CA2264638A1 - Proofing system utilizing dynamic pdf technology for the interface for templated printing - Google Patents

Abstract

A technique for easily creating and proofing customized printed material before printing on a production printing system. A user may connect with an internet web site provided by a commercial printing service and select from a plurality of available templates for the printed material. The user can then select additional stored information to be included in the customized printed material, or can input variable information through a keyboard or the like. A portable document format (PDF) builder generates a dynamic PDF file from the selected template and the selected or variable data from the user. The dynamic file can then be displayed at the front end to provide an accurate view of how the printed material would look. Additionally, a hard copy proofing version of the printed material may be printed at the front end. Once the layout of the printed material is confirmed, a production printing system is used to print multiple copies of the customized printed material.

Description

UI102025CA 02264638 l999-02- 19PROOFING SYSTEM UTILIZING DYNAMIC PDFTECHNOLOGY FOR THE INTERFACE FOR TEMPLATED PRINTINGBACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates to a method for remotely creating and editinghigh quality customized documents or other printed materials for printing at a centralfacility based on displayed editing images, and an apparatus which may be used toperform the method. More particularly, the present invention relates to a techniquefor creating customized printed materials utilizing template formats, stored referenceinformation and user input data.It is desirable in modern printing systems to allow a user to readily customizeprinted materials for a particular need. For example, a user may select stored imagesand combine them with user specified input text and stored references to produce apoint of sale (POS) display or the like. Such a "response on demand" systemincreases production flexibility and simplifies the design process. With the growingimportance and availability of the Internet, the possibilities of such a response ondemand system increase greatly.National or regional retail chains, for example, often require large numbers ofpoint of sale displays for use in their stores. These point of sale displays are typicallyprinted to order by a commercial printing service and distributed to the various storesfor use. Other types of businesses or organizations which frequently utilize point ofsale displays include soft drink bottlers or major breweries that provide promotionalmaterials to networks of distributors, cellular telephone service providers, tradeassociations, and others.The need for customized printed materials, of course, extends beyondpoint of sale displays. For example, direct mail marketers continually developadvertising flyersSECOND SUBSTITUTE PAGE AMENDED SHEETCA 02264638 l999-02- 19WO 98/08176 PCT/US97/14343and coupons which are sent through the mail to prospective CUSt°m9|'5- EVEN Piaflflefsand promoters may need printed materials for use in promoting concerts. sportingevents, live theatrical perfomiances. etcetera. Similarly, various organizationssometimes utilize custom printed materials to announce seminars, annual meetings.and the like. in other words. the possible applications for customized printed materialsare virtually unlimited.Custom promotional materials often change on a weekly (or even more frequent)basis. Additionally, it is common for a user to need the materials in a short time frameor to desire changes at the last minute. Accordingly, it is desired to provide a systemfor creating customized documents which permits optimal flexibility in design, and whichpromotes efficiency by allowing a user to easily create. proof and edit custom printedmaterials in a single session.Customized printed materials. particularly when ordered in large quantities, cancost substantial sums of money. As a result, it is especially important to ensure that thedesign of the customized printed materials is satisfactory before large volume print jobsare run and delivered. If the design is not verified prior to printing, it may be necessaryto incur additional expenses associated with redesigning and reprinting the order or.alternatively, a user may be forced to accept a less than optimal finished product.Thus. an accurate and simple technique for proofing customized printed materials priorto confirming print job orders is desired.Variable printing capabilities utilizing existing XLC printing technology may bedemonstrated for response-on-demand applications. in such a system a user canconnect to an lntemet WEB site and make a request for a publication by providingsome variable or selectable data that would be used to create a form based on thelayout instructions. The final document would then be assembled for later printing. Theavailable selections may be generated from a database which contains the references.possibly some other object specific data. and. ii graphic images are required. the lowand high resolution images.2030CA 02264638 l999-02- 19After the data was provided. such a system could then build dynamic HTML(Hypertext Mark-up Language) pages for viewing in the internet browser and proofing.The pages may be built on the references selected by the user on the main HTMLpage. The low resolution images of the referenced images could be used in buildingthe dynamic HTML page. However, attempts to mimic the real layout of the documentto be ultimately printed are difficult because with the HTML standard there is a limit ofhow closely the HTML pages match the final printed pages in appearance. Moreover,differences in appearance are usually device dependent and may vary from user touser.if the selections were confirmed, the records with the selections that consistedof the references to the selectable objects (including the images) from the databaseand the user provided variable data (name, address, etc.) were fed into the XLC-system, which uses the template information, high resolution images referenced onthe records, and the variable data from the records to do the final printing.One problem with this system is that the printed pages do not always look theway the users thought they would based on a viewing of the HTML page. As a result,the finished product may prove unsuited for its intended purpose, and the customerwould need to redesign the printed materials -- costing time, money and effort.Accordingly, a proofing system that would accurately show the users how theirselections would look in print before the orders were sent for printing is highlyadvantageous.A virtual image editing system is illustrated in IBM Technical DisclosureBulletin, Vol. 39, No. 8 (Aug. 1996). Briefly, the disclosed image processing systemconsists of an image server and an image client. The image server provides ascanner function, image data storage, a data conversion capability which creates areduced image, and a fast image print function which uses original image data. Theimage client may access the reduced image and interact with a user to edit the image.The image client never accesses the original high quality image, but displays areduced image obtained from the image server through an image conversionprogram. The original high—quality image stored in the server is used by the imageserver once printing is requested.SUBSTITUTE PAGE AMENDED SHEET1015CA 02264638 l999-02- 19BRIEF SUMMARYThe present invention provides a method for remotely creating and editing highquality customized material for printing at a central facility based on displayed editingimages. A user establishes a remote connection and selects from a plurality ofavailable templates. An interactive menu screen is utilized to obtain user-determinedinformation for incorporation in the customized material. A dynamic portabledocument format ("PDF") file is then created and displayed. If changes are desired,the dynamic PDF file can be modified at the user's request. Additionally, the presentinvention provides an apparatus which may be utilized in remotely creating andediting high quality customized printing material.In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, users are providedwith a visual representation of a template for customized printed materials before userdata is entered so the user can better understand and visualize how the data willultimately be placed in the final document. The templates may be imaged and thenpresented on an HTML internet web page in Portable Document Format (PDF). Theusers could see3ASECOND SUBSTITUTE PAGE _AMENDED SHEETCA 02264638 l999-02- 19W0 98/08176 PCTlUS97l14343the templates on the HTML page. However, the user still needs a tool to show thedocuments after entry of the custom data.In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a dynamic PDFsolution creates a dynamic PDF file on-the-fly based on the template information, thevariable data provided by the users, and the low resolution images based on thereferences selected. The PDF file provides a proofing version of the customizedmaterial, and is generated by an application that directly reads and writes a PDF file, byinserting the components and placing them at the right locations. The PDF is anaccepted Internet standard, very well supported by the major lntemet browsers. It isdevice independent and provides one to one representation of how the final documentwould look when printed. The PDF file may be displayed in the user’s internet browserusing a conventional PDF reader plug-in. The PDF file can be viewed or printed to alocal low resolution printer for the final proofing. if changes are required the usermoves back to the main HTML page to modify the selection and/or the variable data.Then a new dynamic PDF file is generated that reflects the changes. The processcontinues until the user is satisfied with the document. After that the same referencesused to build the dynamic PDF file are sent for printing using the known XLC printingtechnology. Alternatively, the same generated PDF file would be sent for printing usingconventional printing technology where the low resolution images would be replaced bythe high resolution images by an OPI (Open Pre-press interface) process beforepnnfing.Although developed for the lnternet front end, the technology can similarly beused by front ends other than Internet browsers.DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The various features, characteristics and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent to the skilled artisan from a reading of the following detaileddescription of an exemplary embodiment, when it is read in view of the accompanyingdrawings, in which:£020CA 02264638 l999-02- 19FIGURE 1 is a system diagram illustrating an example proofing system inaccordance with the present invention;FIGURE IA is a flow chart illustrating an example of steps which may beimplemented in connection with the system of FIGURE 1 to custom design printedmaterials;FIGURE 2 is an example of a first level screen display in accordance with apreferred embodiment of the present invention;FIGURE 3 is an example of a second level screen display in accordance with apreferred embodiment of the present invention;FIGURE 4 is another example of a second level screen display in accordancewith a preferred embodiment of the present invention;FIGURE 5 is an example of a closing screen display in accordance with apreferred embodiment of the present invention; andFIGURE 6 is an example of a point-of—sa|e display card which may beproduced in accordance with the present invention.DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTThe following detailed description sets forth a preferred exemplary embodimentin accordance with the present invention. It should be noted, however, that thosehaving ordinary skill in the art will recognize modifications and changes that may bemade. For example, although the example embodiment is described in the context ofan example system wherein a user utilizes the internet to access template informationat a remote location and input user specified information, other arrangements arepossible.Referring now to FIGURE 1, an example proofing system constructed inaccordance with the present invention includes a front end 2 which preferably iscapable of establishing remote contact with an Internet WEB site. A reference library,low resolution images, high resolution images, and other data may be stored in amemory 4 at the remote location. The front end 2 is typically located at the office of aSUBSTITUTE PAGEAMENDED SHEET15CA 02264638 l999-02- 19W0 98/08176 PCT/US97/14343designer for the customized printed material to be prepared, e.g., at the office of agraphic artist employed by an advertising agency or a direct mail marketer. The frontend 2 ordinarily includes a personal computer having at least a display screen.keyboard and a mouse. as well as appropriate internet browsing software. The memory4, PDF builder 6, and high resolution color production printing system 10 are present atthe remote location, e.g., at the facilities of a commercial printing service. and may bepart of a computerized printer device and print driver system.The front end 2 may use an internet browser or the like to establishcommunication with the remote location through an internet connection or otherappropriate communication technique. For example, a commercial printer mayestablish a typical HTML-based World Wide Web site on the internet that allowscustomers password protected access to the services and products of the commercialprinter. A customer seeking to design custom printed materials would then access theweb page of the commercial printer and enter an area reserved for services andproducts offered by the printer. One option in the services and products area of theweb page may be custom design of printed materials which, when finalized, would beprinted by the commercial printer on a high-speed. high-quality print device, andsubsequently delivered to the customer. Of course, other arrangements are alsoavailable. VIn operation of such an example system, a graphic artist or the like working atthe front end terminal 2 accesses the internet web page of the commercial printer andenters the area for customized design of printed materials. The PDF (portabledocument format) builder 6 may be implemented in a conventional way as part of acomputer system at the remote location. The computer system may also operate asthe server for the internet web page. The PDF builder«6 is used to create the image ofthe document to be printed based on reference data images. or other data from thememory 4, as well as user inputs at front end 2. A local printer 8 may be provided atthe front end for producing hard copy, low resolution proofs of the final document. ifdesired by the user. Once the user is satisfied with the design, a print order can be62025CA 02264638 l999-02- 19WO 98/08176 PCT/US97/14343confirmed and high quality prints may be produced by a high resolution color productionprinting system 10.An example operation of the proofing system illustrated in Figure 1 is illustratedin Figure 1A. More particularly, at step 100, a designer working at the front end station2 utilizes a conventional internet browser and connection to access the commercialprinter web page and enter the area in which customers may design their own customprinted materials. Typically, access to this area of the web page may be passwordprotected and restricted to customers having established accounts with the printer.As illustrated more particularly below in conjunction with Figures 2 through 5, theuser is prompted to select an available template form (function block 102) and toprovide selected or variable information (function block 104) for use by the PDF builder6 to complete a proof of the custom printed material. The particular template formsavailable to the user may be tailored to the specific user. For example. a supermarketchain may have a number of available templates which would not be suitable for a beerdistributor or direct mail marketer, and vice versa. Accordingly, the available templatesmay be predetermined for a particular customer and presented to the user inaccordance with the sign-on information provided by the user in accessing the webpage. The templates are preferably imaged in advance and displayed for the user onthe HTML web page in PDF. These templates can be seen on the HTML page prior tocustomization.With regard to function block 104, the user may select from a plurality ofpredetermined options. For example, the user could be prompted to select a specifictype of package to appear on the custom printed material. (See, e.g., Figure 3, at item2). Additionally, the user can be given the choice of selecting from a plurality ofpredetermined options or, if no predetermined option is— suitable, providing the user'sown variable information. (See, e.g., Figure 3 at items 3 and 4). The variable userinformation may be entered. for example. at the keyboard of front end 2.The PDF builder 6 then creates a dynamic PDF file on-the—fly based on theselected template information, the selected or variable data provided by the users, and72025CA 02264638 l999-02- 19W0 98/08176 PCTIUS97/14343the low resolution images based on the references selected. The dynamic PDF filecorresponding to the custom printed material is generated by reading the PDF templatefile, inserting the appropriate image components and placing them in the properlocations, and writing a customized dynamic PDF file. The dynamic PDF file is thendisplayed at the front end terminal 2 for proofing by the designer (function block 106).Once the customized dynamic PDF file is displayed at the front end 2, thedesigner may choose to print the image at a relatively low resolution local printer 8 forfurther review (function block 108). Such an arrangement may be particularlyadvantageous, for example, if the printed material is multiple pages or cannot beviewed on a single screen display. Also, the printed version may be circulated to othersas needed for approval.Next, the designer may either confirm the order, or may return to the main HTMLpage to modify the selection and/or the variable data. Thus. if the designer is notsatisfied with the appearance of the printed material, the designer is again given theopportunity to select an available template, etc. If the designer is satisfied, thecommercial printer can proceed with printing the materials in the desired quantity(function block 114) and then distributing them as required (function block 116). Forexample, the printed materials could be delivered to a distribution center for a retailchain, or the commercial printer may post the materials through the mail to partiesincluded on a mailing list provided to them by the user.If the commercial printer utilizes known XLC printing technology the samereferences used to build the dynamic PDF file are sent for printing by the XLC system.Alternatively, where the commercial printer uses conventional printing technology, thedynamic PDF file generated for proofing is sent to the printing system, and lowresolution images used in creating the dynamic PDF file are replaced by high resolutionimages by, for example, an open pre-press interface (OPI) before printing._ It should be noted that although Figure 1A illustrates control returning to functionblock 102 when the designer is dissatisfied with the appearance of the printedmaterials, ordinarily it should not be necessary to reselect or again input information8l5CA 02264638 1999-02-19wo 93/03176 PCT/US97/14343that is not to be changed. Additionally, it should" be understood that the order of stepsillustrated in Figure 1A can be modified without departing from the spirit of the presentinvention. For example, a user might choose to print a low resolution copy of theproofing version of the custom printed material prior to, of even in lieu of, display on ascreen at the front end 2.FIGURE 2 illustrates a sample first level screen display which may appear atfront end 2 after a user initially accesses the proofing system. Briefly. the user isprovided, for example,'with a number of available templates such as a generic shelfdisplay card (Shelf Talker Generic 1), a vertical banner, or an aisle display card (ELMChill Aisle). It should be understood that these templates are merely for the sake ofillustration, and othertemplates, of course, may be presented depending on theparticular needs and desires of the user. The user may select a template by clicking onthe appropriate choice with a mouse 2A.Once the template is selected, a second level screen display appears at frontend 2. FIGURE 3 illustrates a sample second level screen display menu appropriate forthe selection of the shelf display card. A PDF version of the template is displayed atthe top portion of the screen for reference by the user. This template is preferablyimaged in advance and stored in memory 4. The user is prompted to select a packageimage to be included in the package area of the template. Additionally, the user isprompted to: (a) select a stored description or to enter a different description of theuser's choosing; (b) select a stored price or enter a different price; (c) select the numberof copies needed from the production printing system; and (d) to identify themselves.The identification of the user may be used for billing and/or distribution purposes inaccordance with previously determined customer information.Once all the necessary data is entered, the usermay click on a button to indicatecompletion of data entry. Although the foregoing describes a single screen displaypage for entry of data, multiple screens could likewise be employed.FIGURE 4 illustrates another example second level display. In particular, thescreen display of FIGURE 4 may be used with an aisle display card (ELM Chill Aisle).9CA 02264638 l999-02- 19wo 93/03175 PCT/US97/14343As with the example of FIGURE 3, the template is shown at the top portion of the HTMLscreen as a PDF image. As shown, the aisle display card template pennits prices for anumber of different products to be displayed. Such a template would be particularlyuseful, for example, to a supennarket chain or the like.‘ The user prompts for data inFigure 4 are different from those in Figure 3 due to the different information to beprinted on the customized printed materials. Again, completion of data entry isindicated by clicking a button with the mouse 2A.Turning now to FIGURE 5, a message may be displayed at front end 2 uponcompletion of data entry. This message screen provides the user the opportunity toview the final document, as customized, prior to confimnatlon of the order. The finaldocument can also be printed on a local low resolution printer 8 (Figure 1). if the useris not satisfied with the document, the steps employed in creating the document may berepeated as desired.Turning now to FIGURE 6, an example is given of a final printed documentproduced by the production printing system based on the shelf display template. Animage of the selected package is displayed at the left hand portion of the shelf display.The right hand portion includes the user input description and price. After printing bythe commercial printer, the final printed documents would typically be delivered to adistribution center of a retail store or the like for later display in individual stores.While the invention has been described in connection with what is presentlyconsidered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to‘be understoodthat the invention is not to be limited to the disclosed embodiments, but on the contrary,is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included withinthe spirit and scope of the appended claims.10

Claims (13)

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A method for remotely creating and editing high quality customized material for printing at a central printing facility based on displayed editing images, comprising the steps of:

establishing an Internet connection with a user at a remote location and displaying to said remote user a plurality of templates stored at said central printing facility in [said] Portable Document Format for selection by said user;
selecting a template in accordance with a user selection (102);

utilizing an interactive menu screen to obtain a user-determined information for incorporation in said customized material based on the selected template (104);

creating a dynamic Portable Document Format file based on the selected template and said user-determined information (104);

displaying said dynamic Portable Document Format file at said remote location to provide a proofing version of said customized material (106); and modifying the selected template or said user-selected information if changes are desired in the proofing version of said customized material (102, 104).

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of obtaining user-determined information includes receiving a selection from a plurality of predetermined options.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of providing user-determined information includes receiving information input directly by a user.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of creating a Dynamic Portable Document format file based on the selected template and said user-determined information includes reading a stored Portable Document Format file corresponding to the selected template, inserting at the proper locations in the Portable Document Format file corresponding to the selected template components corresponding to said user-determined information to create said proofing version of said customized material.

5. The method of claims 1 or 4, including the further step of printing one or more copies of said customized material on a production printer following approval of the proofing version of the customized material.

6. The method of claim 5, including the further step of printing said proofing version of said customized material for review prior to performing said step of printing one or more copies of said customized material on said production printer.

7. An apparatus for remotely creating and editing high quality customized material for printing at a central printing facility based on displayed editing images, comprising an interface for a front end (2) having a display screen and a user input device;
said interface operable to establish an internet connection between said centralfacility and said front end;
a memory which stores reference information and images(4); and a Portable Document Format builder (6) responsive to user information received through said interface with the use of interactive menu screens based on a selected template for said customized printing material and selected reference information and images from said memory to generate a Dynamic Portable Document format file representing a proofing version of said customized material for printing and for displaying through said interface at the front end.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein said interface is an internet web page connection.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, further including a production printer which prints said customized material following approval by a user.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein said production printer operates on the same user information and selected reference information and images from said memory used to generate said dynamic Portable Dynamic Format file.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the low resolution images are replaced with high resolution images by an Open Prepress Interface before printing.

12. The apparatus of claim 8, further including a front end which includes a display screen and a user input device which communicates with said portable document format builder through said interface.

13. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein said front end further includes a printer operable to provide a hard copy of said proofing version of the customized material.