U.S. patent application number 10/794298 was filed with the patent office on 2004-11-18 for electronic printing system and method.
Invention is credited to Bell, Ryan, Farros, Nickoletta T., Farros, Royal P., Hodson, David, Pozdnyakov, Igor, Rubin, Michael.
Application Number | 20040227960 10/794298 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 26862441 |
Filed Date | 2004-11-18 |
United States Patent
Application |
20040227960 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Farros, Royal P. ; et
al. |
November 18, 2004 |
Electronic printing system and method
Abstract
A user of an electronic printing system in accordance with the
invention may create custom print designs locally and provide those
custom print designs to a local or remote printer for printing.
Upon a user creating a custom print design, the electronic printing
system may store the custom design information until an order is
placed by the user. Every order may have associated design files
and an order file (for example, multiple items in an order). The
design file(s) may describe the initial layout of a print design
and may reflect updates to the initial layout based upon the custom
design created by a user. An imaging engine resident on the remote
server(s) of the electronic printing system may convert the
information in the design file(s) into an image file for on-screen
representation as well as a "ready-to-print" output file that may
be retrieved electronically by a remote or local printer facility.
The order file may contain user information and product data, such
as a user's billing and shipping address, payment information and
the media type desired. When an order is submitted, both the design
file(s) and the order file may staged for conversion. The files may
be converted into printer specific files and may be retrieved
electronically by a remote or local printing facility and the
user's order may be carried out by the printing facility and may be
sent to the user when completed.
Inventors: |
Farros, Royal P.; (Woodside,
CA) ; Bell, Ryan; (Mountain View, CA) ;
Farros, Nickoletta T.; (Los Gatos, CA) ; Hodson,
David; (Palo Alto, CA) ; Pozdnyakov, Igor;
(Mountain View, CA) ; Rubin, Michael; (Atherton,
CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
GRAY CARY WARE & FREIDENRICH LLP
2000 UNIVERSITY AVENUE
E. PALO ALTO
CA
94303-2248
US
|
Family ID: |
26862441 |
Appl. No.: |
10/794298 |
Filed: |
March 3, 2004 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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10794298 |
Mar 3, 2004 |
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09568644 |
May 10, 2000 |
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6717686 |
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60166642 |
Nov 19, 1999 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
358/1.1 ;
358/1.13; 358/1.6 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 3/1205 20130101;
G06F 3/1257 20130101; G06F 3/1206 20130101; G06F 3/1287 20130101;
G06F 3/1247 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
358/001.1 ;
358/001.6; 358/001.13 |
International
Class: |
G06F 015/00; B41F
001/00 |
Claims
1-58. (Cancelled)
59. A method for processing an electronic print order for printing
custom print design item information by an assigned printer
facility on a selected print medium, comprising the steps of:
providing a custom print design that includes the custom print
design item information; creating an order file associated with the
custom print design; generating a printer specific file that is
associated with the print order; and storing the printer specific
file so that the printer specific file can be retrieved by the
assigned printer facility and the print order can be processed by
the printer facility.
60. The method of claim 59, wherein the order file includes any of
pricing information, shipping information and billing
information.
61. The method of claim 59, wherein the printer specific file
includes any of printer identification information and printer
specific inventory codes.
62. The method of claim 61, wherein the inventory codes describe
product information, ink color information and quantity
information.
63. A method for processing an electronic print order for printing
custom print design item information by an assigned printing
facility on a selected print medium, comprising the steps of:
providing a custom print design that includes the custom print
design item information; creating an order file associated with the
custom print design; generating a printer specific file that is
associated with the print order; and storing the printer specific
file so that the printer specific file can be transmitted to the
assigned printer facility and the print order can be processed by
the printer facility.
64. The method of claim 63, wherein the order file includes any of
pricing information, shipping information and billing
information.
65. The method of claim 63, wherein the printer specific file
includes any of printer identification information and printer
specific inventory codes.
66. The method of claim 65, wherein the inventory codes describe
any of product information, ink color information, quantity
information, and style information.
67. A method for generating printer specific files for printing of
custom print design item information by an assigned printer
facility on a selected print medium, comprising the steps of:
retrieving a print order; converting the print order to a printer
specific file; and storing the printer specific file on a server so
that the printer facility can retrieve the printer specific file
and process the print order.
68. The method of claim 67, wherein the converting step comprises
the steps of removing any non-printable information from a design
file included in the print order; and parsing the design file so
that an image file representative of the custom print design item
information described in the design file can be generated.
69. The method of claim 68, wherein spot printing plate information
is specified in the image file.
70. The method of claim 68, wherein composite spot printing plate
information is specified in the image file.
71. The method of claim 68, wherein process color printing plate
information is specified in the image file.
72. The method of claim 68, wherein composite process color
printing plate information is specified in the image file.
73. The method of claim 68, wherein composite process color
printing plate information and process color printing plate
information is specified in the image file.
74. A method for generating printer specific files for printing of
custom print design item information by an assigned printer on a
selected print medium, comprising the steps of: retrieving a print
order; converting the print order to a printer specific file; and
storing the printer specific file on a server so that the printer
specific file can be sent to the printing facility to process the
print order.
75. The method of claim 74, wherein the converting step comprises
the steps of removing any non-printable information from a design
file included in the print order; and parsing the design file so
that an image file representative of the custom print design item
information described in the design file can be generated.
76. The method of claim 75, wherein spot printing plate information
is specified in the image file.
77. The method of claim 75, wherein composite spot printing plate
information is specified in the image file.
78. The method of claim 75, wherein process color printing plate
information is specified in the image file.
79. The method of claim 75, wherein composite process color
printing plate information is specified in the image file.
80. The method of claim 75, wherein process color printing plate
information and composite process color printing plate information
are specified in the image file.
Description
[0001] The present invention relates to electronic printing
systems, and more specifically to an electronic printing system and
method for an adaptable print design studio.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] A variety of software applications are available that allow
for the creation of several types of printed documents, such as
business and greeting cards, stationery and slides. Some
applications allow for the printing of such documents on a
conventional printer, such as may be found in a home or an office
environment.
[0003] However, for certain types of printable media that require
high quality printing, or if a large volume of documents is desired
to be printed, then the services of a printing facility are
required. Often, such facilities contain a variety of specialized
printing machinery to facilitate the printing of large volumes of
printed products onto a variety of different printable media
including plain paper, preprinted paper, business cards, and
stationery. In addition, such printing facilities may have the
capability to print onto physical objects, such as cloth T-shirts,
caps and coffee mugs.
[0004] While software application programs, such as those mentioned
above, enable the creation of printable documents and local
printing of those documents, they lack the mechanisms to allow for
the electronic transfer of the documents to the necessary printing
facility. With these typical software programs, the transfer of
information necessary for the printing of the document is carried
out either by storing the document to a transportable storage
medium, such as a floppy disk, or by printing the document onto
paper by use of a local printer and having the information
reentered and formatted in a system at the printing facility. In
either case, the transfer of information is both time consuming and
burdensome.
[0005] Some software applications, such as remote print kiosks,
allow for the electronic transfer of documents to a printing
facility but are limited in the types of documents that may be
created and transmitted. While such programs may enable the
creation and transmission of one type of document, such as
stationery, they are incapable of the creation and transmission of
other types of documents, such as those documents to be placed on
mugs, golf balls, T-shirts, etc. In addition, certain print
mediums, such as Post-it.RTM. Notes and golf balls, are generally
not available for large quantity custom print jobs.
[0006] Therefore, there is a need in the art for an electronic
printing system in which print orders may be designed and
transmitted electronically to a remote or local printer facility so
as to be printed remotely or locally in accordance with the order
request, regardless of the desired print medium. Further, it is
desirable to provide an electronic printing system in which the
design tool and remote or local printing facilities are integrated
into a seamless environment. It is to these ends that the present
invention is directed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] A user of an electronic printing system in accordance with
the invention may create custom print designs and provide those
custom print designs to a remote or local printer for printing.
Upon a user creating a custom print design, the electronic printing
system may store the custom design information until an order is
placed by the user. Every order may have an order file and one or
more associated design files (for example, multiple items in an
order). It should be noted that the design files are not limited to
computer files but could be objects and other design structures.
The design file(s) may describe the initial layout of a print
design and may reflect updates to the initial layout based upon the
custom design created by a user. Imaging engines resident on the
remote servers of the electronic printing system may convert the
information in the design file(s) into a graphic file for on-screen
representation as well as a "ready-to-print" output file that may
be retrieved electronically by a remote or local printer facility.
The order files may contain user information and product data, such
as a user's billing and shipping address, payment information, the
type of media type desired and the ink types and print qualities
desired. When an order is submitted, it is staged for conversion.
Both the design files and the order files may be converted to
printer specific files that may be retrieved electronically by a
remote printing facility. The user's order may be carried out by
the printing facility and may be sent to the user when
completed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an electronic printing
system network in accordance with the invention;
[0009] FIG. 2 illustrates a web page displaying a graphical user
interface of the electronic printing system that may be available
to a user;
[0010] FIG. 3A illustrates a graphical representation of a default
business card that is displayed to a user upon a user initiating a
design function.
[0011] FIG. 3B illustrates an example of a portion of a design file
that is created by the electronic printing system and that is
modified when a user makes modifications to the default design of
FIG. 3A to create a custom print order;
[0012] FIG. 3C illustrates an associated graphical representation
of the design file of FIG. 3B that may be displayed to a user in
real-time to reflect modifications to the design file;
[0013] FIG. 4 illustrates a graphical representation of three
business checks that can be created using the custom design process
of the present invention in which the information on the checks is
replicated in accordance with the invention;
[0014] FIG. 5A illustrates a portion of a design file that is
created by the electronic printing system when a user designs a
text design element;
[0015] FIG. 5B illustrates an associated graphical representation
of the portion of the design file of FIG. 4A that may be displayed
to a user in real-time;
[0016] FIG. 6A illustrates a portion of a design file that is
created by the electronic printing system when a user designs a
graphical design element that may be displayed to a user in
real-time;
[0017] FIG. 6B illustrates an associated graphical representation
of the portion of the design file of FIG. 6A that may be displayed
to a user in real-time;
[0018] FIG. 7A illustrates a portion of a design file that is
created by the electronic printing system when a user designs a
line design element that may be displayed to a user in
real-time;
[0019] FIG. 7B illustrates an associated graphical representation
of the portion of the design file of FIG. 7A that may be displayed
to a user in real-time;
[0020] FIG. 8 is a plan view of a business card showing a regional
grid that may be defined on a custom design so as to define
justification regions and positioning regions on the design
area;
[0021] FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the operation flow of the
electronic printing system when a user initiates a design
function;
[0022] FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating the operational flow of
the electronic printing system when a user submits an order for
processing by the electronic printing system;
[0023] FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating the operational flow of
the process server of the electronic printing system; and
[0024] FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating the operational flow of
the backend module of the process server.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0025] FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of an electronic printing
system network 10 in accordance with the invention. A system 10 may
include a remote server hub 11 connected with one or more clients
12 across a wide area network (WAN) 13, such as the Internet, or
more particularly, the World Wide Web. It should be noted that
while the electronic printing system 10 may be provided over the
World Wide Web it may also be provided on stand-alone computer
systems, intranets, etc. The server hub 11 may be connected to the
Internet 13, for example, through a protected firewall 14 and dual
T1 lines 15. The server hub 11 may contain one or more pieces of
software code 16 that may be stored on various servers 13a-e, may
be accessible to each server 13a-e via the server hub 11, and may
be executed by microprocessors 17 in the servers 13a-e in order to
operate as the electronic printing system 10. The Internet permits
the servers 13a-e, when accessed by an individual client 12, to
display a web page on the client's 12 computer which permits the
client 12 to interact with the servers 13a-e. The individual
servers 13a-e may include one or more web servers 13a, one or more
image servers 13b, one or more graphics servers 13c, one or more
process servers 13d, and one or more file servers 13e. The function
and interrelationship of these servers 13a-e will be described in
detail herein. While the system is described herein as a plurality
of servers, it should be noted that the system is also capable of
being embodied as a single server, having systems capable of
performing as the electronic printing system of the invention. The
description herein is merely for exemplary purposes and is not
considered to be limiting.
[0026] The client 12 computer system may include a display device
18, a chassis 19, and one or more user input devices, such as a
mouse 20 and a keyboard 21. The chassis 19 may house a permanent
storage system 22, such as a hard disk drive, optical disk drive,
tape drive, or the like, which may store one or more software
applications such as a web browser application. The client 12
computer system may have a memory 23 resident therein and the
software application from the disk may be transferred to the memory
23 to be executed by a CPU 24. The browser application may be
configured to connect the client 12 to the server hub 11 over the
WAN 13 and receive graphical information (web pages) that may be
displayed on the display device 18 to the user. The browser
application may also permit the client 12 to interact with the
servers 13a-e, such as for creating or editing electronic printing
templates in a database(s) 25 that may reside on the remote servers
13a-e in accordance with the invention.
[0027] The database(s) 25 may include a large number of records,
which may be accessed by the various servers 13a-e. For example,
the database(s) 25 may include records pertaining to customer
personal information, such as shipping information. The database(s)
25 may also include records pertaining to customer billing
information, order histories, order status, pricing information,
sales tax information, printer information and printer attributes,
such as which printer plant may be best utilized for a printing
product based, in part, on customer location. Additionally, the
database(s) 25 may include store attributes, product attributes,
shipping carriers, options, and costs, and printer-specific
information, such as ink colors and media type. It should be
understood that the database(s) 25 may include additional record
information that has not been described here, and is not limited to
the records set forth herein.
[0028] When a user at the client 12 accesses the server hub 11
through the Internet 13, a graphical web page may be displayed to
the user (from the web server 13a) via the browser interface on the
client's 12 system. FIG. 2 shows a screen shot of a user interface
30 that may be displayed to the client 12. The user may interact
with the electronic printing system 10 via the user interface 30.
For example, the user may design a custom print order via the user
interface 30 by initiating a design request for a custom print
design and submit the custom design for processing and printing.
Additionally, a user may modify the design, in which case the
design change is automatically represented in the design files and
conveyed graphically to the user. The custom print design may
include custom print information, such as graphical information,
audio-visual information, image information, textual information,
etc. Such information can be stored as binary data or ASCII
characters (the ASCII characters or binary data define text
information and may also define generic file information).
[0029] Upon the user creating a custom print design, the electronic
printing system 10 may store the design information until an order
is placed. Every order may have an order file and one or more
associated design files. The design files may describe the initial
layout of a print design and may reflect updates to the initial
layout based upon the custom design created by a user. The design
files may also describe non-print items associated with the custom
print information, such as second sheets, etc. An imaging engine
(resident on an image server 13b) may convert the information in
the design files into a graphic file for on-screen representation
and a process server 13d may convert the design files into a
"ready-to-print" output file that may be retrieved electronically
by a remote printer facility. The output file may be formatted as
an image file format, such as a raster file format or a vector file
format. The image file format can be, for example, an .EPS file
format, a .JPG file format, a .GIF file format, a .PDF file format,
textual, or any other such format.
[0030] The order file may contain user information and product
data, such as a user's billing and shipping address, payment and
pricing information, and the media type desired. When an order is
submitted, both the order file and the design files may be staged
for conversion. These files may be converted to printer specific
files and may be sent to or retrieved by a local or remote printing
facility and the user's order may be carried out by the printing
facility and may be sent to the user when completed.
[0031] FIG. 3A illustrates a graphical representation of a default
business card that is displayed to a user upon a user initiating a
design function in accordance with the invention. Generally, a user
may select a desired product, such as a business card, a T-shirt,
or the like from a menu of product choices via the browser
interface 30. Upon the user selecting a desired product, a list of
pre-designed templates may be displayed to the user, from which the
user may select a default design template to begin customizing a
print design order. A graphical representation of the default
design template may be displayed to the user (FIG. 3A) that the
user may then customize and modify to create a desired design. It
should be noted that a user is not bound to the selected product
template. Product layouts may be changed at any time.
[0032] FIG. 3B illustrates an example of a design file 40 that may
be created by the electronic printing system 10 in accordance with
the changes that the user may make to the default design template
such as shown in FIG. 3A. The design file 40 may be updated in real
time to reflect the changes. Generally, every print item, such as a
business card, a T-shirt, a mug, etc., has associated design files,
per side, that describes the design layout. The design files may be
structured textual document files that may describe the initial
layout of the design item, the placement of objects in the design
item, and attributes of those objects. As a user modifies a default
design file for a print order, for example by entering text, moving
or coloring an object, new design files may be created by the
system 10 to reflect the modifications to the default design layout
which may then be sent to the image server to create a new image
that may be displayed to the user reflecting the modifications.
[0033] As shown in FIG. 3B, the design file 40 contains a textual
description of the initial layout of a business card. However, a
design file 40 could contain a textual description of elements in a
layout of any custom design. The size of the business card, any
textual, graphical and line objects to be associated with the
business card, for example, font preferences and colors, may be
reflected as textual design elements 41 in the design files.
However, it should be noted that the design elements 41 are not
limited to these attributes and may include any product attributes.
For example, in the design file 40 of FIG. 3B, a design element 41
is illustrated describing the layout preferences for a graphical
object. The color of the object, the alignment and the spacing of
the object on the business card may be defined in the design file
40. Similarly, a design element 41 is illustrated describing the
layout preferences for a design line. The color, style and spacing
of the design line on the business card may be defined in the
design file 40.
[0034] In addition, objects in the design files may be replicated
multiple times for certain design products. For example, in the
case of a business check product, if a user chooses to design and
order a 3-up laser check (a sheet of three checks), such as that
shown in FIG. 4, the user's name, address, MICR (bank account and
routing information) and bank address information is replicated on
every check. In the associated design files, the replicated
information can be identified and the location of the information
on the checks can be modified. Therefore, if the user chooses to
modify the font style, add a graphic, or change any text, the
changes will appear on all of the checks. Items can also be
replicated on a single check. In addition, numbers (such as check
numbers) may be incremented and automatically populated on the
checks. It should be noted that the information replication aspect
of the present invention is applicable to all design products and
is not limited to checks and has merely been described in this
embodiment for illustrative purposes.
[0035] The types of design elements 41 available in a custom print
design may vary depending upon the print medium. In the context of
a business card, the available design elements 41 may include
graphics, lines and text. It should be noted that the number of
design elements 41 that may be included in design files is
unlimited. The required attributes for a design element 41 may vary
depending on the object. Typically, the attributes may define an
object, the position of the object on the design, its style
elements, and its size.
[0036] Returning again to FIG. 3C, an associated graphical
representation of the design file of FIG. 3B that may be displayed
to a user in real-time to reflect modifications to a default design
file is shown. In particular, the image server 13b may parse the
textual information included in the design files and may return a
graphical image 41c (stored on the graphics server 13c)
representative of the design described by the design files to be
displayed to the user in real-time. The image server 13b may
convert the textual information into a GIF graphic, or any other
graphic file, that may be a screen representation of the layout of
the custom design. Therefore, a user may be able to immediately
visualize the changes and modifications that are made to a custom
design before submitting the design for processing and remote or
local printing.
[0037] Users may additionally upload a graphic to be incorporated
into a custom design by either uploading the graphic from a disk or
via a URL. In the case where the user uploads a graphic from a
disk, the user selects the graphic desired (the electronic printing
system 10 may support various image files) and upload the graphic
to the electronic printing system 10. Once uploaded, the graphic
may be stored on a file server 13e (FIG. 1). The electronic
printing system 10 may analyze the graphic and convert the uploaded
image so that it may be utilized in the custom design. The
converted or original image may then be used by the imaging engine
so that the product is redrawn to include the uploaded image.
[0038] In the case of a user uploading a graphic via a URL, the
user may provide the URL location of the graphic image and the
electronic printing system 10 retrieves the image and uploads the
image from the URL so that it may be included in the custom design.
The electronic printing system 10 may analyze the graphic and
convert the uploaded image so that it may be 10 utilized in the
customer design. The converted or original image may then be used
by the imaging engine so that the product is redrawn to include the
uploaded image.
[0039] In addition, the electronic printing system 10 may
incorporate black/white-grayscale capability to convert uploaded
user graphics to be incorporated into single or two-color
products.
[0040] For example, in a case where the user uploads a full color
image onto a single or two-color product, the electronic printing
system 10 may convert the full color image to a grayscale
image.
[0041] Alternatively, the image may be separated into its component
color separations.
[0042] The following are examples of three types of design elements
41 (shown in FIGS. 5-7) that may be utilized in the electronic
program system 10 in accordance with the invention and defined in a
portion of a design file. FIGS. 5A and 5B show a portion of a
sample design file (FIG. 5A) and a graphical image displayed to a
user (FIG. 5B) as a result of an image server 13b parsing the
design file and returning a resulting graphical image to the user
for a text design element 41a. FIGS. 6A and 6B show another portion
of a sample design file (FIG. 6A) and an associated graphical
image. (FIG. 6B) for a graphic design element 41c. FIGS. 7A and 7B
show yet another portion of a sample design file (FIG. 7A) and an
associated graphical image (FIG. 7B) for a line design element 41b.
While three different design elements 41a-c are shown, the
invention is not limited to these design elements 41a-c and may
define an unlimited number of different design elements. The three
examples will be described in more detail herein.
[0043] Referring to FIG. 5A, a portion of a design file 50 for a
textual design element 41b is shown. Font size, style and other
attributes may be defined for the design element 41 in the design
file 50. The spacing above and below the actual text of the text
design element 41b may be specified (represented in FIG. 5A by the
variable "LEADING") so that lines of text do not overlap when
printed on a custom design. Typically, the "LEADING" variable may
be calculated automatically by the image server 13b as a user
modifies the text attributes or when a graphical representation of
the design file 50 is redrawn on a display screen in accordance
with user modifications. Generally, the spacing depends on the font
style and size.
[0044] The placement of textual information on a print design, such
as a business card, may also be defined in the design file 50. The
moving alignment (justification), the placement of objects and the
overlapping of objects may be defined by establishing boxes
(represented in the design files as variables "MOVE_BOX", "BOX" and
"SBOX"). Further, the alignment and the spacing of the textual
object within the previously defined boxes may be defined in the
design file 50.
[0045] The "MOVE_BOX" variable normally defines the borders of a
move area within the design area. Alternatively, "MOVE_BOX" can
define a more specific area for the placement of objects within the
custom design area. The image server 13b uses the "BOX" coordinate
information to determine the "SBOX" coordinate information. The
"SBOX" coordinate information specifies the precise coordinates of
an object on the design area. By defining the "SBOX" variable, the
user can easily adjust the placement of an object within the custom
design. Therefore, the "SBOX" variable may allow for precise
control of alignment of objects in a custom design.
[0046] The "BOX" variable may be defined so as to allow a user to
accurately position a design element 41. Thus, the "BOX" variable
provides a user with unique placement options within a custom
design. When placing graphics into a custom design, the size of a
graphic is directly related to it's defined "BOX" size.
[0047] FIG. 5B shows a graphical image displayed to a user as a
result of an image server 13b parsing the portion of the design
file 50 of FIG. 5A and returning a resulting graphical image to the
user. As shown, a graphical image of a business card relating to
the design file includes a graphical indication of the text "Your
Name Here" at the bottom right quadrant of the business card.
[0048] FIG. 6A shows a portion of a sample design file 50 for a
graphical design element 41c. While the design file 50 for a
graphical design element 41c is similar to a design file 50 for a
textual design element 41a, such as that shown in FIG. 5A, design
files 50 for a graphical design element 41c may include an
additional definition variable ("FILE") that may specify the name
of a graphic file used in the custom design by listing the
directory in which the graphic file resides on the file server 13e
followed by the graphic name and file extension.
[0049] FIG. 6B shows a graphical image that relates to the design
file 50 of FIG. 6A. As shown, a graphical image of a business card
relating to the design file includes a graphical indication of an
image graphic that is included on the business card at the
rightmost quadrant of the business card.
[0050] FIG. 7A shows a sample portion of design files 50 for a line
design element 41b. While the design file 50 for a line design
element 41b is similar to the design files 50 for both the textual
design element 41a and the graphical design element 41c, such as
shown in FIGS. 5A and 6A, design files 50 for a line design element
41b may include additional definition variables to specify the line
width (in pixels) and the line style (solid, dashed, etc.).
[0051] FIG. 7B shows a graphical image that relates to the design
file 50 of FIG. 7A. As shown, a graphical image of a business card
relating to the design file includes a graphical indication of a
line that is included on the business card at the leftmost three
quadrants of the business card.
[0052] The alignment and spacing of custom designs may be defined
in design files to identify a regional grid 70 on a design item,
such as that shown in FIG. 8. For alignment purposes, consider the
horizontal axis of the grid to consist of a left region 71, a
center region 72 and a right region 73 (similar to text alignment
terms used in word processing). The spacing considers the vertical
axis of the grid 70 consisting of a top region 73, a middle region
72, and a bottom region 75.
[0053] The graphical, textual and line design elements 42, 43, 44
may be combined in a single design file to create a custom design.
Referring again to FIGS. 3A-C, a sample design file is shown (FIG.
3B) 30 for a business card having textual, graphical and line
objects thereon, and a resulting graphical image 31 of the business
card (FIG. 3C) that may be displayed to a user via the browser
interface 30 is shown.
[0054] The operation of the network system 10 will now be described
in detail with reference to the various servers 13a-e. A web server
13a may provide the user interface (shown in FIG. 2) to a client 12
that may provide an interactive design tool to the user so that the
user may create a custom print design. The web server 13a may be
configured to retrieve the custom design information input by the
user and may create and update design files accordingly. The web
server 13a may also be configured to initiate a billing procedure,
such as a pre-authorization procedure.
[0055] In operation, when a user (client 12) initiates a design
function, graphics information may be obtained from the graphics
storage location (the graphics may be stored on the image server,
the file server, or any server capable of storing image data) and
may be conveyed to an image server 13b so that the graphics
information may be parsed into image files that may be displayed to
a user via the browser interface to reflect user modifications to
an initial design. Now the operation of the system 10 will be
described.
[0056] FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating the operation flow of the
electronic printing system 10 (see FIG. 1) when a user initiates a
local design function. A design tool interface 30 (see FIG. 2) may
be displayed to the user through the browser interface (Step 90). A
web server 13a (see FIG. 2) may open a default design file for a
selected design product and may initiate the creation of a new item
in an order (Step 91). The design options that are presented to a
user may be dependent on the design rules located in the
database(s) 25. The web server may update the design files to
reflect a change made by the user to the default design and may
pass this information to the image server (Step 92), where the
information may be parsed (Step 93) and rendered as an image file
(Step 94) and returned to the web server 13a (Step 95) and
downloaded by the user for display to the user through the user
interface (Step 96).
[0057] The image server 13b may include a graphics conversion
program that may parse textual information (from design files) into
graphical images so that the web server 13 a may convey these
graphical images to the user through the browser interface 30 in
real time. Thus, every time a user modifies a design by modifying
design files, the web server 13a may update the design information
and pass that information to the image server 13b. The image server
13b may parse the textual information, render a graphical image
reflecting the design update, and return the graphical image to the
web server 13a so that it may be displayed to the user through the
browser interface.
[0058] In the electronic printing system 10, there may be multiple
image servers 13b and multiple web servers connected to the server
hub 11. In such case, data traffic between the web server 13a and
the image servers 13b may be controlled by a traffic broker. The
traffic broker may receive information from the web server 13a,
determine which of the plurality of image servers 13b may presently
be able to handle the task due to a light information load, and may
pass the textual information to that image server 13b so that the
information may be parsed into a graphical image file, at which
time the traffic broker may return the graphical image to the
requesting web server 13a. Upon finishing a custom design order,
the user may submit the design order to the electronic printing
system 10 for processing.
[0059] FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating the operational flow of
the electronic printing system 10 when a user initiates a custom
design on the electronic printing system 10. When submitted, an
order file may be created that may include information pertaining
to pricing, shipping and billing information. This information may
be retrieved to process an order (Step 100). During creation, the
web server 13a may check the order files to ensure that the billing
and the shipping information is correct, that payment information,
such as credit card billing information, is valid (Step 101) and
provided that all order information is correct, may assign a print
facility that can handle the order by line item information in the
order file (Step 102). If the information is not correct, the
system 10 may request additional information to complete the
billing and shipping information.
[0060] After assigning a print facility (Step 102) the system 10
may get billing information from the order file (Step 103). The
system may then check whether the billing information is correct
(Step 104). If not correct, the system 10 may again attempt to
gather the correct billing information (Step 103). If billing
information is correct the system may process the billing
information (Step 105). If payment is to be made by credit card,
the system 10 may pre-authorize the credit card purchase (Step
105). If payment information includes credit card billing
information, before approving an order, the web server 13a may
initiate an associated credit-card clearing house function for
pre-authorization of the payment (funds may be reserved without
actually charging the credit card). If payment has been validated
(Step 106), the system 10 may then approve the order (Step 107). If
payment has not been validated, the system 10 may determine whether
a payment method problem exists (Step 106a). If so, the system 10
attempts to gather correct billing information (Step 103).
Otherwise, the system 10 approves the order (Step 107).
[0061] It should be noted that other methods of accepting orders
are available, such as purchase orders, in lieu of credit card
payments. In the case where a purchase order is used, the purchase
order may be validated against an internal or an external
database(s) at the billing information screen. Therefore, a user
may not place an order without placing a valid purchase order
number to the electronic printing system 10.
[0062] Printer specific files may be generated by the back end
system, which will be described herein. These printer specific
files may contain information such as what printer to send the file
to and inventory codes that may be printer specific such as
product, ink color, quantity, etc. When orders have been approved
(Step 107), the electronic printing system 10 may stage the order
(as printer specific files, such as BEP and image files) so that
the order may be retrieved electronically by a remote printing
facility.
[0063] In order to convert the design files into an image file that
may be utilized by any remote printing facility (such as an
encapsulated postscript file, EPS file), the design files must be
processed by the electronic printing system 10. The process server
13d (see FIG. 1) may be configured to process orders received from
the client 12 and output files that may be retrieved by a remote
printing facility. Additionally, the process server 13d may track
ship notifications and may update customers via email when their
respective orders have been shipped. The process server 13d may
also perform post-authorization of orders.
[0064] FIG. 11 illustrates the operational flow of the process
server 13d. Initially, the process server 13d may retrieve an order
that may have been submitted by a client 12 and staged by the
electronic printing system 10 in a staging directory resident on a
file server 13e or resident in a database(s) 25. In retrieving the
order, the process server 13d may access the staging directory or
database(s) and locate a staged order and all associated files that
may have been stored by the electronic printing system 10 (Step
110). After the staged order has been retrieved by the process
server 13d, the files are backed up (Step 111) and printer facility
information may be added to the staged order (Step 112). This
information may be determined at the time the user is designing the
custom print order. After adding the printer facility information
to the order, the process server 13d may split orders, for example,
by printer facility (Step 113).
[0065] Once a print order has been completed by the process server
13d, the process server 13d may modify the order in preparation for
conversion of the design files to an image file (Step 114). For
example, all non-printable information may be removed from the
design files. The process server 13d may then determine product and
printer facility information from the order file (Step 115), and
parse the design files into an image file, such as an EPS file
(Step 116), that may be utilized by a printer facility. The image
file could be of any image-type format.
[0066] The parsing operation may be an automated back-end
operation. Both spot printing plates and CMYK printing plates may
be defined in the image file, among other printing plate
designations, such as composite spot printing plates, etc. Spot
printing plates utilize a black background printing plate to which
different color ink may be added in order to create a print. For
example, in the case of a print order in which a business card
having a green ink color portion thereon may be defined in a design
files, the image file may specify a black background plate and a
green ink preference or may be defined on a secondary information
file. CMYK printing plates may use four separate plates, cyan,
magenta, yellow and black, or a composite plate for full color
printing. Process color printing information, such as CMYK
information, RGB (red, green, blue) information, or other color
information where each color is represented as a separate printing
plate. Process color printing information may be represented in
separate printing plates or as a composite plate. This information
may be specified in the image file.
[0067] Depending upon the product ordered by a customer and/or the
designated printer facility, the process server 13d may retrieve an
order number associated with the order request and may create a
printer specific file associated with the information that may not
be included in the converted image file, such as product, paper
color, media type, etc (Step 117). Printer specific files may
include printer facility specific information, such as attributes
and the like.
[0068] The process server 13d may then add the user information to
a user database(s) (Step 118) and may update an order database(s)
with the user order information (Step 119). In the case of a
warning flag occurring in creating the image file or in a case
where the image file may include uploaded graphics, overlays and
other check point formats, from a client 12, the image file may be
printed and held for visual inspection so that a hard copy of the
image file may be inspected (Steps 119a and 1119b).
[0069] The process server 13d may then backup all the printer
specific files (Step 120) and compress them, such as by zipping the
printer files, and copy the compressed files to an appropriate
location so that the compressed files may be downloaded by a remote
or local printer facility (Step 121) or stage to an EDI server on
an order by order basis. The printer specific files may include
printer identification information, or printer specific inventory
codes, such as product information codes, ink color codes, quantity
information codes, etc. The process server 13d may also include a
backend module for tracking order ship status and for notifying
customers of shipped orders. It should be noted that error checking
is performed at every stage in the process (Step 122). Those files
that result in failures are placed on hold for correction at a
later time.
[0070] A flowchart of the operational flow of the backend module is
shown in FIG. 12. The backend module may receive ship notifications
(Step 130). In particular, remote printing facilities may notify
the electronic printing system 10 of shipped orders using several
notification methods. For example, in a case in which a printer
facility may be non-automated, notifications may be made using an
extranet. The extranet may be an Internet-enabled tool that may
allow printing facilities to access a list of open orders. The
printing facility may then mark an order as shipped and provide a
tracking number for the shipped product. This information may be
accessed by the electronic printing system 10. Alternatively, an
EDI system 130 may be included to facilitate the transfer of
information between the printer facilities and the electronic
printing system.
[0071] Alternatively, an automated printing facility may utilize a
computer system resident within the facility that may be connected
remotely to the electronic printing system 10 and generate data
that may contain order numbers, shipping information, etc. The data
may be accessed by the electronic printing system 10.
[0072] Returning to FIG. 12, after retrieving the ship
notifications, the information may be backed up (Step 131) and the
order database(s) may be queried (Step 132) to obtain an order
record and any associated data. The order data may then be verified
(Step 133) and in the case of an error, the error may be logged and
the nonconforming order may be skipped (Step 133a). After obtaining
the order record, a user's payment information may be processed,
for example, the user's credit card may be post-authorized (Step
134). The order database(s) may then be updated to reflect the
shipped and post-authorization status and shipper/carrier and
tracking information (Step 135). The customer may then be notified
via email of a ship notification (Step 136).
[0073] It should be noted that in certain instances during the
order process carried out by the process server 13d, errors may
occur during one of the stages that may adversely affect the order
being carried out correctly. In such a case, the order is
corrected.
[0074] While the foregoing has been described with reference to
particular embodiments of the invention, such as the design of
business cards, the invention is not limited to such products and
may be applicable to any media. It will be appreciated by those
skilled in the art that changes in these embodiments may be made
without departing from the principles and spirit of the
invention.
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