Patent ID: 7554689

Claim:
A method of laying out objects forming part of a template intended for a variable data document, said objects each having a rectangular boundary in two-dimensional space, said method comprising the steps of: setting a link between at least two objects for defining cooperative movement thereof, wherein said setting step comprises detecting an operation to modify a position of at least one edge of at least one said object; allotting variable input data to each object; and performing a dynamic layout for determining a size and a position of each object allotted in said allotting step based on the link setting set in said setting step, wherein said performing step comprises: (i) identifying rules of association, distinct from said links between edges of said objects having a corresponding orientation to said one edge; (ii) modifying a position of at least said edge while observing said rules of association between all of said correspondingly oriented edges; and (iii) minimizing an objective function derived from the rules of association between the correspondingly oriented edges to thereby balance a layout of the objects in at least the dimension of modification, wherein, in said dynamic layout step, the size and the position of each object is determined by the effect that each object, to which variable data is input, pushes against the set link.