Publishing layout wizard

• US 6,931,591 B1
• Filed: 10/15/1999
• Issued: 08/16/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 10/15/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Saepio Technologies, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Saepio Technologies, Inc.
• Inventors: Angell, Matthew Jason, Brown, Ronald Harold
• Primary Examiner(s): Hong, Stephen
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ludwig, Matthew
• Application Number:
  US09/419,360
• Time in Patent Office: 2,132 Days
• Field of Search: 707/517, 705/25, 705/26, 705/27, 715/513, 715/517, 715/520
• US Class Current: 715/205
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/166 Editing, e.g. inserting or deleting

Abstract

The present invention facilitates the specification and distribution of templated content materials by a content provider over an information exchange network such as the Internet. The present invention incorporates a system for managing inventories of graphical elements and their relationships to pre-defined page templates. A database capable of keeping track of users and their corresponding access privileges within the system is employed to monitor user activity. Ultimately, through the use of a software component delivered over the Internet for use within standard web browsers, end-users are able to populate templates under the constraints imposed by the rules of the manufacturers at the time of template design. These population elements which “fill in the blanks” of the pre-defined templates may be either of type IMAGE or TEXT. Image regions are populated by choosing from a subset of the entire image inventory, while TEXT types can be completely free form, with specific rules guiding justification, point size, font, and leading, or “fill in the blank” form with the same constraint rules as free form. Once the end user has met all of the criteria for a fully populated template, the system provides sophisticated means for downloading a high resolution file (such as a print-ready file or other file representation of the composed publication) which encapsulates all resources needed (layout, images, fonts, and constraint geometries) to fulfill the requirements of the publication. The downloaded file may be printed or published by electronic transfer, e.g., to a publisher for printing of the actual publication.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented system for laying out a publication, the system comprising:

a. an administrative toolkit for allowing a template creator at a first location to create a template and input content components for populating the template, the administrative toolkit comprising;

i. a template definition and editing module for;

1. creating the template at a development site accessible to the template creator, the template comprising a plurality of template regions; and

2. establishing rules governing content to be placed in one or more of the regions of the template; and

ii. a template inventory management module for moving the template from the development site to a production site accessible to an end user, thereby instantaneously updating the production site;

b. an end-user interface for allowing the end-user at a second location remotely located from the first location to;

i. access the template over an information exchange network after it has been moved to the production site; and

ii. populate one or more of the regions with content in accordance with the rules established by the template creator, whereby the end-user can create a customized publication that conforms to standards set by the template creator.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the content components comprise images.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the content components comprise text.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the administrative toolkit is further adapted for designating the size and position of each of the regions.

5. The system of claim 1, further comprising a server in communication with the administrative toolkit and end-user interface, the server facilitating communications between the administrative toolkit and end-user interface.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the server comprises:

a. an administrative request handler for servicing the administrative toolkit; and

b. an end-user request handler for servicing the end-user interface.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein the server comprises a template and image inventory for storing templates and content components.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the publication is a print publication.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the publication is an advertisement.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the administrative toolkit is further adapted for designating region type, and wherein the regions can be designated as text regions or image regions.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the rules further comprise a rule prescribing one or more text properties for one or more text regions.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the rules further comprise a rule prescribing that one or more of the text regions are populated with free-form text.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the administrative toolkit further comprises a user management module for establishing a plurality of levels of access for system users and controlling user access based upon rights given to each of the plurality of levels.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the administrative toolkit further comprises an image inventory management module for managing an inventory of images.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the rules governing content to be placed in one or more of the regions comprises a rule prescribing that one or more of the regions be populated by selecting a content component from a plurality of designated content components.

16. A computer-implemented system for laying out a publication, the system comprising:

a. an administrative toolkit for allowing a template creator at a first location to create a template and input content components for the template, the administrative toolkit comprising;

i. an image inventory management module for allowing the template creator to input images for populating templates;

ii. a template definition and editing module for allowing the template creator to;

1. create and edit a template at a development site, the template comprising a plurality of template regions;

2. designate the size and position of each of the regions;

3. designate the type of each region, wherein the region types comprise text and image types;

4. import ages input using the inventory management module and designate the images for populating one or more of the template regions;

5. input text and designating the text for populating one or more of the template regions;

6. establish rules governing content to be placed in one or more of the regions, wherein the rules comprise;

a. a rule prescribing that one or more of the regions be populated by selecting an image or text component from a plurality of designated images or text components; and

b. a rule prescribing one or more of the regions to be populated with free-form text;

iii. a template inventory management module for moving the template form the development site to a production site accessible to an end user, thereby instantaneously updating the production site;

b. an end-user interface for allowing the end user at a second location remotely located from the first location to;

i. access the template over an information exchange network after it has been moved to the production site; and

ii. populate one or more of the regions with content in accordance with the rules established by the template creator, wherein the end-user interface allows the end user to;

1. populate one or more of the regions by selecting an image or text component from the plurality of designated images or text components; and

2. populate one or more of the regions by inputting free-form text;

whereby the end-user can create a customized publication that conforms to standards set by the template creator; and

c. a server in communication with the administrative toolkit and end-user interface for facilitating communications between the template creator and end user, the server comprising;

i. an administrative request handler for servicing the administrative toolkit;

ii. an end-user request handler for servicing the end-user interface; and

iii. a template and image inventory for storing templates created by the template creator and images input by the template creator.