JPH0321943B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a document design and prepress system.

When creating a form by printing, based on the specifications provided by the customer, lines are drawn on a printed spacing chart with frame ruled lines of a predetermined size using a pencil, etc., and the lines are drawn by human handwriting. Design the form. Since each form is individually designed, there are many different designs.
Moreover, since they are mostly used as input/output media for various devices, there are many design limitations. In other words, FIG. 1 is an example of constraints related to the design of an input form for an OCR device, and black printing and a seal prohibition zone B are provided at the top, as well as reference sides D1 and D.
A rectangular handwriting area C is provided inside with a margin of a predetermined width from 2, and its dimensions etc. are also specified in detail. After obtaining the consent of the customer, the form design created to satisfy such constraints is moved to the process of creating a draft that will become a manuscript for printing plate making. The stencil is hand-drawn by humans based on the form design, and the lines are drawn and letters and logotypes are pasted on. The manuscript created in this way undergoes a final check by the customer. Since there are many changes, corrections, etc. at this stage, the work has to be reworked, making it extremely complicated. After the client's final check and proofreading, the block is transferred to the plate-making process, where a film master plate is created, and after this, a printing plate is created in the printing plate process, and the work is moved to the printing process. The process of passing through many steps before entering the printing process requires a great deal of effort.

On the other hand, as a system for creating a copy of a form,
There are systems that use a digitizer as an input means and systems that input numerical values such as the start and end points of ruled lines, but these require an already created rough manuscript for input and numerical data based on this. Since the data is often not displayed visually, it is difficult to determine whether the design input was successful or not.
There is a drawback that you cannot understand it until you try drawing it. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a system which can improve the above-mentioned drawbacks and which can perform the entire process from document design process to plate making process or printing plate process.

This invention will be explained below.

This invention relates to a form design system, and as shown in FIG.
CRT display device 1 that displays design patterns, etc.
0, an input device 20 consisting of an input mechanism (tablet) for data input having various menus and a keyboard, and a file 30 such as a floppy disk into which data can be written or read.
, a hard copy drawing device (for example, an X-Y plotter) 40 for outputting a hard copy, and a computer system 50 that combines and processes each of the above devices 10 to 40.
After displaying the work menu, select the desired work using the input device 20, and in the case of new design mode, input management information such as the file number, product name, operator name, etc. using the input device 20, and then start the computer system 50. Initialize the file 30 to an open state, display a spacing chart for a new design in the form of a grid on the CRT display device 10, and in the case of modified design mode, use the input device 20 to display the form already registered in the file 30. Select a design and display it on the CRT display device 10, and in any of the above cases,
Interactive form design input is performed using the CRT display device 10 and the input device 20, and data is registered in the file 30 after the work is completed.
Select the form design already registered in 0.
The form design is displayed on the CRT display device 10 and a hard copy of the form design is outputted via the hard copy drawing device 40.

By the way, the computer system 50 is operated by software, and includes a spacing chart display routine 51 for displaying a spacing chart in which grid points are aligned on the CRT display device 10, and input commands from the input device 20. an input controller 52 that controls the input controller 52, a command analyzer 53 that analyzes commands transmitted from the input device 20 via the input controller 52, and a menu routine 54 that executes menus in accordance with commands transmitted from the command analyzer 53. a CRT figure generation routine 55 for displaying figures and data on the CRT display device 10 according to menu data from the menu routine 54; and an input information table 58 for organizing and storing input information. A hard copy drawing routine 59 for drawing a hard copy with the hard copy drawing device 40, a table controller 56 for controlling the input information table 58 according to the selected output of the menu routine 54, and the file 30 and the input information table 58 are combined. A file controller 57 is provided. The menu routine 54 has a basic figure menu 54A for processing basic figures such as straight lines and circular arcs, a layout menu 54B for moving and deleting lines, and an application menu 54C for processing complex figures. The basic figure menu 54A corresponds to menus M1 to M9 in FIG. 3, and the application menu 54C corresponds to menus M10 to M9 in the same figure.
This corresponds to 16. In addition, there is a character menu 54D for processing characters, and a character information table for processing characters.

In addition, the menu selection is made on the CRT display device 10.
and/or the menu area displayed on the input mechanism (tablet) of the input device 20.
Control is performed by pointing with the cursor. FIG. 7 shows an example of a tablet, in which the tablet body 100 has an area 101 corresponding to the CRT display device 10 where the grid points are located.
and a menu area 102 displaying a menu.

The operation of such a configuration will be explained with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

When the form design work is started by operating the keyboard provided on the input device 20 (step S1), work menus 1 to 4 as shown in FIG. 5 are displayed on the display device 10 together with the cursor 11 ( In step S2), the operator selects the work menu 1 using the keyboard of the input device 20.
Select "New Design", Work Menu 2, "Reprint/Revised Design", Work Menu 3, "Hard Copy", or Work Menu 4, "End" with the cursor 11 (step S3). Here, work menu 4
If you select , the process ends (step S3).
B) If work menu 1 is selected, the new design mode is selected; if work menu 2 is selected, the corrected design mode is entered; and if work menu 3 is selected, the drawing mode is entered (step S4).
The example in FIG. 5 shows a case where the work menu 4 is selected with the cursor 11.

When work menu 1 is selected and the new design mode is entered, a screen indicating that the new design mode has been selected is displayed (step S
5) Enter management information such as the file number, product name, customer name, operator's name, etc. of the newly designed form using the keyboard of the input device 20 (step S6), open the file 30, and save the pattern data in the file 30. In addition to securing a memory area for recording the information, each device of the computer system 50 is initialized (step S
7) A spacing chart 1 for a new design as shown in FIG. 6 is displayed on the CRT display device 10 together with grid points 2 and a movable cursor 3 (step S7). That is, the CRT display device 10
The spacing chart 1 displayed on the screen has a large number of grid points 2 arranged at predetermined intervals on the entire surface, and by moving the cursor 3 at a distance based on the alignment pitch of the grid points 2, you can view the form. The design is made easy and accurate. Thus, spacing chart 1
is displayed on the screen of the CRT display device 10 via the spacing chart display routine 51.

When preparations for the new design are completed in this way, the cursor 3 in the spacing chart 1 displayed on the CRT display device 10 is moved to the input device 20.
By moving the cursor to a desired position using the cursor movement function, the form is designed interactively (step S8). That is, when, for example, the horizontal line menu M1 is specified using the cursor movement function provided in the input device 20, the basic figure menu 54A of the menu routine 54 is selected via the input controller 52 and the command analyzer 53, and the starting point P1 and ending point P2 of the horizontal line are selected. By moving the cursor 3 to specify a grid point on the screen, the output data is sent to the CRT figure generation routine 5.
5 and table controller 56 to draw a horizontal line of desired length. In this case, since the horizontal line menu M1 is specified, as shown in Fig. 6, after specifying the starting point 3A, the
Even when the cursor 3 is moved to the end point P2, the horizontal distance between the cursor designated positions 3A and 3B forms a horizontal line 4 starting from the first designated position 3A. Therefore, even if the cursor position is not specified correctly, the desired drawing can be easily performed by selecting from the menu. The same holds true for the vertical line menu M2.

Furthermore, after selecting the rectangle in menu M4, by moving the cursor 3 to specify two points P3 and P4 on the diagonal of the rectangle, a rectangle of a desired size can be designed. M5
When specifying a rounded corner of ~M8, a rounded corner of any size can be designed by specifying two points of the rounded corner with the cursor 3. Furthermore, when selecting the circle menu M9, two points P on the diameter
By specifying 5 and P6 with the cursor 3, circles of various sizes can be designed, and menus M1 to M9 are set as the basic figure menu 54A.

On the other hand, application menu 54C is the third
The menus M10 to M16 in the figure are set, and various other menus are possible by combining basic figures. For example, menu M1
If you select 1 parallel ruled line, move the cursor 3 to the two points P7 and P8 that define the starting point and interval of the ruled line.
After specifying by moving , by specifying point P9 that defines the length and end point of the ruled line with cursor 3, parallel ruled lines will be automatically drawn at the interval between the two initially set points P7 and P8 up to the end point P8. I am now able to draw diagrams. The same applies to menu M13 for specifying vertical ruled lines, where the two points defining the starting point and interval of the vertical ruled lines are first input,
A vertical ruled line can be drawn by specifying the length of the ruled line and the end point, and the vertical ruled line with frame M1
4 has horizontal rules attached to the top and bottom of the vertical ruled line, and parallel ruled line with rounded corners M15 has vertical rules attached to both left and right ends of the parallel ruled line, and rounded corners are attached at the four corner positions. The method of specifying the parallel ruled lines M11 is the same as that for the parallel ruled lines M11 described above.

To enter characters, use a keyboard (or a dedicated device for character input), etc. to enter alphabets, numbers, kana,
When you select the character string, font, and size to be input from kanji, special symbols, etc., and specify the position on the form to set it, the data is accumulated in the character information table in the input information table via the character menu 54D. Ru. At the same time, the display device 10 also has a CRT.
Through the graphic generation routine 55, a character layout mark ("■■■") is displayed at a predetermined position.
Here, the character layout mark was originally shown in Figure 8A.
In the area where characters or symbols are supposed to be displayed, as shown in Figure B, there is a temporary display that indicates that there are characters or symbols in the same size, in the same position, with the same number of characters, and with the same character spacing. This is the mark.

From the above, when drawing the design pattern 5 as shown in FIG. 6, for example, by first selecting the rectangle menu M4, and then specifying the diagonal points 3C and 3D that define the size with the cursor. It is possible to form the outer frame of the form pattern,
Then, for example, select the menu of vertical line M2,
A vertical line 6 can be formed by moving the cursor 3 to points 3E and 3F. By moving the cursor 3 displayed on the screen of the CRT display device 10 in this manner, it is possible to easily and quickly design a form based on the specifications given by the customer.

The form pattern data created in this manner is input to the input information table 58 via the table controller 56. When the operator commands the completion of the design using the input device 20 (step S8), the design data of the form is processed (step S9), the input information table 58 is controlled via the table controller 56, and the input information table The data stored in 58 is transferred to file 3 via file controller 57.
0 (step S9A), and a termination message is displayed (step S10).

On the other hand, work menu selection (steps S3 and S
If the modified design mode is selected in step 4), a message indicating that the modified design mode has been selected is displayed (step S11), and the file number of the form to be modified is specified using the input device 20 ( Step S12). As a result, the 6th
A spacing chart with grid points 2 as shown in the figure is displayed on the CRT display device 10 via a spacing chart display routine 51.
The pattern data of the designated file number already registered in the file 30 is then read out via the file controller 57, the data of the design is input into the input information table 58, and the data of the design is input to the table controller 56 and the CRT figure generation routine. 55, the design pattern of the file number is displayed on the CRT along with the spacing chart.
It is displayed on the display device 10 (step S13).
When the design pattern to be corrected is thus displayed on the screen of the CRT display device 10, the operator uses the layout menu 54B on the input device 20 to make an interactive form design correction similar to that described above (step S8). When the correction work is completed, a command indicating that the correction has been completed is issued via the input device 20 (step S8), the design data of the form is processed (step S9), and the input information table 58 is controlled via the table controller 56. , the data stored in the input information table 58 is stored in a predetermined position of the file 30 via the file controller 57 (step S9A),
A termination message is displayed (step S10).

Furthermore, in the case of drawing mode, a screen for selecting a design pattern to be drawn is displayed on the CRT display device 10 (step S14), and the operator selects a file number to be drawn using the input device 20. Accordingly (step S15),
The design pattern data of the specified file number is read from the file 30 (step S).
16), the hard copy drawing routine 59 via the file controller 57 and the input information table 58
and converted to output data (step S).
17) The hard copy of the specified file number is drawn by the hard copy drawing device 40 (step S18).

As described above, the form design system of the present invention includes an input device 20 consisting of an input mechanism (tablet) and a keyboard, and a CRT display device 10 that displays a spacing chart having a large number of aligned grid points together with a cursor. Since input operations are performed in an interactive format, it is possible to easily and quickly design a form, and graphic input can be performed by selecting from the prepared basic graphic menu, layout menu, and application menu. This allows for accurate form design. In addition, the data of the designed form is stored in a file, and once the data has been stored, it can be read out from the file and easily modified, which has an extremely large effect on streamlining form design and reducing costs. . In addition to the X-Y plotter, the hard copy drawing device may include a photo plotter, laser beam printer, laser engraving device, etc. By appropriately selecting the hard copy drawing device, you can create a form layout proofing system with your customers. , direct plate making system, and direct printing plate system are also possible. For example, if you select a photoprinter as the output device, the lines and pattern data of the form will be output on film using the photoprinter, and the characters will be output on film via a floppy disk using another automatic typesetting system, and each They can be combined to create a single original film. Furthermore, if a laser engraving device is selected as the output device, by connecting the automatic phototypesetting system and this system online, it becomes possible to output both ruled lines and characters onto a film or printing plate at the same time. Furthermore, it is also possible to automatically create a software overlay for a laser beam printer based on the data stored in the file 30.

On the other hand, the present invention does not necessarily require a hard copy drawing device, and it is possible to carry files stored on a floppy disk or the like and draw them on another output device. That is, instead of using the hardcopy drawing device online, it is used offline. Also,
In the basic figure menu and application menu, in addition to specifying the start point and end point by moving the cursor after selecting the menu, you can also specify the starting point by moving the cursor after selecting the menu.
It is also possible to specify the distance from the starting point to the ending point numerically. Furthermore, the cursor can be moved by selecting the cursor movement menu on the tablet, the free cursor method in which the cursor is moved by moving the input cursor (stylus pen) on the tablet, and the joystick. It is.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a specification sheet for a form, Fig. 2 is a block configuration diagram showing an embodiment of this invention, and Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a basic figure menu and an application menu used in this invention. , FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of this invention, and FIG.
6 and 6 are diagrams respectively showing display examples according to the present invention, and FIGS. 7 and 8 are diagrams for explaining the present invention. 1... Spacing chart, 2... Grid points, 3... Cursor, 10... CRT display device,
20...Input device, 30...File, 40...
Hard copy drawing device, 50... Computer system, 51... Spacing chart display routine, 52... Input controller, 53... Command analyzer, 54... Menu routine, 55...
...CRT figure generation routine, 56...Table controller, 57...File controller, 5
8...Input information table.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A computer equipped with an input device for inputting various menus and coordinates, and a file capable of writing or reading graphic data generated by performing graphic processing based on the input information from the input device. , a display device that displays graphics corresponding to graphics data based on the input information or graphics data registered in the file, and a computer system that designs graphics by repeatedly performing the graphics processing, wherein the input device According to
Enter any one of the following menus: parallel ruled lines, parallel ruled lines with frames, vertical ruled lines, vertical ruled lines with frames, parallel ruled lines with rounded corners, or vertical ruled lines with rounded corners, and then,
Two points that define the starting point and interval of the ruled line, and a point that defines the length and end point of the ruled line, are placed on the tablet,
A form design system characterized in that a figure corresponding to the menu is displayed on the display device by input using a joy stick or a cursor. 2 Regarding the design, the patent claim allows selection of a new design mode when designing a new form or a modified design mode when modifying a form already registered in the file as a work menu. The form design system described in Scope 1.