WO2011073050A1

WO2011073050A1 - Method for processing a print job

Info

Publication number: WO2011073050A1
Application number: PCT/EP2010/068942
Authority: WO
Inventors: Maurice M.M. BONNÉ
Original assignee: Oce-Technologies B.V.
Priority date: 2009-12-17
Filing date: 2010-12-06
Publication date: 2011-06-23

Abstract

A method for processing jobs containing at least one document to be processed on an image-processing device, said method comprising the step of composing a first job comprising process date and end user specifications by means of page-programming steps empowered by a page-programming application on a workstation characterized in that the method further comprises the steps of recording the page-programming steps of composing the first job according to the previous step, defining an object in memory of the workstation including the recorded page -programming steps, which object is able to execute the recorded page -programming steps automatically, saving the object in memory of the workstation and playing the saved object for a second job for which the recorded page-programming steps of the first job are suited to be executed. The invention is also related to an image-processing apparatus for processing a digital image, comprising a control unit adapted to perform the method for processing jobs.

Description

METHOD FOR PROCESSING A PRINT JOB

The present invention relates to a method for processing jobs containing at least one document to be processed on an image-processing device, said method comprising the step of composing a first job comprising process data and end user specifications by means of page-programming steps empowered by a page-programming application on a workstation.

In a central print room several image-processing devices may be installed such as printers, scanners and multi-functionals. Documents of end users may arrive in the central print room at an operator console application installed on a workstation in the central print room. An operator managing this operator console application may send a particular document to one of the image-processing devices in the central print room, for example a printer suitable to print the document or a printer which is available for the time being.

Also an operator managing this operator console application may bring a particular (paper) document to one of the scanners in the central print room, for example a scanner suitable to scan the document or a scanner which is available for the time being.

Normally a page programming application has been installed on the workstation in the central print room besides the operator console application or incorporated in the operator console application. The page programming application may also be web- based. By means of the page programming application the operator may work up the document before submitting it via the operator console application to an appropriate image-processing device. Functions of such a page programming application may be collecting, composing and combining documents from various sources - digital and analog - into one compound document, correcting and cleaning up imperfections of scanned or digital source documents, determining the final layout of a document, assign media to pages of a document, optimizing productivity with same-up imposing and trim mark addition and routing to the right production device. For example, such a page programming application may include the composition of one document out of more than one document, the definition of a cover, a size or kind of medium material, the layout of the text and/or images of the document, appropriate tab pages, document imposition, numbering of pages of the document and the finishing requirements. In order to establish that the document will be processed according to the requirements of the end user and/or the operator, several page-programming steps have to be taken care of by the operator. Since page-programming steps may recur in many documents sent by end users, it is cumbersome to again and again carry out the same page-programming steps. Moreover, these page-programming steps may be slightly different from document to document in a few settings and the operator has to be very concentrated not to make any error.

Also an end user has to specify his requirements in terms of the domain specific language of the page -programming application of the central print room. However, most end users do not know this domain specific language. For example, the end user orders a document like "a monthly report" while the operator page programs the document as 120 gr., A4, Red covers, punch pattern '4:1 -.2475" oval'. Moreover, there are many different page-programming applications in even so many different print rooms.

Therefore it is hard or even impossible to make one translation from an end user requirement language to a domain specific language used by a page-programming application in the central print room, which translation suits all end users.

The object of the present invention is to apply a method for the operator in a central print room aimed at improving the quality of the documents delivered by the central print room and to achieve a productive delivery of the documents to the end user.

The object of the invention is achieved in a method according to the preamble, characterized in that the method further comprises the steps of recording the page- programming steps of composing the first job according to the step of the preamble, defining an object in memory of the workstation including the recorded page- programming steps, which object is able to execute the recorded page-programming steps automatically, saving the object in memory of the workstation and playing the saved object for a second job for which the recorded page-programming steps of the first job are suited to be executed.

By recording and saving the programming steps of the page-programming application, the steps are saved for further use in the central print room. The programming steps are recorded in an object, which object may comprise a number of input parameters which may be changed for a second job. The availability of such an object is advantageous especially in case that a second job equals or resembles the job for which the programming steps are recorded in the object. The object may be replayed for the second job and, in case of a resembling job, by means of adapted input parameters. This will increase the productivity of the operator a lot since he does not have to repeat the programming steps of the page-programming application, but may use the saved object. Once an object has been saved, it can be played in principle many times for further jobs to be page-programmed. The operator can establish an object by taking all the page-programming steps necessary for the job in an example, recording and saving these steps.

In an embodiment the method according to the present invention is characterized in that the object is defined by executing a software program, which takes into account information derivable from the process data, the end user specifications, information derivable from the workstation and information derivable from the image-processing device. The software program may be called a macro or a script. The software program extends the default functionality of the page-programming application by making a translation of the end user specifications into the domain specific language of the page- programming application in the central print room. Information derivable form the workstation, on which the page-programming application is installed, may be used in the software program that produces the objects. This information may be derived from the operating system of the workstation or other end user or operator application programs installed on the workstation. The decision which image-processing device in the central print room may process the job, may depend on information received known from the devices in the central print room, which information is for example available at the workstation on which the page-programming application resides. In general, a central print room is equipped with workstations and devices which are connected via a network. Such a network is not only suitable for submitting jobs from the workstations to the device, but also for receiving actual information related to a status of a device, via a bi-directional network. Making use of information known from or received from the devices is advantageous in case that one or more devices in the central print room are already busy with processing documents of other jobs. Also information about a delivery time that the result of the job must be available for the end user may be part of the end user specifications and may be captured in the object. Moreover, one of the input parameters of the object may even be a latest possible starting time of the job. The software program may capture implicit assumptions which are normal in end user specifications. Constraints due to the end user specifications in combination with the physical parameters of the document, may lead to the same object with other input parameters or to a different object.

In another embodiment the method according to the present invention is characterized in that the saved object is viewable and editable. Any suitable viewer may be used for viewing and any suitable editor means may be used for editing. If an operator has recorded page-programming steps of many jobs, he may have viewed a lot of the objects and get an impression how such an object is coded. It is advantageous that the object is editable, since the operator is then able to modify the object, for example by changing constants in the object into input parameters or into other constants, variables in the object, decision criteria, order of programming steps in the object and so on. By doing so, the operator is able to produce a number of new objects based on previously recorded objects without having to record and save the adapted page-programming steps again.

In a particular embodiment a view of such a saved object is visualisable in the form of a work flow diagram in which each page-programming step is visualized. Such a view may contain decision trees, decision criteria, sequential and/or parallel page- programming steps or any other relevant and visualisable programming action to be taken by any software installed on the workstation, particularly the page-programming application. Showing such a view of the object may lead to automation of work flows in the central print room, which have not yet been recorded. For example, an operator may translate his respective tasks into an object and become more productive and less error prone.

In another embodiment the view of such a saved object is a text file which comprises text lines in which the programming steps are readably coded. This is advantageous since no extra skills for advanced end user applications except a simple text editor are needed.

In another embodiment the method according to the present invention is characterized in that the method comprises the step of setting at least one input parameter of the saved object, before playing the saved object for the second job. When an operator has recorded an object he may attach at least one input parameter to the object and edit the object in order to let the at least one input parameter be interpreted in the object when it is executed. This way of working reduces the number of objects and achieves that one object may be used in work flows for similar jobs submitted towards the central print room.

In another embodiment the method according to the present invention is characterized in that in the saved object also the step of submitting the page-programmed job is recorded. In the previous embodiments all the page-programming steps for a job are recorded in the object. It is advantageous to include also the step of submission of the job into the object, since by including the submission step the job will be submitted automatically to a device in the central print room, when the object is played.

In another embodiment the method according to the present invention is characterized in that an input parameter of the saved object is a trigger which defines the event at which the object has to be played. The object may be played by means of clicking on a filename or icon on the workstation, which filename or icon represents the object.

However, if no operator is available at the workstation, the object may be linked via an input parameter to a trigger which defines an event at which the object has to be played. Such an event is for example a predetermined moment in time.

In another embodiment the method according to the present invention is characterized in that part of the saved object is a second object defined according to a method in any of the preceding embodiments. This is advantageous since a previously saved object is reused. A saved object may be reused as a part of a new object to be created.

In another embodiment the method according to the present invention is characterized in that the object is defined according to a principle of programming-by-example. The user executes the page-programming steps wanted for a real job by means of a dummy job. After this step the user is able to modify the object in order to get the object ready for executing the same or similar page-programming steps of the real job.

The present invention further provides a printing apparatus for processing a digital image, comprising a control unit which comprises a recording means adapted to perform a method according to any of the preceding embodiments. The present invention further provides a program stored in a computer-readable medium for processing a digital image, said program including instructions for a computer to execute the method according to any of the preceding embodiments.

Further features and advantages of the present invention will become clear from the following description of detailed embodiments thereof, given by way of example, and illustrated by the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 shows a system in which the present invention may be practiced;

Fig. 2 shows a software suite in which the method of the present invention is embodied; Fig. 3 shows a flow diagram of the method according to the present invention.

Fig.1 shows a general network system including user workstations 1A, 1 B, 1 C (e.g., PCs) and a centralized printing facility 3 such as is often called a "central repro department" (CRD), all connected by a network 10 such as a Local Area Network, or even the internet. The CRD includes a plurality of printing devices 4A, 4B, 4C and a work station 5, which may include a server operating system or a normal operating system for a PC. The CRD may also include a document database 6 or be connected to a central database facility acting as a document database. The devices in the CRD are interconnected by a local network 1 1 , which may be part of the general network 10. In operation, users prepare documents on their workstations and submit the resulting document data files to the CRD for printing and possibly storage in the database 6. The files for printing are received by the server 5 and are, under the control of a CRD operator, transferred to a printer device 4A, 4B or 4C.

The server 5 runs program software and so forms a system for editing and specifying the print processing of the print job that produces the prints according to the document file submitted by the users. This software has three separate chapters, as exemplified by Fig. 2: page-level specification 21 , including page editing functionality, such as page layout specification and image processing, document-level specification 22 for composing documents from page images and production-level specification 23, directed to the physical production control.

The present invention relates to the above-mentioned system for editing and specifying print processing for all three chapters mentioned above. The invention provides a user interface for the system, and is embodied in software running in the server 5. In operation, the document specification software features a page-programming application which offers all functionality that is needed to transform pages into a fully programmed job. In this workspace the user defines the layout, the media and the finishing options. It is also possible to add elements such as page numbers and tab captions.

Constraints due to the end user specifications in combination with the physical parameters of the document, may lead to another object to be recorded. For example, if the end user specifications mention "a monthly report as a booklet", normally this means that the report is finished by means of saddle stitching. However, if the report contains more than 50 sheets it cannot be stitched and should be bound with a ring-o-binding. In the end user specification this is still a monthly report as a booklet, but due to physical parameter of the document like the number of sheets of the document another translation into the object is made.

In an embodiment the object may be created by "teaching by example". A print room operator may do the actions he normally performs, for a dummy job and the recording system on the workstation may record the actions of the operator and generate the appropriate code so that the same actions may be performed for another job to be processed later in time.

Recording of the page-programming steps into an object may be implemented as illustration in a flow diagram as in Fig. 3. In a first step S310 the recording tool is opened on a workstation in the central print room for a next step S320 of recording a page- programming step to be executed. After the recording of the first page-programming step, it is checked in a first decision step S330 if there are more page-programming steps to be carried out. If an additional page-programming step is to be carried out, the recording step S320 is executed again. If there are no additional page-programming steps to be executed, in a next step S340 the executed steps are saved as a list of requests for action and the recording tool is closed. A programming language, for example a programming language of Microsoft, is selected to save the list of requests for action. In such a programming language the action and corresponding input parameters are saved, for example, "Print (10 copies, "A4")". At the translation of the requests for action to this programming language is taken care of dependencies between the requests for action. For example, if the first request for action is "Select job 1 " and the second request for action is "mark selected job ready", the second request is influenced by the first request. By doing so, a set of all actions is built in the selected programming language. The recorded step may be independent of the document. For example, the operator expresses himself in a semantically correct command like "go to the first page of the next chapter". In this way the recording step is independent of the number of pages of document or the number of chapters of the document.

In a next step S350 the saved requests for action are translated into a programming language of a software developer, for example VB.NET, C#, Python, XPDL,

XOML/XAML or any other suitable software development language. In a second decision step S360 it is checked if additional editing is desired. If so, the translation of the previous step S360 which is a program code that can be read and modified is modified in a next step S370 by a software developer by means of any editor application, for example Microsoft Visual Studio, Notepad or any other suitable editor. Input parameter may be added by means of VB.NET, C#, Python or any other software development environment to parametrize the requests for action. A software

development environment which represents code in block schemes may be used. In case of such an environment the user may select a specific block and modify block properties. The modified requests for action may be saved for later editing. In a next step S380 the possibly modified requests for action are compiled into a form file on disk of the workstation like a dynamic linked library (.dll) file or forms of a in VB.NET interpreted languages like Perl and XOML. Such a form may be loaded and executed. In a particular embodiment the recorded object is created as an executable .dll file.

An existing (dll) object may also be modified according to the flow chart of Fig. 3.

At the start of the flow chart of Fig. 3 a beginning step S305 is executed in which the existing (dll) object is opened and the flow continues immediately with the step S370 of modifying the translation of requests for action and adding wanted input parameters. In the final step S380 the modified request for action are compiled into a form file like a dll object.

In an embodiment an object is created for the following case. A new job is submitted together with a job ticket to the print room and enters an operator console system in a queue of a category of unprocessed jobs. Besides the category of unprocessed jobs, the operator is able to create other categories and a new job, which initially is placed in the category of unprocessed jobs, may be moved to another category. The decision to which category the new job has to be moved may be based on at least one setting from the job ticket. However, the decision is not limited to be based on settings of the job ticket, but may also be based on environmental values from the operating system of the work station or of a period schedule of the job. This may be automated in an object, which has for example a decision tree based on the at least one setting of the job ticket. For example, suppose the relevant settings of the job ticket are a department field and a delivery date field, the decision tree may contain the case that if the job was submitted either from the "Sales" department or it was submitted from another department and the delivery date was within 2 days from today, the job is placed in a queue of a category of high priority jobs.

In an embodiment an object is created for the following case. A university may have a lot of jobs of readers to be printed or reprinted. The jobs may consist out of 1 PDF file with only A4 pages and no finishing. All these jobs should be printed semi automatically on a specific printer at a predetermined time, e.g. 4:45 PM, or when the operator presses a button in the operator console. For letting the jobs printed at a predetermined time at trigger may be created as an input parameter of an object, such that the steps of the object are executed at the predetermined time. For letting the jobs printed when the operator presses a button in the operator console, the button may be an icon or button which, when pressed, may activate a similar object in order to print the jobs.

In an embodiment an object is created for the following case. When a job is ready, an operator used to print the job ticket twice and send one of the two tickets to the end user and keeps the other ticket for his own administration. Then the job is moved to a "ready" category on the operator console application and placed in an archive database system. All these steps may be the automated in an object. This reduces the number of mouse clicks and also the time the operator has to wait between the clicks.

In an embodiment an object is created for the following case. In a job ticket a setting may be added with the name "Document type" for example "Internal report" and

"Publication". Based on the value of this setting, the operator will follow appropriate page-programming steps. The object may contain a decision moment based on the document type setting and specify in either case the appropriate page-programming steps. For example, in case of an internal report: inserted red covers A4, 250 gr, and an A4 tab sheet before each chapter, which is indicated with sections or bookmarks in the internal report. The tab captions may be taken either from a ticket setting or from the bookmarks. For example, in case of a publication: a first page of the document may be used as a cover. A third page of the document may be printed on yellow paper because it contains the management summary.

In an embodiment an object is created for the following case. The object monitors incoming new jobs in the operator console system. When a new job arrives without a PDF file and with a document type in the job ticket set to "business card", the objects may open a worksheet in an operator application on a workstation that contains template containing a business card layout. The template may be based on another ticket setting, for example "employee type". By doing so, another business card layout may be used for a manager than for a normal employee. A name, a last name and a department may be taken from the job ticket and placed in the worksheet.

Then the worksheet may be saved as a PDF file. The PDF file may be attached to the job and opened in a page-programming step. A next step is to assign A3, 250 gram glossy paper to the job and to specify a sheet size of the document, e.g. a business card of 2 by 3 inch. This may be executed for the front side of the business card as well as the back side of the business card. As a last step the number of copies may be calculated, for example the requested number of business cards divided by 21 , because approximately 21 business cards may be printed on one A3.

All these steps may be programmed in one object.

In an embodiment an object is created for enabling the operator to create his own small workflow or action button. This is advantageous since custom buttons may reduce the number of mouse clicks significantly, for example from 10 to 1 . With scripting it is possible to add a button the operator console application and add a custom script to it. For example, a script may start an operator application, mark a job ready, print the ticket two times and send an e-mail to the end user or create a business card with the information of the ticket.

In another embodiment an object is created in the following case. If a job ticket arrives in the operator console application, it occasionally happens that the ticket is not valid. For example, there might be problems in the combination of the values of the settings of the job ticket. The created object may automatically validate the job ticket and, if it is not valid, send an e-mail to the end user and place the job with the invalid job ticket in a specific category. The rules of the validation may be taken from a repository on the workstation and coded in the object.

In another embodiment an object is created for using the functionality of a preparing software application without the user interface of the preparing software application. In this way the functionality of the preparing software application may be integrated in a complex automated workflow for the end user. The object may be created on an end user work station. In another embodiment an object is created to enhance a merging operation for merging two or more documents into one document. The object is then used to change the merge operation into a simple concatenation of pages of the two or more documents with at least one insert page between each pair of documents. Especially in a case in which a lot of small documents (e.g. more than 20) are merged, the merging may become significantly faster.

In another embodiment an object is created for a translation of an end user specification of a job to be printed in at least one page programming step. For example, an end user has a database with documents and basic page programming information. The page programming information is stored in a CSV file, with for each page information like "Page 1 : simplex, Page 2: duplex, Page 3: duplex, Page 4: duplex & color". The customer may create an object which translates the CSV file into page-programming steps executable by the page-programming application. In another embodiment an object is created for sending notifications via mail selectively. The operator marks a job as ready in an operator console application, sends an e-mail as notification to the end user, and, if the job is originally sent from a specific

department, a copy of the ready-mail is sent to the different department, for example an accounting department.

In another embodiment an object is created to manage large source documents. For example, a source document being a PDF file containing more than 100 pages may need another job ticket than a PDF file containing less than 100 pages.

Changing the job ticket may be programmed by the object. In another embodiment an object is created for preprocessing a document. In a first step the document is sent to an end user validation tool. If the end user tool validates the document, in a second step the document may be sent to an import folder of the operator console application.

In another embodiment an object is created for making a document to be printed searchable on keywords. In a first step the document is printed as marked as ready. If the document is marked as ready, it may be exported to an archive. However, before exporting this document to an archive, an end user tool may create a text file with searchable keywords from the document. The document, for example a PDF file, may then together with a search index be placed in an import folder of the archive.

In another embodiment an object is created for an arbitrary number of pages. The object may contain three page-programming steps for a first set of pages, a middle set of pages and a final set of pages. The first and final set have a fixed number of pages, and possible could also be empty. The middle set of pages may contain an arbitrary number of pages. A loop iterating over the set of middle pages may be built around the page programming step belonging to the middle set of pages. In this manner a new page- programming step is built comprising a loop iterating over the set of middle pages, in which each page of the set is individually page-programmed.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to specific preferred embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that numerous variations and modifications can be made without departing from the invention.

Moreover, the above description of preferred embodiments of the invention presented a combination of specific method steps and input parameter values. It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to this specific combination of features. More particularly, these features are separable and can be combined in different subcombinations. The scope of the invention is, thus, to be limited only as specifically mentioned in the claims.

Claims

1 . Method for processing jobs containing at least one document to be processed on an image-processing device, said method comprising the step of

a) composing a first job comprising process data and end user specifications by means of page-programming steps empowered by a page-programming application on a workstation

characterized in that the method further comprises the steps of

b) recording the page-programming steps of composing the first job according to step a),

c) defining an object in memory of the workstation including the recorded page- programming steps, which object is able to execute the recorded page-programming steps automatically,

d) saving the object in memory of the workstation, and

e) playing the saved object for a second job for which the recorded page-programming steps of the first job are suited to be executed.

2. Method according to claim 1 , characterized in that the object is defined by executing a software program, which takes into account information derivable from the process data, the end user specifications, information derivable from the workstation and information derivable from the image-processing device.

3. Method according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the recorded object is viewable and editable.

4. Method according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the method comprises the step of parametrizing at least one input parameter of the saved object, before playing the saved object for the second job.

5. Method according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that in the object also a step of submitting the page-programmed job to the image-processing device is recorded.

6. Method according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that an input parameter of the object is a trigger which defines the event at which the object has to be played.

7. Method according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the saved object is included in another object to be defined according to step c).

8. Method according to any of claims 3 - 7, characterized in that the object is defined by a programming-by-example principle.

9. Image-processing apparatus for processing a digital image, comprising a control unit which comprises recording means adapted to perform a method according to any of the preceding claims.

10. Program stored in a computer-readable medium for processing a digital image, said program including instructions for a computer to execute the method according to any of the claims 1 to 8.