Print workflow automation

• US 7,855,799 B2
• Filed: 01/16/2007
• Issued: 12/21/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 01/16/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Pradip K. Shah
• Original Assignee: Pradip K. Shah
• Inventors: Shah, Pradip K.
• Primary Examiner(s): EBRAHIMI DEHKORDY, SAEID
• Application Number:
  US11/654,161
• Publication Number:
  US 20080170254A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,435 Days
• Field of Search: 358/1.15, 358/1.16, 358/1.13, 358/1.14, 358/1.18, 358/1.12, 358/442, 358/402, 358/747, 358/448, 358/403, 358/474, 715/764, 715/234, 715/202, 715/200, 715/259, 715/209, 715/237, 715/240, 715/238, 715/273, 707/999.101, 709/201, 709/203, 709/217, 709/229, 399/361, 400/76
• US Class Current: 358/1.15
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1204 resulting in reduced user or operator actions, e.g. presetting, automatic actions, using hardware token storing data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1262 by grouping or ganging jobs
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/127 by using hot folders, e.g. folder for which print settings or print data management rules are set in advance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1275 Print workflow management, e.g. defining or changing a workflow, cross publishing

Abstract

Illustrative systems and methods provide a graphical user interface for establishing parameters for printing and finishing print jobs. In an illustrative system and method, print job parameters are defined, for example: by establishing print parameters corresponding to the position of a document in a print job and/or the position of a page in document; by establishing associations between values of fields in file names and print parameters; and by establishing associations between text at a particular position on a page of a document and print parameters. The user'"'"'s inputs defining the printing and finishing parameters are stored in a file such as, for example, an XML file. The system retrieves the printing and finishing parameters and formats PDL and JCL commands which can be forwarded onto the printing and finishing system.

Claims

1. A method for defining rules for printing an electronic document implemented at least in part on a computing system, comprising:

identifying a plurality of page sizes of pages in an electronic document;

displaying a list of the plurality of page sizes comprised in the electronic document;

receiving an input selecting a first of the plurality of page sizes;

displaying a list of media types that may be associated with the selected first of the plurality of page sizes;

receiving an input selecting a first of the listed media types;

storing an association between the selected first of the plurality of page sizes and the selected first of the listed media types;

receiving an input selecting a second of the plurality of page sizes;

receiving an input selecting a second of the listed media types;

storing an association between the selected second of the plurality of page sizes and the selected second of the listed media types; and

creating instructions for printing the electronic document, said instructions comprising instructions for printing pages of the electronic document having the first of the plurality of page sizes on the selected first of the listed media types and for printing pages of the electronic document having the second of the plurality of page sizes on the selected second of the listed media types.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an input requesting to select the characteristics of the first media type;

presenting a listing of existing characteristics of the first media type;

receiving an input selecting a new characteristic for the first media type;

storing the selected new characteristic for the first media type.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an input selecting a specific page comprised in the electronic document, said specific page having the first of the plurality of page sizes;

receiving an input requesting to identify a media type other than the first media type for the specific page;

receiving an input identifying a media type other than the first media type for the specific page; and

storing an association between the specific page and the media type other than the first media type.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an input selecting a specific page comprised in the electronic document, said specific page having the first of the plurality of page sizes;

receiving an input requesting to identify an insertion sheet for the specific page;

receiving an input identifying a media type to be inserted adjacent to the specific page;

storing an association between the specific page and the media type to be inserted adjacent to the specific page.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein receiving an input identifying a media type to be inserted adjacent to the specific page further comprises receiving an input identifying to insert a media type before the specific page.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein receiving an input identifying a media type to be inserted adjacent to the specific page further comprises receiving an input identifying to insert a media type after the specific page.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein

displaying a list of the plurality of page sizes comprised in the electronic document comprises communicating a list of the plurality of page sizes via the Internet,

receiving an input selecting a first of the plurality of page sizes comprises receiving an input selecting a first of the plurality of page sizes via the Internet,

displaying a list of media types that may be associated with the selected first of the plurality of page sizes comprises communicating a list of media types via the Internet,

receiving an input selecting a first of the listed media types comprises receiving an input selecting a first of the listed media types via the Internet,

receiving an input selecting a second of the plurality of page sizes comprises receiving an input selecting a second of the plurality of page sizes via the Internet, and

receiving an input selecting a second of the listed media types comprises receiving an input selecting a second of the listed media types via the Internet.

8. A method of printing electronic documents implemented at

least in part on a computing system, comprising:

identifying a plurality of pages comprised in an electronic document;

receiving an input identifying a first subset of the plurality of pages;

receiving an input identifying a printing option to be performed on the first subset of the plurality of pages;

storing information identifying the printing option to be performed on the first subset of the plurality of pages; and

creating instructions for printing the electronic document, said instructions comprising instructions for implementing the selected printing option in connection with the first subset of the plurality of pages;

wherein receiving an input identifying a printing option to be performed on the first subset of the plurality of pages comprises receiving an input identifying a printing option relating to at least one of the following;

grouping documents;

splitting documents into subsets;

controlling the sequence of printing of documents;

selecting a normal media;

selecting an exception media;

identifying page level override of the normal media;

identifying finishing parameters for a document;

identifying finishing parameters for a subset;

identifying finishing parameters for a group;

selecting simplex printing for a document;

selecting simplex printing for a subset;

selecting simplex printing for a group;

inserting tabs between pages;

inserting tabs between documents;

printing on tabs;

inserting sheets between pages;

inserting sheets between documents; and

inserting covers.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein receiving an input identifying a printing option to be performed on the first subset comprises receiving an input identifying printing the subset of the plurality of pages on a particular media type.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein receiving an input identifying printing the subset of the plurality of pages on a particular media type comprises printing the subset of the plurality of pages on a media having a selected value for at least one of the following:

size, color, type, grain, weight, drilled, and paper tray.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein receiving an input identifying a printing option to be performed on the first subset comprises receiving an input identifying performing a print finishing operation on the subset of the plurality of pages.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein receiving an input identifying performing a print finishing operation on the subset of the plurality of pages comprises performing at least one of the following:

stapling the subset of the plurality of pages;

hole-punching the subset of the plurality of pages;

folding the subset of the plurality of pages;

binding the subset of the plurality of pages; and

creating a booklet from the subset of the plurality of pages.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein receiving an input identifying a printing option to be performed on the first subset comprises receiving an input identifying inserting a separation sheet between the subset of the plurality of pages and adjacent pages in the electronic document.

14. The method of claim 8, wherein receiving an input identifying a printing option to be performed on the first subset comprises receiving an input identifying printing multiple copies of the subset of the plurality of pages.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising receiving an input identifying printing at least one of the multiple copies on a media different from any other of the multiple copies.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising receiving an input identifying printing each of the multiple copies on a different media.

17. The method of claim 14, further comprising receiving an input identifying finishing at least one of the multiple copies differently from any other of the multiple copies.

18. The method of claim 14, further comprising receiving an input identifying finishing each of the multiple copies differently.

19. The method of claim 8, wherein receiving an input identifying a printing option to be performed on the first subset comprises receiving an input identifying printing the subset of the plurality of pages using simplex printing.

20. The method of claim 8, wherein receiving an input identifying a printing option to be performed on the first subset comprises receiving an input identifying printing the subset of the plurality of pages using duplex printing.

21. The method of claim 8, wherein

receiving an input identifying a first subset of the plurality of pages comprises receiving an input identifying a first subset of the plurality of pages via the Internet, and

receiving an input identifying a printing option to be performed on the first subset of the plurality of pages comprises receiving an input identifying a printing option via the Internet.

22. A method of controlling automated printing of electronic documents implemented at least in part on a computing system, comprising:

identifying a plurality of electronic files, each electronic file having a unique file name comprising a plurality of fields, each field comprising at least one alpha-numeric character and separated from an adjacent field by a field separation character;

displaying the file name for each of the plurality of electronic files;

receiving an input identifying the character separator employed to delineate between the plurality of fields in each of the file names of the plurality of electronic files;

for each of the plurality of electronic files, parsing the file name to identify each of the plurality of fields, identifying the at least one alpha-numeric character comprised in each of the plurality of fields, and displaying the alpha-numeric strings comprised in each field;

receiving an input identifying a first printing parameter to be controlled by the value of the at least one alpha-numeric character comprised in a first field of each file name;

receiving an input identifying a second printing parameter to be controlled by the value of the alpha-numeric character string assigned to a second field; and

generating instructions for printing the plurality of files,

wherein for each of the plurality of files, the value of the at least one alpha-numeric character in the first field is used to determine instructions relating to the first printing parameter and the value of the at least one alpha-numeric character in the second field is used to determine instructions relating to the second printing parameter.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein receiving an input identifying a field separator used in the file name for each of the plurality of files to separate portions of the file names comprises receiving an input identifying at least one of a space, a hyphen, a colon, a comma, a period, underscore, and a semicolon.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein receiving an input identifying a first printing parameter to be determined by the value of the alpha-numeric character comprised in a first field comprises receiving an input identifying one of the following to be determined by the value of the alphanumeric character:

print sequence of a file in the plurality of files;

media type on which the file will be printed;

use of simplex printing;

use of duplex printing;

number of copies to be made of the file; and

print finishing options to be used in printing the file.

25. The method of claim 22, wherein receiving an input identifying a second printing parameter to be determined by the value of the alpha-numeric character comprised in a first field comprises receiving an input identifying one of the following to be determined by the value of the alphanumeric character:

print sequence of a file in the plurality of files;

media type on which the file will be printed;

use of simplex printing;

use of duplex printing;

number of copies to be made of the file; and

print finishing options to be used in printing the file.

26. The method of claim 22, wherein receiving an input identifying a first printing parameter to be controlled by the value of the at least one alpha-numeric character comprised in a first field of each file name comprises receiving an input identifying a first printing parameter relating to at least one of the following:

grouping and concatenating documents;

splitting documents into subsets;

controlling the sequence of printing of pages;

controlling the sequence of documents;

selecting a normal media;

selecting an exception media;

identifying page level override of the normal media;

identifying finishing parameters;

selecting simplex printing at the document level;

selecting simplex printing at the group level;

selecting duplex printing at the document level;

selecting duplex printing at the group level;

inserting tabs;

printing on tabs;

inserting sheets; and

inserting covers.

27. The method of claim 22, wherein

displaying the file name for each of the plurality of electronic files comprises transmitting the file name for each of the plurality of electronic files via the Internet,

receiving an input identifying the character separator employed to delineate between the plurality of fields in each of the file names of the plurality of electronic files comprises receiving an input identifying the character separator via the Internet,

displaying the alpha-numeric strings comprised in each field comprises transmitting the alpha-numeric strings via the Internet,

receiving an input identifying a first printing parameter to be controlled by the value of the at least one alpha-numeric character comprised in a first field of each file name comprises receiving an input identifying a first printing parameter via the Internet, and

receiving an input identifying a second printing parameter to be controlled by the value of the alpha-numeric character string assigned to a second field comprises receiving an input identifying a second printing parameter via the Internet.

28. A method of controlling automated printing of electronic documents implemented at least in part on a computing system, comprising:

receiving an electronic file comprising a plurality of electronic documents;

displaying the electronic file;

receiving a first input identifying a first text item located in a first area of a first page in the file;

receiving a second input identifying the first text item as a first document delineator;

storing the first text item and the identification of the first text item as a first document delineator;

receiving a third input identifying a second text item located in a second area of the page;

receiving a fourth input identifying the second text item as a second document delineator;

storing the second text item and the identification of the second text item as a second document delineator;

identifying the first page as the beginning of a first document;

identify the first text item located in the first area of a second page in the electronic file;

confirming the existence of the second text item in the second area of the second page; and

identifying the second page in the electronic file as the beginning of a second document.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein receiving a second input identifying the first text item as a first document delineator comprises receiving a second input identifying the first text item as static.

30. The method of claim 28, wherein receiving a fourth input identifying the second text item as a second document delineator comprises receiving a fourth input identifying the second text item as variable.

31. The method of claim 28, further comprising:

receiving an input identifying a third text item located in a third area; and

receiving an input identifying a first printing parameter to be controlled by the value of the text in the third area of a page.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein receiving an input identifying a first printing parameter to be controlled by the value of the text in the third area of a page comprises receiving an input identifying at least one of the following to be controlled by the value of the text in the third area of a page:

splitting a document into subsets;

inserting covers;

selecting a default media type;

selecting an override media type;

inserting a separation sheet;

inserting tabs;

inserting a slip sheet;

making multiple copies.

33. The method of claim 31, wherein receiving an input identifying a first printing parameter to be controlled by the value of the text in the third area of a page comprises receiving an input identifying at least one of the following to be controlled by the value of the text in the third area of a page:

splitting documents into subsets;

controlling the sequence of printing;

selecting a normal media;

selecting an exception media;

identifying page level override of the normal media;

identifying finishing parameters at the document level;

identifying finishing parameters at the subset level;

selecting simplex printing for a document;

selecting simplex printing for a subset;

selecting duplex printing for a document;

selecting duplex printing for a subset;

inserting tabs between documents;

inserting tabs between subsets;

printing on tabs;

insert sheets between pages;

inserting sheets between documents; and

inserting covers.

34. The method of claim 28, wherein

receiving an electronic file comprising a plurality of electronic documents comprises receiving an electronic file via the Internet,

receiving a first input identifying a first text item located in a first area of a first page in the file comprises receiving a first input identifying a first text item via the Internet,

receiving a second input identifying the first text item as a first document delineator comprises receiving a second input identifying the first text item as a first document delineator via the Internet,

receiving a third input identifying a second text item located in a second area of the page comprises receiving a third input identifying a second text item via the Internet, and

receiving a fourth input identifying the second text item as a second document delineator comprises receiving a fourth input identifying the second text item as a second document delineator via the Internet.

35. A system for defining rules for printing an electronic document, comprising:

computing processor;

computing memory communicatively coupled with the computing processor, the computing memory having executable instructions stored thereon that if executed by the system cause the system to perform operations comprising;

identifying a plurality of page sizes of pages in an electronic document;

displaying a list of the plurality of page sizes comprised in the electronic document;

receiving an input selecting a first of the plurality of page sizes;

displaying a list of media types that may be associated with the selected first of the plurality of page sizes;

receiving an input selecting a first of the listed media types;

storing an association between the selected first of the plurality of page sizes and the selected first of the listed media types;

receiving an input selecting a second of the plurality of page sizes;

receiving an input selecting a second of the listed media types;

storing an association between the selected second of the plurality of page sizes and the selected second of the listed media types; and

creating instructions for printing the electronic document, said instructions comprising instructions for printing pages of the electronic document having the first of the plurality of page sizes on the selected first of the listed media types and for printing pages of the electronic document having the second of the plurality of page sizes on the selected second of the listed media types.

36. A system for printing electronic documents, comprising:

a computing processor;

computing memory communicatively coupled with the computing processor, the computing memory having executable instructions stored thereon that if executed by the system cause the system to perform operations comprising;

identifying a plurality of pages comprised in an electronic document;

receiving an input identifying a first subset of the plurality of pages;

receiving an input identifying a printing option to be performed on the first subset of the plurality of pages;

storing information identifying the printing option to be performed on the first subset of the plurality of pages; and

creating instructions for printing the electronic document, said instructions comprising instructions for implementing the selected printing option in connection with the first subset of the plurality of pages;

wherein receiving an input identifying a printing option to be performed on the first subset of the plurality of pages comprises receiving an input identifying a printing option relating to at least one of the following;

grouping documents;

splitting documents into subsets;

controlling the sequence of printing of documents;

selecting a normal media;

selecting an exception media;

identifying page level override of the normal media;

identifying finishing parameters for a document;

identifying finishing parameters for a subset;

identifying finishing parameters for a group;

selecting simplex printing for a document;

selecting simplex printing for a subset;

selecting simplex printing for a group;

inserting tabs between pages;

inserting tabs between documents;

printing on tabs;

inserting sheets between pages;

inserting sheets between documents; and

inserting covers.

37. A system for controlling automated printing of electronic documents, comprising:

a computing processor;

computing memory communicatively coupled with the computing processor, the computing memory having executable instructions stored thereon that if executed by the system cause the system to perform operations comprising;

identifying a plurality of electronic files, each electronic file having a unique file name comprising a plurality of fields, each field comprising at least one alpha-numeric character and separated from an adjacent field by a field separation character;

displaying the file name for each of the plurality of electronic files;

receiving an input identifying the character separator employed to delineate between the plurality of fields in each of the file names of the plurality of electronic files;

for each of the plurality of electronic files, parsing the file name to identify each of the plurality of fields, identifying the at least one alpha-numeric character comprised in each of the plurality of fields, and displaying the alpha-numeric strings comprised in each field;

receiving an input identifying a first printing parameter to be controlled by the value of the at least one alpha-numeric character comprised in a first field of each file name;

receiving an input identifying a second printing parameter to be controlled by the value of the alpha-numeric character string assigned to a second field; and

generating instructions for printing the plurality of files,

wherein for each of the plurality of files, the value of the at least one alpha-numeric character in the first field is used to determine instructions relating to the first printing parameter and the value of the at least one alpha-numeric character in the second field is used to determine instructions relating to the second printing parameter.

38. A system for controlling automated printing of electronic documents, comprising:

a computing processor;

computing memory communicatively coupled with the computing processor, the computing memory having executable instructions stored thereon that if executed by the system cause the system to perform operations comprising;

receiving an electronic file comprising a plurality of electronic documents;

displaying the electronic file;

receiving a first input identifying a first text item located in a first area of a first page in the file;

receiving a second input identifying the first text item as a first document delineator;

storing the first text item and the identification of the first text item as a first document delineator;

receiving a third input identifying a second text item located in a second area of the page;

receiving a fourth input identifying the second text item as a second document delineator;

storing the second text item and the identification of the second text item as a second document delineator;

identifying the first page as the beginning of a first document;

identify the first text item located in the first area of a second page in the electronic file;

confirming the existence of the second text item in the second area of the second page; and

identifying the second page in the electronic file as the beginning of a second document.