Electronic document location indication and navigation method, system and program

• US 7,456,993 B2
• Filed: 03/28/2003
• Issued: 11/25/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 03/28/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cimpress Schweiz GmbH (Cimpress Plc)
• Original Assignee: Vistaprint Technologies Limited (Cimpress Plc)
• Inventors: Walker, Kenneth A. Jr.
• Primary Examiner(s): EBRAHIMI DEHKORDY, SAEID
• Application Number:
  US10/402,121
• Publication Number:
  US 20040190011A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,069 Days
• Field of Search: 358/1.18, 358/1.2, 358/1.12, 358/400, 345/157, 345/163, 345/629, 715/507, 715/513, 715/517, 399/39, 399/49, 399/81, 399/194
• US Class Current: 358/1.18
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/106 Display of layout of documents; Previewing

Abstract

While a user is viewing in a first display area a portion of an electronic document intended to be printed to produce a printed product, presenting to the user in a second display area a representation of the physical outline of the printed product and an indicator that indicates to the user the size and location of the electronic document portion relative to the printed product. When the user positions a cursor in the second display area, a second indicator image, visually distinctive from the first indicator image, is displayed. The user can position the second indicator at a desired location relative to the representation and request that the portion of the electronic document at that second indicator location be displayed in the first display area.

Claims

1. A method for at least displaying an electronic document to a user of a computer system, the electronic document comprising an electronic representation of a document to be printed, the method comprising

simultaneously providing a first area and a second area,

displaying in the first area a portion of the electronic document,

simultaneously displaying in the second area a representation of the outline of the printed product to be produced from the electronic document,

a first indicator, the first indicator indicating the size and location in the printed product of the electronic document portion currently displayed in the first area, and

a second indicator, the second indicator being positionable by the user to indicate a different portion of the printed product, and

in response to a command from the user, displaying in the first area the portion of the electronic document corresponding to the location of the second indicator.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the electronic document includes a representation of the outline of the printed product.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the second indicator is the same size as the first indicator.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising displaying the first indicator at the location of the second indicator in response to the command from the user.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising repetitively recalculating the position of the first and second indicators and updating the display of the indicators a plurality of times per second.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the second indicator is displayed only if the user has positioned a cursor in the second area.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the method further comprises providing zooming and scrolling capability such that the user can modify the portion of the electronic document displayed in the first area by zooming and scrolling.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the first and second indicators are displayed in a manner such that the user can distinguish the first indicator from the second indicator.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the printed product is intended to be folded after printing and wherein the representation displayed in the second area includes indications of where the printed product will be folded.

10. A computer program stored in a computer-readable memory for at least displaying an electronic document to a user of a computer system, the electronic document comprising an electronic representation of a document to be printed, comprising

computer code for simultaneously providing a first area and a second area,

computer code for displaying in the first area a portion of the electronic document,

computer code for simultaneously displaying in the second area a representation of the outline of the printed product to be produced from the electronic document,

a first indicator, the first indicator indicating the size and location in the printed product of the electronic document portion currently displayed in the first area, and

a second area a second indicator, the second indicator being positionable by the user to indicate a different portion of the printed product, and

computer code, responsive to a command from the user, for displaying in the first area the portion of the electronic document corresponding to the location of the second indicator.

11. The computer program of claim 10 wherein the electronic document includes a representation of the outline of the printed document.

12. The computer program of claim 10 further comprising computer code for displaying the first indicator at the location of the second indicator in response to the command from the user.

13. The computer program of claim 10 further comprising computer code for recalculating the position of the first and second indicators and updating the display of the indicators a plurality of times per second.

14. The computer program of claim 10 wherein the second indicator is displayed only if the user has positioned a cursor in the second area.

15. The computer program of claim 10 further comprising computer code for zooming and scrolling such that the user can modify the portion of the electronic document displayed in the first area.

16. The computer program of claim 10 further comprising computer code for displaying the first and second indicators in a manner such that the user can distinguish the first indicator from the second indicator.

17. The computer program of claim 10 wherein the program executes in a browser program in the computer system and further comprising program code to repetitively obtain information from the browser program regarding the portion of the electronic document displayed in the first area and computer code to recalculate the positions of the first and second indicators using the obtained information.