Systems and methods for providing variable data printing (VDP) using dynamic font downgrading

• US 8,717,596 B2
• Filed: 09/30/2009
• Issued: 05/06/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PTI Marketing Technologies, Inc. (Ricoh Company Limited)
• Original Assignee: Printable Technologies Incorporated (Ricoh Company Limited)
• Inventors: Cogan, Douglas Neal
• Primary Examiner(s): SARPONG, AKWASI
• Application Number:
  US12/571,387
• Publication Number:
  US 20110075196A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,679 Days
• Field of Search: 358/1.15, 358/1.18, 358/448, 358/452, 707/505, 235/375, 345/467, 345/471, 345/470, 345/469, 382/162
• 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 3/1208 resulting in improved quality of the output result, e.g. print layout, colours, workflows, print preview
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1225 Software update, e.g. print driver, modules, plug-ins, fonts
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1243 Variable data printing, e.g. document forms, templates, labels, coupons, advertisements, logos, watermarks, transactional printing, fixed content versioning
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1286 via local network
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1287 via internet
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1288 in client-server-printer device configuration
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 15/1802 Receiving generic data, e.g. fonts, colour palettes
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 15/1831 characterized by the format of the data
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 15/1836 Rasterization

Abstract

Apparatus and methods for providing downgraded fonts for VDP printing application are described. A server system may be configured to generate and/or select a set of downgraded rasterized fonts for delivery to a client system in order to provide limited client-side WYSIWIG display functionality using the downgraded fonts. A client side application may use the downgraded fonts to provide a display-only or draft print only rendering of a VDP print job.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

sending, from a server system and to a client system, (1) a variable data printing (VDP) template and (2) data defining a user interface to facilitate editing of a VDP print job based on the VDP template;

receiving, from the client system, data associated with a program executing the user interface on the client system;

generating, at the server system, a downgraded font set based on the full font set, the full font set includes a first set of characters, each character from the first set of characters being a vector font character, the first set of characters including a first number of characters, the downgraded font set including a second set of characters, each character from the second set of characters being a raster font character generated from a vector font character from the first set of characters, the second set of characters includes a second number of characters less than the first number of characters; and

sending, to the client system, the downgraded font set disposed for rendering a preview of the VDP print job on the client system.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the data associated with a browser program or application program comprises data defining a screen display format or screen display resolution.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the browser program or application program comprises a browser program and said data associated with the browser program comprises data defining the type of the browser program or version number of the browser program.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the data associated with a browser program or application program comprises data associated with the VDP print job being composed using the browser program or application program.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the data associated with a browser program or application program comprises data defining one or more of a font type, a font size, a subset of characters and symbols of a full font set and a font format used in the VDP print job being composed using the browser program or application program.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the downgraded font set is generated in response to receipt of the data associated with a browser program or application program.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the downgraded font set is generated prior to receipt of the data associated with a browser program or application program.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the raster font set is generated to include one or more font set characters or symbols in a corresponding one or more pluralities of rasterized sizes.

9. A server system for providing variable data printing (VDP) composition, comprising:

a processor;

a network interface; and

a processor-readable medium containing instructions for execution on said processor to;

send, via the network interface, to a client system, (1) a variable data printing (VDP) template and (2) data defining a user interface to facilitate editing of a VDP print job based on the VDP template;

receive, from the client system via the network interface, data associated with a program executing the user interface on the client system;

generate a downgraded font set, based on the full font set, the full font set includes a first set of characters, each character from the first set of characters being a vector font character, the first set of characters including a first number of characters, the downgraded font set including a second set of characters, each character from the second set of characters being a raster font character generated from a vector font character from the first set of characters, the second set of characters includes a second number of characters less than the first number of characters; and

send to the client system in response to said receiving, via the network interface, the downgraded font set disposed for rendering a preview of the VDP print job on the client system.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein the data associated with a browser program or application program comprises data defining a screen display format or screen display resolution.

11. The system of claim 9 wherein the browser program or application program comprises a browser program, and the graphical user interface is generated by the system so as to be rendered on the browser program.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein data associated with the browser program comprises data defining the type or browser program or version number of the browser program.

13. The system of claim 9 wherein the data associated with a browser program or application program comprises data associated with the VDP print job being composed using the browser program or application program.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein the data associated with a browser program or application program comprises data defining one or more of a font type, a font size, a subset of characters and symbols of the vector font set and a font format used in the VDP print job being composed using the browser program or application program.

15. The system of claim 9 wherein the instructions comprise instructions to generate the downgraded font set.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein the instructions to generate the downgraded font set include instructions to generate the downgraded font set in response to receipt of the data associated with a browser program or application program.

17. The system of claim 15 wherein the instructions to generate the downgraded font set include instructions to generate the downgraded font set prior to receipt of the data associated with a browser program or application program.

18. The system of claim 15 wherein the instructions to generate the downgraded font set include instructions to generate the downgraded font set as a raster font set, said raster font set comprising a subset of font characters and symbols of corresponding vector font set.

19. The system of claim 18 wherein the raster font set is generated to include one or more font characters or symbols in a corresponding one or more pluralities of rasterized sizes.

20. A method for providing variable data printing (VDP) on a client system, comprising:

receiving, from a server system, (1) VDP template and (2) data defining a user interface to facilitate editing of a VDP print job based on the VDP template;

receiving, from the server system, a set of downgraded fonts based on the full font set, the full font set includes a first set of characters, each character from the first set of characters being a vector font character, the first set of characters including a first number of characters, the set of downgraded fonts including a second set of characters, each character from the second set of characters being a raster font character generated from a vector font character from the first set of characters, the second set of characters includes a second number of characters less than the first number of characters; and

rendering, on a display device or printer of the client system, at least a portion of the VDP print job including one or more characters or symbols using one or more fonts of the set of downgraded fonts.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein the downgraded fonts are provided based at least in part on data defining a characteristic of the client system or data associated with an application program executing on the client system.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein the data associated with an application program comprises data defining a screen display format or screen display resolution.

23. The method of claim 22 wherein the data associated with the application program comprises data defining the type of application program or a version number of the application program.

24. The method of claim 22 wherein the data associated with the application program comprises data associated with the VDP print job being composed using the application program.

25. The method of claim 24 wherein the data associated with a browser program or application program comprises data defining one or more of a font type, a font size, a subset of characters and symbols of a full font set and a font format used in the VDP print job being composed using the browser program or application program.

26. The method of claim 20 wherein the application program is a web browser.

27. The method of claim 20 wherein the set of downgraded fonts comprise rasterized font characters and symbols.

28. The method of claim 27 wherein the one or more fonts comprise ones of font characters or symbols in a plurality of font sizes.

29. A system for providing variable data printing (VDP) composition on a client system, comprising:

a processor;

a display device;

a network interface; and

a processor-readable medium containing instructions for execution on said processor to;

receive from a server system, via the network interface, (1) VDP template and (2) data defining a user interface to facilitate editing of a VDP print job based on the VDP template;

receive, from the server system via the network interface, a set of downgraded fonts based on the full font set, the full font set includes a first set of characters, each character from the first set of characters being a vector font character, the first set of characters including a first number of characters, the set of downgraded fonts including a second set of characters, each character from the second set of characters being a raster font character generated from a vector font character from the first set of characters, the second set of characters includes a second number of characters less than the first number of characters; and

render, on the display device or a printer coupled to the client system, at least a portion of the VDP print job, wherein one or more characters and symbols are rendered on the display device or printer using one or more fonts of the set of downgraded fonts.

30. The system of claim 29 where the medium further contains instructions to send, to the server system, data defining a screen display format or screen display resolution of the client system.

31. The system of claim 29 where the medium further contains instructions to send, to the server system, data defining a type of browser program or version number of a browser program being executed on the client system.

32. The system of claim 31 wherein the medium further comprises instructions to send, to the server system, data associated with the VDP print job being composed on the client system.

33. The system of claim 32 wherein the data associated with the VDP print job comprises data defining one or more of a font type, a font size, a subset of characters and symbols of a full font set and a font format used in the VDP print job being composed using the browser program or application program.

34. The system of claim 31 wherein the one or more fonts of the set of downgraded fonts comprise rasterized font characters and symbols.

35. The system of claim 29 wherein the one or more fonts comprise ones of font characters or symbols in a plurality of font sizes.

36. A system for providing VDP printing, comprising:

a server subsystem comprising;

a server processor;

a server network interface; and

a server processor-readable medium containing instructions for execution on said server processor to;

provide, via the network interface, (1) VDP template and (2) data defining a user interface to facilitate editing of a VDP print job based on the VDP template;

receive, via the network interface, data associated with a browser program or application program;

generate a downgraded font set based on the full font set, the full font set includes a first set of characters, each character from the first set of characters being a vector font character, the first set of characters including a first number of characters, the downgraded font set including a second set of characters, each character from the second set of characters being a raster font character generated from a vector font character from the first set of characters, the second set of characters includes a second number of characters less than the first number of characters; and

send, in response to said receiving, via the network interface, the set of downgraded fonts disposed for rendering at least a portion the VDP print job; and

a client system communicatively coupled to the server system, comprising;

a client processor;

a display device;

a client network interface; and

a processor-readable medium containing instructions for execution on said client processor to;

receive from the server system, via the client network interface, data defining the graphical user interface used to facilitate editing of the VDP print job;

receive, from the server system via the client network interface, the set of downgraded fonts; and

render, on the display device or a printer coupled to the client system, at least a portion of the VDP print job, wherein one or more characters and symbols of the VDP print job are rendered on the display device or printer using one or more fonts of the set of downgraded fonts.

37. A method for providing variable data printing (VDP) comprising:

providing, from a server system to a client system, (1) a variable data printing (VDP) template and (2) data defining a user interface to facilitate editing of a VDP print job based on the VDP template;

receiving, at the client system from the server system, data defining the user interface;

receiving at the server system, from the client system, data associated with a program executing on the client system;

generating, at the server system, a downgraded font set based on the full font set, the full font set includes a first set of characters, each character from the first set of characters being a vector font character, the first set of characters including a first number of characters, the downgraded font set including a second set of characters, each character from the second set of characters being a raster font character generated from a vector font character from the first set of characters, the second set of characters includes a second number of characters less than the first number of characters; and

sending, to the client system, the downgraded font set disposed for rendering on the client system;

receiving, at the client system from the server system, the downgraded font set; and

rendering, on a display device or printer of the client system, at least a portion of the VDP print job including one or more characters or symbols using one or more fonts of the downgraded font set.

38. A non-transitory machine readable medium containing instructions for execution on a processor to:

provide to a client system (1) a variable data printing (VDP) template and (2) data defining a user interface to facilitate editing of a VDP print job based on the VDP template;

receive, from the client system, data associated with a program executing on the client system;

generate, at the server system, a downgraded font set based on the full font set, the full font set includes a first set of characters, each character from the first set of characters being a vector font character, the first set of characters including a first number of characters, the downgraded font set including a second set of characters, each character from the second set of characters being a raster font character generated from a vector font character from the first set of characters, the second set of characters includes a second number of characters less than the first number of characters; and

sending, to the client system, the downgraded font set disposed for rendering a preview of the VDP print job on the client system.

39. The medium of claim 38 wherein the data associated with a browser program or application program comprises data defining one or more of a font type, a font size, a subset of characters and symbols of a full font set and a font format used in the VDP print job being composed using the browser program or application program.

40. The medium of claim 38 further comprising instructions to generate the downgraded font set.

41. The medium of claim 38 wherein the raster font set is generated to include one or more font set characters and symbols in a corresponding one or more pluralities of rasterized sizes.

42. A non-transitory machine readable medium containing instructions for execution on a processor to:

receive, from a server system, (1) a variable data printing (VDP) template and (2) data defining a user interface to facilitate editing of a VDP print job based on the VDP template;

receive, from the server system, a set of downgraded fonts based on the full font set, the full font set includes a first set of characters, each character from the first set of characters being a vector font character, the first set of characters including a first number of characters, the set of downgraded fonts including a second set of characters, each character from the second set of characters being a raster font character generated from a vector font character from the first set of characters, the second set of characters includes a second number of characters less than the first number of characters; and

render, on a display device or printer of the client system, at least a portion of the VDP print job including one or more characters or symbols using one or more fonts of the set of downgraded fonts.

43. The medium of claim 42 wherein the data associated with a browser program or application program comprises data defining one or more of a font type, a font size, a subset of characters and symbols of a full font set and a font format used in the VDP print job being composed using the browser program or application program.