JP4692112B2 - Layout device, layout program, and layout method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an apparatus, a program, and a method for laying out posted information such as documents and images, and in particular, corresponds to content after layout and its layout area for each page or for each page. The present invention relates to a layout apparatus, a layout program, and a layout method that are suitable for dividing a page into a specified number of pages without losing layout uniformity in a layout area.

  Conventionally, after laying out a plurality of digital contents including document data, image data, etc. in a layout area, the size of the entire layout composed of the digital contents and the layout area after the layout is adjusted to the size of the paper to be printed, or the entire layout There are cases where it is desired to change the size of the entire layout so that the overall layout is not lost due to reasons such as dividing the page. In this way, as a technique for changing what has been laid out so that the balance is not lost, for example, there is a multi-pass layout of a graphic object having elasticity disclosed in Patent Document 1.

  In the conventional example described in Patent Document 1, in order to process the layout of a graphic object, an elastic data structure is set for the graphic object, and the minimum and desirable size, expansion characteristics, and compression characteristics are defined. ing. The desired width and compression of the text block is a function of the text amount of the text block. In addition, complex graphic objects contain elastic properties calculated from their components through addition and maximum operations that depend on the relative elasticity of the components. In addition, the basic setting value of the default width or height of the graphic object can be overridden (updated). Thereby, it is possible to change display characteristics in the graphic object while maintaining a specific display relationship.

Conventionally, there is a text format program called TeX (see Non-Patent Document 1). TeX has a mechanism called glue, and this glue can set, for example, a space between words, and has three attributes: a natural (natural) space, an expansion degree, and a reduction degree. Yes. Then, the size of the blank can be expanded or reduced by reducing or increasing the number of units constituting the blank based on the set expansion or reduction degree. By using this glue, it is possible to align the right margin of each page, or to “right-justify” the text by changing the setting values for the degree of expansion and reduction.
Special table 2003-506769 gazette TEX (Tech) Book-Computer typesetting system ASCII / Electronic Publishing Series (ISBN: 4756100104; (1989/10))

However, in the prior arts of Patent Document 1 and Non-Patent Document 1, when performing layout over a plurality of pages, the layout is continuously performed on a plurality of pages and divided into pages as a result. It was necessary to divide the contents, and it was difficult to automatically divide the page with a uniform layout.
Therefore, the present invention has been made paying attention to such an unsolved problem of the conventional technology, the content after layout and its layout area, for each page or between each page, An object of the present invention is to provide a layout device, a layout program, and a layout method suitable for automatically dividing a page into a specified number of pages without impairing the layout uniformity in the layout area corresponding to these.

[Mode 1] In order to achieve the above object, a layout apparatus according to mode 1 includes
Elastic layout data having an elastic data structure in which a plurality of contents laid out in a layout area, including the layout area, can expand or compress at least one of the width and height of the layout area and the plurality of contents. A layout device that re-lays out the plurality of contents by expanding or compressing at least one of a width and a height of the layout content and the layout area,
Elastic layout data acquisition means for acquiring the elastic layout data;
Page information designating means for designating page information including at least the number of pages after the relayout and the page size;
Based on the designated page information and the elastic layout data, at least one of the width and height of the laid out content and at least one of the width and height of the layout area is set to a size according to the page information. Stretching means to stretch or compress;
A page break position setting means for setting a page break position for equally dividing the expanded or compressed layout area into the specified number of pages;
A page break position selection means for selecting the set page break position in a predetermined order;
When there is content at a position overlapping the selected page break position, the selected page break position is determined based on the positional relationship between the selected page break position and the position of the blank area in the expanded or compressed layout area. Virtual page break position setting determining means for determining whether or not to set a virtual page break position at a position of a blank area that does not overlap the content in the layout area;
Virtual page break position setting means for setting the virtual page break position based on the determination result of the virtual page break position setting determination means;
The width of the content so that the size of the content included in the layout area paged at the set virtual page break position is the size corresponding to each layout area paged at the selected page break position And a re-layout unit that expands or compresses at least one of the heights and re-lays out the corresponding contents so that the arrangement relationship between the contents is maintained.

  With such a configuration, the elastic layout data acquisition unit expands at least one of the width and height of the layout area and the plurality of contents including the layout area by the plurality of contents laid out in the layout area. It is possible to acquire elastic layout data having a compressible elastic data structure, and it is possible to specify page information including at least the number of pages after re-layout and the page size by means of page information specifying means. It is.

  Further, by means of expansion / contraction means, based on the specified page information and the elastic layout data, at least one of the width and height of the laid-out content and at least one of the width and height of the layout region is changed to the page. Can be expanded or compressed to a size according to the information, and the page break position setting means can set the page break position that equally divides the expanded or compressed layout area into the specified number of pages. It is.

  Further, the set page break position can be selected in a predetermined order by the page break position selection means, and the content is positioned at the position overlapping the selected page break position by the virtual page break position setting judgment means. The selected page break position does not overlap the content in the layout area based on the positional relationship between the selected page break position and the position of the blank area in the expanded or compressed layout area. It is possible to determine whether to set a virtual page break position at the position of the blank area, and based on the determination result of the virtual page break position setting determination means by the virtual page break position setting means It is possible to set a break position.

  Further, the size of the content included in the layout area that is paged at the set virtual page break position by the re-layout means becomes the size corresponding to each layout area that is paged at the selected page break position. As described above, at least one of the width and height of the content can be expanded or compressed, and the corresponding content can be re-laid out so that the arrangement relationship between the contents is maintained.

  Accordingly, at least one of the width and height of the laid-out content and at least one of the width and height of the layout area are equally divided by the specified number of pages with respect to the layout area after being expanded or compressed. When the page break position is set, and when the set page break position and the content position overlap, the set page break position and the position of the blank area in the expanded or compressed layout area Based on the positional relationship, a virtual page break position is set, and the size of content included in each layout area paged at the set virtual page break position is paged at the selected page break position. Increase the size of each content so that it corresponds to the layout area of each page. Or, the content that has been compressed and overlapped with the selected page break position can fit in the layout area that is paged at the selected page break position, and the layout relationship between the contents is maintained Since the content to be re-layed out is properly performed so as not to impair the overall layout and the layout of each page, the layout is well-balanced without dividing the content into each page in advance. In this way, it is possible to easily perform page separation for the specified number of pages and to re-layout to the specified page size.

Here, the meaning of the words in the layout includes not only the meaning of arrangement, but also the meaning of so-called assignment that specifies the way of assembling the posted article, the size of the characters, the position of the illustration, and the like. Hereinafter, the same applies to the layout program of form 13 and the layout method of form 25.
The content includes character information (including tables), image information, and other information. Hereinafter, the same applies to the layout program of form 13 and the layout method of form 25.
In addition, the above-mentioned layout is, for example, the display layout when the content is laid out for the purpose of displaying on the screen, and the print layout when the content is laid out for the purpose of printing on the paper. Say. Hereinafter, the same applies to the layout program of form 13 and the layout method of form 25.

[Mode 2] Furthermore, the layout device of mode 2 is the layout device of mode 1,
The virtual page break position setting determining means is configured to output the virtual page when the page break position set by the page break position setting means and the position of the blank area in the expanded or compressed layout area are within a predetermined distance. It is determined that the delimiter position is set to a position of a blank area within the predetermined distance.
With such a configuration, the virtual page break position setting determination unit is configured such that the page break position set by the page break position setting unit and the position of the blank area in the expanded or compressed layout area are a predetermined distance. It is possible to determine that the virtual page break position is set to the position of the blank area within the predetermined distance.
Therefore, the virtual page break position should not be set to the position of the blank area that is extremely far away, for example, depending on the distance between the page break position and the blank area, otherwise it is set to the position of the blank area. By doing so, it is possible to obtain an effect that it is possible to perform page separation for the number of pages specified in a well-balanced layout.

[Mode 3] Furthermore, the layout device of mode 3 is the layout device of mode 1,
The virtual page break position setting determining means determines that the virtual page break position is set at the position of the nearest blank area when a plurality of blank areas are located within the predetermined distance.
With such a configuration, for example, content that protrudes slightly from other pages from the page break position can be drawn into the page and re-laid out. The effect is that the page can be divided into the number of pages specified in.

[Mode 4] Furthermore, the layout device of mode 4 is the layout device of mode 2 or 3,
The page information includes page configuration information after relayout,
The predetermined distance is set for each page break position based on the page configuration information, and is a distance according to the page configuration content for each page break position.
With such a configuration, when page separation is performed with a special page configuration, it is possible to perform a reasonable layout, so page separation is performed for the number of pages specified in a balanced layout. The effect that it can be obtained.

[Mode 5] Furthermore, the layout device of mode 5 is the layout device of mode 4,
As the page configuration content for each page break position, the first structure content in which the page break position is located between pages with page turning and the second structure content in which the page break position is located between pages constituting a spread page. The predetermined distance is set so that the first configuration content is larger than the second configuration content.
With such a configuration, it is easy to set the virtual page break position for the page break position corresponding to the page with page turning, so it seems that the selected page break position slightly protrudes from other pages. Content can be easily pulled into the page, which makes it easier to fit on one page when it is laid out over two pages with page turning, so the content is specified in a layout that is easy to read and well-balanced. The effect is that the page break can be performed on the number of pages.

[Mode 6] Furthermore, the layout device of mode 6 is the layout device of mode 1,
For each of the plurality of contents laid out in the layout area, information on the deformation force required to expand or compress at least one of these widths and heights is preset,
The virtual page break position setting judging means judges whether or not to set the virtual page break position based on the positional relationship information and the information on the deformation force.
With such a configuration, it is possible to determine whether to set the virtual page break position in consideration of the deformation force set for a plurality of contents in addition to the positional relationship information. On the other hand, by setting the deforming force information that requires a large deforming force and making it difficult for the content with a large deforming force to be deformed, it is specified by the re-layout contents that are balanced and maintain the original layout contents as much as possible The effect is that the page break can be performed on the number of pages.

[Mode 7] Furthermore, the layout device of mode 7 is the layout device of mode 6,
In the plurality of contents, between the contents adjacent to each other in at least one of the width and height directions, and between the content and the end of the layout area adjacent to at least one of the width or height directions, Information on the deformation force required to expand or compress each of the virtual page break positions is set in advance, and the virtual page break position setting determination means determines the virtual page break position based on the positional relationship information and the deformation force information. It is characterized by determining whether or not to set.
With such a configuration, in addition to the positional relationship and the deformation force of each content, the virtual page break position is set in consideration of the deformation force between each content and the deformation force between the layout region end and the content. For example, by setting deformation force information that requires a large deformation force between content that does not want to be deformed, between each content, and between the content and the end of the layout area, By performing a determination process that makes it difficult to deform a large one, it is possible to obtain an effect that the page can be divided into the number of pages specified by the layout in accordance with the layout according to the original layout contents.

[Embodiment 8] Furthermore, the layout device of embodiment 8 is the layout device of embodiment 6,
The virtual page break position setting determining means, when the virtual page break position is set based on the information of the deformation force, the size of the content corresponding to each page divided by the virtual page break position is the selection Expand or compress at least one of the width and height of the content laid out on each page paged at the virtual page break position so that the size corresponds to each layout area paged at the page break position. It is characterized in that a composite deformation force necessary for the calculation is calculated, and whether or not the virtual page break position is set is determined based on the calculated composite deformation force.

  With such a configuration, for example, when there are two blank area candidates for setting the virtual page break position within a predetermined distance from the selected page break position, the virtual page break position at one blank area position And when the virtual page break position is set at the position of the other blank area, each content of each page that is paged at the virtual page break position, between each content and between the content and the layout area end Compared to at least one of the deforming forces between the combined deforming forces obtained by combining all the deforming forces (for example, calculating the sum of the deforming forces), for example, a blank area where the combined deforming force is smaller By setting the virtual page break position in preference to the position of, the number of pages specified in the layout according to the original layout content can be balanced and more There is an advantage that it is possible to perform over-di separator.

[Mode 9] Furthermore, the layout device of mode 9 is the layout device of mode 8,
The virtual page break position setting determining means determines that the virtual page break position is set to a position of a blank area corresponding to the predetermined force or less when the calculated combined deformation force is less than or equal to a predetermined force. It is said.
With such a configuration, all of the deformations for at least one of the deformation forces between the contents of each page, the contents, and between the contents and the layout area edge, which are paged at the virtual page break position. When the combined deformation force obtained by combining the forces (for example, the sum of the deformation forces) is less than or equal to the predetermined force, the virtual page break position can be set at the position of the blank area where the force is less than or equal to the predetermined force. By setting to an appropriate value, it is possible to obtain an effect that the page can be divided into the number of pages specified by the layout in accordance with the layout according to the original layout contents.

[Mode 10] Furthermore, the layout device of mode 10 is the layout device of mode 9,
The page information includes page configuration information after relayout,
The predetermined force is a force set for each type of page configuration content in the page configuration.
With such a configuration, when page separation is performed with a special page configuration, it is possible to perform a reasonable re-layout according to the user's request, so that it can be balanced and more user-requested. The effect is obtained that the page can be divided into the number of pages specified by the layout along the line.

[Mode 11] Furthermore, the layout device of mode 11 is the layout device of mode 10,
As the type of the page configuration content, the first configuration content in which the selected page break position is located between pages with page turning, and the second structure content in which the page break position is located between pages constituting a spread page; There is
The predetermined force is set such that the first configuration content is larger than the second configuration content.
With this configuration, it is easy to set the virtual page break position for the page break position corresponding to the page with page turning, so it seems that the selected page break position slightly protrudes from other pages. Content can be easily pulled into the page, which makes it easy to fit content on one page that is difficult to see if it is laid out over two pages with page turning. The effect is that the page can be divided into the number of pages specified in.

[Mode 12] Furthermore, the layout device according to mode 12 is the layout device according to any one of modes 9 to 11,
The deformation force information includes a spring constant,
The virtual page break position setting determination means, when changing the set page break position, based on the spring constant and the distance between the selected page break position and the virtual page break position, It is characterized by calculating the deformation force.
With such a configuration, the deformation force between each content, between each content, and between the content and the layout region end can be appropriately expressed by the deformation force of the spring that is an elastic body, and the selected page break From the spring constant for each layout area that is paged by position and the distance between the selected page break position and the corresponding virtual page break position, the combined deformation force can be easily calculated. It is done.

[Mode 13] On the other hand, in order to achieve the above object, the layout program of mode 13 includes a plurality of contents laid out in a layout area including the layout area, and the width and height of the layout area and the plurality of contents. The plurality of contents by expanding or compressing at least one of the layout content and the width and height of the layout area based on elastic layout data having an elastic data structure capable of expanding or compressing at least one of A layout program used to re-layout
An elastic layout data acquisition step of acquiring the elastic layout data;
A page information designating step for designating page information including at least the number of pages after re-layout and the page size;
Based on the designated page information and the elastic layout data, at least one of the width and height of the laid out content and at least one of the width and height of the layout area is set to a size according to the page information. A stretching step to stretch or compress;
A page break position setting step for setting a page break position for equally dividing the expanded or compressed layout area into the specified number of pages;
A page break position selection step for selecting the set page break position in a predetermined order;
When there is content at a position overlapping the selected page break position, the selected page break position is determined based on the positional relationship between the selected page break position and the position of the blank area in the expanded or compressed layout area. A virtual page break position setting determining step for determining whether or not to set a virtual page break position at a position of a blank area that does not overlap the content in the layout area;
A virtual page break position setting step for setting the virtual page break position based on the determination result of the virtual page break position setting determination means;
The width of the content so that the size of the content included in the layout area paged at the set virtual page break position is the size corresponding to each layout area paged at the selected page break position And a program used for causing a computer to execute a process including a relay layout step for expanding or compressing at least one of the heights and relaying the corresponding content so that the arrangement relationship between the content is maintained. It is characterized by including.
With such a configuration, when the program is read by the computer and the computer executes processing in accordance with the read program, the same operational effects as those of the layout program of the form 1 can be obtained.

[Mode 14] Furthermore, the layout program of mode 14 is the layout program of mode 13,
In the virtual page break position setting determination step, when the page break position set in the page break position setting step and the position of the blank area in the expanded or compressed layout area are within a predetermined distance, the virtual page break position setting determination step It is determined that the page break position is set to the position of the blank area within the predetermined distance.
With such a configuration, when the program is read by the computer and the computer executes processing in accordance with the read program, the same operational effects as those of the layout program of mode 2 can be obtained.

[Mode 15] Furthermore, the layout program of mode 15 is the layout program of mode 13,
In the virtual page break position setting determining step, when a plurality of blank areas are located within the predetermined distance, it is determined that the virtual page break position is set at the position of the nearest blank area.
With this configuration, when the program is read by the computer and the computer executes processing according to the read program, the same operational effects as those of the layout program of mode 3 can be obtained.

[Mode 16] Furthermore, the layout program of mode 16 is the layout program of mode 14 or 15,
The page information includes page configuration information after relayout,
The predetermined distance is set for each page break position based on the page configuration information, and is a distance according to the page configuration content for each page break position.
With such a configuration, when the program is read by the computer and the computer executes processing in accordance with the read program, the same operational effects as those of the layout program of mode 4 can be obtained.

[Mode 17] Furthermore, the layout program of mode 17 is the layout program of mode 16,
As the page configuration content for each page break position, the first structure content in which the page break position is located between pages with page turning and the second structure content in which the page break position is located between pages constituting a spread page. The predetermined distance is set so that the first configuration content is larger than the second configuration content.
With this configuration, when the program is read by the computer and the computer executes processing according to the read program, the same operational effects as those of the layout program according to the fifth aspect are obtained.

[Mode 18] Furthermore, the layout program of mode 18 is the layout program of mode 13,
For each of the plurality of contents laid out in the layout area, information on the deformation force required to expand or compress at least one of these widths and heights is preset,
In the virtual page break position setting determination step, it is characterized in that it is determined whether or not to set the virtual page break position based on the positional relationship information and the deformation force information.
With this configuration, when the program is read by the computer and the computer executes processing according to the read program, the same operational effects as those of the layout program of mode 6 can be obtained.

[Mode 19] Furthermore, the layout program of mode 19 is the layout program of mode 18,
In the plurality of contents, between the contents adjacent to each other in at least one of the width and height directions, and between the content and the end of the layout area adjacent to at least one of the width or height directions, Information on the deformation force required to expand or compress each of the virtual page break positions is set in advance, and in the virtual page break position setting determination step, the virtual page break position based on the positional relationship information and the information on the deformation force It is characterized by determining whether or not to set.
With such a configuration, when the program is read by the computer and the computer executes processing in accordance with the read program, the same operational effects as those of the layout program of mode 7 can be obtained.

[Mode 20] Furthermore, the layout program of mode 20 is the layout program of mode 18,
In the virtual page break position setting determination step, when the virtual page break position is set based on the information on the deformation force, the size of the content corresponding to each page divided by the virtual page break position is Extend or extend at least one of the width and height of the content laid out on each page paged at the virtual page break position so that the size corresponds to each layout area paged at the selected page break position A composite deformation force necessary for compression is calculated, and it is determined whether to set the virtual page break position based on the calculated composite deformation force.
With such a configuration, when the program is read by the computer and the computer executes processing in accordance with the read program, the same operational effects as those of the layout program of mode 8 can be obtained.

[Mode 21] Furthermore, the layout program of mode 21 is the layout program of mode 20,
In the virtual page break position setting determination step, when the calculated combined deformation force is equal to or less than a predetermined force, it is determined to set the virtual page break position to a position of a blank area corresponding to the predetermined force or less. It is a feature.
With such a configuration, when the program is read by the computer and the computer executes processing in accordance with the read program, the same operational effects as those of the layout program of mode 9 can be obtained.

[Mode 22] Furthermore, the layout program of mode 22 is the layout program of mode 20,
The page information includes page configuration information after relayout,
The predetermined force is a force set for each type of page configuration content in the page configuration.
With such a configuration, when the program is read by the computer and the computer executes processing in accordance with the read program, the same operational effects as those of the layout program of the tenth mode are obtained.

[Form 23] Furthermore, the layout program of form 23 is the layout program of form 22,
As the type of the page configuration content, the first configuration content in which the selected page break position is located between pages with page turning, and the second structure content in which the page break position is located between pages constituting a spread page; There is
The predetermined force is set such that the first configuration content is larger than the second configuration content.
With this configuration, when the program is read by the computer and the computer executes processing according to the read program, the same effects as those of the layout program of mode 11 can be obtained.

[Mode 24] Furthermore, the layout program of mode 24 is the layout program of any one of modes 21 to 23,
The deformation force information includes a spring constant,
In the virtual page break position setting determination step, when changing the set page break position, based on the spring constant and the distance between the selected page break position and the virtual page break position, It is characterized by calculating a combined deformation force.
With this configuration, when the program is read by the computer and the computer executes processing according to the read program, the same operational effects as those of the layout program of mode 12 are obtained.

[Mode 25] On the other hand, in order to achieve the above object, the layout method of mode 25 includes:
Elastic layout data having an elastic data structure in which a plurality of contents laid out in a layout area, including the layout area, can expand or compress at least one of the width and height of the layout area and the plurality of contents. A layout method used to re-layout the plurality of contents by expanding or compressing at least one of the width and height of the laid-out contents and at least one of the width and height of the layout area. There,
An elastic layout data acquisition step of acquiring the elastic layout data;
A page information designating step for designating page information including at least the number of pages after re-layout and the page size;
Based on the designated page information and the elastic layout data, at least one of the width and height of the laid out content and at least one of the width and height of the layout area is set to a size according to the page information. A stretching step to stretch or compress;
A page break position setting step for setting a page break position for equally dividing the expanded or compressed layout area into the specified number of pages;
A page break position selection step for selecting the set page break position in a predetermined order;
When there is content at a position overlapping the selected page break position, the selected page break position is determined based on the positional relationship between the selected page break position and the position of the blank area in the expanded or compressed layout area. A virtual page break position setting determining step for determining whether or not to set a virtual page break position at a position of a blank area that does not overlap the content in the layout area;
A virtual page break position setting step for setting the virtual page break position based on the determination result of the virtual page break position setting determination step;
The width of the content so that the size of the content included in the layout area paged at the set virtual page break position is the size corresponding to each layout area paged at the selected page break position And a re-layout step of expanding or compressing at least one of the heights and re-laying out the corresponding contents so that the arrangement relationship between the contents is maintained.
Thereby, the same effect as that of the layout device according to the first aspect can be obtained.

[Mode 26] Furthermore, the layout method of mode 26 is the same as the layout method of mode 25,
In the virtual page break position setting determination step, when the page break position set in the page break position setting step and the position of the blank area in the expanded or compressed layout area are within a predetermined distance, the virtual page break position setting determination step It is determined that the page break position is set to the position of the blank area within the predetermined distance.
Thereby, an effect equivalent to that of the layout device according to mode 2 is obtained.

[Mode 27] Furthermore, the layout method of mode 27 is the same as the layout method of mode 25,
In the virtual page break position setting determining step, when a plurality of blank areas are located within the predetermined distance, it is determined that the virtual page break position is set at the position of the nearest blank area.
Thereby, the same effect as that of the layout device according to the third aspect can be obtained.

[Mode 28] Furthermore, the layout method of mode 28 is the layout method of mode 23 or 24,
The page information includes page configuration information after relayout,
The predetermined distance is set for each page break position based on the page configuration information, and is a distance according to the page configuration content for each page break position.
Thereby, the same effect as that of the layout device according to mode 4 can be obtained.

[Mode 29] Furthermore, the layout method of mode 29 is the layout method of mode 28,
As the page configuration content for each page break position, the first structure content in which the page break position is located between pages with page turning and the second structure content in which the page break position is located between pages constituting a spread page. The predetermined distance is set so that the first configuration content is larger than the second configuration content.
Thereby, the same effect as that of the layout device according to the fifth aspect can be obtained.

[Mode 30] Furthermore, the layout method of mode 30 is the same as the layout method of mode 25,
For each of the plurality of contents laid out in the layout area, information on the deformation force required to expand or compress at least one of these widths and heights is preset,
In the virtual page break position setting determination step, it is characterized in that it is determined whether or not to set the virtual page break position based on the positional relationship information and the deformation force information.
Thereby, the same effect as that of the layout device described in mode 6 can be obtained.

[Mode 31] Furthermore, the layout method of mode 31 is the layout method of mode 30,
In the plurality of contents, between the contents adjacent to each other in at least one of the width and height directions, and between the content and the end of the layout area adjacent to at least one of the width or height directions, Information on the deformation force required to expand or compress each of the virtual page break positions is set in advance, and in the virtual page break position setting determination step, the virtual page break position based on the positional relationship information and the information on the deformation force It is characterized by determining whether or not to set.
Thereby, the same effect as that of the layout device according to the seventh aspect can be obtained.

[Mode 32] Furthermore, the layout method of mode 32 is the layout method of mode 30,
In the virtual page break position setting determination step, when the virtual page break position is set based on the information on the deformation force, the size of the content corresponding to each page divided by the virtual page break position is Extend or extend at least one of the width and height of the content laid out on each page paged at the virtual page break position so that the size corresponds to each layout area paged at the selected page break position A composite deformation force necessary for compression is calculated, and it is determined whether to set the virtual page break position based on the calculated composite deformation force.
Thereby, the same effect as that of the layout device according to mode 8 can be obtained.

[Mode 33] Furthermore, the layout method of mode 33 is the same as the layout method of mode 32,
In the virtual page break position setting determination step, when the calculated combined deformation force is equal to or less than a predetermined force, it is determined to set the virtual page break position to a position of a blank area corresponding to the predetermined force or less. Features.
Thereby, the same effect as that of the layout device described in mode 9 can be obtained.

[Form 34] Furthermore, the layout method of form 34 is the same as the layout method of form 32,
The page information includes page configuration information after relayout,
The predetermined force is a force set for each type of page configuration content in the page configuration.
Thereby, the same effect as that of the layout device according to the tenth aspect can be obtained.

[Mode 35] Furthermore, the layout method of mode 35 is the same as the layout method of mode 34,
As the type of the page configuration content, the first configuration content in which the selected page break position is located between pages with page turning, and the second structure content in which the page break position is located between pages constituting a spread page; There is
The predetermined force is set such that the first configuration content is larger than the second configuration content.
Thereby, the same effect as that of the layout device according to the eleventh aspect can be obtained.

[Mode 36] Furthermore, the layout method of mode 36 is the layout method of any one of modes 33 to 35,
The deformation force information includes a spring constant,
In the virtual page break position setting determination step, when changing the set page break position, based on the spring constant and the distance between the selected page break position and the virtual page break position, It is characterized by calculating a combined deformation force.
Thereby, an effect equivalent to that of the layout device described in mode 12 is obtained.

[First Embodiment]
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 to 15 are diagrams showing a first embodiment of a layout apparatus, a layout program, and a layout method according to the present invention.

First, the functional configuration of the layout apparatus 100 according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a layout apparatus 100 according to the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, the layout apparatus 100 includes an elastic layout data acquisition unit 10 that acquires elastic layout data corresponding to a re-layout instruction from a user, and the number of pages, page size, page configuration, etc. after the re-layout. Based on the page information designating unit 11 for instructing page information including information and the page information and elastic layout data, at least one of the width and height of the layout content and the layout area indicated by the elastic layout data is expanded or compressed. The expansion / contraction processing unit 12 and a page break position setting unit 13 for setting a page break position for equally dividing the expanded or compressed layout area by a specified number of pages are configured.

  The elastic layout data acquisition unit 10 acquires elastic layout data stored in a storage device 70 (to be described later) in response to a re-layout instruction from the user, or obtains a network from an external device connected via a network (not shown). To obtain elastic layout data. Here, the elastic layout data is, for example, data having a data structure such as “glue” in the well-known TeX, and each content laid out in the layout area and the width and height of the layout area can be freely expanded or reduced. A data structure that can be compressed.

The page information designating unit 11 acquires page information input from the user via an input device 74 that is an input device such as a mouse and a keyboard, which will be described later, and designates it to the expansion / contraction processing unit 12 or via a network (not shown). It has the role of specifying page information from the user, such as acquiring page information sent from an external device and specifying it to the expansion / contraction processing unit 12.
Based on the page information specified by the page information specifying unit 11, the expansion / contraction processing unit 12 adjusts the width or height of the layout content and layout area indicated by the elastic layout data in accordance with the specified number of pages and page size. At least one is expanded or compressed. Here, the layout area indicated by the elastic layout data has information on a reference width and height. In other words, when the reference size is smaller than the result of the re-layout with the specified number of pages and the page size, at least one of the width or the height of the reference size is expanded, and the reference size is the result of the re-layout If the size is larger than the size, at least one of the width and height of the reference size is compressed.

  The layout apparatus 100 further selects a page break position selection unit 14 that selects a page break position that has not been subjected to re-layout processing in a predetermined order from the page break positions set by the page break position setting unit 13. A virtual page break position setting determining unit 15 for determining whether or not to set a virtual page break position for the selected page break position based on the page break position and information set by the determination information setting unit 16 described later; The determination information setting unit 16 for setting information for determining whether or not to set the virtual page break position, and the virtual page break position at the designated blank position when it is determined to set the virtual page break position A virtual page break position setting unit 17 for setting the position is included.

  The virtual page break position setting determination unit 15 starts from the selected page break position based on a predetermined distance that is set in advance according to the contents of the page when the content overlaps the selected page break position. If there is a blank area within the predetermined distance, it is determined that the virtual page break position is set at the position of the blank area. If there is no blank area within the predetermined distance, the virtual page break position with respect to the selected page break position Is determined not to be set.

  The virtual page break position setting unit 17 sets a virtual page break position at a position of a blank area within a predetermined distance from the selected page break position. In other words, the virtual page break position is for automatically setting the content of each divided page content, and finally the content of each page content divided at this virtual page break position. The layout area is equally divided into pages.

  The layout apparatus 100 further selects the contents of each layout area that is paged by the virtual page break position set by the virtual page break position setting unit 17 while maintaining the layout relationship between the entire layout and the contents of each page. The layout includes a re-layout unit 18 that re-lays out to a size corresponding to the layout area that is paged at the page break position, and a re-layout data storage unit 19 that stores layout data after the re-layout. ing.

  When the virtual page break position is set for the selected page break position, the relayout unit 18 divides the contents of each page that is paged at the virtual page break position into the selected page break position. In order to fit in each page, at least one of the width or height is expanded or compressed to a size corresponding to the layout area of each page. Furthermore, other relevant contents are expanded or compressed so as to maintain the arrangement relationship (for example, relative position) between the contents of each page and the arrangement relation of the contents between each page so as not to impair the overall uniformity. Or change the position of other content in the layout area. For example, if the height of the content corresponding to the virtual page break position is compressed, the position of the other content is moved so that the distance from the content of the other page does not change by this compression, If the content is expanded, or if the positional relationship with other content in the same page is shifted due to the compression, the layout is re-layed out so as to maintain the overall balance. .

For example, page layout position information, page configuration information, size information of the content of each page after relayout, and the size of the layout area after relayout as relayout data as a result of relayout. Data including layout information including information and the like is stored.
Next, the hardware configuration of the layout apparatus 100 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the layout apparatus 100.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the layout apparatus 100 includes a CPU 60 that controls operations and the entire apparatus based on a control program, a ROM 64 that stores a control program for the CPU 60 in a predetermined area, and data read from the ROM 64 and the like. And a RAM 62 for storing calculation results required in the calculation process of the CPU 60 and an I / F 66 for mediating input / output of data to / from an external device. These signals are signals for transferring data. The buses 68 are connected to each other so as to be able to exchange data.

  The I / F 66 includes a storage device 70 that stores information specified by the page information specifying unit 11, information set by the determination information setting unit 16, various data such as re-layout data, and re-layout. A display device 72 that displays the result as an image or other necessary information, an input device 74 composed of a human interface device that allows a user to input information, such as a mouse or a keyboard, and an external device connected via the Internet or the like Is connected to a signal line.

Next, processing executed by the CPU 60 will be described with reference to FIG.
The CPU 60 includes a microprocessing unit MPU and the like, starts a predetermined program stored in a predetermined area of the ROM 64, and executes the relayout process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 3 according to the program.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the relayout process according to the first embodiment.

  The relayout process in the first embodiment determines whether or not to set a virtual page break position by determining whether or not there is a blank area within a predetermined distance from the selected page break position. This is a process for performing re-layout based on the virtual page break position determined and set as described above. When it is executed by the CPU 60, it first proceeds to step S100 as shown in FIG.

In step S100, the elastic layout data acquisition unit 10 determines whether or not a re-layout instruction is received from the user via the input device 74. If it is determined that there is (Yes), the process proceeds to step S102. If not (No), the determination process is continued until instructed.
When the process proceeds to step S102, the elastic layout data acquisition unit 10 acquires the elastic layout data corresponding to the re-layout instruction from the storage device 70, an external device connected via the signal line, etc., and the process proceeds to step S104. To do.

In step S104, the page information specifying unit 11 determines whether or not page information is specified by the user via the input device 74 or an external device. If it is determined that the page information is specified (Yes), the process proceeds to step S106. If not (No), the determination process is continued until specified.
When the process proceeds to step S106, the expansion / contraction processing unit 12 sets the reference size of the layout area and the content indicated by the elastic layout data based on the information on the specified page number and the specified page size included in the page information specified in step S104. Then, at least one of these heights or widths is expanded or compressed so that the size corresponds to the designated page number and the designated page size, and the process proceeds to step S108.

In step S108, the page break position setting unit 13 positions the layout area expanded or compressed in step S106 equally to the specified number of pages based on the specified page number information included in the page information specified in step S104. The page break position is set in step S110, and the process proceeds to step S110.
In step S110, the page break position selection unit 14 selects one page break position that has not been subjected to the re-layout process set in step S108, according to a predetermined order, and proceeds to step S112. Here, the predetermined order varies depending on the page configuration, and in the present embodiment, the page break position corresponding to the page with page turning is set to be preferentially selected.

  In step S114, the virtual page break position setting determination unit 15 determines whether the page break position selected in step S112 based on the page configuration information included in the page information specified in step S104 is a page break with page turning. If it is a page break with page turning (Yes), the process proceeds to step S116. If not (No), the process proceeds to step S130.

  When the process proceeds to step S116, the virtual page break position setting determination unit 15 selects the selected page break when determining whether to set the virtual page break position preset in the determination information setting unit 16 or not. The distance threshold value 2a, which is the threshold value of the distance between the position and the position of the blank area, is doubled as a distance threshold value used for the determination process, and the process proceeds to step S118.

In step S118, the virtual page break position setting determination unit 15 searches for a blank area within the distance threshold set in step S116 or step S130 from the selected page break position in the previous page direction and the subsequent page direction. Migrate to
In step S120, the virtual page break position setting determination unit 15 determines whether or not a blank area has been found. If it is determined that a blank area has been found (Yes), the process proceeds to step S122; ) Proceeds to step S126.

If the process proceeds to step S122, the virtual page break position is set at the position of the blank area found in step S120, and the process proceeds to step S124.
In step S124, the re-layout unit 18 expands or reduces the content included in the layout area divided into pages at the virtual page break position so as to have a size corresponding to the layout area while maintaining the positional relationship between the contents. Then, the process proceeds to step S126.

In step S126, the re-layout unit 18 determines whether or not all the unprocessed page break positions have been selected in the re-layout process. If it is determined that selection has been made (Yes), the process proceeds to step S128. If not (No), the process proceeds to step S110.
In step S128, the re-layout data storage unit 19 stores the re-layout data, which is the layout data after the above-described re-layout, in the storage device 74, and proceeds to step S100.

  When the process proceeds to step S130, the selected page break when the virtual page break position setting determination unit 15 determines whether or not to set the virtual page break position preset in the determination information setting unit 16 is determined. The distance threshold value a, which is the distance threshold between the position and the position of the blank area, is set as the distance threshold used for the determination process, and the process proceeds to step S118.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
Here, FIG. 4A is a diagram illustrating an example of a layout area and content of a reference size that has been laid out, and FIG. 4B is a diagram illustrating an example of a layout area and content that has been expanded to four pages. . FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of setting a predetermined distance for each page break position. FIGS. 6A to 6D are diagrams illustrating a process example of a virtual page break position setting process and a re-layout process. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a print result printed out based on the re-layout process result of FIG.

  In response to a re-layout instruction from the user via the input device 70 (step S100), the layout apparatus 100 has a reference size of horizontal (width) 210 [mm] × vertical (high) as shown in FIG. A) The elastic layout data in which the contents A to D are laid out in the layout area of 550 [mm] is read from the storage device 74 and acquired (step S102). Here, assuming that the vertical coordinate of the upper end of the layout area is “0”, the range of the vertical area x (A) of the content A is 70 ≦ x (A) ≦ 160 (reference size vertical 90 [mm]), the range of the vertical region x (B) of the content B is 110 ≦ x (B) ≦ 160 (reference size vertical 50 [mm]), and the vertical region of the content C The range of x (C) is 250 ≦ x (C) ≦ 350 (reference size length 100 [mm]), and the range of the vertical region x (D) of the content D is 390 ≦ x (D ) ≦ 480 (reference size length 90 [mm]). The value of each coordinate may be any value such as mm, points, or the number of lines, but here it is mm.

  On the other hand, as page information, the number of pages is 4, the page size is A4 (width 210 [mm] × height 297 [mm]), and pages 1 and 4 are turned and pages 2 and 3 are spread (hereinafter, referred to as page information). 4 (referred to as page configuration 1) (“Yes” branch of step S104), based on these page information and elastic layout data, as shown in FIG. The layout area and the contents A to D are expanded in the vertical direction so that the vertical reference size becomes the size corresponding to the length in the vertical direction for four pages in the A4 size (step S106). Thereby, the layout area is expanded from 550 [mm] to 1188 [mm] (297 [mm] × 4) in the vertical direction. Further, the contents A to D also have the above-mentioned range of x (A) to x (D), the contents A are 70 ≦ x (A) ≦ 380 (the size 310 [mm] in the longitudinal direction after expansion), the contents B is 240 ≦ x (B) ≦ 300 (length size 60 [mm] after extension), and content C is 572 ≦ x (C) ≦ 776 (length size 204 [mm] after extension). The contents D are expanded to 921 ≦ x (D) ≦ 1118 (the size 197 [mm] in the longitudinal direction after expansion), respectively.

  Further, based on the specified number of pages 4, as shown in FIG. 5, three page break positions 50a to 50c are set at positions where the expanded layout area 1188 [mm] is equally divided into four pages ( Step S108). When the page break position is set, next, the page break position that has not been subjected to the re-layout process is selected from the set page break positions 50a to 50c in a predetermined selection order (step S110). In the present embodiment, this selection order is set for each type of the specified page configuration. In the case of the specified page configuration 1, the page break position with page turning is preferentially selected. Are ordered as follows. Here, it is assumed that the selection order of the page break positions is in the order of 50a → 50c → 50b.

  Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 6A, first, the page break position 50a is selected (step S110), and then it is determined whether there is content that overlaps the page break position 50a (step S112). This determination is performed by examining whether or not the vertical coordinates of the page break position 50a are within the range of the vertical coordinates of the contents A to D described above. That is, since the vertical coordinate of the page break position 50a is 297, it is checked whether or not there is content that includes this 297 in the range. As described above, the range of the content A is 70 ≦ x (A) ≦ 380, the range of the content B is 240 ≦ x (B) ≦ 300, and both include 297 in the range, so the page break position 50a It is determined that there is content that overlaps with (Yes in step S112).

  If it is determined that there is content that overlaps the page break position 50a, the selected page break position 50a is a page break with page turning from the specified page configuration information (step S114). “Yes” branch), 2a, which is twice the reference distance threshold a preset in the determination information setting unit 16, is set as the determination distance threshold for the page break position 50a (step S116). When the distance threshold is set, a blank area in the range of the set distance threshold 2a from the page break position 50a is searched (step S118). Here, the search for the blank area is a portion in which the range of the contents A to D is not included in the range obtained by adding or subtracting the distance threshold 2a to the vertical coordinate 297 of the selected page break position 50a. It is done by checking whether there is. For example, when a is 52 [mm], the distance threshold 2a is 104 [mm]. Therefore, 193 [mm] obtained by subtracting 104 from the coordinates 297 of the page break position 50a and the coordinates of the page break position 50a. The search range is 411 [mm] obtained by adding 104 to 297. In the search range 104 [mm] to 411 [mm], the portion not including the range of the contents A to D, that is, the range of the content A is 70 ≦ x (A) ≦ 380, and the content B Since 240 ≦ x (B) ≦ 300, at least a portion from 381 [mm] to 411 [mm] is found as a blank area (“Yes” branch in step S120).

  When a blank area is found within the predetermined distance 2a in this way, as shown in FIG. 6A, a predetermined distance (for example, 20 [mm]) from the start position (381 [mm]) of this blank area. The virtual page break position 50a ′ is set at the position (step S122). Here, the virtual page break position is set at a position a predetermined distance from the start position of the blank area. However, when the position at the predetermined distance exceeds the blank area, the virtual page break position is set at the center position of the blank area. When the virtual page break position 50a ′ is set, the contents A and B that are entirely contained in the first page divided by the virtual page break position 50a ′ are paged at the page break position 50a. As shown in FIG. 6B, the entire content A is compressed in the vertical direction so that the size fits in the area of the first page, and the content B is moved upward without being resized. Further, in order to prevent the overall layout from being lost, the contents C and D are expanded in the vertical direction, and among C and D, C is expanded in the vertical direction along with the upward movement. By moving upward without changing the size, the contents A to D are laid out again so that the positional relationship between the contents A to D is substantially maintained (step S124). Then, the selected page break position 50a is determined as having been subjected to the re-layout process (297 [mm]).

By this re-layout, each range of the contents A to D is such that the content A is 40 ≦ x (A) ≦ 270 (the vertical size 230 [mm] after expansion), and the content B is 180 ≦ x (B) ≦ 240 (vertical size 60 [mm] after expansion), content C is 525 ≦ x (C) ≦ 746 (vertical size 221 [mm] after expansion), and content D is 908 ≦ x (D ) ≦ 1105 (vertical size after expansion 197 [mm]) In this way, when the re-layout process for the page break position 50a is completed, other page break positions for which the re-layout process has not been processed yet. (The branch of “No” in step S126), the page break position 50c is then selected from the layout area after this re-layout according to the above selection order (step S110). Since the vertical coordinate of the page break position 50c is 891 [mm], it is checked whether or not there is content overlapping with this position by the same processing as that for the page break position 50a. In this case, since there is no overlapping content ("No" branch in step S112), the selected page break position 50c is not laid out again without executing the subsequent processing. As processed, as shown in FIG. 6C, the position (891 [mm]) is determined.

  In this way, when the relayout process for the page break position 50c is completed, the page break position 50b is finally selected from the layout area after the relayout (step S110). Since the vertical coordinate of the page break position 50b is 594 [mm], it is checked whether or not there is content overlapping with this position by the same processing as that for the page break position 50a. In this case, since the content C overlaps (“Yes” branch in step S112), it is next determined from the specified page configuration information whether the page break position 50b is a page break with page turning. Determination is made (step S114). Since the page break position 50b is a page break between spread pages ("No" branch in step S114), as shown in FIG. 6C, a distance threshold value a set in advance in the determination information setting unit 16 is used. Is set as a distance threshold for determining the page break position 50b as it is (step S130). In other words, a distance threshold smaller than the distance threshold for the page break position with page turning (in this case, 1/2) is set. In this case, since the distance threshold a is 52 [mm], a blank area is searched for the range of 542 [mm] to 646 [mm], but the range of the content C is 525 ≦ x (C) ≦ Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6C, the search range 542 [mm] to 646 [mm] set by the distance threshold are all included in the range of the content C, and therefore are within the distance threshold. It is determined that there is no blank area ("No" branch of step S120). Therefore, with respect to the page break position 50b, the subsequent process is not executed, and the page break position 50b is assumed to have been subjected to the re-layout process, and the position (594 [mm]) as shown in FIG. Is confirmed.

When all the page break positions 50a to 50c are selected and the re-layout process is completed (the branch of “Yes” in step S126), the coordinate information of each layout area and contents A to D after the re-layout, and the determined page break position Is stored as re-layout data in the storage device 74 (step S128).
As shown in the example of FIG. 7, when the result of printing on 4 pages of A4 paper by the printing device based on the stored re-layout data is seen, as shown in pages 2 and 3 of FIG. 7, It can be seen that the content C divided into pages by the re-layout process is laid out at the top and bottom positions in each page. Also, as shown on page 4 in FIG. 7, it can be seen that content D is laid out on the entire page. In other words, it is determined by the above-mentioned relayout process which page each content is divided into, and when actually printing out, the layout is further balanced within the page based on the result of this relayout. Also good.

  Further, application examples 1 to 4 of the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. Here, FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the process of the re-layout process in which the fourth page is all blank pages, and FIG. 9 shows the print result printed out based on the result of the re-layout process of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a process for performing re-layout by compressing the reference size, and FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a print result printed out based on the result of the re-layout process in FIG. is there. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a special page configuration (double door opening), and FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of setting a distance threshold for the page configuration of FIG. FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of a relayout process when the page configuration is vertical writing, and FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of a print result printed out based on the relayout process result of FIG. It is. Hereinafter, detailed processing contents are the same as the contents described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 7 and will be omitted.

[Application 1 of the first embodiment]
First, an application example 1 of the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 8B, when the layout content of the reference size shown in FIG. 8A is expanded to a size corresponding to 4 pages of A4 size, the same as in the first embodiment. The distance threshold 2a is set for the page break position 50a, and the virtual page break position 50a ′ is set. Here, the page configuration is the same as that of the first embodiment, and the selection order of page break positions is also the same. Then, as shown in FIG. 8 (c), the content A that has been stored in the first page when the pages are divided at the virtual page break position 50a ′ is compressed as shown in FIG. All of them can be accommodated in the first page divided into pages at the position 50a. Furthermore, in this application example, as shown in FIG. 8C, in accordance with this compression, the content C and the content D are moved upward without being resized. Further, when the virtual page break position 50c ′ for the page break position 50c is set and the entire content D is included in the third page divided by the set virtual page break position 50c, FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the entire content D is compressed so that the entire content D fits on the third page divided into pages at the page break position 50c. With this compression, as shown in FIG. 8D, the entire content C is compressed and moved to the second page. Since no overlapping content is found for the page break position 50b selected at the end, as shown in FIG. 8 (e), the re-layout processing result of FIG. 8 (d) becomes the final processing result as it is. Become.

  When such a re-layout processing result is printed and output as it is on 4 pages of A4 paper by the printing apparatus, it is as shown in FIG. That is, unlike the print processing result shown in FIG. 7 in the first embodiment, the re-layout process result in FIG. 8 is printed and output as it is.

[Application 2 of the first embodiment]
Next, an application example 2 of the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11.
When the layout content of the reference size shown in FIG. 10A is compressed as a whole and re-laid out to two pages as shown in FIG. 10B, since there are two pages, the page break position is one of 50a. Only one. If the page structure is a spread page of pages 1 and 2, 2a is set as the distance threshold as shown in FIG. 10B, and between the contents A and C and between the contents C and D. As shown in FIG. 10C, the virtual page is located at the position of the blank area between the contents C and D at the position closer to the page break position 50a among these two blank areas. A delimiter position 50a ′ is set. When the virtual page break position 50a ′ is set, the content C will be entirely contained in the first page divided by the virtual page break position 50a ′. Therefore, as shown in FIG. The contents A to C are respectively compressed so that the contents A to C can be accommodated in the layout area of the first page divided into pages at the page break position 50a.
When such a re-layout process result is printed and output as it is on two pages of A4 paper by the printing apparatus, it is as shown in FIG.

[Application example 3 of the first embodiment]
Next, an application example 3 of the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 12 and 13.
As shown in FIG. 12, when the page structure is double-page spread (8 pages), the back of page 1 is page 5, the back of page 2 is page 4, the back of page 3 is page 7, and the page 6 The back is page 8. Then, page 1 and page 2, page 3 and page 4, page 7 and page 8 involve turning pages, page 2 and page 3, page 4 and page 5, page 5 and page 6, and page. 6 and page 7 are spread pages.

  Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 13, the distance threshold value set for each page break position is defined as page 1, page 2, page 3, page 4, page 7, and page 7, where the distance threshold reference value is a. A distance threshold 2a is set for each page separation position that separates page 8, and page 2 and page 3, page 4 and page 5, page 5 and page 6, page 6 and page 7, respectively. A distance threshold a is set for the page break position to be separated. Thus, according to the page configuration, the distance threshold is set so that the page break position with page turning is larger than the page break position between the facing pages.

[Application 4 of the first embodiment]
Next, an application example 4 of the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 14 and 15.
As shown in FIG. 14A, when the contents such as text to be laid out are vertically written, the contents A to E are arranged from the right end to the left end in the horizontally long layout area. When page information is designated, the layout area and contents are expanded in the horizontal direction (in the direction in which the number of pages increases or decreases) as shown in FIG. 14B, according to the number of pages and the page size in the page information. The page break position is also set so that the number of pages increases from right to left. Further, the page configuration is the same as the above-described page configuration 1, and therefore, the distance threshold is the distance threshold 2a with respect to the page break position 50a and the page break position 50c with page turning, as shown in FIG. Is set, and the distance threshold a is set for the page break position 50b that separates the facing pages. The subsequent processing is the same as in the first embodiment described above. A blank area is searched based on the distance threshold value, and a virtual page break position is set to the position of the found blank area, and re-layout is performed (FIG. 14C). Through the processing of (d), the re-layout result shown in FIG. 14 (e) is finally obtained.

If such a re-layout processing result is printed and output as it is on 4 pages of A4 paper by the printing apparatus, it is as shown in FIG.
In this way, the layout apparatus 100 can determine the number of specified pages and the content based on the content laid out in the layout area, the elastic layout data in which the layout area has an elastic data structure, and the specified page information. Depending on the specified page size, it is possible to change the size by expanding or compressing the layout area and content, and set the page break position to equally divide the resized layout area by the specified number of pages It can be divided into pages.

  Furthermore, when the layout area is divided into pages, a page break position that has not been subjected to the re-layout process in a predetermined selection order is selected, and if the content overlaps the page break position, the page is more than the spread pages. The virtual page break position can be set at the position of the blank area closest to the page break position selected within the distance threshold, based on the distance threshold that sets a large distance with respect to the page break position with turning. Then, the content of each page that is paged at this virtual page break position is decompressed or compressed so that the size fits in the layout area of each page that is paged at the selected page break position, Furthermore, it is possible to expand, compress, or move the corresponding content so that the positional relationship between the content is maintained, and re-layout each content without losing the overall balance.

Therefore, by devising the setting of the distance threshold value, it is possible to perform page division and re-layout with the overall balance taken.
In the first embodiment, the elastic layout data acquisition unit 10 corresponds to the elastic layout data acquisition unit of form 1, the page information specification unit 11 corresponds to the page information specification unit of form 1, and the expansion / contraction processing unit Reference numeral 12 corresponds to the expansion / contraction means of the form 1, and the page break position setting unit 13 corresponds to the page break position setting means of the form 1 or 2.

  In the first embodiment, the page break position selection unit 14 corresponds to the page break position selection unit of the form 1, and the virtual page break position setting determination unit 15 is any one of the forms 1, 2, and 3. 1 corresponds to the virtual page break position setting determination means, the virtual page break position setting unit 17 corresponds to the virtual page break position setting means of form 1, and the re-layout part 18 corresponds to the re-layout means of form 1. .

  In the first embodiment, steps S100 and S102 correspond to the elastic layout data acquisition step of form 13 or 25, step S104 corresponds to the page information designation step of form 13 or 25, and step S106. Corresponds to the expansion / contraction step of form 13 or 25, and step S108 corresponds to the page break position setting step of any one of forms 13, 14, 25 and 26.

  In the first embodiment, step S110 corresponds to the page break position selection step of form 13 or 25, and steps S112 to S120 and step S130 are forms 13, 14, 15, 25, 26 and 27 corresponds to the virtual page break position setting determination step of any one of 27, and step S124 corresponds to the re-layout step of form 13 or 25.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 16 to 17 are diagrams showing a second embodiment of a layout apparatus, a layout program, and a layout method according to the present invention.

  In the present embodiment, a predetermined spring constant is set as a deformation force necessary to deform each content, between each content, and between the layout region end and the content, and from the page break position to the front and rear Temporarily set a virtual page break position in a certain blank area, calculate the combined deformation force of the front and rear pages divided into pages at the temporarily set virtual page break position, and the calculated combined deformation force is preset. It differs from the first embodiment in that it is determined whether or not to set a virtual page break position based on the comparison result with the deformation force threshold. Therefore, only the processing of the flowchart of FIG. 3 in the first embodiment is changed to the processing of the flowchart of FIG. 16, and the other processing and each configuration are the same as those of the first embodiment. Only the parts different from the first embodiment will be described below.

  In the present embodiment, the virtual page break position setting determination unit 15 selects a blank area on the page ahead of the selected page break position when the content is at a position where the content overlaps the selected page break position. Then, a virtual page break position is temporarily set at the position of the blank area, and the combined deformation force required to deform the front and rear pages divided by the virtual page break position is calculated. Further, a blank area on the page behind the selected page break position is selected, a virtual page break position is temporarily set at the position of the blank area, and the front and rear pages that are paged at the virtual page break position The combined deformation force required for deforming is calculated. The calculation process of the combined deformation force is performed in the elastic layout data or determination information setting unit 16 based on spring constants set in advance for each content, each content, and between the layout frame end and the content. Then, the combined deformation force corresponding to the preceding blank area, the combined deformation force corresponding to the rear blank area, and the deformation force threshold set in advance in the determination information setting unit 16 are respectively compared to determine the combined deformation force. If it is equal to or less than the deformation force threshold, it is determined that a virtual page break position can be set at the position of the blank area. Here, when it is determined that both the front side and the rear side can be set, the one having the smaller combined deformation force is selected.

Next, processing executed by the CPU 60 in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
The CPU 60 includes a microprocessing unit MPU and the like, starts a predetermined program stored in a predetermined area of the ROM 64, and executes the relayout process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 16 according to the program.
FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating the relayout process according to the second embodiment.

  The relayout process in the second embodiment assumes that a virtual page break position is set for a blank area within a predetermined distance from the selected page break position, and each page divided by the virtual page break position The combined deformation force of the page is calculated, the calculated combined deformation force is compared with a preset deformation force threshold value, and it is determined whether or not a virtual page break position is set based on the comparison result. When the CPU 60 executes the re-layout based on the virtual page break position determined and set in this way, first, as shown in FIG. 16, the process proceeds to step S200.

In step S200, the elastic layout data acquisition unit 10 determines whether or not a re-layout instruction is received from the user via the input device 74. If it is determined that there is (Yes), the process proceeds to step S202. If not (No), the determination process is continued until instructed.
When the process proceeds to step S202, the elastic layout data acquisition unit 10 acquires the elastic layout data corresponding to the re-layout instruction from the storage device 70, an external device connected via the signal line, and the process proceeds to step S204. To do.

In step S204, the page information specifying unit 11 determines whether or not page information is specified by the user via the input device 74 or an external device. If it is determined that the page information is specified (Yes), the process proceeds to step S206. If not (No), the determination process is continued until specified.
When the process proceeds to step S206, the expansion / contraction processing unit 12 determines the reference size of the layout area and the content indicated by the elastic layout data based on the information on the specified page number and the specified page size included in the page information specified in step S204. Then, at least one of these heights or widths is expanded or compressed so that the size corresponds to the designated page number and the designated page size, and the process proceeds to step S208.

In step S208, the page break position setting unit 13 divides the layout area expanded or compressed in step S206 equally into the specified number of pages based on the specified page number information included in the page information specified in step S204. The page break position is set in step S210, and the process proceeds to step S210.
In step S210, the page break position selection unit 14 selects one page break position that has not been subjected to the re-layout process set in step S208 in a predetermined order, and proceeds to step S212. Here, the predetermined order varies depending on the page configuration, and in the present embodiment, the page break position corresponding to the page with page turning is set to be preferentially selected.

  In step S214, whether or not the page break position selected in step S212 in the virtual page break position setting determination unit 15 based on the page configuration information included in the page information specified in step S204 is a page break with page turning. If it is a page break with page turning (Yes), the process proceeds to step S216. If not (No), the process proceeds to step S250.

When the process proceeds to step S216, the virtual page break position setting determination unit 15 determines the combined deformation force when determining whether or not to set the virtual page break position preset in the determination information setting unit 16. 2F, which is twice the reference value F of the deformation force threshold that is the threshold, is set as the deformation force threshold used for the determination process, and the process proceeds to step S218.
In step S218, the virtual page break position setting determination unit 15 selects the nearest blank area in the backward page direction from the page break position selected in step S210, and proceeds to step S220.

In step S220, the virtual page break position setting determination unit 15 temporarily sets the virtual page break position at the position of the blank area selected in step S218, and the process proceeds to step S222.
In step S222, based on the deformation force information, the virtual page break position setting determination unit 15 combines the composition deformation force F _{ud of the} previous page from the temporarily set virtual page break position and the composite deformation of the page after the virtual page break position. The force F _dd is calculated and the process proceeds to step S224.

In step S224, the virtual page break position setting determination unit 15 selects the closest blank area in the page direction ahead of the page break position selected in step S210, and proceeds to step S226.
In step S226, the virtual page break position setting determination unit 15 temporarily sets the virtual page break position at the position of the blank area selected in step S224, and the process proceeds to step S228.

In step S228, based on the deformation force information, the virtual page break position setting determination unit 15 combines the composition deformation force F _{du of the} previous page from the temporarily set virtual page break position and the composite deformation of the page after the virtual page break position. The force F _uu is calculated and the process proceeds to step S230.
In step S230, the virtual page break position setting determination unit 15 determines whether or not the combined deformation forces F _ud and F _dd are both equal to or less than the deformation force threshold set in step S216 or step S250. If it is determined that there is (Yes), the process proceeds to step S232, and if not (No), the process proceeds to step S246.

When the process proceeds to step S232, in the virtual page break position setting determination unit 15, the combined deformed force F _uu and F _du Both determines whether the following set deformation force threshold at step S216 or step S250, deformation If it is determined that the force threshold value is not more than the threshold value (Yes), the process proceeds to step S234. If not (No), the process proceeds to step S244.
When the process proceeds to step S234, in the virtual page break position setting determination unit 15, the total value F _ud + F _dd of the combined deformation force corresponding to the backward blank area is the total value of the combined deformation force corresponding to the preceding blank area. It is determined whether or not it is smaller than F _uu + F _du . If it is determined to be smaller (Yes), the process proceeds to step S236, and if not (No), the process proceeds to step S244.

When the process proceeds to step S236, the virtual page break position setting unit 17 sets the virtual page break position from the page break position selected in step S210 to the position of the blank area on the rear page, and the process proceeds to step S238.
In step S238, the re-layout unit 18 re-lays out the content included in the layout area that is paged at the virtual page break position while maintaining the positional relationship between the contents, and proceeds to step S240.

In step S240, the re-layout unit 18 determines whether all the unprocessed page break positions have been selected in the re-layout process. If it is determined that selection has been made (Yes), the process proceeds to step S242. If not (No), the process proceeds to step S210.
In step S242, the re-layout data storage unit 19 stores the re-layout data that is the layout data after the above-described re-layout in the storage device 74, and the process proceeds to step S200.

If F _ud or F _dd is larger than the deformation force threshold value in step S230 and the process proceeds to step S246, the virtual page break position setting determination unit 15 determines both the combined deformation forces F _ud and F _uu in step S216. Alternatively, it is determined whether or not it is equal to or less than the deformation force threshold set in step S250, and if it is determined that it is equal to or less than the deformation force threshold (Yes), the process proceeds to step S244; Transition.

When the process proceeds to step S248, the virtual page break position setting unit 17 determines the page break position selected in step S210, and the process proceeds to step S240.
On the other hand, when F _uu + F _du is larger than F _ud + F _dd in step S234 and the process _proceeds to step S244, or in step S246, the combined deformation forces F _ud and F _uu are both equal to or less than the deformation force threshold. When the determination is made and the process proceeds to step S244, the virtual page break position setting unit 17 sets the virtual page break position from the page break position selected in step S210 to the position of the blank area on the other page, and the process proceeds to step S238. Transition.

Further, in step S214, when the process proceeds to step S250 instead of the page break with page turning, the virtual page break position setting determination unit 15 uses the composite deformation force threshold value preset in the determination information setting unit 16. A reference value F of a certain deforming force threshold is set as a deforming force threshold used for the determination process, and the process proceeds to step S218.
Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described based on FIG. Here, FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an example of a relayout process in the second embodiment.

Since the elastic layout data is acquired in response to the re-layout instruction from the user and the process for setting the page break position is the same as that in the first embodiment, the description thereof is omitted.
In the present embodiment, the layout contents of the reference size shown in FIG. 17A are re-laid out on A4 size 2 pages as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 17B, the spring constant K _OA is between the upper end of the layout area and the content A, the spring constant K _A is between the content A, and the spring constant K _{AC is} between the content A and the content C. However, the spring constant K _C is set for the content C, the spring constant K _CD is set between the content C and the content D, and the spring constant K _DO is set between the content D and the lower end of the layout area.

  As shown in FIG. 17B, first, a page break position 50a is selected (step S210), and then it is determined whether there is content that overlaps the page break position 50a (step S212). This determination is performed by examining whether or not the vertical coordinates of the page break position 50a are within the vertical coordinate range of the contents A to D, as in the first embodiment. In this case, as shown in FIG. 17B, since the content C overlaps the page break position 50a, it is determined that there is an overlapping content (“Yes” branch in step S212).

  If it is determined that there is content that overlaps the page break position 50a, a blank area on the page behind the selected page break position 50a, in this case, a blank area between the contents C and D is selected (step S218). The virtual page break position 50a ′ is provisionally set at the position of this blank area (step S220). When the virtual page break position 50a ′ is provisionally set, the combined deformation force of the first page (the previous page) divided by the virtual page break position 50a ′ using the set spring constant, 2 The combined deformation force of the page (back page) is calculated. Since the combined deformation force can be calculated by multiplying the spring constant by the distance to be deformed, first, the combined deformation force of the first page is calculated from the composite spring constant of the first page and the distance to be deformed.

As shown in FIG. 17B, the combined deformation force F _ud for the first page is expressed by the following equation ( ₁₎ when the distance between the page break position 50a and the temporarily set virtual page break position 50a ′ is l _1. From the combined spring constant 1 / K _ud obtained in 1), the following equation (2) can be calculated (step S222).

1 / K _ud = 1 / K _OA + 1 / K _A + 1 / K _AC + 1 / K _C + 1/2 · K _CD (1)
F _ud = K _ud · l ₁ (2)

Further, the combined deformation force F _dd of the second page can be calculated from the combined spring constant 1 / K _dd obtained by the following equation (3) as in the following equation (4) (step S222).

1 / K _dd = 1/2 · K _CD + 1 / K _D + 1 / K _DO (3)
F _dd = K _dd · l ₁ (4)

That is, the F _ud is a deformation force necessary for compressing the contents A to C paged by the virtual page break position 50a ′ by the distance l ₁ , and the F _dd is the contents A to C. when the distance l only been compressed _1, the deformation force required to extend the content D distance l ₁ in accordance with the compression.

  Next, a blank area in the page ahead of the selected page break position 50a, here, a blank area between the contents A and C is selected (step S224), and the virtual page break position is set at the position of this blank area. 50a ″ is provisionally set (step S226). When the virtual page break position 50a '' is provisionally set, the combined deformation force of the first page (the previous page) divided by the virtual page break position 50a '' using the set spring constant The combined deformation force of the second page (back page) is calculated. Since the composite deformation force can be calculated by multiplying the spring constant by the distance to be deformed, first, the composite deformation force for the first page is calculated from the composite spring constant of the first page and the distance to be deformed (step 228).

As shown in FIG. 17B, the combined deformation force F _du for the first page is expressed by the following equation when the distance between the page break position 50a and the temporarily set virtual page break position 50a ″ is l _2. From the combined spring constant 1 / K _uu obtained in (5), it can be calculated as in the following equation (6) (step S228).

1 / K _du = 1 / K _OA + 1 / K _A + 1/2 · K _AC (5)
F _du = K _du · l ₂ (6)

Further, the combined deformation force F _uu of the second page can be calculated as shown in the following equation (8) from the combined spring constant 1 / K _uu obtained by the following equation (7) (step S228).

1 / K _uu = 1/2 · K _AC + 1 / K _C + 1 / K _CD + 1 / K _D + 1 / K _DO (7)
F _uu = K _uu・ l ₂・ ・ ・ （8）

That is, the above F _uu is a deformation force necessary for compressing the content A divided by the virtual page break position 50a ″ by the distance l ₂ , and the F _du is the content A having the distance l _2. Only when the compression is performed, the deformation force is necessary to extend the contents C and D by the distance l ₂ in accordance with the compression.

When the combined deformation force for the rear blank region and the previous blank region is calculated in this manner, first, the combined deformation forces F _ud and F _dd corresponding to the rear blank region are compared with the deformation force threshold 2F. To do. Here, it is assumed that the combined deformation forces F _ud and F _dd are both equal to or less than the deformation force threshold 2F (“Yes” branch of step S230). Next, the combined deformation forces F _uu and F _du corresponding to the previous blank area are compared with the deformation force threshold 2F. Here, it is assumed that at least one of F _uu and F _du is larger than the deformation force threshold value 2F ("No" branch in step S232). In this case, the virtual page break position 50a ′ is set at the position of the back blank area corresponding to F _ud and F _dd that satisfy the condition of the deformation force threshold 2F or less (step S236).

Then, as shown in FIGS. 17C and 17D, relayout is performed through the same processing as in the first embodiment (step S238), and the relayout data after relayout is stored in the storage device. 74 (step S242).
On the other hand, when the combined deformation forces F _ud and F _dd are both equal to or less than the deformation force threshold 2F and the combined deformation forces F _uu and F _du are both equal to or less than the deformation force threshold 2F (“Yes” branch of step S232). , F _ud + F _dd and F _uu + F _du are compared with each other, and the virtual page break position is set at the position of the blank area corresponding to the smaller one (step S236 or step S244).

If the combined deformation force F _ud or F _dd is larger than the deformation force threshold 2F and the combined deformation force F _uu or F _du is larger than the deformation force threshold 2F (“No” branch in step S246), the selected page is selected. The separation position 50a is determined as having been subjected to the re-layout process.
In this way, the layout apparatus 100 can determine the number of specified pages and the content based on the content laid out in the layout area, the elastic layout data in which the layout area has an elastic data structure, and the specified page information. Depending on the specified page size, it is possible to change the size by expanding or compressing the layout area and content, and set the page break position to equally divide the resized layout area by the specified number of pages It can be divided into pages.

  Further, when the layout area is paged, a page break position that has not been subjected to the re-layout process in a predetermined selection order is selected, and if the content overlaps the page break position, the page break position is selected. Select the nearest blank area on the back page to temporarily set the virtual page break position, calculate the combined deformation force of the front and the previous page for the temporarily set virtual page break position, and select Select the nearest blank area on the previous page from the page break position, temporarily set the virtual page break position, and calculate the combined deformation force of the front and rear pages for the temporarily set virtual page break position, respectively It is possible.

  Further, the setting value of the virtual page break position is determined based on the deformation force threshold at which a large deformation force is set for the page break position with the page turning than between the facing pages and the calculated total deformation force. Is possible. Then, the content of each page that is paged at this virtual page break position is decompressed or compressed so that the size fits in the layout area of each page that is paged at the selected page break position, Furthermore, it is possible to expand, compress, or move the corresponding content so that the positional relationship between the content is maintained, and re-layout each content without losing the overall balance.

Therefore, by devising the deformability information set for each content, between each content, and between each content and the layout area edge, the page layout and re-layout can be achieved with the overall balance without losing much of the original layout. Etc. can be performed.
In the second embodiment, the elastic layout data acquisition unit 10 corresponds to the elastic layout data acquisition unit of form 1, the page information specification unit 11 corresponds to the page information specification unit of form 1, and the expansion / contraction processing unit Reference numeral 12 corresponds to the expansion / contraction means of the form 1, and the page break position setting unit 13 corresponds to the page break position setting means of the form 1 or 2.

  In the second embodiment, the page break position selection unit 14 corresponds to the page break position selection unit of the form 1, and the virtual page break position setting determination unit 15 includes the forms 1, 6, 7, 8, 9 corresponds to the virtual page break position setting determination means of any one of 9 and 12, the virtual page break position setting section 17 corresponds to the virtual page break position setting means of the form 1, and the re-layout section 18 Corresponds to the relayout means.

  In the second embodiment, steps S200 and S202 correspond to the elastic layout data acquisition step of form 13 or 25, step S204 corresponds to the page information designation step of form 13 or 25, and step S206. Corresponds to the expansion / contraction step of form 13 or 25, and step S208 corresponds to the page break position setting step of any one of forms 13, 14, 25 and 26.

  In the second embodiment, step S210 corresponds to the page break position selection step of form 13 or 25, and steps S212 to S234 and steps S246 to S250 are the forms 13, 18, 19, 20 , 21, 24, 25, 30, 31, 32, 33, and 36 correspond to the virtual page break position setting determination step, and steps S236 and S244 correspond to the re-layout step of form 13 or 25. .

  In the first and second embodiments, the case where the control program stored in advance in the ROM 64 is executed in the processes shown in the flowcharts of FIGS. 3 to 16 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the program may be read from the storage medium storing the program showing these procedures into the RAM 62 and executed.

  Here, the storage medium is a semiconductor storage medium such as RAM or ROM, a magnetic storage type storage medium such as FD or HD, an optical reading type storage medium such as CD, CDV, LD, or DVD, or a magnetic storage type such as MO. / Optical reading type storage media, including any storage media that can be read by a computer regardless of electronic, magnetic, optical, or other reading methods.

It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of the layout apparatus 100 which concerns on this invention. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a layout apparatus 100. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the re-layout process of 1st Embodiment. (A) is a figure which shows an example of the layout area | region and content of the reference | standard size laid out, (b) is a figure which shows an example of the layout area | region and content after extending | stretching to 4 pages. It is a figure which shows the example of a setting of the predetermined distance with respect to each page break position. (A)-(d) is a figure which shows the process example of the setting process of a virtual page break position, and a re-layout process. It is a figure which shows the example of the printing result printed out based on the re-layout process result of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the process of the relay layout process from which all the 4th pages become a blank page. It is a figure which shows the example of the printing result printed out based on the re-layout process result of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the process in which a reference size is compressed and re-layout It is a figure which shows the example of the printing result printed out based on the re-layout process result of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example (two-page spread) of a special page structure. It is a figure which shows the example of a setting of the distance threshold value with respect to the page structure of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the re-layout process process in case a page structure is vertical writing. It is a figure which shows the example of the printing result printed out based on the re-layout process result of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the re-layout process of 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the relayout process in 2nd Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Elastic layout data acquisition part, 11 ... Page information designation | designated part, 12 ... Expansion / contraction processing part, 13 ... Page break position setting part, 14 ... Page break position selection part, 15 ... Virtual page break position setting judgment part, 16 ... Decision Information setting section, 17 ... Virtual page break position setting section, 18 ... Relayout section, 19 ... Relayout data storage section

Claims (14)

Extending or compressing at least one of width and height of a layout area and a plurality of contents laid out in the layout area based on elastic layout data having an elastic data structure that can be expanded or compressed, and A layout device for re-laying out the content of
Elastic layout data acquisition means for acquiring the elastic layout data;
At least one of the width and height of the laid-out content and at least one of the width and height of the layout area based on at least page information including the number of pages after re-layout and page size and the elastic layout data Expansion / contraction means for expanding or compressing the image to a size corresponding to the page information;
Page break position setting means for setting a page break position for dividing the expanded or compressed layout area into the number of pages after the re-layout ;
A page break position selection means for selecting the set page break position in a predetermined order;
When there is content at a position overlapping the selected page break position, the selected page break position is determined based on the positional relationship between the selected page break position and the position of the blank area in the expanded or compressed layout area. Virtual page break position setting determining means for determining whether or not to set a virtual page break position at a position of a blank area that does not overlap the content in the layout area;
Virtual page break position setting means for setting the virtual page break position based on the determination result of the virtual page break position setting determination means;
The width of the content so that the size of the content included in the layout area paged at the set virtual page break position is the size corresponding to each layout area paged at the selected page break position And a re-layout unit that expands or compresses at least one of the heights and re-lays out the corresponding contents so that the arrangement relationship between the contents is maintained.   The virtual page break position setting determining means is configured to output the virtual page when the page break position set by the page break position setting means and the position of the blank area in the expanded or compressed layout area are within a predetermined distance. 2. The layout apparatus according to claim 1, wherein it is determined to set a break position to a position of a blank area within the predetermined distance.   The virtual page break position setting determining means determines that the virtual page break position is set at the position of the nearest blank area when a plurality of blank areas are located within the predetermined distance. The layout apparatus according to 1. The page information includes page configuration information after relayout,
4. The layout according to claim 2, wherein the predetermined distance is set for each page break position based on the page configuration information, and is a distance according to the page configuration content for each page break position. apparatus.   As the page configuration content for each page break position, the first structure content in which the page break position is located between pages with page turning and the second structure content in which the page break position is located between pages constituting a spread page. The layout apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the predetermined distance is set so that the first configuration content is larger than the second configuration content. For each of the plurality of contents laid out in the layout area, information on the deformation force required to expand or compress at least one of these widths and heights is preset,
2. The layout apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the virtual page break position setting determination unit determines whether or not to set the virtual page break position based on the positional relationship information and the deformation force information. In the plurality of contents, between the contents adjacent to each other in at least one of the width and height directions, and between the content and the end of the layout area adjacent to at least one of the width or height directions, Information on the deformation force required to expand or compress each of the virtual page break positions is set in advance, and the virtual page break position setting determination means determines the virtual page break position based on the positional relationship information and the deformation force information. The layout apparatus according to claim 6, wherein it is determined whether or not to set. The virtual page break position setting determining means, when the virtual page break position is set based on the information of the deformation force, the size of the content corresponding to each page divided by the virtual page break position is the selection Expand or compress at least one of the width and height of the content laid out on each page paged at the virtual page break position so that the size corresponds to each layout area paged at the page break position. 7. The layout apparatus according to claim 6, wherein whether or not to set the virtual page break position is determined based on a composite deformation force necessary for the operation. The virtual page break position setting determining means determines that the virtual page break position is set to a position of a blank area corresponding to the predetermined force or less when the combined deformation force is equal to or less than a predetermined force. The layout device according to claim 8. The page information includes page configuration information after relayout,
10. The layout apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the predetermined force is a force set for each type of page configuration content in the page configuration. As the type of the page configuration content, the first configuration content in which the selected page break position is located between pages with page turning, and the second structure content in which the page break position is located between pages constituting a spread page; There is
11. The layout apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the predetermined force is set so that the first configuration content is larger than the second configuration content. The deformation force information includes a spring constant,
The virtual page break position setting determination means, when changing the set page break position, based on the spring constant and the distance between the selected page break position and the virtual page break position, The layout device according to claim 8, wherein a deformation force is calculated. Extending or compressing at least one of width and height of a layout area and a plurality of contents laid out in the layout area based on elastic layout data having an elastic data structure that can be expanded or compressed, and A layout program used to re-layout the content of
An elastic layout data acquisition step of acquiring the elastic layout data;
At least one of the width and height of the laid-out content and at least one of the width and height of the layout area based on at least page information including the number of pages after re-layout and page size and the elastic layout data Expansion / contraction means for expanding or compressing the image to a size corresponding to the page information;
A page break position setting step for setting a page break position for dividing the expanded or compressed layout area into the number of pages after the re-layout ;
A page break position selection step for selecting the set page break position in a predetermined order;
When there is content at a position overlapping the selected page break position, the selected page break position is determined based on the positional relationship between the selected page break position and the position of the blank area in the expanded or compressed layout area. A virtual page break position setting determining step for determining whether or not to set a virtual page break position at a position of a blank area that does not overlap the content in the layout area;
A virtual page break position setting step for setting the virtual page break position based on the determination result of the virtual page break position setting determination means;
The width of the content so that the size of the content included in the layout area paged at the set virtual page break position is the size corresponding to each layout area paged at the selected page break position And a program used for causing a computer to execute a process including a relay layout step for expanding or compressing at least one of the heights and relaying the corresponding content so that the arrangement relationship between the content is maintained. A layout program characterized by including. Extending or compressing at least one of width and height of a layout area and a plurality of contents laid out in the layout area based on elastic layout data having an elastic data structure that can be expanded or compressed, and Layout method used to re-layout the content of
The elastic layout data acquiring means for acquiring the elastic layout data acquires the elastic layout data ; and
At least one of the width and height of the laid-out content and at least one of the width and height of the layout area based on at least page information including the number of pages after re-layout and page size and the elastic layout data Extending or compressing the content and the layout area, the expansion / contraction means for expanding or compressing to a size according to the page information ;
A page break position setting means for setting a page break position that divides the expanded or compressed layout area into the number of pages after the re-layout , setting the page break position ;
A page break position selecting means for selecting the set page break position in a predetermined order, and selecting the page break position ;
When there is content at a position that overlaps with the selected page break position, the selected page break position is determined based on the positional relationship between the selected page break position and the position of the blank area in the expanded or compressed layout area. Whether or not virtual page break position setting determining means for determining whether or not to set a virtual page break position at a position of a blank area that does not overlap with the content in the layout area sets the virtual page break position or not. A step of judging ;
A virtual page break position setting unit for setting the virtual page break position based on a determination result of the virtual page break position setting determination unit, setting a virtual page break position ;
The width of the content so that the size of the content included in the layout area paged at the set virtual page break position is the size corresponding to each layout area paged at the selected page break position And re-layout means for re-laying out the corresponding content so that at least one of the height is expanded or compressed and the arrangement relation between the contents is maintained, and the layout is re-laid out, Method

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