AUTOMATIC SPINE CREATION FROM BOOK COVERS WITHOUT SPINES

• US 20100119331A1
• Filed: 11/11/2008
• Published: 05/13/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/11/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Xerox Corporation (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Xerox Corporation (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Evan, Michael J., Levine, Jonathan D.
• Granted Patent: US 8,131,009 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 412/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/387 Composing, repositioning or otherwise geometrically modifying originals

Abstract

A method for automatically creating spine image areas for book covers that were originally created for books without spines includes adding image areas between the front and back cover images to make a single image with the spine being a user-specified solid color or bitmap image. Alternatively, depending on user selection and cover design, the existing image is stretched anamorphically to accommodate a correctly sized spine. The user can optionally specify text to be added.

Claims

1. A method for automatically generating spine image areas for book:

covers originally created for books without spines, comprising;

providing a single, undifferentiated cover image that includes front and back portions;

determining the required size of the spine; and

stretching said front portion of said cover image horizontally in a first direction a predetermined amount;

stretching said back portion of said cover image horizontally in a second direction a predetermined amount; and

confirming that the produced cover image is correct.

2. The method of claim 1, including providing said cover image with a center line.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein stretching of said front portion of said cover image in said first direction is to the right of said center line.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein stretching of said back portion of said cover image in said second direction is to the left of said center line.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein said center line is vertical.

6. The method of claim 5, including using said vertical center line as a stable point.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein said stretching of said front portion of said cover image in said first direction adds half the required additional extra horizontal size to said cover image to accommodate a first portion of the spine image area.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein said stretching of said back portion of said cover image in said second direction adds half the required additional extra horizontal size to said cover image to accommodate a second portion of the spine image area.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein said confirming that the produced cover image is correct is made by visuals.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein said confirming that the produced cover image is correct is done numerically.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein said stretching of said front portion of said cover image is performed anamophically.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein said stretching of said back portion of said cover image is performed anamophically.

13. The method of claim 5, wherein said center line separates said front portion from said back portion of said cover image.

14. A method for automatically generating spine image areas for book covers that are originally separate front and back images, comprising;

gathering information including;

the height of the book;

the thickness of the book;

any text to be placed in the image areas;

color, font and orientation of the text;

background color; and

location of cover file and book block file;

creating the required spine image from electronic settings based on the information gathered;

creating a single cover image by merging the back cover, spine, and front cover into a single image; and

confirming that the produced cover image is correct.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein said confirming that the produced cover image is correct is made by visuals.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein said confirming that the produced cover image is correct is done numerically.

17. The method of claim 15, including adjusting settings if the cover image is not exactly as the user desires.

18. The method of claim 16, including adjusting settings if the cover image is not exactly as the user desires.

19. The method of claim 17, including regenerating the cover image.

20. The method of claim 18, including regenerating the cover image.