Abstract:
A printing system includes: a data storage device configured to store data representing a plurality of elements; a creation device configured to define at least one piece of printed material, the at least one piece of printed material including at least one of the plurality of elements; and a data processing device configured to read from the data storage device the data corresponding to the at least one of the plurality of elements in accordance with the at least one piece of printed material defined by the creation device and to generate data representing the at least one piece of printed material.  
     A printing method includes the steps of: storing data representing a plurality of elements in a data storage device; defining at least one piece of printed material, the at least one piece of printed material including at least one of the plurality of elements; reading from the data storage device the data corresponding to the at least one of the plurality of elements in accordance with the at least one piece of printed material defined in the defining step; and generating data representing the at least one piece of printed material.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates to a printing system and a printing method.  
         BACKGROUND INFORMATION  
         [0002]    The literature is replete with descriptions of printing systems and printing methods. In certain conventional printing systems and methods, data representing the printed material is assembled, generated and transmitted to a printing device. One disadvantage of these systems and methods is the storage capacity and bandwidth required to store and transmit such data.  
           [0003]    It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a printing system and printing method requiring a relatively low storage capacity and bandwidth.  
           [0004]    It is another object of the present invention to provide a printing system and method in which data representing the elements contained in the printed material is stored in a storage device and in which the printed material is defined in accordance with these elements.  
           [0005]    It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a printing system that includes: a data storage device configured to store data representing a plurality of elements; a creation device configured to define at least one piece of printed material, the at least one piece of printed material including at least one of the plurality of elements; and a data processing device configured to read from the data storage device the data corresponding to the at least one of the plurality of elements in accordance with the at least one piece of printed material defined by the creation device and to generate data representing the at least one piece of printed material.  
           [0006]    It is still another object of the present invention to provide a printing method that includes the steps of: storing data representing a plurality of elements in a data storage device; defining at least one piece of printed material, the at least one piece of printed material including at least one of the plurality of elements; reading from the data storage device the data corresponding to the at least one of the plurality of elements in accordance with the at least one piece of printed material defined in the defining step; and generating data representing the at least one piece of printed material.  
         SUMMARY  
         [0007]    The above and other beneficial objects of the present invention are most effectively attained by providing a printing system and method as described and claimed herein.  
           [0008]    In one example embodiment of the printing system according to the present invention, the printing system includes: a data storage device configured to store data representing a plurality of elements; a creation device configured to define at least one piece of printed material, the at least one piece of printed material including at least one of the plurality of elements; and a data processing device configured to read from the data storage device the data corresponding to the at least one of the plurality of elements in accordance with the at least one piece of printed material defined by the creation device and to generate data representing the at least one piece of printed material.  
           [0009]    In one example embodiment of the printing method according to the present invention, the method includes the steps of: storing data representing a plurality of elements in a data storage device; defining at least one piece of printed material, the at least one piece of printed material including at least one of the plurality of elements; reading from the data storage device the data corresponding to the at least one of the plurality of elements in accordance with the at least one piece of printed material defined in the defining step; and generating data representing the at least one piece of printed material.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]    [0010]FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating a printing system according to the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0011]    Those skilled in the art will gain an appreciation of the present invention from a reading of the following description when viewed in conjunction with the accompanying drawing of FIG. 1, which schematically illustrates a printing system  10  according to the present invention. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the printing system  10  includes a processing unit  14 , which may include, for example, a data processing device, a storage device, an input device, an output device, etc. The storage device may include, for example, one or more of a magnetic memory device, an electronic memory device, an optical memory device, a magneto-optical memory device, a removable memory device, a permanent memory device, etc. The input device may include, for example, one or more of a keyboard, a mouse, a pointing device, a touch screen, a trackball, a microphone, etc., and the output device may include, for example, one or more of a display device, a printing device, a speaker, etc. The processing unit  14  is configured to communicate with and receive data from a library database  12  and to communicate with a file transfer system  26 . The file transfer system  26  may include, for example, one or more of an Internet, an intranet, a network, a private network, a public network, a virtual private network, a dedicated connection, a non-dedicated connection, a direct connection, an indirect connection, a dial-up connection, a permanent connection, a temporary connection, a wired communications link, a wireless communications link, a satellite communications link, a telecommunications link, a magnetic tape, a magnetic medium, etc. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the processing unit  14  is configured to receive record data  30  via the file transfer system  26 , and the library database  12  is configured to receive library data  28  via the file transfer system  26 . It should be understood that the processing unit  14  may be configured to receive the library data  28  via the file transfer system  26  and to communicate the received library data  28  to the library database  12 . The library data  28  may include, for example, data representing an image, a text block, a layout, etc. as more fully set forth below. This library data  28  is stored in the library database  12  for use in producing the printed material  20  as also more fully set forth below.  
         [0012]    The printing system  10  according to the present invention further includes a creation unit  24 , which may be configured for, inter alia, creating, defining, maintaining and/or revising content that is used in producing the printed material  20 , as described below. The content may include, for example, formatted content, and the creation unit  24  may communicate with the library database  12  via, for example, one or more of an Internet, an intranet, a network, a private network, a public network, a virtual private network, a dedicated connection, a non-dedicated connection, a direct connection, an indirect connection, a dial-up connection, a permanent connection, a temporary connection, a wired communications link, a wireless communications link, a satellite communications link, a telecommunications link, a magnetic tape, a magnetic medium, etc. The creation unit  24  may be configured to create formatted content elements via an online system. The creation unit  24  may include a security feature that requires a login procedure or other authentication procedure to be performed prior to and as a condition to communication between the creation unit  24  and the library database  12 .  
         [0013]    The record data  30  may include data relating to the printed material  20 , such as, for example, data relating to a recipient of the printed material  20  and data relating to the content of the printed material  20 . The record data  30  relating to the content of the printed material  20  may include at least one identifier data corresponding to respective data contained in the library database  12 . The processing unit  14  is configured to read from the library database  12  the library data  28  corresponding to the identifier data included in the record data  30 . Thus, according to the present invention, a library of components, e.g., graphic elements, text elements, layout elements, style elements, etc., may be defined and stored in the library database  12 , and any selected ones of these components may be included in the printed material  20  in accordance with the data contained in the record data  30 . It should be appreciated that the record data  30  itself may not include the data representing these selected ones of the components but rather may include only identifiers corresponding to the selected ones of the components, the actual data representing the selected one of the components being read by the processing unit  14  from the library database  12 .  
         [0014]    The processing unit  14  is configured to read the selected ones of the library data  28  stored in the library database  12  in accordance with the record data  30  and to output data representing a print-ready file  16  in accordance with the selected ones of the library data  28  read from the library database  12 . The library data  28  may also be included on the basis of business rules as encoded in accordance with certain computer software programs. The record data  30  may include additional data, such as, for example, data relating to the recipient of the printed material  20 , data relating to a layout, a style, an appearance, a type, etc. of the printed material  20 , etc. The processing unit  14  is configured to output the print-ready data  16  in accordance with any such additional data contained in the record data  30 .  
         [0015]    For example, the record data  30  may include data representing a recipient&#39;s name, data representing the recipient&#39;s identification number, data representing at least one graphic image stored in the library database  12  and data representing that the printed material  20  is a telephone calling card. The processing unit  14  thus reads the library data  28  from the library database  12  corresponding to the at least one graphic image identified in accordance with the record data  30 , reads the library data  28  from the library database  12  corresponding to the layout, style, appearance, etc. of a telephone calling card in accordance with the record data  30  and outputs the print-ready data  16  in accordance with the library data  28  so read from the library database  12  and in accordance with the additional data contained in the record data  30 , i.e., the data representing the recipient&#39;s name and identification number.  
         [0016]    As illustrated in FIG. 1, the print-ready data  16  is transmitted to a print facility  18 , which may be located locally with respect to the processing unit  14  or remotely therefrom. The print facility  18  may be, for example, a printer in direct connection with the processing unit  14  or may represent a printing service bureau. The print-ready data  16  may be transmitted from the processing unit  14  to the print facility  18  via, for example, one or more of an Internet, an intranet, a network, a private network, a public network, a virtual private network, a dedicated connection, a non-dedicated connection, a direct connection, an indirect connection, a dial-up connection, a permanent connection, a temporary connection, a wired communications link, a wireless communications link, a satellite communications link, a telecommunications link, a magnetic tape, a magnetic medium, etc. The print-ready data  16  may include formatted data, such as data formatted according to a printer control language. The print-ready data  16  may, in addition or alternatively, include raw data or formatted data, which requires further formatting or reformatting by the print facility  18 .  
         [0017]    While the record data  30  is described in the foregoing example as containing data representing a single piece of printed material  20 , it should be understood that the record data  30  may include data representing a plurality of pieces of printed materials  20 , including data representing plurality of formats, a plurality of types, a plurality of recipients, etc. thereof. It should also be understood that the printed materials  20  are not limited to the telephone calling card of the example described above. Rather, the printed materials  20  may include any type of printed matter, including, for example, a letter, a brochure, a flier, a presentation, etc. Furthermore, the printed material should be understood to include not only content printed on such media as paper, plastic, etc., and but also content output to electronic, magnetic, optical, magneto-optical, floptical, floppy, etc. media. In this regard, the printed material  20  may represent, for example, an e-mail message or other electronically transmitted data.  
         [0018]    The printing system  10  according to the present invention further includes a viewing unit  22 . The viewing unit  22  may include, for example, a display device and/or a print device, which may be provided locally with respect to the processing unit  14  or may be located remotely with respect to the processing unit  14 . The viewing unit  22  may be configured for communication with the processing unit  14  via, for example, one or more of an Internet, an intranet, a network, a private network, a public network, a virtual private network, a dedicated connection, a non-dedicated connection, a direct connection, an indirect connection, a dial-up connection, a permanent connection, a temporary connection, a wired communications link, a wireless communications link, a satellite communications link, a telecommunications link, a magnetic tape, a magnetic medium, etc. The processing unit  14  is configured to perform a similar reading and assembly operation as that performed in outputting the print-ready data  16  except that the processing unit  14  prepares and assembles data representing the printed material  20  in a format that represents a viewable and/or printable image of the printed material  20 . That is, the processing unit  14  is configured to generate and output data representing the printed materials  20  according to two formats—one used in printing the printed materials  20  at the print facility  18  and the other used to display and/or print an image or a facsimile representation of the printed materials  20 . The processing unit  14  may be configured to generate the data representing the image of the printed materials  20  on demand, i.e., in real-time, “on-the-fly”. This real-time generation of the data representing an image of the printed materials  20  reduces data storage requirements because the data representing an image of each piece of printed material  20  need not be stored in a data storage device. Rather, only the record data  30  corresponding to each piece of printed material  20  is stored, the data representing the image of the printed material  20  being generated in accordance with the record data  30  and library data  28  read from the library database  12 , as more fully set forth above. The data representing the image of the printed material  20  may be in the form of, for example, a graphics file format, a portable document file format, a proprietary data file format, a non-proprietary data file format, etc., or a combination of data formats. The data representing the image of the printed material  20  may also be in the form of a device-independent format so that the image is displayable on a variety of display devices, not shown.  
         [0019]    It should be appreciated that the foregoing method may be computer-controlled and that the method may be stored in a computer-readable medium as a set of instructions performed by a processor. The computer-readable medium may be, for example, a magnetic medium, an electronic medium, an optical medium, a magneto-optical medium, a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, a RAM, a ROM, etc.  
         [0020]    Thus, the several aforementioned objects and advantages of the present invention are most effectively attained. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that numerous modifications of the example embodiment described hereinabove may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Although a single example embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail herein, it should be understood that this invention is in no sense limited thereby and that its scope is to be determined by that of the appended claim.