JP2011070410A - Document processing system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem, wherein staples and printed contents are superimposed each other depending on the printed contents of a back cover, when the back cover of a document bound by a bookbinding method, referred to as "square fold" is prepared. <P>SOLUTION: A document processing system generates printing data for a printer to perform bookbinding printing. The document processing system includes: a device information obtaining means which obtains device information from the printer; an imposing means which imposes the printing data for the bookbinding print; a spine preparing means which prepares printing data for the spine; a determining means which determines whether the print data for the spine prepared by the spine preparing means and staple position are superimposed in each object to be printed; a layout changing means which changes the layout for each object to be printed, when the determining means determines that both are superimposed; and a preview means which previews the printing data changed by the layout changing means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a layout method for a back cover during bookbinding printing in a document processing system.

  In commercial printing such as POD (Print On Demand), various bookbinding methods are possible, and a separately designated number of sheets are bundled and folded in half, and then the saddle stitched bookbinding and the back part are bound. A flat-stitched book is known that is glued and wrapped with a cover and bound. As one of the bookbinding methods, there is a bookbinding method called square fold.

  The square fold is a bookbinding method in which a staple is formed in the center of a sheet, and then a back cover is formed by making a crease (see FIG. 10). In order to create a document by the bookbinding method as described above, it is common to use a bookbinding application. The bookbinding application allows imposition and cover creation according to the bookbinding method. If the back cover is created without being aware of the functions of the bookbinding application, the staples bound in the center of the book may overlap with the print. A method of issuing a warning when a print result and post-processing such as stapling overlap is known (Patent Document 1). As an avoidance method, there is known a method for avoiding by shifting the print area of a page as it is (Patent Document 2).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-094780 JP 2001-067347 A

  However, since only the warning is displayed, the user does not know how to avoid the problem. Therefore, it is necessary to make a trial and error adjustment of the print position, and there is a problem that the operation becomes complicated. Further, in the spine, there is a problem that when the print area is shifted, it is necessary to shift a print object whose position is not to be changed.

  A document processing system that generates print data for obtaining bookbinding printing by a printer, device information acquisition means for acquiring device information from the printer, imposition means for imposing print data for bookbinding printing, and a back cover A back cover creating means for creating print data for use, a judging means for judging whether or not the print data for the back cover created by the back cover creating means overlaps a staple position for each object to be printed, and the judging means A document processing system comprising: a layout changing unit that changes a layout for each object to be printed when it is determined that they overlap each other; and a preview unit that previews print data changed by the layout changing unit.

  According to the present invention, in the square fold, it is possible to easily avoid stapling and printing from being overlapped and becoming difficult to read by automatically avoiding the overlapping of stapling and printing for each print object.

It is a block diagram which shows an example of the software structure of the document processing system corresponding to embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of the document processing system corresponding to embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic which shows an example of the structure of the electronic original file corresponding to embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the structure of the book structure information 301 corresponding to embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the book setting information corresponding to embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the chapter setting information corresponding to embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the page setting information corresponding to embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the procedure which opens the electronic original file corresponding to embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the user interface screen at the time of opening the existing electronic document file corresponding to embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example which bound the document with the bookbinding method called squarefold relevant to this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen for spine creation corresponding to embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the data structure of the job ticket corresponding to embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the "document detailed setting" window 1300 of the bookbinding application 104 corresponding to embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the "chapter detailed setting" window 1400 of the bookbinding application 104 corresponding to embodiment of this invention. FIG. 10 is an example of a table representing a priority order of a method for avoiding an overlap with a staple when a print object is text in the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. It is a figure which shows the "detailed page setting" window 1600 of the bookbinding application 104 corresponding to embodiment of this invention. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing for determining an overlap between a print object and a staple in the bookbinding application 104 corresponding to the embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the layout automatic change process corresponding to embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the image automatic avoidance process corresponding to embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the automatic avoidance process in case the text is located in the center corresponding to embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the automatic avoidance process in case the text is located in the right and left corresponding to embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the automatic avoidance process performed by expanding the spine corresponding to the embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen displayed when it determines with the staple corresponding to embodiment of this invention and the printing content having overlapped. It is an example of GUI which previews the result of having created the spine for square fold binding corresponding to the embodiment of the present invention. 10 is an example of a table representing a priority order of a method for avoiding an overlap with a staple when a print object is an image in the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a position where a print object can be laid out when creating a back cover, related to the embodiment of the present invention.

  An outline of a document processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In this document processing system, a data file created by a general application is converted into an electronic manuscript file by an electronic manuscript writer. The bookbinding application provides a function for editing the electronic manuscript file. In addition, although it divided | segmented and demonstrated so that each function might become clear, you may provide as one application which combined these. Details will be described below.

[Software configuration example]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a software configuration of the document processing system according to the present embodiment. The document processing system is realized by a host computer 100 which is a preferred embodiment of a document processing apparatus (information processing apparatus) according to the present invention. The general application 101 is an application program that provides functions such as word processing, spreadsheet, painting, presentation, and text editing, and has a printing function for the OS.

  These applications use a predetermined interface (generally referred to as GDI) provided by the operating system (hereinafter referred to as OS) to print the generated application data such as document data and image data, and output the OS. Send an output command (called GDI function) to the module.

  Upon receiving the output command, the output module converts the command into a format that can be processed by an output device such as a printer, and outputs the converted command (called a DDI function).

  The format that can be processed by the output device varies depending on the device type, manufacturer, and model. Therefore, a device driver is provided for each device, and the OS converts a command using the device driver, generates print data, and generates a print job by using JL (Job Language).

The electronic manuscript writer 102 is an improvement of the above-described device driver and is a software module provided for realizing the document processing system. However, the electronic document writer 102 is not intended for a specific output device, and converts the output command into a format that can be processed by the bookbinding application 104 and the printer driver 106 described later. The format converted by the electronic document writer 102 (hereinafter referred to as “electronic document format”) is not particularly limited as long as a document in units of pages can be expressed in a detailed format. Among substantial standard formats, for example, a PDF (Portable Document Format) format by Adobe Systems, Inc., an SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) format published by W3C, and the like can be adopted as an electronic manuscript format. ("PDF" is a registered trademark)
When the application 101 uses the electronic document writer 102, the electronic document writer 102 is designated as a device driver used for output, and printing is executed. However, the electronic document file as created by the electronic document writer 102 does not have a complete format as the electronic document file. Therefore, the bookbinding application 104 designates the electronic document writer 102 as a device driver, and conversion of application data into an electronic document file is executed under the management of the bookbinding application 104. The bookbinding application 104 completes the new incomplete electronic document file generated by the electronic document writer 102 as an electronic document file having a format to be described later.

  In this way, the electronic document writer 102 is designated as a device driver, and the data is printed by the general application 101. As a result, the application data is converted into an electronic document format in units of pages defined by the application 101 (hereinafter referred to as “logical pages” or “document pages”). The electronic document file 103 is stored in a storage medium such as a hard disk. Note that the hard disk may be a local drive or an external memory 211 provided in a computer that implements the document processing system of the present embodiment, or a drive provided on the network when connected to the network. There may be.

  The bookbinding application 104 provides the user with a function for reading the electronic document file 103 and editing it. However, the bookbinding application 104 does not provide a function for editing the contents of each page, but provides a function for editing the structure of a chapter or book, which will be described later, configured with a page as a minimum unit.

  When the electronic document file 103 edited by the bookbinding application 104 is printed, the bookbinding application 104 activates the electronic document despooler 105. That is, the bookbinding application 104 functions as a mechanism for generating print data. The device information acquisition module 108 acquires device information from the printer 107 and notifies the bookbinding application 104.

  The electronic document despooler 105 is a program module used for outputting drawing data to a printer driver when printing a document (electronic document file) used in a bookbinding application. It is also installed in the computer together with the bookbinding application. The electronic manuscript despooler 105 reads the designated electronic manuscript file from the hard disk, generates an output command suitable for the sending module, and outputs it to the sending module 106 in order to print each page in the format described in the electronic manuscript file. To do. At that time, the transmission module transmits the output command received from the electronic document despooler to the printer 107. The printer 107 prints an image corresponding to the output command, and if the command is instructed, a finishing process is performed.

[Hardware configuration example]
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the document processing system according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 2, the host computer 100 performs document processing in which graphics, images, characters, tables (including spreadsheets), etc. are mixed based on a document processing program stored in the ROM 203 or the external memory 211. The CPU 201 generally controls each device connected to the system bus 204.

  In addition, an operating system program or the like as a control program of the CPU 201 is stored in the program ROM or the external memory 211 in the ROM 203, and the font ROM or the external memory 211 in the ROM 203 is used for the document processing. Font data and the like are stored, and various data used when performing the document processing and the like are stored in the data ROM in the ROM 203 or the external memory 211. The RAM 202 functions as a main memory, work area, and the like for the CPU 201.

  A keyboard controller (KBC) 205 controls key input from a keyboard (KB) 209 or a pointing device (not shown). A CRT controller (CRTC) 206 controls display on a CRT display (CRT) 210. A disk controller (DKC) 207 is a hard disk (HD) or floppy (registered trademark) disk that stores a boot program, various applications, font data, user files, edit files, a printer control command generation program (hereinafter referred to as a printer driver), and the like. Controls access to the external memory 211 such as (FD). A network controller (NC) 208 is connected to the printer 107 via the network 21 and executes communication control processing with the printer 107.

  Note that the CPU 201 executes, for example, outline font development (rasterization) processing on the display information RAM set on the RAM 202 to enable WYSIWYG on the CRT 210. The CPU 201 opens various windows registered based on commands instructed by a mouse cursor (not shown) on the CRT 210 and executes various data processing. When executing printing, the user opens a window relating to print settings, and can make printer settings.

  The printer 107 is controlled by the CPU 312. The CPU 312 of the printer outputs as output information to a printing unit (printer engine) 317 connected to the system bus 315 based on a control program stored in the program ROM in the ROM 313 or a control program stored in the external memory 314. The image signal is output. The program ROM in the ROM 313 stores a control program for the CPU 312 and the like. The font ROM in the ROM 313 stores font data used when generating the output information, and the data ROM in the ROM 313 is a host computer in the case of a printer without the external memory 314 such as a hard disk. Information used above is stored.

  The CPU 312 can communicate with the host computer via the network I / F 318 and can notify the host computer 100 of information in the printer. A RAM 319 is a RAM that functions as a main memory of the CPU 312, a work area, and the like.

[Example format of electronic manuscript data]
Before referring to details of the editing application 104, the data format of the electronic document file will be described.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the electronic document file by classifying it into book configuration information 301 and page data 302. The page data 302 is an area for pooling a plurality of pages captured in the electronic document file. The book configuration information 301 holds the configuration in units of pages.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure showing details of the book configuration information 301. In this example, it has a three-layer structure simulating a paper medium book. The upper layer is called a “book”, imitating one book, and defines attributes related to the entire document. The middle layer below it corresponds to the chapter in the book and is also called “chapter”. For each chapter, attributes for each chapter can be defined. The lower layer is a “page” and corresponds to each page defined by the application program. You can define attributes for each page. A book may contain multiple chapters, and a chapter may contain multiple pages.

  The book, chapter, and page in the electronic document file of this example are indicated by corresponding nodes. One electronic manuscript file contains one book. Since the book and chapter are concepts for defining the structure of the book, they include defined attribute values and links to lower layers as entities. The page has data for each page output by the application program as an entity. Therefore, the page includes an original page entity (original page data) and a link to each original page data in addition to the attribute value. Note that a print page when outputting to a paper medium or the like may include a plurality of document pages. This structure is not displayed by a link, but is displayed as an attribute in each hierarchy of a book, chapter, and page.

  First, book information 401 is held at the top. The book information 401 can be roughly divided into three parts 402 to 404. The book control information 402 holds information such as a path name in the file system of the document file. Book setting information 403 holds layout information such as page layout and function setting information of the printing apparatus such as stapling, and corresponds to book attributes. The chapter information list 404 holds a set of chapters constituting a document in a list format. The list holds chapter information 405.

  The chapter information 405 can be roughly divided into three parts 406 to 408. The chapter control information 406 holds information such as a chapter name. The chapter setting information 407 holds page layout information and stapling information unique to the chapter, and corresponds to chapter attributes. By having chapter setting information 407 for each chapter, it is possible to create a document having a complicated layout such that the first chapter has a 2UP layout and the other chapters have a 4UP layout. The page information list 408 is held in the form of a collection list of manuscript pages constituting each chapter. The page information list 408 indicates page information data 409.

  The page information 409 is also roughly divided into three parts 410 to 412. The page control information 410 holds information such as page numbers to be displayed on the tree. The page setting information 411 holds information such as page rotation angle and page layout position information, and corresponds to an original page attribute. The page link information 412 is document data corresponding to a page. In this example, the page information 409 does not directly have document data, but has only link information 412, and actual document data is held in a page data list 413.

  FIG. 5 is a list showing an example of book attributes (book setting information 403). Normally, for items that can be defined overlapping with lower layers (chapter and page), attribute values of lower layers are preferentially adopted. Therefore, for items included only in the book attribute, the value defined in the book attribute becomes a valid value throughout the book. However, items that overlap the lower layer have meanings as default values when they are not defined in the lower layer. However, in this embodiment, as will be described later, it is possible to select whether or not to give priority to the attribute value of the lower layer. Each item illustrated does not specifically correspond to one item, but may include a plurality of related items.

  The book attribute is composed of attribute items, setting values, and remarks. In the present embodiment, the attribute items unique to the book attributes are 10 for printing method, imposition method, finished size, binding method, binding margin, cover / back cover, index sheet, slip sheet, chapter break, and dragonfly dove. It is an item. These are items defined throughout the book.

  As a printing method, two values of single-sided printing and double-sided printing can be designated.

  For the imposition method, three values of pella, saddle stitch, and quadruple can be designated. Peller is an imposition method that can be folded without folding the paper during finishing. Saddle stitching is an imposition method that performs a layout suitable for a format that allows bookbinding by bundling a separately designated number of sheets into two and folding the bundle. Although not illustrated, in the case of saddle stitching, the spread direction, the number of sheets to be bundled, and the like can be specified as detailed attributes. Four-folding is an imposition method that performs a layout suitable for a format that allows bookbinding by folding a sheet once vertically and horizontally, and cutting a folded folded bag portion. Depending on the position of the bag and the binding direction, there are detailed setting items such as a right binding top bag and a right binding left bag.

  The finished size is a size specification for cutting the paper when the paper is cut to create a plurality of pages. A typical example is the form of imposing two finished sizes A4 on the A3 novi size. The binding method usually includes a case (case binding), saddle stitching, quadruple folding, and square folding. The binding margin includes designation of adding a binding margin when printing electronic document files collected as a book. The setting value of the binding margin can be shifted and the size can be reduced. Here, the “case (case binding)” is a binding format that enables case binding using an inline finisher or an offline finisher. In case binding, the printed inner paper is glued to the binding position, bound by the case cover, bound in three directions as necessary. “Folding in four” is a method of imposing a print page in a format that enables wireless binding when the output paper is folded in four and bundled. Wireless binding is realized by performing three-way cutting or four-way cutting with an offline finisher. The square fold is a binding type in which a staple is formed in the center of a bundle of sheets, and then a fold is formed on both sides of the stapled to create a spine cover. When the binding method is designated as square fold, the folding position is also designated.

  The front cover / back cover includes designation of adding sheets to be a front cover and a back cover when printing an electronic document file to be collected as a book, and designation of print contents on the added paper. The index sheet attribute includes designation of insertion of index sheets with ears separately prepared in the printing apparatus as chapter breaks and designation of print contents in the index (ear) portion. This attribute can be used when a printing device used by an inserter having an insert function for inserting a sheet prepared separately from the printing sheet into a desired position, or a plurality of paper cassettes can be used. Effective in some cases. The same applies to the slip sheet attribute.

  The slip sheet attribute includes designation of insertion of a sheet supplied from an inserter or a sheet feed cassette as a chapter break, and designation of a sheet feed source when a slip sheet is inserted.

  The chapter break includes designation of whether to use a new sheet, use a new print page, or do nothing in particular at the chapter break. During single-sided printing, the use of new paper and the use of a new print page have the same meaning. In double-sided printing, if “use new paper” is specified, consecutive chapters will not be printed on one sheet, but if “use new print page” is specified, consecutive chapters will be 1 It may be printed on the front and back of a sheet of paper.

  The register mark / dob attribute is an item for specifying when register mark printing and dove (bleeding) are specified for a print page when printing an electronic document file. The dove area (bleed width) can be given to each side of the finished page, and represents the width to be trimmed when the printing paper is cut. A registration mark (a bleed mark) is a mark indicating a position when the user performs a bleed using the offline finisher.

  FIG. 6 is a list showing an example of chapter attributes (chapter setting information 407), and FIG. 7 is a list showing page attributes (page setting information 411). The relationship between chapter attributes and page attributes is the same as the relationship between book attributes and lower layer attributes.

  As for chapter attributes, there are no items specific to chapters, and all items overlap with book attributes. Therefore, normally, if the definition in the chapter attribute is different from the definition in the book attribute, the value defined in the chapter attribute has priority. However, in this example, as described later, it is possible to select whether to give priority to the attribute value of the lower layer.

  In FIG. 6, items common to only the book attribute and the chapter attribute are five items: paper size, paper orientation, N-up printing designation, enlargement / reduction, and paper discharge method (finishing). Of these, the paper size indicates the size of the printing paper, as described above, and the paper size can be switched in units of chapters when case binding or bi-fold binding (corresponding to bookbinding printing described above) is not selected. It is. The paper direction indicates whether it is portrait (vertical) or landscape (horizontal).

  The N-up print designation is an item for designating the number of document pages included in one print page. Examples of arrangements that can be specified include 1 × 1, 1 × 2, 2 × 2, 3 × 3, and 4 × 4. When the enlargement / reduction attribute is ON, it indicates that the input document page is enlarged or reduced in accordance with the output paper size. The paper discharge method (finishing) is an item for designating whether or not stapling is performed on the discharged paper, and the validity of this attribute depends on whether or not the printing apparatus to be used has a stapling function.

  Next, in FIG. 7, items unique to the page attribute include page rotation designation, zoom, page division, and the like. The page rotation designation is an item for designating a rotation angle when placing a manuscript page on a print page. The zoom is an item for designating a scaling factor of a document page. The scaling factor is specified with the size of the virtual logical page area as 100%. The virtual logical page area is an area occupied by one manuscript page when the manuscript page is arranged in accordance with designation of N-up or the like. For example, if it is 1 × 1, the virtual logical page area is an area corresponding to one print page, and if it is 1 × 2, each side of one print page is an area reduced to about 70%.

  Attributes common to the book, chapter, and page are a watermark and a header / footer. A watermark is a separately designated image or character string that is printed over data created by an application. The header / footer is a watermark printed on the upper margin and the lower margin of each page. However, items that can be specified by variables, such as page numbers and date / time, are prepared in the header / footer.

  The contents that can be specified for each attribute of the watermark and header / footer are the same for the chapter and the page, but the book is different from them. In the book, the contents of the watermark and header / footer can be set, and how the watermark, header and footer are printed throughout the book can be specified. On the other hand, for a chapter or page, whether or not to print a watermark or header / footer set in the book can be specified for the chapter or page.

[Example of operation procedure of document processing system]
(Example of electronic manuscript file generation procedure)
The electronic document file has the structure and contents as described above. Next, a procedure for creating an electronic document file by the bookbinding application 104 and the electronic document writer 102 will be described. Creation of an electronic manuscript file is realized as part of an electronic manuscript file editing operation by the bookbinding application 104.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a procedure when the bookbinding application 104 opens an electronic document file. This flowchart is realized when the CPU 201 of the host computer 100 executes the bookbinding application 104 that is a program stored in the ROM 203.

  First, it is determined whether the electronic document file to be opened is to be newly created or is an existing one (step S801). In the case of new creation, a new electronic document file that does not include a chapter is created (step S802). As shown in the example of FIG. 4, the newly created electronic document file is a book node having only book information 401 and no link to the chapter node. For the book attribute (book setting information 403), a set of attributes prepared in advance for new creation is applied. Then, a user interface (UI) screen for editing the new electronic document file is displayed (step S804).

  On the other hand, if there is an existing electronic document file, the designated electronic document file is opened (step S803), and a user interface (UI) screen is displayed according to the structure, attributes, and contents of the electronic document file. FIG. 9 shows an example of this UI screen. The UI screen 900 includes a tree portion 901 that shows the structure of the book and a preview portion 902 that displays the printed state. In the tree portion 901, chapters included in the book and pages included in each chapter are displayed so that a tree structure as shown in FIG. 4 can be seen. A page displayed in the tree portion 901 is a manuscript page. In preview portion 902, the contents of the print page are reduced and displayed. The display order reflects the structure of the book. When a new electronic manuscript file is created, there is no substantial content, so nothing is displayed on the UI.

  Application data converted into an electronic document file by the electronic document writer 102 can be added to the opened electronic document file as a new chapter. This function is called an electronic document import function. By importing an electronic manuscript into an electronic manuscript file newly created by the procedure of FIG. 8, an entity is given to the electronic manuscript file. This function is activated by dragging and dropping application data on the screen of FIG.

(Example of editing electronic manuscript file)
As described above, an electronic document file can be created from application data. The generated electronic document file can be edited such as a page layout.

(Example of electronic manuscript file output)
The electronic manuscript file created and edited as described above has the final purpose of print output. When the user selects a file menu from the UI screen 900 of the bookbinding application 104 shown in FIG. 9 and selects printing from the file menu, printing is output by the designated output device. At this time, the bookbinding application 104 first creates a job ticket as print data from the currently opened electronic manuscript file and passes it to the electronic manuscript despooler 105. The electronic document despooler 105 converts the job ticket into JDF, and transmits the JDF and PDF as image data to the transmission module. The transmission module transmits JDF and PDF to the printer. Here, the job ticket is data having a structure in which an original page is a minimum unit. The structure in the job ticket defines the layout of the manuscript page on the paper. One job ticket is issued per job. For this reason, there is a document node at the top, and attributes of the entire document, such as double-sided printing / single-sided printing, are defined. Below that, a paper node belongs, and includes attributes such as an identifier of a paper to be used and designation of a paper feed port in the printer. Each paper node has a node of a sheet printed on the paper. One sheet corresponds to one sheet. A print page (physical page) belongs to each sheet. For single-sided printing, one physical page belongs to one sheet, and for double-sided printing, two physical pages belong to one sheet. Each physical page has a document page arranged thereon. The physical page attribute includes the layout of the original page.

  An example of the data structure of the job ticket is shown in FIG. In printing data, a document is composed of a set of sheets, and each sheet is composed of two sides, a front side and a back side. Each side has an area (physical page) for laying out a document, and each physical page. Is composed of a set of manuscript pages which is the minimum unit.

  Reference numeral 1201 denotes data corresponding to a document, which includes data relating to the entire document and a list of paper information constituting the document. The paper information 1202 includes information related to paper such as paper size and a list of surface information arranged on the paper. The surface information 1203 includes data unique to the surface and a list of physical pages arranged on the surface.

  The physical page information 1204 includes information such as the physical page size and header / footer, and a list of manuscript pages constituting the physical page. The manuscript page information 1205 includes manuscript page setting unit for holding layout information such as information on the manuscript page header and footer, color data, and in which position on the surface and in what size, and page data. It consists of link information to the list 413.

  The electronic document despooler 105 converts the above-described job ticket into an output command to the output module.

(Example of preview display)
As described above, when the electronic document file is opened by the bookbinding application, the user interface screen 900 shown in FIG. 9 is displayed. In the tree portion 901, a tree showing the structure of an open book (hereinafter referred to as “target book”) is displayed. In the preview unit 902, three display methods are prepared according to the user's designation.

  The first is a mode called a document view that displays a document page as it is. In the document view mode, the content of the document page belonging to the book of interest is reduced and displayed. The layout is not reflected in the preview display. The second is a print view mode. In the print view mode, the document page is displayed on the preview unit 902 in a form that reflects the layout of the document page. The third is a simple print view mode. In the simple print view mode, the contents of each original page are not reflected in the display of the preview portion, but only the layout is reflected.

  Note that the screen of FIG. 9 can also be used as an operation screen of the bookbinding application 104. The bookbinding application 104 can perform function settings of a printing device such as stapling in addition to editing the page order of documents, copying, deleting, etc., and can print on a designated printing device.

[Attribute setting example]
FIG. 13 shows a “detailed document setting” window 1300 of the bookbinding application 104.

  In this window, “book setting information 403” can be displayed / set. This window is activated from the “Detailed Document Settings” menu in the Print Form menu on the application operation screen of FIG. The “detailed document settings” window is a window for setting attributes that affect the entire document. This window is composed of four sheets of page setting 1301, decoration 1302, editing 1303, and paper feed setting 1304. FIG. 13 shows a state where the page setting sheet 1301 is selected. In this page setting sheet 1301, settings relating mainly to layout can be performed, and settings such as paper size and orientation, N-page printing, and the like can be instructed.

  FIG. 14 shows a “chapter detailed setting” window 1400 of the bookbinding application 104.

  In this window, “chapter setting information 407” can be displayed / set. This window is activated from the Print Form menu “Chapter Detailed Settings” menu on the application operation screen of FIG. The “chapter detailed settings” window 1400 is a window for setting chapter-specific attributes. This window 1400 includes four sheets of page setting 1403, finishing 1404, editing 1405, and paper feed setting 1406.

  FIG. 14 shows a state in which the page setting sheet 1403 is displayed. In this page setting sheet 1403, settings relating to a layout unique to each chapter can be mainly made, and settings such as paper size and orientation, N-page printing, and the like can be instructed. Check box controls 1401 and 1402 for “according to book attributes” are arranged for setting items that overlap in “detailed settings of document” and “detailed settings of chapter”. For the attribute item whose check box is checked, the set value of the book set in FIG. 13 is applied to the chapter.

  FIG. 16 shows a “detailed page setting” window 1600 of the bookbinding application 104.

  In this window 1600, “page setting information 411” can be displayed / set. This window is activated from the Print Form menu “Detailed Page Settings” menu on the application operation screen of FIG. The “detailed page settings” window 1600 is a window for setting unique attributes for each page. This window 1600 is composed of two sheets, page setting 1601 and editing 1602.

  The check box control information set on the setting screen may be held in a dedicated area, but is held as one of the attributes in the chapter setting information 407 and page setting information 411 shown in FIG. Is desirable. In this case, an area for holding check box control information is added to FIGS.

[Creating a cover for Square Fold]
If you select Squarefold as the bookbinding method in the bookbinding application, you can create a back cover. The back cover can be created even with case binding. There is a problem of overlapping. In the present invention, the print contents and the staple position are discriminated, and a layout change that is automatically avoided is presented to the user.

  If the entire back cover is shifted, the balance becomes worse. Therefore, the overlap is determined for each object to be printed, and the overlap is avoided. Further, an appropriate avoidance method varies depending on the type and position of the object. Examples of avoidance methods include “shifting the position”, “decreasing the font”, “using two lines”, and “widening the spine”.

  The avoidance method is determined by trying one by one depending on the type and position of the object. If avoidance is possible, the avoidance method is used. If not, the next avoidance method is determined.

  Also, the priority of avoidance methods should be different depending on the position and type of the object. For example, if the text is centered or overlapped, it is appropriate to shift it outward (up when close to the top, down when close to the bottom) so that the balance in the center is not lost. . On the other hand, if the text is on the left and right, the case where it is determined that it overlaps with the staple is assumed to be a case where the font is large and printed to the center, so the position is shifted outward (to the right if it is right, It is considered appropriate to make the font smaller than (to the left if left).

  FIG. 15 and FIG. 25 are examples of text and image priorities. Needless to say, the priority is not particularly limited in the present invention.

  Hereinafter, processing corresponding to this embodiment will be described.

  First, the UI for creating a back cover will be described. The spine creation UI is activated from the “Create spine” button on the bookbinding application's operation screen. FIG. 11 is a screen example of a spine creation dialog. Reference numeral 1101 denotes a control for designating the spine width of the spine. Select automatic or manual with this control. This width is notified to the device as the folding width of the square fold. Reference numeral 1102 denotes a control for inputting the contents of the spine, and it is possible to select text or image. The contents for each object can be switched by tabs. Reference numeral 1103 denotes a control for designating the position of the content created in 1102. As for the designation of the position, nine positions can be designated as shown in FIG.

  A description will be given of processing when setting is performed using a GUI for creating a spine cover and the OK button is pressed. FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating an example of layout avoidance processing performed after the spine cover is set and the OK button is pressed after the spine cover creation GUI is executed in the bookbinding application 104. This flowchart is realized when the CPU 201 of the host computer 100 executes the bookbinding application 104 that is a program stored in the ROM 203. When the user gives an instruction to create a spine from the application UI, a spine creation dialog is displayed. Hereinafter, a description will be given according to the flowchart of FIG. As a work area, N is an area for holding the number of created objects. N is a value indicating the object currently being processed. Overlap is a value indicating the number of objects overlapping the staple. Center is a value indicating the number of objects in the center.

  In step S1701, staple information is acquired from the device. The staple information includes information on the width of the staple and the position of the staple. In step S1702, the number of objects created by the UI is acquired. In step S1703, each work area is initialized, and the process proceeds to step S1704. In step S1704, n is incremented to refer to the next object. In step S1705, the drawing position of the referenced object is calculated, and the process advances to step S1706. In step S1706, it is determined whether or not the staple information overlaps with the drawing position of the object. If not, the process returns to step S1704. If they overlap, the process proceeds to step S1707. In step S1707, Overlap for counting the number of overlapping objects is incremented. In step S1708, it is determined whether the object to be referenced is in the center. If it is in the center, the process proceeds to step S1709. If not, the process proceeds to step S1710. In step S1709, Center is incremented to count the number of objects in the center. In step S1710, it is determined whether or not the object n to be referenced matches the total number of objects N. If they do not match, the process proceeds to step S1704, and if they match, the process proceeds to step S1711. In step S1711, it is determined whether Overlap is greater than 0 in order to determine whether there are overlapping objects. In the case of 0, since there is no overlapping object, the process is terminated. If it is greater than 0, there are overlapping objects, and the process advances to step S1712. In step S1712, it is determined whether the spine is below a certain level. If the spine is above a certain level, the process proceeds to step S1714; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S1713. In step S1713, it is determined whether or not there is an object in the center. If there is an object in the center, the process proceeds to step S1714. If there is no object in the center, the process ends. The processing from S1712 to S1714 will be described in detail. The spine cover width may be automatically calculated from the paper type and the number of sheets, or manually specified by the user in the spine creation UI. When the spine cover width is below a certain level, there is no room for shifting the print object to the left or right. Therefore, if the spine cover width is less than a certain value and there are objects on the left and right, the layout is not changed. In step S1714, a UI such as a dialog as shown in FIG. 23 is displayed, the user is notified that the print object and the staple overlap, and whether to change the layout, whether to change it automatically or manually. Ask what to do with. In step S1715, in the case of changing, the process proceeds to step S1716, and in the case of not changing, the process ends. In step S1716, it is determined whether it is automatic or manual. If it is manual, the process proceeds to step S1717. If automatic, the process proceeds to step S1718. In step S1717, a spine creation UI is displayed. In the spine creation UI, the UI is displayed so that the tab of the overlapping object creation area is displayed at the top. In step S1718, a layout change victory is performed, and the process ends.

  FIG. 18 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of the layout change process. In step S1801, the total number of print objects is recorded in N. In step S1802, n indicating the currently referred print object is initialized. In step S1803, n indicating the print object being referred to is incremented. In step S1804, the position of the print object being referred to is calculated. In step S1805, it is determined whether the print object is text or image. If it is an image, the process proceeds to step S1807, and if it is text, the process proceeds to step S1806. In step S1806, it is determined whether or not the position of the print object to be referred to is the center. If it is the center, the process proceeds to step S1808, and if it is on the left and right, the process proceeds to step S1809. In step S1807, an image avoidance process is performed, and the process advances to step S1810. In step S1808, an avoidance process is performed when the text is in the center, and the process proceeds to step S1810. In step S1809, avoidance processing is performed when the text is on the left and right, and the flow proceeds to step S1810. In step S1810, it is determined whether or not the object n to be referred to matches the total object number N. If not, the process returns to step S1803. If they match, the process proceeds to step S1811. In step S1811, the result of changing the layout is displayed on a screen as shown in FIG. In step S1812, the UI is displayed and an inquiry is made to the user as to whether there is a problem with the changed layout. If OK, the process ends. If not OK, the process proceeds to step S1813. In step S1813, the layout change is stopped and the original layout is restored. In step S1814, the spine creation UI is displayed and the process ends.

  FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing the flow of avoidance processing when the print object is an image. In step S1901, it is determined whether or not the image width is larger than the spine cover width. If smaller, the process proceeds to step S1902. In step S1902, it is determined whether or not the print object is located at the center. If the print object is in the center, the process proceeds to step S1903. If not, the process proceeds to step S1905. In step S1904, the print object is shifted to the outside (upper or lower side). It is assumed that the shift amount is shifted in parallel to the non-overlapping area. If it is in the middle middle, move it down if it overlaps the upper staple, or move it upward if it overlaps the lower staple until it does not overlap the staple. In step S1904, it is determined whether or not the overlap can be avoided. Even if the overlap is avoided, if it is out of the print area, it is determined that it cannot be avoided. If it can be avoided, the process is terminated; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S1905. In step S1905, the image is reduced to a size that does not overlap with the staple, and the process ends.

  FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing the flow of avoidance processing when the print object is located at the center of the text. In step S2001, the print object is shifted to the outside (upper or lower side). It is assumed that the shift amount is shifted in parallel to the non-overlapping area. If it is in the middle middle, move it down if it overlaps the upper staple, or move it upward if it overlaps the lower staple until it does not overlap the staple. In step S2001, it is determined whether or not the overlap can be avoided. Even if the overlap is avoided, if it is out of the print area, it is determined that it cannot be avoided. If it can be avoided, the process ends. If it cannot be avoided, the process proceeds to step S2003. In step S2003, the font is reduced. Since it becomes unreadable even if it becomes too small, for example, reduction of 2 points is performed. The degree of reduction is not limited to this. In step S2004, it is determined whether or not overlap can be avoided by font reduction. If the overlap can be avoided, the process ends. If the overlap cannot be avoided, the process proceeds to step S2005. In step S2005, it is determined whether there are objects on the left and right. If there is no print object on both sides of the target object, the process proceeds to step S2006, and if not, the process proceeds to step S2008. In step S2006, the text is folded back into two lines. In the folding method, folding is performed so that the lengths of two lines are equal. In step S2007, the process proceeds to step S2008. In step S2008, the layout of the print object is returned to the original, and the process ends.

  FIG. 21 is a flowchart showing the flow of avoidance processing when the print object is located on the left and right. In step S2101, the font is reduced. Since it becomes unreadable even if it becomes too small, for example, reduction of 2 points is performed. The degree of reduction is not limited to this. In step S2102, it is determined whether overlapping has been avoided by font reduction. If the overlap can be avoided, the process ends. If the overlap cannot be avoided, the process proceeds to step S2103. In step S2103, the overlap with the staple is avoided by shifting the print object to the outside. If the print object is on the right, shift it to the right, and if it is on the left, shift it to the left. The shift amount is shifted from the position with the staple until it does not overlap. In step S2104, it is determined whether or not the overlap can be avoided. Even if the overlap is avoided, if it is out of the print area, it is determined that it cannot be avoided. If it can be avoided, the process ends. If it cannot be avoided, the process proceeds to step S2105. In step S2105, it is determined whether or not there is an object at a central position adjacent to the target print object. If there is no print object, the process proceeds to step S2106. If there is a print object, the process proceeds to step S2108. In step S2106, the text is folded back into two lines. In the folding method, folding is performed so that the lengths of two lines are equal. In step S2107, it is determined whether or not overlap can be avoided by folding. If it can be avoided, the process ends. If it cannot be avoided, the process proceeds to step S2108. In step S2108, overlap avoidance processing by spine spread processing is performed. In step S2109, it is determined whether or not the overlap can be avoided by the spine cover spreading process. If the overlap can be avoided, the process ends. In step S2110, the layout is returned to the original, and the process ends.

  FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing when avoidance is performed by widening the spine cover. In step S2201, the width of the area printed on the front cover and the width of the area printed on the back cover are acquired. If not printed, the width is zero. In step S2202, the width of the trimmed area is acquired. In step S2203, it is determined whether the front and back covers are printed. If not printed, the process proceeds to step S2205. If printed, the process proceeds to step S2204. In step S2204, the maximum width that can be enlarged is calculated from the width of the trimmed area and the larger width of the area where the front cover and the back cover are printed. Specifically, (paper width−2 × (cutting width + printed area width)) is the maximum spine cover width. In step S2205, it is determined whether the width of the staple width + font size x2 is equal to or smaller than the maximum spine cover width. If it is equal to or smaller, it is determined that the width can be changed, and the process proceeds to step S2206. If it is larger than the maximum spine width, it cannot be changed and the process is terminated. The reason why the font size is x2 is that it is necessary to spread the spine evenly on the left and right. In step S2206, the spine cover width is changed to (staple width + font size x2), and the process ends.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, in the fold, by automatically avoiding the overlap between the staple and the print for each print object, it is possible to easily avoid the staple and the print from being overlapped and becoming difficult to read. It is.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Host computer 101 General application 102 Electronic document writer 103 Electronic document file 104 Bookbinding application 105 Electronic document despooler 106 Transmission module 107 Printer 108 Device information acquisition module 201 CPU
202 RAM
203 ROM
204 System Bus 205 Keyboard Controller 206 CRT Controller 207 Disk Controller 208 Network Controller 209 Keyboard 210 CRT
211 External memory 317 Printing section

Claims (6)

A document processing system for generating print data for obtaining bookbinding printing by a printer,
Device information acquisition means (108) for acquiring device information from the printer;
Imposition means (104) for imposing print data for bookbinding printing;
A back cover creating means (1100) for creating print data for the back cover;
Discriminating means (S1706) for discriminating whether or not each object to be printed overlaps the staple position in the spine cover print data created by the spine cover creating means;
Layout changing means (S1803) (S1807, S1808, S1809) for changing the layout for each object to be printed when it is determined by the determining means to overlap;
Preview means (S1811) for previewing the print data changed by the layout changing means;
A document processing system comprising:   The document processing system according to claim 1, wherein the layout changing unit changes according to a priority of a layout changing method (S 1903, S 1905, S 2001, S 2003, S 2006, S 2101, S 2103, S 2106, S 2108).   The document processing system according to claim 2, wherein the layout changing means switches the priority of the layout changing method according to the position of the object or the type of the object to be printed (S1807, S1808, S1809).   2. The document processing system according to claim 1, wherein when the object to be printed is text and wraps around and avoids, the layout changing unit determines whether there is an adjacent object (S2005, S2105).   2. The document processing system according to claim 1, wherein the layout changing means determines whether or not the image is larger than a certain size when avoiding an image, and does not change the layout if the image is larger than the certain size (S1901). .   The document processing system according to claim 1, wherein the layout changing unit avoids overlap by widening a back cover (S2205, S2207).

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