AUTOMATIC ADAPTIVE DOCUMENT PRINTING HELP SYSTEM

• US 20020004807A1
• Filed: 09/09/1998
• Published: 01/10/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 09/09/1998
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Inventors: GRAHAM, JAMEY, HART, PETER E.
• Granted Patent: US 6,582,475 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/526
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/169 Annotation, e.g. comment data or footnotes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/216 using statistical methods
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00204 with a digital computer or a digital computer system, e.g. an internet server programmed control between transmitter and receiver or between image input and image output device H04N1/32561
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00411 the display also being used for user input, e.g. touch screen
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00416 Multi-level menus
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00424 using a list of graphical elements, e.g. icons or icon bar
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00427 using a menu list H04N1/00421, H04N1/00424, H04N1/00429 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/0044 for image preview or review, e.g. to help the user position a sheet
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/0045 vertically
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00458 Sequential viewing of a plurality of images, e.g. browsing or scrolling
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00482 outputting a plurality of job set-up options, e.g. number of copies, paper size or resolution
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0081 Image reader H04N2201/0091 - H04N2201/0094 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0082 Image hardcopy reproducer H04N2201/0091 - H04N2201/0094 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99932 Access augmentation or optimizing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99934 Query formulation, input preparation, or translation

Abstract

An automatic printing assistant application for documents in electronic form is provided by virtue of the present invention. In certain embodiments, an elongated thumbnail image of all or part of an electronically stored document is displayed. A section of the document of interest to the reader is emphasized. Movement of the emphasized area in the elongated thumbnail image assists the user with the selection of sections or pages of the document for printing. The operation of the assistant is personalizable for a particular user by setting of a sensitivity level and selection of relevant topics of interest. Some embodiments of the assistant are also capable of improved performance over time by both automatic and manual feedback. The assistant is usable with many popular electronic document formats.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for controlling printing of an electronically stored document comprising the steps of:

accepting user input indicating a user-specified concept of interest;

analyzing said electronically stored document to identify locations of discussion of said user-specified concept of interest;

displaying visual indications of said identified locations;

accepting user input indicating a print preference for said locations to be printed; and

printing portions of said electronic document corresponding to said print preference and said locations.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said displaying visual indications of said identified locations step comprises:

displaying an elongated thumbnail image of a portion of said electronically stored document in a viewing area of a display, said thumbnail image having at least one of a plurality of indications of locations of discussion of concepts of interest to said user.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said accepting user input indicating a print preference step further comprises:

emphasizing an area of said thumbnail image, said area corresponding to a section of said electronically stored document of interest to the user, to form an emphasized area; and

accepting user input controlling sliding said emphasized area through said thumbnail image for the purposes of indicating sections of said electronically stored document to print.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein said analyzing step comprises exploiting a probabilistic inference method to identify said locations.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein said probabilistic inference method comprises a Bayesian belief network.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein said accepting user input indicating a print preference step further comprises:

providing a “

sensitivity meter”

input device to the user; and

receiving from the user input through said “

sensitivity meter”

input device, said input indicating a relative number of sections of said electronically stored document to print.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein said accepting user input indicating a print preference step further comprises:

providing a “

print most relevant”

input device to the user; and

receiving from the user input through said “

print most relevant”

input device.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein said accepting user input indicating a print preference step further comprises:

providing a mechanism to select sections of the electronically stored document for printing to the user; and

receiving from the user input specifying particular sections of the electronically stored document for printing.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein said printing portions of said electronically stored document further comprises:

printing an annotated paper version of said electronically stored document.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of displaying a level of relevance of said electronically stored document to said concept of interest.

11. A computer-implemented method for dynamically controlling printing of an electronically stored document comprising the steps of:

accepting user input indicating a user-specified concept of interest;

analyzing said electronically stored document to identify locations of discussion of said user-specified concept of interest;

displaying an elongated thumbnail image of a portion of said electronically stored document in a viewing area of a display;

emphasizing an area of said thumbnail image corresponding to a section of said electronically stored document of interest to the user;

accepting user input controlling sliding said emphasized area through said electronically stored document for the purposes of indicating sections of said electronically stored document to print; and

printing portions of said electronically stored document corresponding to said print preference and said locations.

12. A computer program product for controlling printing of an electronically stored document comprising:

code for accepting user input indicating a user-specified concept of interest;

code for analyzing said electronically stored document to identify locations of discussion of said user-specified concept of interest;

code for displaying visual indications of said identified locations;

code for accepting user input indicating a print preference for said locations to be printed;

code for printing portions of said electronic document corresponding to said print preference and said locations; and

a computer-readable storage medium for storing the codes.

13. The computer program product of claim 12 wherein said code for displaying visual indications of said identified locations comprises:

code for displaying an elongated thumbnail image of a portion of said electronically stored document in a viewing area of a display, said thumbnail image having at least one of a plurality of indications of locations of discussion of concepts of interest to said user.

14. The computer program product of claim 12 wherein said code for accepting user input indicating a print preference further comprises:

code for emphasizing an area of said thumbnail image corresponding to a section of said electronically stored document of interest to the user; and

code for accepting user input controlling sliding said emphasized area through said electronically stored document for the purposes of indicating sections of said electronically stored document to print.

15. The computer program product of claim 12 wherein said code for analyzing comprises code for exploiting a probabilistic inference method to identify said locations.

16. The computer program product of claim 15 wherein said probabilistic inference method comprises a Bayesian belief network.

17. The computer program product of claim 12 wherein said code for accepting user input indicating a print preference further comprises:

code for providing a “

sensitivity meter”

input device to the user; and

code for receiving from the user input through said “

sensitivity meter”

input device, said input indicating a relative number of sections of said electronically stored document to print.

18. The computer program product of claim 12 wherein said code for accepting user input indicating a print preference further comprises:

code for providing a “

print most relevant”

input device to the user; and

code for receiving from the user input through said “

print most relevant”

input device.

19. The computer program product of claim 12 wherein said code for accepting user input indicating a print preference further comprises:

code for providing a mechanism to select sections of the electronically stored document for printing to the user; and

code for receiving from the user input specifying particular sections of the electronically stored document for printing.

20. The computer program product of claim 12 wherein said code for printing portions of said electronically stored document further comprises:

code for printing an annotated paper version of said electronically stored document.

21. The computer program product of claim 12 further comprising code for displaying a level of relevance of said electronically stored document to said concept of interest.