METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DYNAMICALLY PLACING GRAPHIC ELEMENTS INTO LAYOUTS

• US 20110072376A1
• Filed: 09/23/2010
• Published: 03/24/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/23/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: RocketLife, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Visan Industries
• Inventors: Davey, Christopher H., Sashko, Daniel N., Moore, Michael R., Jongens, Randy J., Tjeerdsma, Peter A., Wang-Helmke, Michael D., Turcotte, Kenneth A., Kaye, Daniel A.
• Granted Patent: US 8,762,889 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/765
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/048 Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/60 Editing figures and text; Combining figures or text

Abstract

Techniques are described for dynamically placing graphical elements into theme layouts on a graphical user interface. A rendering engine reads a set of theme metadata and graphics metadata. The theme metadata defines a layout of the page and the regions into which the graphic elements will be placed. The theme metadata can further include tags to define categories or conceptual purposes for the regions and design changes that can be applied to graphics in that region. The graphics metadata defines a list of graphic files to be included in the layout, tags to define a category or conceptual purpose for each element and optional tags to override the design changes that are indicated in the theme metadata. The rendering engine combines and matches the theme metadata to the graphics metadata and places the graphic elements into the theme layout according to the matching.

Claims

1. A method for dynamic placement of graphic elements into layouts, said method comprising:

receiving a selection of a theme for a graphical display;

receiving a selection of one or more graphic elements to be rendered on said graphical display;

processing a set of theme metadata associated with the theme, wherein the theme metadata defines a layout of the graphical display, said layout including a plurality of regions for rendering the graphic elements on said graphical display;

processing a set of graphics metadata associated with each of the one or more graphic elements, wherein the graphics metadata indicates a graphic element to be rendered on at least one of the regions of the graphical display;

analyzing the theme metadata in combination with the graphics metadata; and

placing the graphic elements into the layout of the graphical display according to the analysis of the theme metadata in combination with the graphics metadata.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the theme metadata further includes a set of tags to define at least one category or conceptual purpose for at least one of the regions of said layout of the graphical display.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the graphics metadata further includes a set of tags to define at least one category or conceptual purpose for at least one of the graphic elements.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the step of analyzing the theme metadata in combination with the graphics metadata further includes comparing the set of tags to define the category or conceptual purpose for at least one of the graphic elements with the set of tags to define the category or conceptual purpose for at least one of the regions of said layout.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the theme metadata further defines one or more design changes that can be applied to the graphic elements after said graphic elements have been placed on said layout of the graphical display.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the graphics metadata includes a set of tags to override the design changes specified by the theme metadata.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the graphics metadata includes a set of tags defining limitations for acceptable layout changes by the end-user.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the theme metadata and the graphics metadata includes a wild card used to allow more freedom in forming a match between a graphic element and a region of said layout of the graphical display.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein a random strategy is applied if more than one match is found.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein a round-robin strategy is applied if more than one match is found.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of analyzing the theme metadata in combination with the graphics metadata further includes:

determining that multiple matches exist between a region of the layout and at least two graphic elements; and

employing weighting associated with the graphic elements in order to determine a priority of selecting between the at least two graphic elements to be placed into the region of the layout.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein a random strategy is applied if the weighting is otherwise equal.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein a round-robin strategy is applied if the weighting is otherwise equal.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the graphics metadata is retrieved from a graphics file or uploaded by a user.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

rendering a set of digital photographs into the layout of the graphical display in addition to the graphic elements placed into said layout; and

printing a physical media article that includes the digital photographs rendered over the layout.

16. A system for dynamic placement of graphic elements into layouts, said system comprising:

a graphical user interface (GUI) having a display for rendering a plurality of graphic elements in a particular layout;

a set of theme metadata stored on a computer readable storage medium and associated with the layout of the display, wherein the theme metadata defines a plurality of regions for rendering the graphic elements on said display;

a set of graphics metadata stored on the computer readable storage medium and associated with the one or more graphic elements, wherein the graphics metadata specifies the graphic elements to be rendered on at least one of the regions of the graphical display; and

a rendering engine that analyzes the theme metadata in combination with the graphics metadata and places the graphic elements into the layout of the display on said GUI according to the analysis of the theme metadata in combination with the graphics metadata.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the theme metadata further includes a set of tags to define a category or conceptual purpose for at least one of the regions of said layout of the display.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the graphics metadata further includes a set of tags to define the conceptual purpose for at least one of the graphic elements.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the rendering engine compares the set of tags to define the conceptual purpose for at least one of the graphic elements with the set of tags to define the conceptual purpose for at least one of the regions of said layout.

20. The system of claim 16, wherein the theme metadata further defines one or more design changes that can be applied to the graphic elements after said graphic elements have been placed on said layout of the display.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the graphics metadata includes a set of tags to override the design changes specified by the theme metadata.

22. The system of claim 16, wherein at least one of the theme metadata and the graphics metadata includes a wild card used to force a match between a graphic element and a region of said layout of the graphical display.

23. The system of claim 16, wherein the rendering engine determines that multiple matches exist between a region of the layout and at least two graphic elements;

and employs weighting associated with the graphic elements in order to determine a priority of selecting between the at least two graphic elements to be placed into the region of the layout.

24. The system of claim 16, wherein the graphics metadata is retrieved from a graphics file or uploaded by a user.

25. A computer-readable storage medium storing one or more sequences of instructions, said instructions, when executed by one or more processors, causing the one or more processors to carry out the steps of:

receiving a selection of a theme for a graphical display;

receiving a selection of one or more graphic elements to be rendered on said graphical display;

processing a set of theme metadata associated with the theme, wherein the theme metadata defines a layout of the graphical display, said layout including a plurality of regions for rendering the graphic elements on said graphical display;

processing a set of graphics metadata associated with each of the one or more graphic elements, wherein the graphics metadata indicates a graphic element to be rendered on at least one of the regions of the graphical display;

analyzing the theme metadata in combination with the graphics metadata; and

placing the graphic elements into the layout of the graphical display according to the analysis of the theme metadata in combination with the graphics metadata.