Print-to-edge desktop printing

• US 5,825,996 A
• Filed: 11/08/1996
• Issued: 10/20/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 11/08/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Imaging Holdings Corp (Monotype Imaging Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Monotype Typography, Inc. (Agfa-Gevaert N.V.)
• Inventors: Mirochnick, Ira, Davis, William N.
• Primary Examiner(s): Evans, Arthur G.
• Application Number:
  US08/744,884
• Time in Patent Office: 711 Days
• Field of Search: 395/101, 395/105, 395/111, 395/117, 395/115, 347/2, 347/4, 346/134
• US Class Current: 358/1.18
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 11/0065 Means for printing without leaving a margin on at least one edge of the copy material, e.g. edge-to-edge printing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1297 Printer code translation, conversion, emulation, compression; Configuration of printer parameters

Abstract

An improved personal computer system, method, printed card manufacturing kit, memory device, apparatus and print medium are all directed to providing a finished printed product that has printing completely to one or more edges of the product through the use of a conventional desktop printer.

Claims

1. An improved personal computer system of the type including a central processing unit, a memory connected to the central processing unit, an operating system program stored in the memory, a display responsive to control by the central processing unit, input means for providing input to the personal computer system, and a printer responsive to control by the central processing unit, wherein the improvement comprises:

a two-sided substrate loaded in the printer and having an outer periphery and a continuous perforated line spaced inwardly of said outer periphery such that said perforated line defines corresponding primary printable areas on both sides of said substrate inwardly of said perforated line and such that said perforated line defines corresponding secondary printable areas on both sides of said substrate outwardly of said perforated line, wherein said substrate has instructional indicia disposed thereon outwardly of said perforated line, said instructional indicia for guiding input of instructions to the personal computer system and the loading of said substrate in the printer; and

an application program loaded in the memory, wherein said application program is compatible with the operating system program and wherein said application program includes;

means, responsive to input from a user using the input means in accordance with said indicia, for providing an output having a first portion to be printed on one side of said substrate in said primary printable area thereof and having a second portion to be printed on the other side of said substrate in said primary printable area thereof;

means, responsive to input from the user using the input means in accordance with said indicia, for actuating the printer at a first time (a) to print one of (1) said first portion of said output on said one side of said substrate such that part of said first portion is printed continuously across at least part of said perforated line and in said secondary printable area of said one side and the remainder of said first portion is printed within said primary printable area of said one side and (2) said second portion of said output within at least said primary printable area of said other side of said substrate, and (b) to output said substrate from the printer; and

means, responsive to input from the user using the input means in accordance with said indicia, for actuating the printer at a second time to print the other of (1) said first portion of said output on said one side of said substrate such that part of said first portion is printed continuously across at least part of said perforated line and in said secondary printable area of said one side and the remainder of said first portion is printed within said primary printable area of said one side and (2) said second portion of said output within at least said primary printable area of said other side of said substrate, after said substrate has been output from the printer and reloaded in changed orientation in the printer.

2. The improvement of claim 1, wherein said instructional indicia include page layout indicia.

3. The improvement of claim 2, wherein said page layout indicia include:

a first measurement scale disposed near a first portion of said outer periphery of said substrate outwardly of said perforated line;

a second measurement scale disposed near a second portion of said outer periphery of said substrate outwardly of said perforated line; and

textual instructional indicia disposed near a third portion of said outer periphery of said substrate outwardly of said perforated line.

4. The improvement of claim 1, wherein said substrate includes an 81/2-inches by 11-inches rectangular sheet of card stock having said perforated line defined at 3/4 inch inwardly from the edges measuring 81/2 inches and defined at 7/8 inch inwardly from the edges measuring 11 inches.

5. The improvement of claim 1, wherein said substrate further has a score line defined across at least said primary printable areas thereof.

6. A method of making a finished printed output having graphical content printed to an edge of the finished printed output, said method comprising:

loading a two-sided print medium into a printer connected in a personal computer system, wherein the print medium is loaded so that a first side of the print medium is in a print position and further wherein the print medium has a perforated line defining outwardly therefrom a continuous outer margin along the entire periphery of the print medium and defining inwardly therefrom primary printable areas on both sides of the print medium, wherein the print medium is loaded by a user of the personal computer system into the printer during said loading step in response to the user having read instructional indicia disposed in the outer margin of the print medium;

printing in response to the user operating the personal computer system, with the printer in the personal computer system, a graphical image on the first side of the print medium such that at least a portion of the graphical image is printed continuously across the perforated line into both the outer margin and the primary printable area of the first side of the print medium;

removing by manual operation of the user the print medium from the printer; and

removing by manual operation of the user the outer martin along the perforated line so that the remaining portion of the print medium becomes the finished printed output having at least a portion of the graphical image extending completely to an edge of the finished printed output.

7. A method as defined in claim 6, wherein:

the print medium includes a predefined fold line across the primary printable areas distinct from the perforated line; and

said method further comprises folding the remaining portion of the print medium along the fold line after the outer margin is removed so that the resulting finished printed output is a folded card.

8. A method as defined in claim 6, wherein:

said method further comprises printing on the other side of the print medium; and

one of said printing steps is performed before the other of said printing steps such that the later performed printing step is performed after loading the print medium into the printer in changed orientation from the orientation of the print medium loaded for the earlier performed printing step.

9. A method as defined in claim 8, wherein said step of loading the print medium into the printer in changed orientation includes loading the print medium by manual operation of the user in response to the user having read instructional indicia disposed in the outer margin of at least one side of the print medium.

10. A method as defined in claim 9, wherein:

the print medium includes a predefined fold line across the primary printable areas distinct from the perforated line; and

said method further comprises folding the remaining portion of the print medium along the fold line after the outer margin is removed so that the resulting finished printed output is a folded card.

11. A print medium for use in a personal computer system which includes a printer to produce a printed output having at least a portion of a graphical image printed completely to an edge of the printed output, said print medium comprising a two-sided substrate to load in the printer of the personal computer system, said substrate having an outer periphery and a continuous perforated line spaced inwardly of said outer periphery such that said perforated line defines a primary printable area on a side of said substrate inwardly of said perforated line and further such that said perforated line defines a marginal area having a secondary printable area on said side of said substrate outwardly of said perforated line, further comprising instructional indicia disposed on said marginal area, wherein said primary and secondary printable areas are located within said substrate to receive printing of the graphical image from the printer operated by the personal computer system in response to a user reading said instructional indicia and setting at least one of the personal computer system, the printer thereof, or said print medium in relation to the printer in response thereto, such that at least a portion of the graphical image is printed across the perforated line into at least part of both said primary and secondary printable areas.

12. A print medium as defined in claim 11, wherein said substrate further has a score line defined across at least said primary printable area so that the portion of said substrate remaining after tearing along the perforated line and removing said marginal area is folded along the score line to provide a folded card having at least a portion of the graphical image printed completely to a non-folded edge of the card.

13. A print medium as defined in claim 11, wherein said instructional indicia include page layout indicia.

14. A print medium as defined in claim 13, wherein said page layout indicia include:

a first measurement scale disposed in a first portion of said marginal area of said substrate;

a second measurement scale disposed in a second portion of said marginal area of said substrate; and

textual instructional indicia disposed in a third portion of said marginal area of said substrate.

15. A print medium as defined in claim 11, wherein said instructional indicia include a graphical measurement scale disposed on said marginal area.

17. A print medium as defined in claim 11, wherein said substrate includes an 81/2-inches by 11-inches sheet of card stock having said perforated line defined at 3/4 inch inwardly from the edges measuring 81/2 inches and defined at 7/8 inch inwardly from the edges measuring 11 inches.

16. A print medium for use in a personal computer system which includes a printer to produce a printed output having at least a portion of a graphical image printed completely to an edge of the printed output, said print medium comprising a two-sided substrate to load in the printer of the personal computer system, said substrate having an outer periphery and a continuous perforated line spaced inwardly of said outer periphery such that said perforated line defines corresponding primary printable areas on both sides of said substrate inwardly of said perforated line and further such that said perforated line defines corresponding marginal areas having secondary printable areas on both sides of said substrate outwardly of said perforated line, further comprising instructional indicia disposed on at least one of said marginal areas, wherein said primary and secondary printable areas are located within said substrate to receive printing of the graphical image from the printer operated by the personal computer system in response to a user reading said instructional indicia and setting at least one of the personal computer system, the printer thereof, or said print medium in relation to the printer in response thereto, such that at least a portion of the graphical image is printed across the perforated line into at least part of both said primary and secondary printable areas of at least one side of said substrate.

18. A print medium as defined in claim 16, wherein said instructional indicia comprise page layout indicia including:

a first measurement scale disposed in a first portion of one of said marginal areas of said substrate;

a second measurement scale disposed in a second portion of said one of said marginal areas of said substrate; and

textual instructional indicia disposed in a third portion of said one of said marginal areas of said substrate.

19. A print medium as defined in claim 16, wherein said substrate further has a score line defined across at least said primary printable areas so that the portion of said substrate remaining after tearing along the perforated line and removing said marginal areas is folded along the score line to provide a folded card having at least a portion of the graphical image printed completely to a non-folded edge of the card.

20. A print medium as defined in claim 19, wherein said substrate includes an 81/2-inches by 11-inches sheet of card stock having said perforated line defined at 3/4 inch inwardly from the edges measuring 81/2 inches and defined at 7/8 inch inwardly from the edges measuring 11 inches, and said sheet further having said score line defined across the width thereof at 51/2 inches from the edges measuring 81/2 inches.

21. A print medium as defined in claim 16, wherein said instructional indicia include a graphical measurement scale disposed on at least one of said marginal areas.

22. An improved personal computer system of the type including a central processing unit, a memory connected to the central processing unit, an operating system program stored in the memory, a display responsive to control by the central processing unit, input means for a user to provide input to the personal computer system, and a printer responsive to control by the central processing unit, wherein the improvement comprises:

a two-sided substrate loaded in the printer, which substrate has at least one continuous, closed perforated line circumscribing a primary printable area defined thereby on said substrate inwardly of the perforated line such that the primary printable area has a regular or irregular shape as defined by the perforated line and such that the primary printable area is the area of a finished product of the personal computer system;

the continuous, closed perforated line also defining the inner boundary of a secondary printable area disposed on said substrate outwardly from the perforated line, which secondary printable area surrounds the respective primary printable area to receive printing into any portion of the secondary printable area from the personal computer system but which secondary printable area does not form part of any such finished product of the personal computer system; and

computer software loaded in the personal computer system, wherein said computer software is compatible with the operating system program and which computer software (i) allows a user of the personal computer system to define a printing area corresponding to the shape of the primary printable area on the substrate, (ii) selects an actual printing area larger in at least part than the primary printable area on the substrate, (iii) allows the user of the personal computer system to generate a graphical image from at least one of graphic material stored within the computer software, graphic material stored within the memory of the computer, or graphic material created by the user of the personal computer system, and (iv) transmits data defining such graphical image to the printer such that the printer prints such graphical image primarily upon the primary printable area of the substrate but also over the perforated line and onto the secondary printable area of the substrate.

23. A method of making a finished printed output having graphical content printed to an edge of the finished printed output, said method comprising:

loading, by manual operation of a user of a personal computer system, a two-sided print medium into a conventional desktop printer connected in the personal computer system, wherein the printer is selected from the group consisting of ink jet printers, laser printers, bubble jet printers, solid ink printers, and thermal ink printers, and wherein the print medium is loaded so that a first side of the print medium is in a print position, and further wherein the print medium has at least one continuous, closed perforated line circumscribing a primary printable area defined thereby on the print medium inwardly of the perforated line such that the primary printable area has a regular or irregular shape as defined by the perforated line and such that the primary printable area is the area of a finished product of the personal computer system;

the continuous, closed perforated line also defining the inner boundary of a secondary printable area disposed on the print medium outwardly from the perforated line, which secondary printable area surrounds the respective primary printable area to receive printing into any portion of the secondary printable area from the personal computer system but which secondary printable area does not form part of any such finished product of the personal computer system;

defining in the personal computer system in response to input from the user a printing area corresponding to the shape of the primary printable area;

automatically selecting by operation of the personal computer system an actual printing area larger in at least part than the primary printable area;

generating a user selected graphical image for printing in the primary printable area;

printing, with the printer in the personal computer system, the graphical image on the first side of the print medium such that at least a portion of the graphical image is printed continuously across the perforated line into both the secondary printable area and the primary printable area of the first side of the print medium;

removing, by manual operation of the user, the print medium from the printer; and

removing by manual operation of the user, the outer margin along the perforated line so that the remaining portion of the print medium becomes the finished printed output having at least a portion of the graphical image extending completely to an edge of the finished printed output.

24. A method as defined in claim 23, wherein:

said method further comprises printing on the other side of the print medium; and

one of said printing steps is performed before the other of said printing steps such that the later performed printing step is performed after loading the print medium into the printer in changed orientation from the orientation of the print medium loaded for the earlier performed printing step.