variable print page description language of Prior Art 1, variable print layout information and print information can be created so that variable print information is printed at a predetermined position when a page break is made. it can.
VIPP User's Guide (1st edition, April 2005, issued by Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd., management number: ME3450J1-1) (page 29)

VIPP is an abbreviation of Variable data Intelligent PostScript Printware, and is a variable print data format based on the page description language PostScript. Here, PostScript is a registered trademark of Adobe Systems.

However, in the prior art 1, when pages with the same layout appearance are printed on a printing plate with multiple layouts, it is necessary to perform a modification and change operation so that the allocation information of each page with the same layout appearance does not overlap. There was a drawback.

The present invention has been made in consideration of such a conventional technique, and an object of the present invention is to provide a variable print layout editing method and apparatus for easily creating multi-face layout information of a variable printer apparatus. It is.

Here, terms used in the present invention are defined. A layout page corresponds to a page of a print product, and is a page that is edited by an editor for layout editing work. The layout page includes a layout frame whose layout has been edited. (Details will be described with reference to FIG. 4.) Variable printing information updated by a page break is assigned to this allocation frame. Here, the variable print information is print information composed of variable characters, variable images, variable figures, and the like for changing print contents when a page break is made by a variable printer. The printing plate is a unit handled as a page when the variable printer prints. On the printing plate, layout pages are assigned in many ways. Each layout page assigned to the printing plate has multiple page order information and page position information, and the layout frame of each layout page is identified by the layout frame identification information. (Details will be described with reference to FIG. 7.)

The page edit data is data for editing a layout page including an allocation frame. The page edit data includes allocation frame data having allocation frame name information and allocation frame coordinate information.

The variable printer control data is data for allocating multiple layout pages on a printing plate. The variable printer control data includes allocation frame data having allocation frame identification information for identifying each allocation frame and allocation frame printing plate surface coordinate information. (Details will be described with reference to FIG. 5.)

The present invention solves the above problems by the following means. That is, the invention of claim 1 is a variable printer control described by including allocation frame information of variable printing information including the printing plate surface coordinates of the allocation frame and the allocation frame name for uniquely identifying the allocation frame in the printing plate surface. A variable-print variable-print layout editing method for a variable printer that accepts data and variable-print information input data and performs variable print, and includes one layout unit including one or more variable-print information layout frames Editing the layout, creating page edit data including the layout frame information of the variable print information that represents one layout unit that has been edited, and duplicating the page edit data and printing it. Each layout determined by the multi-face assignment editing result for the multi-face assignment process for editing the multi-face assignment and the multi-face assignment editing result. Generating variable printer control data in which the name and position coordinates of the copied layout frame information are corrected so that variable printing information is appropriately flown for each layout unit based on unit order information; and the variable printer A variable-print variable-layout editing method comprising: a step of preparing input data of variable print information corresponding to control data.

Therefore, the layout editor copies a predetermined number of layout pages with layout frames, assigns them to the printing plate in multiple planes, and gives order information (for example, sequence numbers) to each layout page. Identification information (for example, an assignment frame name with a sequence number) and printing plate coordinate information (for example, a coordinate value from the origin of the printing plate surface) can be set in the allocation frame.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, variable printer control data described including allocation frame information of variable printing information including printing plate surface coordinates of an allocation frame and an allocation frame name for uniquely identifying an allocation frame in the printing plate is provided. Storage unit for storing, layout editing of one layout unit including one or more allocation frames of variable printing information, and allocation frame information of variable printing information representing one layout unit subjected to layout editing are included. Page edit data creation means for creating page edit data, multi-page layout means for duplicating the page edit data and editing the multi-page layout for the entire printing plate, and multi-face layout editing for the multi-face layout edit result Based on the order information of each layout unit determined by the result, the variable layout information is copied so that the variable print information is appropriately flown for each layout unit. And variable printer control data generating means for generating a variable printer control data obtained by correcting the referred and the position coordinates, a multifaceted assignment variable print allocation editing apparatus characterized by comprising a.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer program that, when incorporated in a computer, causes the computer to operate as the multi-face layout variable print layout editing apparatus according to the second aspect.

A fourth aspect of the present invention is a computer-readable recording medium on which the computer program according to the third aspect is recorded.

According to the present invention, since it is possible to create data for instructing variable print multi-face layout by easy and simple operation using page edit layout data, the efficiency of variable print layout editing work is improved. .

(Example)
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a multi-surface variable printing system according to the present invention. The multi-surface layout variable print system 1 is configured by connecting a multi-surface layout variable print layout editing apparatus 100 and a variable printer 500 via a network. The multi-face layout variable print layout editing apparatus 100 is used by the editor to edit the layout page including the layout frame to which the variable print information is allocated and to create the page edit data 191. This is used to create variable printer control data 199 for assigning multiple pages to a printing plate.

The multi-page layout variable print layout editing apparatus 100 stores page edit data 191 of a layout page whose layout has been edited, and variable printer control data 199 for controlling printing of the multi-page layout page on the printing plate by the variable printer 500. To do. The multi-face layout variable print layout editing apparatus 100 edits the layout page 100a to generate page edit data 191. The multi-face layout variable print layout editing apparatus 100 transmits variable printer control data 199 to the variable printer 500. The variable printer 500 manufactures a variable print 599 assigned with multiple pages from variable printer control data 199 and variable print information (hereinafter, variable print data) 591.

FIG. 2 is a rough operation flow of the variable print multi-face layout data editing system according to the present invention. The editor inputs the information by editing the layout of a layout page including an allocation frame for assigning characters and images that change from page to page (FIG. 2A). The variable print multi-face layout editing apparatus 100 acquires the input layout editing information and creates page editing data 191 (same (b)). Here, the items of the page edit data 191 are composed of coordinate values of the layout page (coordinate values from the origin of the printing plate), layout frame coordinate values (coordinate values from the layout reference point), layout frame names, and the like. The

The editor duplicates the desired number of page edit data 191, arranges them in a multi-face layout on the printing plate, and inputs the page order information of the duplicated page edit data 191 (same (c)).

The editor duplicates the desired number of page edit data 191, generates layout pages from the duplicated page edit data 191, displays them on the edit screen, and displays each displayed layout. The page order information of the layout page 100a may be input by allocating and arranging pages on the printing plate.

The variable print multi-surface layout editing apparatus 100 acquires page position information from the layout page 100a arranged in multi-surface layout, and simultaneously acquires the input page order information, and uses this to generate variable printer control data 199. Create (same as above). Here, the items of the variable printer control data 199 are composed of the coordinate value of the layout frame (coordinate value from the origin of the printing plate surface) of each layout page assigned with multiple pages, the identification name of the layout frame, and the like.

The variable print multi-face layout editing apparatus 100 transmits variable printer control data 199 (same as (e)).

The variable printer 500 receives the variable printer control data 199 (same as above). The variable printer 500 uses the variable printer control data 199 and variable print data 591 (for example, character data or image data) corresponding to multi-page assignment to perform multi-face assignment variable printing (same (G)).

FIG. 3 shows the structure and example of the page edit data 191. The page edit data 191 includes allocation frame data 191a for allocating fixed images, allocation frame data 191b for allocating variable characters or fixed characters, and allocation frame data 191c for allocating variable images.

The allocation frame data 191a for allocating a fixed image includes image file name information used in common for each layout page 100a and location information 191g of the allocation frame position from the layout reference point.

The allocation frame data 191b for allocating variable characters or fixed characters includes allocation frame name information 191f, allocation frame position information 191e from the layout reference point, typeface code, and character size. When assigning a fixed character, the fixed character is described in a predetermined format (for example, the fixed character is sandwiched between parentheses) and described in the assignment frame name information 191f.

The allocation frame data 191c for allocating the variable image includes allocation frame name information 191f and allocation frame position information 191e from the layout reference point.

For example, in the page edit data 191 in the XML format, the position information of the fixed image of the layout page 100a is expressed as “<BasestartX> 0 </ BasestartX> <BasestartY> 0 </ BasestartY>” 191g.

In the allocation frame data 191b to which variable characters are allocated, the allocation frame name information 191f is expressed as “<Columnname> name </ Columnname>”, and the allocation frame position information 191e is “<StartX> 10 </ StartX>”. <StartY> 10 </ StartY> ", the font type designation is" <Font> Ryumin-Bold-90ms-RKSJ-H </ Font> ", and the font size designation is , "<Fontsize> 20 </ Fontsize>".

Similarly, in the allocation frame data 191c to which the variable image is allocated, the allocation frame name information 191f is expressed as “<Columnname> gazo </ Columnname>”, and the allocation frame position information 191e is “<StartX> 70 </ StartX”. > <StartY> 30 </ StartY> ”.

The fixed character assignment may be included as a character image in the fixed image.

FIG. 4 is a screen display example of the layout page 100a. The layout page 100a arranges and displays an allocation frame at a position specified by the allocation frame position information 191e from the layout reference point. The displayed allocation frame is displayed with the allocation frame name information 191f (for example, “name” or “gazo”) attached thereto.

FIG. 5 shows the structure of variable printer control data 199 for variable printing. The variable printer control data 199 includes allocation frame data 199b for assigning variable characters, allocation frame data 199c for assigning variable images, allocation frame data 199f for assigning fixed images (background images), or fixed characters. The allocation frame data 199g to be allocated is included.

The allocation frame data 199b / 199c to which variable print information is allocated includes allocation frame identification information and allocation frame printing plate surface coordinate information. Here, the allocation frame identification information is identification information in which the order number of the page order information is added to the allocation frame name information. The layout frame printing plate surface coordinate information is coordinate information from the origin of the printing plate surface.

Also, the allocation frame data 199f / 199g for allocating fixed images and fixed characters (hereinafter, fixed printing information) includes fixed printing information and allocation frame printing plate surface coordinate information.

For example, the variable printer control data 199 when the page edit data 191 of FIG.

In the allocation frame identification information of the allocation frame 199b to which variable characters are allocated, the page order number is added to the allocation frame name information “name” to be “name-1” and “name-2”, respectively. In addition, the values “20 20” and “120 20” obtained by a predetermined calculation method (details will be described later) are set in the layout frame printing plate surface coordinate information of the layout frames. Similarly, the allocation frame identification information of the allocation frame 199c to which the variable image is allocated is “gazo-1” and “gazo-2”, respectively, and the allocation frame printing plate surface coordinate information of this allocation frame is “80 40”, respectively. "And" 180 40 "are set.

Further, in the allocation frame data 199f in which the background image is allocated as a fixed image, the fixed image file name is described as “(graphic.eps)”. “10 10” and “110 10” are set as the allocation frame printing plate coordinate information of the allocation frame, respectively. Similarly, in the allocation frame data 199g to which fixed characters are allocated, the fixed characters are described as “(mountain picture)”. “15 15” and “115 15” are set as the allocation frame printing plate coordinate information of the allocation frame, respectively.

6 and 7 are explanatory diagrams of a procedure for creating variable printer control data from the page editing data 191. FIG. FIG. 6 illustrates a procedure for copying the page edit data 191. The page edit data 191 is copied according to the editor's instruction. (FIG. 6 (1)). The editor determines an arrangement position on the printing plate of the layout page 100a corresponding to the two copied page edit data 191 ((2)). The position information 191d of the layout reference point of the page edit data 191 is obtained from the arrangement position of each layout page 100a and set ((3)).

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a procedure for creating variable printer control data from the copied page edit data 191. The page order of the displayed layout page 100a is designated (FIG. 7 (4)). The page order number is added to the name information 191f of the allocation frame to which the variable print information of the page edit data 191 corresponding to the layout page 100a for which the page order is designated, and the allocation frame name information 199d of the variable printer control data is added. It is created (FIG. 7 (5)). The position information 191e of the layout reference point of the page editing data is added to the position information 191e of the layout frame to create the layout frame position information 199e (allocation frame printing plate surface coordinate information) of the variable printer control data ((6 in FIG. 7). )).

FIG. 8 is a detailed block diagram of the multi-face layout variable print layout editing apparatus. The multi-face layout variable print layout editing apparatus 100 includes a page edit data creation means 110, a multi-face layout assignment means 120, a layout frame identification information creation means 130, a layout frame coordinate calculation means 140, a variable printer control data creation means 150, A page order information adding unit 160 and a storage unit 190 are provided. The storage unit 190 stores page edit data 191 and variable printer control data 199.

The page edit data 191 is data including allocation frame data having allocation frame name information 191f (for example, allocation frame name) and allocation frame coordinate information 191e. The variable printer control data 199 is data including allocation frame data having allocation frame identification information (for example, allocation frame name information obtained by adding an identification number to the allocation frame name) and allocation frame printing plate surface coordinate information.

The page edit data creation unit 110 creates page edit data 191 including allocation frame data. The multi-face layout assigning unit 120 duplicates the page edit data and assigns a multi-face layout to the page layout corresponding to each duplicated page edit data 191. The page order information assigning unit 160 assigns page order information to each layout page 100a assigned with multiple faces. The layout frame identification information creating unit 130 acquires page order information (for example, the number of orders) of each layout page 100a assigned to the multi-face, and uses this to obtain page edit data 191 corresponding to each layout page 100a. Create allocation frame identification information for allocation frame data. The layout frame coordinate calculation means 140 acquires page position information from each layout page 100a allocated to the multi-surface layout, and uses the page position information to print layout frames of layout frame data of the page edit data 191 corresponding to each layout page 100a. The plate surface coordinate information is calculated. The variable printer control data creation unit 150 creates variable printer control data 199 including layout frame data having the layout frame identification information and the calculated coordinate information.

The page editing data creation means 110, the multi-face assignment means 120, the assignment frame identification information creation means 130, the assignment frame coordinate calculation means 140, the variable printer control data creation means 150, and the page order information addition means 160 are computers. It is a program. The storage unit 190 is a nonvolatile memory. The page edit data 191 and the variable printer control data 199 are data that can be read by a computer program.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of variable print variable printer control data creation processing according to the present invention and corresponds to (c) and (d) of FIG.
(1) The multi-surface layout unit 120 duplicates the designated number of page edit data 191 including layout frame data having layout frame coordinate information and frame name information, and the page corresponding to each replicated page edit data 191. Assign multiple layouts. (Step S110)
(2) The editor inputs page order information (for example, the number of orders) of the layout pages 100a arranged in multiple layouts on the printing plate. (Step S120)
(3) The page order information assigning means 160 assigns page order information to each layout page assigned to the multi-face. (Step S130)
(4) The allocation frame identification information creating unit 130 acquires the order information of each input layout page, generates order identification information from this, and uses this order identification information as page edit data corresponding to each layout page. In addition to the frame name information of the allocation frame data to which the variable print information 191 is allocated, allocation frame identification information (for example, frame name + order number) is set. (Step S150)
(5) The allocation frame coordinate calculation means 140 acquires page position information (position information of the layout reference point on the printing plate) from the arranged layout page 100a, and from this on the printing plate of the allocation frame included in the layout page 100a Position information (allocation frame printing plate surface coordinate information) is calculated, and this layout frame printing plate surface coordinate information is set in the position information of the allocation frame data of the page edit data 191 corresponding to this layout page. (Step S160)
(6) When the multi-face assignment work is completed, the process proceeds to the next step. If the multi-face assignment work has not been completed, the process returns to step S110. (Step S170)
(7) The variable printer control data creating unit 150 acquires the allocation frame data from each page editing data 191 and creates the variable printer control data 199 including the data. (Step S180)

In step S130, the multi-surface layout unit 120 copies the page edit data 191 including the layout frame data having the layout frame coordinate information and the frame name information by the designated number, and the layout page 100a including the layout frame from now on. May be generated and displayed for multi-face assignment.

Here, the data format of the variable print data 591 will be described. The variable print data 591 is variable print data including definition data. In the definition data, assigned frame identification information of each assigned frame assigned to the printing plate on multiple sides is described. The variable print data describes variable print data (for example, variable characters and variable images) to be allocated to the allocation frame. The variable print data is arranged in the printing order with variable print data assigned to each allocation frame on the printing plate as a group unit. Here, each group of variable print data is associated with the allocation frame identification information of the definition data.

Next, a processing procedure for performing variable printing will be described. When variable printing is performed for one layout page, variable print data 591 for one page may be acquired and allocated to an allocation frame for variable printing. On the other hand, when performing variable printing on a layout page that has been assigned to multiple pages on a printing plate, when page breaks are made, variable print data in groups is acquired, and each variable print data is assigned to corresponding layout frame identification information. Allocate to the allocation frame and print variable.

That is, in multi-sided variable printing, when a page break is made, the variable printer device acquires variable print data for each printing plate to be printed next from variable print data 591. Next, each variable print data is assigned to the assigned frame data of the variable printer control data 199 using the associated assigned frame identification information and printed.

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, it is possible to create data for instructing variable print multi-face layout by easy and simple operation using page edit layout data. The efficiency of editing work has been improved.

Overall configuration diagram of multi-sided variable print system according to the present invention Rough operation flow of variable print multi-face layout data editing system Variable print page edit data structure Screen display example of layout page Variable printer control data structure Procedure for creating variable printer control data from page edit data (1) Procedure for creating variable printer control data from page edit data (2) Detailed configuration diagram of variable print layout editing device Flowchart of variable printer control data creation processing according to the present invention

Explanation of symbols

110 page edit data creation means 100a layout page 120 multi-face assignment means 130 assignment frame identification information creation means 140 assignment frame coordinate calculation means 150 variable printer control data creation means 160 page order information addition means 190 storage means 191 page edit data 191b page edit data Assigned frame data 191c for assigning characters included in the page. Assigned frame data 191d for assigning an image included in the page edit data. Position information 191e for the layout reference point. Assigned frame position information 191f from the layout reference point. Information 191g Position information of fixed image (background image) 199 Variable printer control data 199b Variable frame control data 199c Variable frame for assigning variable characters of variable printer control data 199c Variable printer control data variable image Assigned frame data 199d Variable printer control data assigned frame name information 199f Variable printer control data fixed image assigned frame data 199e Variable printer control data assigned frame position information 199g Variable printer control data fixed characters Allocated frame data 591 variable print data

Claims (4)

Variable printer control data described including the layout frame information of variable printing information including the printing frame coordinates of the layout frame and the layout frame name that uniquely identifies the layout frame in the printing plate, and input data of the variable printing information And a variable print layout editing method with multiple sides for a variable printer that accepts and prints a variable print,
One layout unit including one or more variable print information allocation frames is subjected to layout editing, and page edit data including variable print information allocation frame information representing one layout unit subjected to layout editing is generated. Process,
Duplicating this page edit data and multi-page layout process to edit this multi-face layout on the entire printing plate,
The name and position of the duplicated layout frame information so that the variable print information is appropriately poured into each layout unit based on the order information of each layout unit determined by the multi-plane layout editing result with respect to the multi-plane layout editing result. Generating variable printer control data with corrected coordinates;
Preparing variable print information input data corresponding to the variable printer control data;
A variable print layout editing method comprising a plurality of pages, characterized in that the method is performed in a procedure including: Storage means for storing variable printer control data described including allocation frame information of variable printing information including a printing plate surface coordinate of the allocation frame and an allocation frame name that uniquely identifies the allocation frame in the printing plate;
One layout unit including one or more variable print information allocation frames is subjected to layout editing, and page edit data including variable print information allocation frame information representing one layout unit subjected to layout editing is generated. Page editing data creation means,
A multi-page layout means for copying this page edit data and editing the multi-page layout for the entire printing plate;
The name and position of the duplicated layout frame information so that the variable print information is appropriately poured into each layout unit based on the order information of each layout unit determined by the multi-plane layout editing result with respect to the multi-plane layout editing result. Variable printer control data generating means for generating variable printer control data with corrected coordinates;
A variable-print layout editing apparatus with multi-plane layout. A computer program that causes a computer to operate as the variable print layout editing apparatus according to claim 2 by being incorporated in the computer. The computer-readable recording medium which recorded the computer program of Claim 3.

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