Abstract:
A digital publishing and printing process comprising receiving input from a user via a graphical user interface, wherein the input includes a request to insert a plurality of document inserts within or between a plurality of source documents; generating from the input a data control file containing the meta data of the source documents; assembling the source documents based on the data control file; generating an output document in PDF format that contains the document inserts which are displayed in a visualized way; and printing the output document.

Description:
[0001]     This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/587,737, filed on Jul. 14, 2004. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND  
       [0002]     The present exemplary embodiment relates to digital publishing and printing. It finds particular application in conjunction with tab and slip sheet insertion, editing, and printing, and will be described with particular reference thereto. However, it is to be appreciated that the present exemplary embodiment is also amenable to other like applications.  
         [0003]     Tab and slip sheet insertion, editing and automatic printing have been a challenge to the digital publishing and printing workflow. The current solutions on the market are far from meeting the needs of digital publishing and printing business. Many companies and commercial printing houses either have to print tabs and slip sheets in a separate process from the main document printing and then manually insert tabs and slip sheets into the main documents, which is extremely time consuming, or go through a complicated process of print job configuration to get limited automatic tab/slip sheet printing.  
         [0004]     Thus, there is a need for a set of software components that provide a visual, simple, flexible, and fully integrated workflow of tab and slip sheet insertion, editing, viewing and printing.  
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION  
       [0005]     In one embodiment there is provided a digital publishing and printing process. The process comprises receiving input from a user via a graphical user interface, wherein the input includes a request to insert a plurality of document inserts within or between a plurality of source documents; generating from the input a data control file containing the meta data of the source documents; assembling the source documents based on the data control file; generating an output document in PDF format that contains the document inserts which are displayed in a visualized way; and printing the output document.  
         [0006]     In another embodiment, there is provided a digital publishing and printing system. The system comprises means for receiving input from a user, wherein the input includes a request to insert a plurality of document inserts within or between a plurality of source documents; means for generating from the input a data control file containing the meta data of the source documents; means for assembling the source documents based on the data control file; means for generating an output document in PDF format that contains the document inserts which are displayed in a visualized way; and means for printing the output document.  
         [0007]     In yet another embodiment there is provided in yet another embodiment there is provided a digital publishing and printing apparatus in an enterprise print system. The apparatus comprises a graphical user interface for receiving input from a user, wherein the input includes a request to insert a plurality of document inserts within or between a plurality of source documents; a document assembler for assembling the source documents and generating a viewable file containing the document inserts which are displayed in a visualized way; a print pre-processor for converting the viewable file generated by the document assembler into a printable file; and a printer. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0008]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of an integrated tab and slip sheet editing and printing system.  
         [0009]      FIG. 2  is a screen shot of a visual tab and slip sheet editor.  
         [0010]      FIG. 3  is a screen shot of a PDF file containing inserted tab and slip sheets.  
         [0011]      FIG. 4  is a flow diagram for a process of integrated tab and slip sheet editing and printing.  
         [0012]      FIG. 5  is a block diagram of a computer system on which the process of  FIG. 4   
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0013]     Referring to  FIG. 1 , there is shown an integrated tab and slip sheeting editing and automatic printing system  10 . The system  10  consists of three integrated software components: a visual tab and slip sheet editor  12 , a document assembler  14  and a print pre-processor  16 , which work together to provide a simple integrated workflow.  
         [0014]     The visual editor  12  is a graphical user interface (GUI) which allows a user (not shown) to perform tab and/or slip sheet insertion, editing, removing and tab text editing and formatting for a source document (or documents)  18  via a computer  19 . The visual editor  12  allows the user to work with multiple source documents  18  with different formats. The user can insert tabs and/or slip sheets within a single document as well as between documents. The visual editor  12  displays the whole document assembly tree together with inserted tabs and/or slip sheets. The visual editor  12  also displays the tab text in a “what you see is what you get” (WYSIWYG) format. The visual editor  12  also provides a preview for users to view the output. The visual editor  12  generates a data control file  20 , which contains the meta data of the source document(s) and the tabs and/or slip sheets to be inserted. In this case, meta data contain source document(s) assembly information, tab/slip-sheet page and position information and the text contents of each tab along with the text formatting information such as font type, font size, font color and text alignment and so on.  
         [0015]     The document assembler  14  assembles the source document(s) and generates a viewable file  22 , such as a Portable Document Format (PDF) file, that contains the inserted tabs and/or slip sheets based on the data control file generated by the visual editor  12 . PDF is a well known file format developed by Adobe Systems, San Jose, Calif., for representing documents in a manner that is independent of the original application software, hardware, and operating system used to create those documents. In this embodiment, a PDF file works well because it can describe documents containing any combination of text, graphics, and images in a device independent and resolution independent format. Thus, the source document  18  can be one page or thousands of pages, very simple or extremely complex with a rich use of fonts, graphics, color, and images.  
         [0016]     The PDF file  22  can be used for preview or print. The PDF file  22  contains inserted tab and/or slip sheets with a graphic representation of the tab shape and the tab text. The tab shape drawing is only for viewing and will not be printed. The PDF file also includes embedded print instructions for exception page handling, which will be used by the print pre-processor  16  to generate a print job ticket.  
         [0017]     The document assembler  14  is invoked when the user wants to preview or print the source documents with inserted tabs and slip sheets. A PDF viewer  24 , such as Adobe Acrobat 6.0 or Adobe Reader (both of which are from Adobe Systems), will be automatically invoked when a “Preview” button in the visual editor  12  is pressed.  
         [0018]     The print pre-processor  16  converts the PDF document generated by the document assembler  14  into a file that is suitable for printing, such as a PostScript file  26 . PostScript is primarily a language for printing documents on laser printers, but it can be adapted to produce images on other types of devices. PostScript is the standard for desktop publishing because it is supported by imagesetters, the very high-resolution printers used by service bureaus to produce camera-ready copy. PostScript is an object-oriented language, meaning that it treats images, including fonts, as collections of geometrical objects rather than as bit maps. Given a single typeface definition, a PostScript printer can produce a multitude of fonts. In contrast, many non-PostScript printers represent fonts with bit maps. To print a bit-mapped typeface with different sizes, these printers require a complete set of bit maps for each size.  
         [0019]     The print pre-processor  16  also extract the embedded tab and slip sheet data to generate Exception Page Print Instructions and prefix the instructions at the beginning of the PostScript file for automatic tab and/or slip sheet printing. The PostScript file  26  may be sent to a printing system  28 , such as the DocuTech 6135 Production Publisher and PowerPlus Series or the DocuTech 135 Production Publisher, both of which are manufactured by Xerox Corporation of Stamford, Conn. It is to be appreciated by those skilled in the art, however, that other suitable printing systems may used.  
         [0020]     The three main software components, i.e., the visual tab and slip sheet editor  12 , the document assembler  14  and the print pre-processor  16 , can be deployed in a stand alone application, a solution suite, or a client/server application. In the latter case, the visual editor  12  is typically deployed in the client side, while the print pre-processor  16  is deployed in the server side. The document assembler  14  can be deployed in either or both sides.  
         [0021]     Referring to  FIG. 4 , an integrated workflow process  100  to edit and print tab and slip sheets within documents is shown. The process  100  may be implemented in any number of printing software systems, such as XPrint from Xerox Corporation, Stamford, Conn. XPrint is an enterprise print system software that prints large and complex documents from Electronic Document Management Systems (EDMS) with high volumes at high speeds and accuracy. XPrint is also an enterprise document management system that provides a common interface to various EDMS, and a set of features for content management and content integration.  
         [0022]     Referring now to  FIG. 3 , the user, via the graphical user interface, i.e., the visual editor  12 , conducts tab and/or slip sheet editing ( 102 ), and the user input is received by the system  10  ( 104 ). During these steps, the visual editor  12  displays the document list  30 , which displays the whole document assembly tree together with inserted tabs and/or slip sheets. By inputting information into a tab editing box  32 , the user may: (a) specify where to insert tabs within or between the documents, (b) type the tab text that is to be added, (c) format the tab text, and/or (d) specify the tab type, e.g., the count and media size.  
         [0023]     Although not shown, it is to be appreciated that there is a similar slip sheet editing dialog box, which generally allows the user to input the pertinent information for slip sheets. Thus, for example, the user may enter the type of sheet to be entered (white, blue, pink, etc.) as well as the size of the paper. The user may also specify various printing options such as “blank sheet” (nothing is printed on the page), “page on sheet” (allows the page to be printed on), or “bleed tab allowed” (the tab information may be printed in reverse off the edge of the page so that it can be seen as a tabbed page when the printed document is closed).  
         [0024]     Once the pertinent data has been entered by the user, the user may choose to select a “print as one job” box  34 , by which the system  10  will assemble the source documents, including tabs and/or slip sheets, into a single PDF file and send a single print job to the printer  28 , a “save tab setting” box  36 , by which the system  10  will save the tab and slip sheets meta data to be associated with the source document in the document management system, and/or a “save PDF with tabs” box  38 , by which the system  10  will save the generated PDF output file for later printing.  
         [0025]     Next, the visual editor  12  generates a data control file  20 , which contains the meta data of the source documents and inserted tab and slip sheets data ( 106 ). The data control file  20  can be either in text format or XML format. Based on the control data generated by the visual editor  12 , the document assembler  14  assembles the source documents and generates one (if “print as one job” is selected) or multiple PDF output documents containing inserted tabs and slip sheets ( 108 ).  
         [0026]     The document assembly step  108  can be further divided into the following steps: (1) the system  10  retrieves the source documents from local or remote document repository systems and sends them to a working folder; (2) the system  10  converts non-PDF source documents into PDF files; (3) the system  10  invokes the document assembler  14  with the inputs of the data control file  20  and source documents paths; (4) the document assembler  14  opens and reads in all the source documents and the data control file and generates one (or multiple) PDF output file(s) containing tabs and/or slip sheets.  
         [0027]     At this point, the user clicks the “Preview” button  40  to preview the PDF document ( 110 ).  FIG. 4  is a sample screen shot of a preview of the new tab  42 . The user may edit the inserted tab(s) and/or slip sheet(s), as necessary. Next, the document  18  goes through pre-processing ( 112 ). In this process, the print pre-processor  16  reads in the PDF output file and extracts the tab and slip sheets information embedded in the file, converts the PDF file into a PostScript file, and then creates the print instruction including exception page handling (print job ticket) and prefixes the print instruction in the PostScript file for printing. Finally, the PostScript file containing the printing instruction at front is sent to the printer  28  ( 114 ).  
         [0028]      FIG. 5  shows the computer  19  with a mouse  204 , a monitor  206 , and a graphical user interface  208 , such as the visual editor  12 , for implementing the integrated workflow process  100 . The computer  202  includes a storage medium  210  (e.g., hard disk), a processor  212 , and a memory  214  for operating the visual editor  12 . The storage medium  210  stores an operating system  216 , data  218 , and computer instructions  220  that are executed by the processor  212  out of the memory  214  to perform the process  100 .  
         [0029]     In this embodiment, the software program is written in C++ in Windows platform. It can also be implemented in Java or C# language and in other operating systems such as UNIX and Linux. The process  100  is not limited to use with the hardware and software of  FIG. 5 , and it may find applicability in any computing or processing environment and with any type of machine that is capable of running a computer program. The process  100  may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of the two. The process  100  may be implemented in computer programs executed on programmable computers/machines that each includes a processor, a storage medium/article readable by the processor (including volatile and non-volatile memory and/or storage elements), at least one input device, and one or more output devices. Program code may be applied to data entered using an input device to perform the process  100  and to generate output information.  
         [0030]     Each computer program may be stored on a storage medium (article) or device (e.g., CD-ROM, hard disk, or magnetic diskette) that is readable by a general or special purpose programmable computer for configuring and operating the computer when the storage medium or device is read by the computer to perform the process. The process may also be implemented as a machine-readable storage medium, configured with a computer program, where upon execution, instructions in the computer program cause the computer to operate in accordance with the process  100 .  
         [0031]     It is to be appreciated that this integrated workflow process can also work with any of the well known document repository systems, such as Documentum from EMC Corporation and Livelink from Open Text Corporation. In such environments, the control data file can be stored as a rendition of the source document and can be retrieved later for PDF generation for preview or printing.  
         [0032]     In summary, the embodiments described above provide for three integrated software components to support tab/slip sheet insertion, editing, viewing, and printing: a visual tab and slip sheet editor, a document assembler, and a print pre-processor. The visual tab and slip sheet editor provides a graphical user interface that allows the user to edit and insert tabs/slip sheets. The visual editor generates assembly control data containing metadata for the specified source documents and tab/slip sheets. The document assembler uses the assembly control data generated by the editor to generate a PDF output document that contains the tab/slip sheets, as well as a graphic presentation of the tab shape and text. The document assembler also embeds print instructions for exception page handling. Using the visual editor, the user may then preview the generated PDF assembly. For printing, the print pre-processor converts the PDF document generated by the assembler into a print ready postscript file. The print pre-processor also extracts the tab/slip sheet data to generate Exception Page Print instructions. Thus, this is a fully integrated system for tab/slip sheet insertion, editing, viewing, and printing. Further, the three components can be deployed in a stand alone application, a solution suite, or as a client/server application. The components enable visual, simple, and flexible workflow for tab/slip sheet insertion, editing, viewing and printing. This is an effective system providing improved tab and slip sheet printing capability.  
         [0033]     Obviously, modifications and alterations will occur to others upon reading and understanding the preceding detailed description. It is intended that the exemplary embodiments be construed as including all such modifications and alterations insofar as they come within the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.