System and methods for distributing digital content

• US 6,920,617 B2
• Filed: 09/06/2001
• Issued: 07/19/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 09/06/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation (Seiko Group)
• Original Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation (Seiko Group)
• Inventors: Nitta, Takashi
• Primary Examiner(s): Bayerl, Raymond J.
• Application Number:
  US09/946,532
• Publication Number:
  US 20020054035A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,412 Days
• Field of Search: 715/745, 715/744, 715/747, 715/748, 715/738, 715/760, 715/778, 715/762, 715/788, 715/789, 715/803, 715/800, 715/801, 715/517, 715/520, 715/521, 715/522, 715/524, 715/529, 715/513, 715/501.1, 345/745, 345/744, 345/747, 345/748, 345/738, 345/760, 345/778, 345/789, 345/803, 345/800, 345/801, 345/762, 345/788
• US Class Current: 715/745
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/103 Formatting, i.e. changing of presentation of documents automatic justification G06F40/189; automatic line break hyphenation G06F40/191
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions

Abstract

A digital content distribution system that is suitable for outputting digital content in a layout that is easy to view for a user is provided. The system can include a content distribution terminal that creates digital content by determining an output layout for the digital content, based on other-user-unique information and other-user-designated information in a user information record database, and distributes the created digital content based on a distribution address for the user information used for the creation. In the determination of the output layout, when the number of characters of character information forming one article in the digital content is greater than the number of storable characters in a character information frame, the part of the character information which is greater than the number of the storable characters is stored in another character information frame, and guidance information for referring to the excess part is stored in the character information frame in which the part of the character information which is less than the number of the storable characters is stored.

Claims

1. A system for creating digital content, comprising:

a user information storage device that stores user information on each user;

a content creating device that creates the digital content by determining, based on the user information in the user information storage device, an output layout for the digital content,

said content creating device creating the digital content by arranging, in an output area, images which are included in a character information frame for storing character information and in the digital content so that the images cannot overlap mutually, and storing, in the character information frame, the character information which is included in the digital content; and

when a number of characters of character information forming one document in the digital content is greater than a number of storable characters in the character information frame, said content creating device expands the area of the character information frame beyond a range in which the character information frame does not overlap with the images so that the character information can be stored in the character information frame.

2. A digital content creating system according to claim 1, when the character information frame overlaps with the images as a result of the expansion of the character information frame, said content creating device determines, based on the color of the overlapping part of the images, a color of characters in the overlapping part of the character information frame.