Digital printing system having optimized paper usage

• US 9,298,404 B2
• Filed: 04/25/2008
• Issued: 03/29/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 04/25/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Shutterfly, LLC
• Original Assignee: Shutterfly Incorporated (Shutterfly, LLC)
• Inventors: Niblett, Kenneth Ray Jr.
• Primary Examiner(s): Ghayour, Mohammad
• Assistant Examiner(s): Beckley, Jonathan R
• Application Number:
  US12/109,523
• Publication Number:
  US 20090268232A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,895 Days
• Field of Search: 358 112- 115, 358/1.18
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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 3/1214 at the submitting node
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1262 by grouping or ganging jobs
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1272 Digital storefront, e.g. e-ordering, web2print, submitting a job from a remote submission screen
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1288 in client-server-printer device configuration

Abstract

A method for manufacturing printed page products includes defining a plurality of subbatches each comprising one or more of the pages, creating layouts for the pages in the plurality of subbatches, separating the plurality of subbatches into N groups each comprising a total number of pages equal or less than M, minimizing the difference between the total pages in the N groups and M×N, and printing the layouts of the pages on a stack of sheets each configured to contain layouts for N pages. The layouts of the pages in the stack of sheets are positioned in N columns.

Claims

1. A method for manufacturing printed page products, comprising:

defining, by a computer system, a plurality of subbatches each comprising one or more pages each associated with a layout to be printed by a printing device;

storing a predetermined natural number M that is associated with the maximum number of sheets to be fed in a stack to the printing device;

assigning, by the computer system, the plurality of subbatches to N groups while keeping the pages in each of the N groups no more than M pages, wherein N is a natural number;

arranging the plurality of subbatches among the N groups to minimize the difference between the total number of pages in the N groups and M×

N;

receiving a stack of sheets by a printing device; and

printing the layouts for the one or more pages in the plurality of subbatches in the stack of sheets, wherein pages from the N groups are respectively positioned in N columns in the stack of sheets.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

cutting the stack of sheets into N stacks of sheets each comprising pages from one of the N columns.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of assigning comprises:

if one of the plurality of subbatches has more than M number of pages, breaking the one of the plurality of subbatches into at least two subbatches; and

assigning the at least two subbatches to two different groups in the N groups.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the layouts in at least one of the N columns have the same dimensions.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the N groups have different numbers of pages, the method further comprising:

inserting blank pages into one or more of the N groups to make the N groups to have the same number of pages.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of assigning comprises:

defining a fullest group in the N group, wherein the fullest group includes the most number of pages among the N groups; and

assigning subbatches in the plurality of subbatches to minimize the difference between M and the number of pages in the fullest group.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the layouts for the one or more pages on the plurality of subbatches include content received from a user.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

receiving the content from the user over a computer network.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein N is selected from the group consisting of two, three, four, five, and six.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein M is bigger than 10.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of assigning comprises:

minimizing the differences in the numbers of pages between different groups in the N groups.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of assigning comprises:

assigning a portion of the plurality of subbatches into the N groups;

identifying an unassigned subbatch in the plurality of subbatches, wherein the unassigned subbatch is not yet assigned to any of the N groups;

selecting one of the N groups; and

assigning the unassigned subbatch into one of the N groups while keeping the number of pages in the one of the N groups equal or less than M.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of assigning comprises:

assigning a portion of the plurality of subbatches into the N groups;

determining an emptiest group in the N group, wherein the emptiest group includes the least number of pages in its associated subbatches;

identifying an unassigned subbatch in the plurality of subbatches, wherein the unassigned subbatch is not yet assigned to any of the N groups; and

assigning the unassigned subbatch into the emptiest group while keeping the number of pages in the emptiest group equal or less than M.

14. A method for manufacturing printed page products, comprising:

defining, by a computer system, a plurality of subbatches each comprising one or more pages each associated with a layout to be printed by a printing device;

storing a predetermined natural number M that is associated with the maximum number of sheets to be fed in a stack to the printing device;

assigning, by the computer system, a first group of subbatches in the plurality of subbatches to a first N groups while keeping the pages in each of the first N groups no more than M pages, wherein N is a natural number;

assigning, by the computer system, a second group of subbatches in the plurality of subbatches to a second N groups while keeping the pages in each of the second N groups no more than M pages;

arranging the first group of subbatches and the second group of subbatches among the first N groups and the second N groups to minimize the difference between the total number of pages in the first N groups and M×

N and to minimize the difference between the total number of pages in the first N groups and M×

N;

printing the layouts for the pages in the first N groups in a first stack of sheets, wherein pages from the first N groups are respectively positioned in first N columns in the first stack of sheets; and

printing the layouts for the pages in the second N groups in a second stack of sheets, wherein pages from the second N groups are respectively positioned in second N columns in the second stack of sheets.