JPH09146949A - Automatic article layout device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a relatively good layout without any human intervention by performing a layout processing as many times as predetermined and outputting the layout result which has the largest total evaluated value. SOLUTION: A column generating means 101 outputs column information, i.e., the shape and size of each column to an allocating means 103. An article input means 102 outputs constituent element data on an article such as its heading, body, chart, and image to an article output means 150. The allocating means 103 determines article constituent elements made to correspond to a layout to lay out the elements. An optimum arrangement result retrieval means 104 inputs arrangement result evaluation information to find a total evaluated value from the total of weights, the product of all evaluated values, etc., stores the layout information having the maximum total evaluated value, and outputs the best layout information to the article output means 150 after performing the allocating process as many times as predetermined.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a word processor and a DTP.
An automatic article layout device for laying out multi-tiered documents, used for editing systems for newspapers and magazines, etc., without the need for human intervention, especially so as to satisfy advance specifications regarding the number of printed sheets and paper size. The present invention relates to an automatic article placement device that performs layout.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, this type of article layout device has been used to improve operability when laying out a document arranged in columns by a word processor, a DTP system or the like.

As a conventional article placement device, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
176148, JP-A-4-263357,
JP-A-5-61871 and JP-A-4-709
No. 56 discloses this. Hereinafter, each of the above conventional examples will be described.

First, a first conventional example disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-176148 will be described. This article placement device is provided with a frame display means for allocating the document component data designated by the user, and an allocation means for allocating the area corresponding to the frame and the existing area so as not to overlap with the allocation execution instruction from the user. This makes it possible to control the document columns with easy operations.

Next, the operation of this conventional example will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a screen display in the conventional example. Here, as shown in FIG.
A case where a new area # 1 is allocated from a state where the area 0 is allocated will be described. At this time, FIG.
A temporary frame 626 as shown in (b) is displayed to allow the user to perform a moving operation to determine the allocation position. Then, FIG.
As shown in (c), the newly set area # 1 is deformed while avoiding the already allocated area # 0.
FIGS. 6D and 6E show an example in which the area # 2 is further set.

Next, a second conventional example disclosed in JP-A-4-263357 will be described. This article arrangement device has a layout means for changing the size of the area in which the document component data is arranged on the screen according to the arrangement situation of the area. When the size of the main area is changed according to the master-slave relationship set between the areas, the layout means can also balance the entire size by changing the size of the sub-area.

Next, the operation of this conventional example will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a screen display in the conventional example. It is assumed that area b and area d shown in FIG. 7 have a master-slave relationship. Here, as shown in FIG. 7A, the number of sentences flown into the area b is small with respect to the size of the area (for example, when the distribution rate is only about 60%), and the layout unit determines the size of the area b. Automatically reduce the allocation rate to a proper value. Along with this, the layout unit automatically increases the size of the area d, which is the sub-area of the area b, within the range of the appropriate distribution rate.

Next, a third conventional example disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-61871 will be described. This article layout device includes an actual data storage unit that stores actual data of document components, a format data storage unit that stores the size of a document to be created, the layout position and size of the actual data, and the actual data. And an association data storage unit that stores compatibility or association between the format data and the format data, extracts real data that matches the format data from the format data and the association data, and stores the actual data according to the format data. Layout is done by allocating.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the flow of control in this conventional example. In step S3, actual data matching the format data is extracted from the format data and the associated data, and a compound document is created based on the format data and the actual data extracted in step S4.

Next, a fourth conventional example disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-70956 will be described. This article placement device is provided with means for adjusting the space between characters and the size in the direction in which the characters are arranged based on the distance from the first character position to the line end position where the last character is positioned. Layout the characters so that the characters are stored almost completely.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a screen display in this conventional example. In FIGS. 9A to 9F, the rectangle indicated by the reference numeral is the character expandable frame. Further, in the reference numbers, a frame with a is a frame before editing, and a frame with b is a frame after editing. For example, FIG. 9 (A)
By changing the character size, and by changing the character spacing in FIG. 9 (B), the character string is stored in the character expandable frame so that the character string is almost full.

As described above, 3 shown in the first to third conventional examples
By using the conventional example of the type, the size and position of the frame in which the document component data is arranged can be determined relatively easily.

Also, by combining with the fourth conventional example, it is possible to beautifully arrange the character string in the frame.

[0014]

The first problem is that in the case of the above-mentioned first conventional example, manpower is required for adjusting the position, size and shape of the frame when arranging the article. That is. The reason is that it is necessary to interactively select a frame to be operated and move or deform the selected frame.

The second problem is that there is a high possibility that a useless empty area is created when the layout is automatically performed using the second and third conventional examples. The reason is,
This is because, in the case of the first to third conventional examples, the position of the area into which each article is poured is fixed and does not have an adjusting mechanism. Given that the length of the article is unknown, we need a mechanism for adjusting the shape and position of the area for a layout with less unnecessary white space. Particularly in the case of the third conventional example, there is no adjusting mechanism for the size of each frame.

Further, in the case of the first conventional example, there is a shape adjusting mechanism, but interactive operation is required. In addition, there is no means to adjust the shape so that it is not difficult to read.

Further, in the case of the second conventional example, although there is a size adjusting mechanism, it is very limited. That is, adjustment of the size of the frame between frames is limited when there is a master-slave relationship between articles, and there are few situations where effective adjustment can be performed.

The third problem is that the positions of all articles must be designated. In many cases, there is no point in specifying the position of an article, except for articles that you want to stand out, or articles that you want to always be in a specific location, such as weather forecast articles. Nevertheless, it was necessary to specify the location of all articles. The reason is that, in the case of the conventional example, the position of the region into which each article is poured is fixed or is designated by the operation of the user, and when the position is not designated, means for searching an appropriate region This is because they do not have.

The fourth problem is that the relative positional relationship between articles cannot be specified. There are times when you want to make related multiple articles relatively close to each other. In the conventional example, only absolute position designation is performed.

A subject of the present invention is a column shape in which a layout such as a column is easy to read so as to satisfy the designation regarding the character size and the line pitch, the designation regarding the mounting position of articles, and the designation regarding the relative mounting position between articles. It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic article placement device that can be automatically performed as described below.

[0021]

According to the present invention, there is provided an automatic article placement device for laying out a document in which a plurality of article information consisting of a plurality of document constituent element data are laid out in a random manner. The column generation means for dividing into several areas, the article input means for obtaining the article information, the articles output by the article input means, and the columns output by the column generation means are associated at random. Then, the allocating means for performing layout and the layout result output by the allocating means are evaluated 1
Layout processing for causing one or a plurality of evaluation means, the column generation means and the allocation means to output a layout result, output the evaluation value to the evaluation means, and obtaining a comprehensive evaluation value from each of the evaluation values. Is executed a predetermined number of times, and the best layout search means for outputting the layout result having the maximum total evaluation value is provided.

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided an automatic article placement device characterized in that the evaluation means includes column shape evaluation means for evaluating the readability of the shape of the column to which articles are assigned.

Further, according to the present invention, in the column shape evaluation means, the evaluation value is obtained from the number of straight line segments forming the outer circumference of the column and the number of corners of a particular shape of the column. An article placement device is obtained.

Further, according to the present invention, in the column shape evaluation means, in the case of horizontal writing in Japanese or English, the corner of a specific shape of the column used for the evaluation is a horizontal line on the right side with reference to the turning angle. Whether it is composed of lower vertical lines, in the case of Japanese vertical writing, it is characterized by whether it is composed of left horizontal lines and lower vertical lines based on the corners. An article placement device is obtained.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, the evaluation means evaluates whether or not the character size, the inter-character pitch, or the inter-line pitch of the article used when allocating to the column is close to a predetermined value. An automatic article placement device characterized by including evaluation means is obtained.

Further, according to the present invention, the evaluation means includes article position evaluation means for evaluating whether or not the position of the column associated with the article is close to a position designated in advance. An automatic article placement device is obtained.

Further, according to the present invention, the evaluation means includes an inter-article distance evaluation means for evaluating whether or not the distance between a plurality of related articles is close to a value designated in advance. An automatic article placement device is obtained.

Further, according to the present invention, the evaluation means includes an empty area evaluation means for evaluating whether or not the area of the area on the paper on which the article is not allocated is close to a predetermined area. An automatic article placement device is obtained.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, the evaluation means evaluates the readability of the shape of the column to which the article is assigned, and the character size and character of the article used when assigning to the column. Character information evaluation means for evaluating whether the space pitch or line pitch is close to a preset value, and the article position for evaluating whether the position of the column associated with the article is close to the preset position The evaluation means, the inter-article distance evaluation means that evaluates whether the distance between related multiple articles is close to a pre-specified value, and the area of the area on the paper where the articles are not assigned are specified in advance. It is possible to obtain an automatic article placement device characterized by being configured by a free area evaluation means for evaluating whether or not the area is close to the area.

[0030]

The layout is performed by randomly allocating the articles output from the article inputting means to the columns formed by dividing the paper surface into several random areas by the column generating means and randomly associating them with the allocating means.

With respect to the layout result thus obtained, the column shape evaluation means evaluates the readability of the shape of the column to which the article is assigned, and the character information evaluation means
Evaluate whether the character size, character pitch, or line pitch of the article used when assigning to the column is close to the value specified in advance, and the column position associated with the article is calculated in advance by the article position evaluation means. It is evaluated whether it is close to the specified position, the inter-article distance evaluation means evaluates whether the distance between related multiple articles is close to a preset value, and the free space evaluation means , Evaluating whether the area on the paper where the article is not assigned is close to the pre-specified area, and the best placement search means performs the allocation processing and its evaluation processing multiple times, and from the evaluation value of each evaluation means A comprehensive evaluation value is obtained, and the placement result with the largest evaluation value is output as the placement result.

[0032]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. An automatic article placement device according to the present invention includes a column generation means 101, a storage device such as a RAM or a magnetic disk, or a communication device such as personal computer communication or teletext, and article input for outputting article information for each component. Means 102 and allocation means 103
And the best placement search means 104 and the column shape evaluation means 1
10, a character information evaluation unit 111, an article position evaluation unit 112, an inter-article distance evaluation unit 113, a vacant area evaluation unit 114, and a printer and a CRT, and an article output unit 150 that outputs a laid out article. To be done. However, of the above, those not particularly described operate under program control or the like.

The column generation means 101 is the allocation means 1
Column information, that is, the shape and size of each column is output to 03. The article input means 102 is the article output means 1
The component data of the article, such as a headline, a text, a chart, and an image, which constitute the article are output to 50.

Further, the assigning means 103 causes the shape restriction information of the constituent elements of each article, that is, the maximum and minimum values of the vertical and horizontal ratios, the maximum and minimum values of the vertical and horizontal lengths, the resolution and the maximum value of the font, and the like. It outputs the minimum value, the maximum value between characters, the maximum value between characters, the minimum value, and the maximum value or minimum value of the ratio between character and lines. The allocation unit 103 receives the column information from the column generation unit 101 and the shape restriction information of the article components from the article input unit 102, determines the article components to be associated with each column, and determines the layout. To do.

The layout information is input from the allocation means 103 to the best placement result search means 104, and the column shape evaluation means 110, the character information evaluation means 111, the article position evaluation means 112, the inter-article distance evaluation means 113, Arrangement result evaluation information is input from the free area evaluation unit 114, a total evaluation value is obtained by a weighted sum, a product of all evaluation values, and the like, and a total evaluation value of the input layout information is calculated. The maximum layout information is stored, and the best layout information is output to the article output unit 150 after the allocation processing is performed a predetermined number of times.

The column shape evaluation means 110 receives the layout information from the allocation means 103, evaluates the readability of the column, and outputs the evaluation value to the best placement search means 104. The character information evaluation means 111 is an allocation means 103.
Layout information is input from, evaluate how much the character size, character pitch, line pitch, ratio of character pitch and line pitch, etc. of the article deviates from the pre-specified value, and the evaluation value is the best placement search means. To 104.

The article position evaluation means 112 receives the layout information from the allocation means 103, evaluates how much the position of the column to which the article is allocated deviates from the designated position, and obtains the best evaluation value. It is output to the arrangement search means 104. The inter-article distance evaluation unit 113 receives the layout information from the allocation unit 103, evaluates how much the distance between the allocated columns of a plurality of related articles deviates from a predetermined distance, and calculates the evaluation value. It outputs to the best placement search means 104.

The empty area evaluation means 114 receives the layout information from the allocation means 103, evaluates how much the ratio of the column to which the article is not allocated to the paper surface is deviated from a predetermined value, and evaluates the evaluation value. It outputs to the best placement search means 104. Article output means 1
The best layout result search means 104 inputs the best layout information 50, and the article input means 102 inputs the document component data of each article. Then, according to the layout information, each article is printed on the paper. Similarly, it is possible to display on the screen.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 and FIG.
FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing a layout result of extracting two certain pieces of layout processing performed a plurality of times in the operation of this embodiment. Paper surface (printing area) 201 and paper surface 301
Has four columns in the horizontal direction. The column 202 has a horizontal width of four columns, the column 302 has a maximum horizontal width of three columns, and the columns 203 and 303 have a maximum horizontal width of two columns. There is. Further, although only two columns are shown in FIGS. 2 to 3, the space is full of columns.

First, the operation of the column generating means 101 will be described with reference to FIGS. The column generation unit 101 divides the paper surface into some random areas. First, decide the number of columns. At this time, if the number of columns is uniquely designated in advance, that value is used, and in other cases, the number of columns in the previously designated range may be determined by generating a random number. In the following, the line separating the stages will be referred to as a column assembly line.

Next, the positions of the columns and the dividing lines of the columns, that is, the coordinates in the direction opposite to the column assembly direction (Y direction in FIGS. 2 and 3), and the starting and ending stages of the dividing lines are random numbers. Generate and decide. The range of the generated random numbers is uniquely determined from the size of the paper and the number of steps.

Finally, a random number within a prespecified range is generated in a rectangular area formed by the multi-column line and the dividing line, and numbers are given, and the rectangular areas continuous in the vertical and horizontal directions are combined with the same number. Create a column. For example, in FIGS. 2 and 3, the columns 203 are all four columns, and the column 203 has a column line, a division line at the position where the Y coordinate is 5, the third stage at the start stage and the fourth stage at the end stage. Since the two rectangular regions formed by the Y-coordinate at the position of 6 and the dividing line of the third stage at the starting stage and the third stage at the ending stage are assigned the same numbers, it can be considered that they are generated by combining them.

The column information generated in this way, that is, the shape and size of each column, is assigned by the allocating means 103.
Output to Since random numbers are used, different column information is output every time as shown in FIGS.

Next, allocation of articles to columns will be described. The article input means 102 is an allocation means 103.
In addition, the shape restriction information of the constituent elements of each article, that is, the maximum and minimum values of the vertical and horizontal ratios, the maximum and minimum values of the vertical and horizontal lengths,
Outputs the maximum and minimum values of the resolution and font, the maximum and minimum values of character spacing and line spacing, and the maximum and minimum values of the ratio between character and line spacing.

The allocating means 103 is the column generating means 1
Column information is input from 01, and article input means 10
The shape restriction information of the constituent elements of the article is input from 2, and the article corresponding to each column is determined.

For example, if a certain article constituent element is a headline that requires a width of three columns, the article constituent element is assigned to the column 202, which is an area having a width of four columns. Column 203 that has a maximum width of 2 columns
Cannot be assigned to. In this way, the allocatable columns are searched and one of them is randomly selected.

The operation of the assigning means 103 will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 shows the allocation means 103
5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of FIG. One is randomly selected from a plurality of articles input from the article input unit 102 (step 401). Next, of the columns generated by the column generation means 101, a column to which the article constituent element can be allocated is searched, one column is selected, and provisional allocation is performed (step 402).

Next, it is determined whether or not the temporary allocation can be performed. If the temporary allocation can be performed, the process proceeds to step 404,
If not, proceed to step 407 (step 4
03). It is determined whether or not all the constituent elements of the article selected in step 401 have been tentatively allocated. If the temporary allocation is possible, the temporary allocation is made to be the real allocation and the process proceeds to step 405.
Return to step 2 (step 404).

Next, it is judged whether all columns are filled (articles are allocated) (step 405). If all columns are filled, the process proceeds to step 407. If not filled, the process proceeds to step 406 (step 405). . In step 406, it is determined whether all articles have been processed. If all articles have been processed, the process proceeds to step 407, and if not, the process returns to step 401 (step 406).

Next, it is determined whether or not all of the constituent elements of the article selected in step 401, which have been provisionally allocated, attempted the temporary allocation to all the allocatable columns in step 402. . If it has been tried, the process proceeds to step 409, and if all the allocatable patterns are not tried yet, another step is tried to try another pattern.
02 (step 408). All the provisional allocation of the constituent elements of the article selected in step 401 are canceled and returned to unallocated, the layout of the article is abandoned, and the process proceeds to step 406. However, articles for which layout has been abandoned are counted as finished articles in step 406 (step 409).

The layout result is used as the best placement search means 10.
4, column shape evaluation means 110, character information evaluation means 11
1, article position evaluation means 112, inter-article distance evaluation means 11
3. Output to the free space evaluation means 114 (step 40
7), the process ends.

In this way, the layout result is obtained. The layout result obtained here is different each time it is executed. The reason is that the input from the column generation means 101 is different every time, and in addition, the order of selecting articles in step 401 and the columns to which the constituent elements in step 402 are assigned are randomly determined.

Next, the layout evaluation means will be described. The column shape evaluation means 110 receives the layout result from the allocation means 103, evaluates the shape of each column, and outputs the evaluation value to the best placement search means 104. The evaluation of the column shape will be described with reference to FIG. The shape of the column is evaluated based on the number of straight lines forming the outer circumference of the column and the number of corners 551 to 557 of the specific shape of the column. In both cases, the smaller the number, the more beautiful the layout and the higher the evaluation value.

In the case of horizontal writing in Japanese or English, the corners of the column used for evaluation are preferably corners 551 to 557 formed by a horizontal line on the right side and a vertical line on the lower side with reference to the bending angle. Also, in the case of vertical writing in Japanese, a corner 55 composed of a horizontal line on the left side and a vertical line on the lower side with reference to the corner
8 is good. For example, in the case of the column 501, the column 502, the column 503, and the column 504, the number of straight lines forming the outer circumference of the column is 4, 8, 8, and 8, respectively. If the articles to be assigned are horizontal Japanese or English, the corners of the particular shape of the column are 1, 2, 1,
There are three. That is, column 501, column 503,
The column 502 and the column 504 are evaluated in order of the column shape so that they are easy to read. If the articles to be assigned are vertically written in Japanese, the corners of the particular shape of the column are 1, 2, 3, and 1, respectively. That is, column 50
1, the column 504, the column 502, and the column 503 are evaluated to have a column shape that is easy to read.

The character information evaluation unit 111 receives the layout result from the allocation unit 103, evaluates the character information of each article, that is, the character size, the character pitch, the line pitch, the ratio between the character pitch and the line pitch, and the evaluation value. Is output to the best placement search means 104. Find out how much the text information in an article deviates from the specified value. The smaller the deviation, the more beautiful the layout and the higher the evaluation value.

The article position evaluation means 112 receives the layout result from the allocation means 103, evaluates the position of each column, and outputs the evaluation value to the best layout search means 104. For articles that you want to stand out, or articles that you want to always keep in a specific position, such as weather forecast articles, you can specify arbitrary coordinate values on the paper and obtain the distance between the column to which the article is assigned and the coordinate values. The smaller the distance, the more beautiful the layout and the higher the evaluation value. There may be a plurality of coordinate values for evaluating the goodness of the position of an article for each article.
In that case, the sum of the distances from each point or the average value may be used.

The inter-article distance evaluation means 113 receives the layout result from the allocation means 103, evaluates the distance between the columns, and outputs the evaluation value to the best placement search means 104. There are two articles with related content, some questions that you want to place close to each other, and some that you want to place quickly, such as quiz questions and answers. For such articles, find the distance between the columns to which they are assigned. For articles that you want to place close to each other, the smaller the distance,
For articles that should be placed far from each other, the larger the distance, the more beautiful the layout and the higher the evaluation value.

The free area evaluation means 114 receives the layout result from the allocation means 103, evaluates the ratio of the column to which the article is not allocated to the paper surface, and outputs the evaluation value to the best layout search means 104. The closer the occupied area is to the specified value, the more beautiful the layout and the higher the evaluation value.

The layout information is input from the allocation means 103 to the best layout search means 104, and the column shape evaluation means 110, the character information evaluation means 111, the article position evaluation means 112, the inter-article distance evaluation means 113, and the vacant space. The evaluation value is input from the area evaluation means 114.

The evaluation values output by the respective evaluation means are, for example, embossed (weighted) so that they can be compared with each other, and added to obtain an evaluation value of the entire layout. The layout result evaluation information and the layout information having the largest evaluation value thus obtained are stored, and the best layout information is output to the printing unit 150 after several allocation processes.

[0061]

According to the present invention, a relatively good layout can be achieved without manpower. by this,
It is possible to automatically perform from the acquisition of articles by search to the printing.

Further, a vacant area on the paper surface can be considered. For example, it is possible to eliminate the waste of paper and the bad appearance such that the second page is printed on only one line and the second page is printed. This is because the empty area evaluation means is provided.

Further, by using the column generating means, effective utilization of the paper surface can be expected. The reason is that it is possible to adjust the shape, position, and size of articles, and it is possible to try complicated meshing between articles.

Further, the layout of the characters in one article can be easily read. This is because the article shape evaluation means is provided.

Further, according to the designation of the user, it is possible to adjust to use a large character for the middle age and a small character for increasing the amount of information. This is because by providing the character information evaluation means, a layout result close to the character size designated by the user can be obtained.

Also, the distance between related articles can be adjusted to be small or large. This is because the inter-article distance evaluation means is provided.

Further, it is possible to adjust so that an article which is particularly desired to be noticed is arranged at the upper left end as much as possible, or so that a specific article is arranged at a specific position as much as possible. This is because the article position evaluation means is provided.

Even if a layout satisfying all the conditions cannot be obtained, it is possible to obtain a relatively good layout with a good balance.

Further, in the same manner, a layout considering the layout condition can be obtained only by adding an evaluation means for evaluating another layout condition.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an automatic article placement device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an example of a layout candidate generated during the operation of the present invention, and is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the column generating means and the allocating means.

FIG. 3 is an example of a layout candidate generated during the operation of the present invention, and is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the column generating means and the allocating means.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart explaining the operation of the assigning means of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an example of a column candidate generated during the operation of the present invention, and is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the column shape evaluation means.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an operation of a conventional example.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an operation of a conventional example.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a conventional example.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an operation of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101 Column Generation Means 102 Article Input Means 103 Allocation Means 104 Best Placement Search Means 110 Column Shape Evaluation Means 111 Character Information Evaluation Means 112 Article Position Evaluation Means 113 Inter-article Distance Evaluation Means 114 Free Space Evaluation Means 150 Article Output Means 201 Paper

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. An automatic article placement device for laying out a document in which a plurality of article information composed of a plurality of document component data is laid out, and column generation for dividing a paper space into some random areas. Means, an article inputting means for obtaining the article information, an article output by the article inputting means, and an assigning means for performing layout by randomly associating a column output by the column generating means with each other, With respect to the layout result output by the allocating means, one or a plurality of evaluating means for evaluating the layout result, the column generating means and the allocating means are caused to output the layout result, and the evaluation value is outputted to the evaluating means. The layout process for obtaining a comprehensive evaluation value from the evaluation value is executed a predetermined number of times, and the comprehensive evaluation value is the maximum. An automatic article placement device comprising: a best placement search means for outputting a layout result. 2. The automatic article placement device according to claim 1, wherein said evaluation means includes column shape evaluation means for evaluating readability of the shape of the column to which the article is assigned. 3. The column shape evaluation means according to claim 1, wherein the evaluation value is obtained from the number of straight lines forming the outer circumference of the column and the number of corners of a particular shape of the column. Automatic article placement device. 4. The column shape evaluation means uses a horizontal line on the right side and a vertical line on the lower side to determine whether a particular shape of a column used for evaluation is in the case of horizontal writing in Japanese or English with reference to the turning angle. 4. The structure according to claim 1, wherein, in the case of vertical writing in Japanese, it is composed of a horizontal line on the left side and a vertical line on the lower side with reference to a corner. Automatic article placement device. 5. The evaluation means includes a character information evaluation means for evaluating whether or not the character size, the inter-character pitch, or the inter-line pitch of the article used when allocating to the column is close to a predetermined value. The automatic article placement device according to claim 1, which is characterized in that. 6. The automatic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the evaluation means includes article position evaluation means for evaluating whether or not the position of the column associated with the article is close to a position designated in advance. Article placement device. 7. The inter-article distance evaluation means for evaluating whether or not the distance between a plurality of related articles is close to a predetermined value. Automatic article placement device. 8. The evaluation unit includes an empty area evaluation unit for evaluating whether or not the area of the area on the paper on which the article is not allocated is close to a predetermined area. Automatic article placement device. 9. The column shape evaluation means for evaluating readability of the shape of a column to which an article is allocated, and the character size, character pitch, and line spacing of an article used when assigning to a column Relevance to the character information evaluation means that evaluates whether it is close to a pre-specified value, and the article position evaluation means that evaluates whether the position of the column associated with the article is close to the pre-specified position. Inter-article distance evaluation means for evaluating whether or not the distance between a plurality of articles is close to a pre-specified value, and whether the area of the area on the paper where no articles are assigned is close to the pre-specified value. 2. The automatic article placement device according to claim 1, wherein the automatic article placement device comprises free space evaluation means for evaluating whether or not.