This application is related to co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/261,054 filed Nov. 18, 2009.
The disclosed embodiments relate generally to methods and systems for automatic layout of graphics, text, and other printed content on a package or other three-dimensional structure.
In order to create a package, the package assembly process typically requires multiple participants and resources. For example, to determine the structure of the package and location of printed content on the package, a person known as a brand manager works with a structural designer to manually develop an appropriate structural design definition that meets specified requirements. The structural design definition must be compatible with the technical constraints arising from available production process equipment. The structural design definition is then forwarded to a packaging design agency to create graphics for use in the printing process.
Packaging design agencies spend a substantial amount of time creating samples and prototypes of packaging concepts for the brand owners. Typically, a package design process requires several iterations to arrive at an agreed-upon design for a package. The iterative process is often done in an ad hoc manner. This process can be very costly to brand owners because design agencies typically charge by the amount of time spent on a job. Numerous hours are spent creating samples and following up with the client, only to go back to the drawing board. Often, the process can take weeks or months before arriving at a suitable design concept.
Once the structural and graphic designs are finalized, the graphic design is used to create a set of plates for the printing process, and the structural design is used in the creation of a compatible set of dies. The packaging flats are then printed, die-cut and converted to a form (e.g., ready to erect) that is compatible with the fulfillment process.
This process introduces the potential for errors due to the iterative nature of creating structural and graphic designs. Also, the process has long lead times and a slow turn around time which results in an extended product development cycle. Accordingly, the flexibility of creating new packages and graphics is limited. As such, it is time consuming and expensive to create sample packages and prototypes using the conventional process.
In an embodiment, a method of printing content on a three dimensional structure includes selecting a first graphical design style sheet for a first facet of a three dimensional structure, wherein the style sheet includes rules for graphical content to be printed on the facet. The method also includes using a graphical design layout renderer to apply semantic structural design data to the style sheet, and repeating the selecting and
Optionally, the method may include displaying the graphical content as it will appear on the structure, receiving a user selection to change an attribute of the printed content, verifying that the user selection is consistent with the rules, and if so printing the graphical content with the user-selected change on the substrate. The method also may include determining whether the graphical content is a background image, an image that will not fit on an intended facet, or another image that will span a plurality of facets. If so, the linking may include grouping the first facet and a second facet to form a facet group, and then linking the graphical content to the facet group so that when the three dimensional structure is printed, a first portion of the content appears on the first facet, and a second portion of the content appears on the second facet. This may include expanding the graphical content so that the background image spans adjacent facets.
In an alternate embodiment, a package design rendering system includes a first memory portion containing semantic structural design data, a second memory portion containing a graphical design style sheet for multiple facets for a three-dimensional package, a graphical design layout renderer that applies the semantic structural design data to the style sheet to generate a graphical design template, and an asset linker that links one or more graphical assets with the graphical design template to create a graphical design for the package. The system also may include a display that displays a representation of the graphical design on the package, a user input that accepts a user-selected change to the graphical design, a printing device that prints the graphical design on a substrate, and one or more assembly devices that form the substrate into the three-dimensional package.
In the system, the graphical design layout renderer may contain program instructions that instruct the linker to determine whether the graphical content will span a plurality of facets. If so, the asset linker contains program instructions that instruct the linker to ensure that the graphical concept properly spans the facets.
Aspects, features, benefits and advantages of the embodiments described herein will be apparent with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings where:
The invention described in this document is not limited to the particular systems, methodologies or protocols described, as these may vary. Also, the terminology used in this document is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments, and it is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meanings as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. As used in this document, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include the plural reference unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Also, as used herein, the term “comprising” means “including, but not limited to.”
An “assembly device” is a device used in a manufacturing or assembly process that performs an operation. For example, an assembly device for a package construction process. For example, assembly devices may be a printing device, a die cutter, a folding device, or another device that is used to create a finished package. A package assembly device may perform operations such as printing, scanning, folding, sealing, creasing and/or perforating.
A “computing device” is any processor-based device such as, for example, a server, a personal computer, a personal digital assistant, a web-enabled phone, a smart terminal, a dumb terminal and/or other electronic device capable of communicating in a networked environment. A computing device processes data to perform one or more functions. A computing device may interpret and execute instructions.
A “facet” is a part of a three-dimensional structure of a package. For example, a facet of a package may be a flap or side of the package.
A “knowledge base” is an electronic repository of searchable data and/or rules. A knowledge base may refer to software or a data structure, such as a database or a table. Alternatively, a knowledge base may refer to a hardware component containing data, such as a section of a tangible storage medium. When discussed below, a “semantic knowledge base” is a type of knowledge base that contains data in the form of an ontology.
An “ontology” is a representation of concepts within a subject matter and the relationships between the concepts. An ontology is used for computational reasoning regarding the properties of the subject matter. In an ontology, the individual concepts within the subject matter may be stored as objects (which are sometimes referred to as individuals or instances). An ontology also includes classes (i.e., categories or groups to which each object belongs), attributes (i.e., features or characteristics) of each object, and relations (i.e., ways in which objects may be related to other objects, or ways in which classes may be related to other classes).
A “printing device” is an electronic device that is capable of receiving commands, and/or printing content such as text, other characters, patterns, shapes, and/or images on a substrate. Printing devices may include, but are not limited to, network printers, production printers, copiers and other devices using ink or toner, and scanners. Printing devices may also perform a combination of functions such as printing/scanning, in which case such devices may be considered to be multifunctional devices.
A “semantic reasoner” is a processing module (such as a software application that is operated in a computing device, or firmware that executes in processing hardware) that accesses and operates on the data contained in a semantic knowledge base to infer logical consequences from an asserted set of facts. Examples of semantic reasoners include, but are not limited to, those known as Pellet, Racer, and FaCT++.
The knowledge base 110 includes data in the form of an ontology, created using an ontology language such as the web ontology language (OWL), which is endorsed by the World Wide Web Consortium, or another format that allows for the description of classes, attributes, individuals, and associated relationships between various structural design constructs. The structural design constructs define individual objects of a class and provide attribute/value pairs for the individual objects and restrictions for certain classes. The class concept may be used to represent a group or set of individual objects with similar characteristics. Package design elements for folding cartons, such as panels, flaps and tabs, are examples of potential classes. Attributes may be used to associate individuals or design elements. For example, an attribute such as “hasPanel” might link an individual “Panel” to an individual “Sleeve.” In an embodiment, individuals of a class may provide representations of physical and/or virtual aspects of a structural design.
The knowledge base 110 may communicate directly or via a network 115 with a computing device 120, one or more three-dimensional structure assembly devices such as a die cutter 130 and folding device 140, and one or more printing devices 150, 160. In an embodiment, the knowledge base 110 may be distributed across a plurality of devices including, but not limited to, the computing device 120, the assembly devices 130, 140 and the one or more printing devices 150, 160. In an embodiment, the knowledge base 110, or a portion thereof, may be contained within one or more of the assembly devices 130, 140, the computing device 120 and/or the one or more printing devices 150, 160. In such an embodiment, the knowledge base 110 may directly communicate with the computing device 120, the one or more assembly devices 130, 140 and/or the one or more printing devices 150, 160 in which it is contained instead of via the network 100.
An asset linker 210 links graphical assets 208 such as text, images or graphics to the graphic design template 207 to create a graphic design data file 220 for use in printing the three-dimensional structure. The asset linker 210 is a set of hardware, software, or firmware containing program instructions that cause a processor to populate the fields of a graphic design template 207 with selected graphical assets 208. The asset linker 210 may permit a user to select the graphical assets, it may receive predetermined graphical assets, or it may select graphical assets based on a set of rules.
Certain elements shown in
Facet@view=“Front”[image]
Each declaration in the declaration block includes a property and a value. A declaration block may include several declarations separated by semicolons or other indicia. An exemplary declaration block is:
{location:topleft; scaling:scale[20]; border-style: no-border}
In other words, a declaration sets forth the effect that a rule will have on the facet specified in the selector. In the example above, the rule indicates that the front facet of a structure may have an image printed in a position in the top left area of the facet, with a scale of 20 and no border. For a package design style sheet, exemplary declaration values include, and are not limited to:
Facet@view=“xxx” [image|graphics]
Facet@view=“xxx” [text|graphics]
The style sheet may be created by selecting 301 a facet of the three dimensional structure and identifying a graphical content element to be printed on that facet (i.e., creating the selector), and applying 302 one or attributes to the graphical content element (i.e., creating the declaration block).
The semantic structural design data (element 202 in
Referring back to
The system then receives graphical content to be applied to the structure 325. Graphical content may include, but is not limited to, text and/or the graphics to be placed on one or more exterior and/or interior surfaces of the package. The graphical content may include, without limitation, a shipping label, a logo, a symbol, a trademark, a photograph, an image, and/or a design. The graphical content may be linked 330 to the template based on the one or more rules to yield the graphic design. The applying and/or linking may include determining whether the graphical content is a background image, an image that will not fit on an intended facet, or another image that will span a plurality of facets. If so, the linking may include grouping the first facet and a second facet to form a facet group, and then linking the graphical content to the facet group so that when the three dimensional structure is printed, a first portion of the content appears on the first facet, and a second portion of the content appears on the second facet. This may include expanding the graphical content so that the background image spans adjacent facets.
Optionally, the proposed design may be displayed to a user on a display device 335, and the user may be permitted to change 340 one or more features of the graphic design. For example, the user may be allowed to change a graphic asset, move a graphic asset to another location, add a graphic asset, or remove it entirely. If the user makes a change, optionally the graphical design layout renderer compares the change to the graphic design style sheet to verify 345 that the change is permitted within the constraints of the style sheet and/or template. If the change is not permitted, the user may be required to make another change, or the change may simply be rejected. Ultimately, the graphical content may be printed 360 on the three dimensional packaging structure. In an embodiment, a printing device may be used to print the graphical content on the three dimensional packaging structure. Assembly devices may be used to assemble the printed structure.
A controller 720 interfaces with one or more optional memory devices 725 to the system bus 700. These memory devices 725 may include, for example, an external or internal DVD drive, a CD ROM drive 730, a hard drive 735, flash memory, a USB drive or the like. As indicated previously, these various drives and controllers are optional devices.
Program instructions may be stored in the ROM 710 and/or the RAM 715. Optionally, program instructions may be stored on a tangible computer readable medium such as a compact disk, a digital disk, flash memory, a memory card, a USB drive, an optical disc storage medium, such as Blu-Ray™ disc, and/or other recording medium.
An optional display interface 740 may permit information from the bus 700 to be displayed on the display 745 in audio, visual, graphic or alphanumeric format. Communication with external devices may occur using various communication ports 750. An exemplary communication port 750 may be attached to a communications network, such as the Internet or an intranet.
The hardware may also include an interface 755 which allows for receipt of data from input devices such as a keyboard 760 or other input device 865 such as a mouse, a joystick, a touch screen, a remote control, a pointing device, a video input device and/or an audio input device.
An embedded system, such as a sub-system within a xerographic apparatus, may optionally be used to perform one, some or all of the operations described herein. Likewise, a multiprocessor system may optionally be used to perform one, some or all of the operations described herein.
It will be appreciated that various of the above-disclosed and other features and functions, or alternatives thereof, may be desirably combined into many other different systems or applications. Various presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations or improvements therein may be subsequently made by those skilled in the art which are also intended to be encompassed by the following claims.
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