Patent ID: 7154505

Claim:
A computer implemented method of generating a visual representation of a printed object where a surface of the object is, at least in part, subjected to at least one printing operation, the method comprising the steps of: a) defining a substrate material for the object; b) an input step of receiving a sequence of at least one printing operation type, where each printing operation type identifies a corresponding physical printing operation; c) retrieving stored data defining the effects of each printing operation on the appearance characteristics of a computer model surface such that the effects mimic the real-world effects of the corresponding physical printing operation on the appearance of a physical surface; d) modeling the result of applying the printing operations in sequence to part or all of the surface of a computer model and modeling their interaction in terms of colour and at least one other surface appearance characteristic; and e) outputting a result of the modeling to produce a visual representation of the modeled object.