JP2895885B2 - Layouter for flyers and catalogs - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for allocating flyers and catalogs, and more particularly to an apparatus for allocating flyers and catalogs that performs an allocating operation interactively while looking at a display screen.

[Conventional technology]

In printed materials such as flyers and catalogs, it is necessary to properly assign photos, character strings, or desired graphics for many commodities to one printed material. Recently, an allocating device that can perform such an allocating operation using a computer has been used. In this type of device, a photograph or a character string of each product is input to a computer as digital data. Then, an image based on these data is displayed on the display screen to perform an assignment operation. The operator can specify the position of arranging a photograph or a character string for a specific product while looking at the display screen, and can change the magnification and the inclination as needed to allocate the product. For a figure, a desired figure can be created at a desired layout position on the display screen by inputting a predetermined instruction. The assignment result obtained in this way is stored in the form of data stored in the memory of the computer, so that the assignment correction can be easily performed, and the operator can assign the assignment in an interactive manner with the computer. I can proceed with the work.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, the conventional allocating device has a problem that the input operation of a graphic composed of wide lines is complicated. Generally, a graphic is stored in a memory separately into line information and width information on the line. That is, the display screen displays a figure surrounded by a contour line having a width, and information on the center line of the contour line is stored in the memory.
And the width information are stored separately. Therefore, in the conventional apparatus, a figure is input by designating the center line of the contour line constituting the figure and its width.
However, if the designer who made the layout design of the flyer / catalog specifies the inner dimension and outer dimension of the figure, the input cannot be performed as it is. For this reason, conventionally, the operator manually corrected the dimensions and performed the input.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a flyer / catalog allocating apparatus which can easily perform a work of inputting a graphic composed of lines having a width.

[Means for solving the problem]

The present invention provides a product data input device for inputting product data relating to a product to be published in a flyer / catalog, an allocation instruction input device for inputting an allocation instruction from an operator, and a product data input device based on the input allocation instruction. An allocation work device for performing the allocation work, a storage device for storing the result of the allocation work, an allocation result output device for outputting the result of the allocation work, and a display device for displaying the work progress of the allocation work on a screen. An apparatus for laying out flyers and catalogs, comprising: a graphic data input device for inputting graphic data relating to a graphic composed of a contour having a width into line information and width information relating to the line separately; A mode specification device that specifies whether the line information indicates the center of the outline of the figure or the boundary of the outline of the figure. If, when a specified indicating a boundary is made by the mode specifying unit, and the graphic data conversion apparatus for storing information of a line into the storage device by converting the information indicating the center, is further that provided.

[Action]

In the flyer / catalog layout device according to the present invention,
The mode indicating the center and the mode indicating the boundary can be selected by the mode specifying device. When the mode indicating the center is selected, the information of the input line is stored in the storage device as indicating the center of the outline of the figure, as in the conventional device. On the other hand, when the mode indicating the boundary is selected, the information of the input line is converted into the information indicating the center by the graphic data conversion device and then stored in the storage device. Therefore, if the figure is input in the mode indicating the boundary, the operator can perform the input with the inner dimension and the outer dimension of the graphic, and the input can be easily performed.

〔Example〕

 Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to the illustrated embodiments.

Basic Configuration of Apparatus FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of an apparatus for allocating flyers and catalogs according to the present invention. Product data input device 1
Is a device for inputting product data relating to products to be published in flyers and catalogs. Here, the product data is data such as a photograph of the product, a character string indicating a product name, a price, and the like. Specifically, in this embodiment, an input scanner device is used as a device for inputting a photograph of a product, and a word processor is used as a device for inputting a character string. In the case of a photograph, it is input as raster data of an image, and in the case of a character string, it is input as a character code (including a series and a typeface code).
As the assignment instruction input device 2, a device such as a keyboard and a mouse, which is a device for inputting assignment instructions from an operator, can be used. The allocating work device 3 is a device that performs allocating work on input product data based on the input allocating instruction, and is specifically realized by hardware constituting a computer main body and software for operating the same. . The final result of the assignment work is output from the assignment result output device 4, and the progress of the work is sequentially displayed on the display device 5. As the allocation result output device 4, an output scanner device, a printer or the like is used. Normally, the operator gives an output instruction to the assignment result output device 4 after completing the assignment work. In contrast,
The display device 5 has a function of always displaying the current allocation state. Therefore, when the operator inputs an allocation instruction from the allocation instruction input device 2 and the allocation work device 3 performs an operation of allocating predetermined product data to a predetermined position according to the instruction, the result is immediately displayed on the display device 5. You. Since the operator can confirm the allocation result based on the instruction given by the operator on the display device 5, the operator can perform the allocation operation in an interactive manner. The storage device 6 is connected to the assignment work device 3. The storage device 6 is a memory used for a computer constituting the allocation work device 3,
The result of the assignment work is stored as data.

The feature of this device is that a graphic data input device 7, a mode specifying device 8, a graphic data converting device 9, a specified point input device
The point is that a designated point conversion device 11 is provided. Specifically, each of these devices can be realized by using the computer used as the assignment work device 3 and its input device as they are, and preparing dedicated software for each.
The function of each of these devices will be described in detail below.

Graphic Input Operation Now, a description will be given of a graphic input operation which is a feature of the present apparatus. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of an allocation screen displayed on the display device 5. As shown in FIG. In this example, the rectangle
In 10, a photograph 11 of the product and a description 12 of the product are allocated. Here, the photograph 11 and the description 12 are input from the product data input device 1 and are allocated to these positions based on the operator's instruction given from the allocation instruction input device 2. A rectangle 10 is a figure input by the input operation of the present invention. This rectangle 10 is actually constituted by a contour line having a width. In this example, the rectangle 10 is used as a layout frame for the photograph 11 and the description 12, but in the flyer catalogs,
In many cases, a figure represented by such a contour having a width is allocated for various uses. Such graphic assignment is performed by the graphic data input device 7, the mode designation device 8, and the graphic data conversion device 9.

Before describing the actual figure assignment work, it is described what data the assigned figure is stored in the storage device 6. FIG. 3 shows the width W
Shows a rectangle 20 represented by a contour line. Here, for convenience of explanation, the width W is shown as a considerably large value. Here, the center line 21 of the contour line having this width is indicated by a chain line. Now, outside the center line 21, the outer boundary line 22,
Considering the inner boundary line 23 inside, this rectangle 20
Is represented by an outline having a width W formed in a region between the outer boundary line 22 and the inner boundary line 23.
The data of such a rectangle 20 is stored in the storage device 6 in the form of the coordinate values of the four vertices P1, P2, P3, and P4 of the center line 21 and the value of the width W. If such a format is adopted, the amount of data is very small and the system is efficient. Generally, figure data of a polygon is stored in the form of a coordinate value of each vertex of the polygon and a line width value. Also, in the case of circle graphic data, the coordinate value of the center point, the radius value, and the line width value are stored in the form of, and in the case of elliptical graphic data, the coordinate value of the center point,
It is stored in the form of a major axis length, a minor axis length, and a line width value. In any case, an outline graphic having a width is represented by data defining a center line of the outline of the graphic and data of a line width. Assignment work device 3
Reads the data defining the center line and the data of the line axis from the storage device 6 when outputting the figure to the sizing result output device 4 and the display device 5, and actually obtains the width from these data. It generates and outputs the contour figure.

Now, in order to input a graphic such as the rectangle 20, the operator inputs line information and width information relating to the line to the graphic data input device 7. The feature of this device is that the input line information can be handled as any of the center line 21, the outer boundary line 22, and the inner boundary line 23 shown in FIG. With conventional equipment, the input line information is always center line
It was treated as 21 information. Which information is to be handled as the information of the input line is specified by the mode specifying device 8. The mode specifying device 8 is provided with three modes of a center line mode, an outer boundary line mode, and an inner boundary line mode, and the operator specifies one of these modes. When inputting the rectangle 20 shown in FIG. 3, the operator may perform the following operation in each mode.

(1) When the center line mode is designated The rectangular data consisting of the center line 21 and the value of the width W are input to the graphic data input device 7. As the rectangular data, for example, coordinate values of four vertices (P1 to P4) may be specified, or 1
The coordinate value of the vertex and the length of the side (for example, the length L2 for the upper and lower sides) may be specified.

(2) When the Outer Boundary Mode is Designated The rectangular data composed of the outer border 22 and the value of the width W are input to the graphic data input device 7. The rectangular data is
For example, the coordinate values of four vertices of the outer boundary line 22 may be specified, or the coordinate value of one vertex and the length of the side (for example, the length L3 for the upper and lower sides) may be specified.

(3) When the Inner Boundary Line Mode is Designated The rectangular data consisting of the inner boundary line 23 and the value of the width W are input to the graphic data input device 7. The rectangular data is
For example, the coordinate values of four vertices of the outer boundary line 23 may be specified, or the coordinate values of one vertex and the length of the side (for example, the length L1 for the upper and lower sides) may be specified.

Even if any of the input operations (1), (2), and (3) described above is performed, the graphic data input into the storage device 6 is the same data. That is, the coordinate values and the width values W of the four vertices P1 to P4 of the center line are stored in the storage device 6. Therefore, when the input is performed in the center line mode of (1), the input data may be stored in the storage device 6 as it is. However, (2),
When the input is performed in each boundary line mode of (3), after the input data is converted into data for the center line,
It is necessary to store it in the storage device 6. The graphic data conversion device 9 is a device that performs this conversion work. That is, when the center line mode is specified by the mode specifying device 8, the graphic data (line information and width information) input to the graphic data input device 7 is directly given to the storage device 6, but the boundary line mode is specified. Is specified, this is converted and given to the storage device 6. The conversion work is as follows.

Now, for example, it is assumed that data of a line indicating the rectangle 30 as shown in FIG. 4 is given by the coordinate values of the four vertices R1 to R4, and the width value W is given by a numerical value. At this time, if the inside boundary mode is designated, the graphic data conversion device 9
As shown in FIG. 5, a rectangle 31 located outside the rectangle 30 at a distance of W / 2 from the rectangle 30 is obtained, and four tops R1 of the rectangle 30 are determined.
The coordinate values of 〜R4 may be converted into the coordinate values of the four tops P1 to P4 of the rectangle 31 and stored in the storage device 6. On the other hand, when the outer boundary line mode has been designated, the graphic data converter 9 obtains a rectangle 32 positioned inside by keeping a distance of W / 2 from the rectangle 30, as shown in FIG. The coordinate values of the four vertices R1 to R4 of the rectangle 30 may be converted into the coordinate values of the four vertices P1 to P4 of the rectangle 32 and stored in the storage device 6. As a general theory, conversion for an arbitrary polygon may be performed as follows. If an arbitrary polygon 40 is given as shown in FIG. 7, if this is the inner boundary mode, a line parallel to the outside of the polygon 40 at a distance of W / 2 on each side of the polygon 40 , And the coordinate value of the intersection of these parallel lines may be obtained and stored in the storage device 6. In the case of the outer boundary mode, a similar parallel line may be drawn inside the polygon 40.

When a circle 50 as shown in FIG. 8 is input, the data conversion operation is easier. In the case of the circle 50, the coordinates are input in the form of the coordinate value of the center point O and the radius value r. Therefore, if the inside boundary mode is designated, as shown in FIG. It is only necessary to add the radius value W / 2 to the data of the circle 51, and if the outer boundary line mode is designated, as shown in FIG. May be converted to data on the circle 52. When the ellipse 60 as shown in FIG. 11 is input, the data is input in the form of the coordinate value of the center point O, the length a of the long axis and the length b of the short axis. When the line mode is designated, as shown in the figure, the data may be converted into data on an ellipse 61 obtained by adding W / 2 to the lengths of both axes. When the outer boundary mode is designated, the data may be converted into data on an ellipse (not shown) obtained by subtracting W / 2 from the lengths of both axes.

As described above, in the graphic input operation by the present apparatus, the input of a graphic composed of a contour line having a width can be specified by the inner dimension of the graphic or by the outer dimension. Of course, it is also possible to designate by the size of the center line similarly to the conventional device. Therefore, input can be made in a manner that is most convenient for the operator.

Point designation operation Next, a point designation operation specific to the present apparatus will be described. The point designation operation described here means that the operator moves a cursor or the like on the screen using an input device such as a mouse while looking at the display device 5 and moves one point on the outline of the figure displayed on the screen. Is the task of specifying The work of allocating flyers and catalogs proceeds in an interactive manner with the computer as described above, so that the operator looks at the display screen of the display device 5 and
Specifying points is frequently done. In particular, when allocating another allocation target to a predetermined position based on the graphic allocated on the screen, it is often performed to designate one point on the outline of the graphic as a reference point. For example, in FIG. 2, when performing an operation of allocating some sort of allocation target to a position separated by a predetermined distance on the left side of the rectangle 10,
In general, a point Q on the outline of the rectangle 10 is specified, and an allocation position is specified using the point Q as a reference point. However, it is difficult for the operator to accurately specify a point on the outline of the rectangle 10 with an input device such as a mouse on the display screen of the display device 5. In particular, when the display device 5 performs reduced display, since the pixels on the display screen are thinned out, it is theoretically impossible to specify an accurate position on the screen. Therefore, in a normal allocating device, conversion for correcting an input error is performed. That is, the second
In the figure, a function is provided for converting the point S into the point Q and recognizing it even when the operator specifies the point S instead of specifying the exact point Q on the outline of the rectangle 10. That is, a point Q on the outline of the rectangle 10 closest to the point S actually input by the operator is calculated.

The outline of the actual figure is a line having a width as described above. Therefore, as shown in FIG.
Is composed of a contour line having a width W. In this case, the accurate point on the contour is the point Q0 on the center line 21 in the case of the conventional device.
It is. That is, when the operator actually inputs the point S, only the data relating to the center line 21 is stored in the storage device. Therefore, in the conventional device, the point S is converted into the closest point Q0 on the center point 21. Will be recognized. In other words, in the conventional device, the point Q1 on the outer boundary 22 is
Also, the point Q2 on the inner boundary line 23 cannot be designated. This is a major obstacle in specifying an accurate position in consideration of the line width.

In this device, a mode designation device 8, a designated point input device 10,
With the designated point conversion device 11, it is possible to accurately designate a point on any line. That is, if the center line mode is specified by the mode specifying device, the point on the center line 21
Q0 can be specified, a point Q1 on the outer outline 22 can be specified by specifying the outer outline mode, and a point Q2 on the inner outline 23 can be specified by specifying the inner outline mode. The designated point input device 10 is a device for inputting an actual designated point from the operator. The coordinate values of the points entered here are converted by the designated point conversion device 11, and the converted coordinate values are assigned to the assignment designation input. Apparatus 3 is provided. This conversion work is performed with reference to the graphic data stored in the storage device 6, and the contents of the work differ depending on the mode specified by the mode specifying device 8. The conversion work when the centerline mode is specified is
This is the same as the operation in the conventional device. For example, in the case of the example shown in FIG. 3, the data of the center line 21 (four vertices P1
座標 P4) are stored, so that an operation for finding the closest point Q0 on the center line 21 may be performed for the designated point S input to the designated point input device 10 by the operator. The feature of this apparatus is that it has a function of performing a new conversion operation when the outer contour mode or the inner contour mode is designated.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the procedure of this new conversion work. First, in step S1, a figure near the designated point S input by the operator to the designation input device 10 (ie, a target figure which the operator intends to designate one point on the outline of the figure) is a polygon. Is determined. This can be easily determined by referring to the graphic data stored in the storage device 6. If it is a polygon, a point P within a radius r from the designated point S is searched for in step S2. Where radius r
Is a predetermined constant, which is set in advance in consideration of work operability. The point P is a point stored in the storage device 6 as a vertex of the polygon. For example, when a pentagon as shown in FIG. 13 is a target figure and the designated point S is set at the position in the figure, it can be seen that there is a point P4 within a radius r. In addition, as described above, the thirteenth
Only the coordinate values of the points P1 to P5 and the value of the line width W shown in the figure are stored, and the center line indicated by the dashed line in FIG. 13 can be directly recognized, but the recognition of the boundary line indicated by the solid line remains unchanged. Not directly. Since point P4 has been searched, a positive determination is made in step S3. This is a case where the designated point S is near any one of the vertices of the polygon (distance within the radius r), and the operator has recognized that the intention is to designate the vertices of the polygon. Therefore, in step S4, parallel lines c and d are drawn with respect to the two center lines a and b passing through the point P4. Here, the position where the parallel line is drawn differs depending on the designation by the mode designation device 8. That is, in the outer boundary mode, parallel lines are drawn outside the target graphic (parallel lines c and d in FIG. 13), and in the inner boundary mode, parallel lines are drawn inside the target graphic. . The parallel line is drawn at a distance of W / 2 from the center line (W is the line width value of the target graphic stored in the storage device 6). Then, in step S5, the coordinate value of the intersection Q of the two parallel lines c and d is obtained by calculation, and in step S6, this point Q becomes the designated point after conversion. Thus, in the example shown in FIG. 13, the operator specifies the outer boundary mode,
When the designated point S is input, the designated point is converted to Q. Conversely, when the operator attempts to specify the point Q, if the operator performs the input operation in the outer boundary line mode, the point Q is accurately specified as intended even if the actual position of the specified point S is slightly shifted. Will be. When the point Q 'is to be specified, the input operation may be performed in the inner boundary line mode. When the point P4 is to be specified, the input operation may be performed in the center line mode.

On the other hand, when the point P is not searched in step S3, the following is performed. In this case, as shown in FIG. 14, the designated point S is not near the vertex of the polygon, and it is recognized that the operator's intention is to designate one point on the side of the polygon. become. Therefore, in step S7, a parallel line d is drawn with respect to the center line b closest to the point S.
Parallel lines are drawn, as in step S4, correspondingly inside or outside the mode, at a distance of W / 2 from the center line. Then, as shown in FIG. 15 (a partially enlarged view of FIG. 14), in step S8, the nearest point T of the designated point S is taken on the center line b (this is a perpendicular line from the point S to the line b, The foot may be a point T), and a parallel line d from this point T
, And let its foot be point Q. Finally step
In S6, this point Q becomes the designated point after conversion. Thus, in the example shown in FIG. 15, when the operator designates the outer boundary line mode and inputs the designated point S, the designated point is converted to Q. Conversely, when the operator attempts to specify the point Q, if the operator performs the input operation in the outer boundary line mode, the point Q is accurately specified as intended even if the actual position of the specified point S is slightly shifted. Will be.

If the target figure is not a polygon in step S1, no vertices are specified, so steps S7 and S8 may be performed immediately. For example, the 16th
As shown in the figure, it is assumed that the operator inputs the designated point S in the outer boundary line mode when the center line e of the circle is defined by the coordinates and the radius value of the center point O. Then, in step S7, a parallel line f is drawn outside the center line e at a distance W / 2, and in step S8, the closest point T of the point S is taken on the center line e, and further parallel from the point T. A perpendicular line is dropped on the line f, and the foot becomes the point Q. Thus, the designated point S is converted into a point Q.

Other Embodiments The present invention has been described based on one embodiment illustrating the present invention. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, but can be implemented in various modes. For example, the mode designation is not limited to the three modes of the center line mode, the outer boundary mode, and the inner boundary mode according to the above-described embodiment. In the case of a closed figure as in the above embodiment, it is possible to define the inner and outer rules, but when applying to an open figure, the upper boundary mode, the lower boundary mode, the left side A boundary line mode and a right boundary line mode may be prepared. Also, in the above-described embodiment, examples using polygons, circles, and ellipses have been described, but the present invention can be similarly applied to other figures.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the flyer / catalog allocating apparatus according to the present invention, the mode designating apparatus can select the mode indicating the center and the mode indicating the boundary. If you enter,
The operator can perform input with the inner dimension and the outer dimension of the figure, which enables easy input.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of an apparatus for allocating flyers and catalogs according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a view showing an example of an allocation work screen in the apparatus shown in FIG.
FIGS. 4A to 4C are diagrams showing an example of a figure composed of contour lines having a line width, FIGS. 4 to 7 are diagrams showing a method of performing data conversion on a polygon in the apparatus of FIG. 1, and FIGS. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a method of performing data conversion on a circle and an ellipse by the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a change procedure by a designated point conversion apparatus in the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and FIGS. No. 16
The figure illustrates the procedure shown in the flowchart of FIG. 10 ... rectangle, 11 ... product picture, 12 ... product description, 20 ... rectangle, 21 ... center line, 22 ... outer boundary line, 23 ... inner boundary line, 30
~ 32 ... rectangle, 40 ... polygon, 41 ... parallel line, 50-52 ... circle, 6
0,61: ellipse, S: designated point, T: nearest point, Q: converted point, W: line width.

Continuation of the front page (72) Koji Kotani, Inventor 1-1-1, Ichigaya-Kaga-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Inside Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Takashi Sekiguchi 1-1-1, Ichigaga-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo (56) References JP-A-62-42158 (JP, A) JP-A-62-44885 (JP, A) JP-A-61-260764 (JP, A) JP-A-61-260765 (JP, A) JP-A-63-139391 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G03F 1/00-1/16

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A product data input device for inputting product data relating to a product to be published in a flyer / catalog, an allocation instruction input device for inputting an allocation instruction from an operator, and the product based on the input allocation instruction. An allocating work device for allocating data, a storage device for storing the result of the allocating work, an allocation result output device for outputting a result of the allocating work, a display device for displaying the progress of the allocating work on a screen, A leaflet / catalog layout device comprising: a graphic data input device for inputting graphic data relating to a graphic constituted by a contour having a width into line information and width information relating to the line, separately; Specify whether the line information indicates the center of the outline of the figure or the boundary of the outline of the figure And a graphic data conversion device for converting the information of the line into information indicating the center and storing the information in the storage device when a designation indicating a boundary is made by the mode designation device. A leaflet / catalog layout device characterized by the following.