JP2004054311A - Web printing system - Google Patents

Abstract

[PROBLEMS] For a typesetting system that evolves one after another, conversion and reverse conversion can be performed accurately, and flexible correspondence that can sequentially expand print settings is possible. An object of the present invention is to provide a printing system that can simultaneously manage as one piece of data.
In a printing system capable of managing print data on a web server, performing design editing from a web browser, and printing, various print formats are laid out on the web server, and an XML template for printing is provided. A template database in which data is recorded, and print data editing means for editing the template data from a browser on the web client side to generate print data are provided, and the print data and order data are , An integrated print data recorded as XML format data, and a web print system capable of centrally managing the print data and the order data.
[Selection diagram] Fig. 1

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a print system that manages print data on a web server, performs design editing on a web browser, and prints the edited print data, and particularly to a markup description language for the print data. The present invention relates to a printing system utilizing XML (extensible Markup Language) format data.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in the printing industry, various printing systems have been proposed in which print contents such as business cards, flyers, and catalogs are designated from a remote client side using a network.
[0003]
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-219353 discloses editing print data by displaying a fixed form on a server in HTML format data on a browser of a client via the Internet and inputting the data to a predetermined input unit of the fixed form from the browser. Can be done.
[0004]
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 13-282915 discloses a printing system that generates a PDF file for printing on a server by an operation from a client browser.
[0005]
Further, in the printing industry, various printing process management systems for managing each printing process from manuscript submission to product completion using a computer have been proposed.
[0006]
In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-218679, a schedule table column including a work schedule and a completion date of each printing process for each ordered product name is displayed, schedule data can be input in the schedule table column, and a required form is entered based on the input data. It is a system that can output.
[0007]
By inputting the completion check of each process, the progress can be checked at a glance.
[0008]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
As described above, the print data can be edited by the operation of the client's browser using the Internet, so that the efficiency of the printing operation can be significantly improved.
[0009]
However, in high quality printing such as the printing industry, various typesetting systems that realize advanced typesetting are used. The typesetting data used in these typesetting systems is data containing various types of detailed printing information. In the printing data that can be operated and edited directly from the client browser as described above, the typesetting data is not used. However, such detailed information is not included, and even if it is converted as it is, it is not possible to obtain sufficient typesetting data, and a technician with expertise at the time of conversion adds detailed printing information. Had to be converted.
[0010]
In the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-219353, a fixed form is made into HTML format data and is operated from a browser. For detailed print information, a fixed form is used and only basic data is input from a browser. It is intended for business efficiency and is not intended to respond to setting input of various detailed expressions.
[0011]
Also, in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 13-282915, a PDF file is used. This PDF file is designed so that print data can be displayed with high quality on a browser side. Is displayed as it is, but when it is converted to typesetting data, it is converted according to the print information already possessed by the PDF file. For this reason, in the current situation where new typesetting systems are being developed one after another, it is difficult to deal with those various types of detailed typesetting information (printing information). Additional work is required. Also, it is not possible to cope with reverse conversion as in editing such as correction.
[0012]
According to the present invention, in order to realize high-quality printing in the Internet environment as described above, it is possible to accurately convert and reversely convert a typesetting system that is continuously evolving, and to set print settings. It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing system that can be expanded flexibly and that can respond flexibly.
[0013]
Further, in the printing process management system, it has become possible to manage each printing process in a unified manner and perform quick and smooth delivery date management as OA and networking progress.
[0014]
As in the case of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-218769, it is possible to collectively manage various forms such as a production process of an underprint production department, a printing process of a printing press department, and a processing process of a processing department after printing. However, the checks by each department and each person in charge must be performed reliably, and the results must be entered accurately.
[0015]
It is possible to grasp each process in real time and reflect changes immediately in the process.However, due to the complexity and variety of printing processes, misreads from various forms, misinterpretation of print data, or printed materials It is difficult to prevent human errors such as sorting errors.
[0016]
An object of the present invention is to provide a printing system capable of simultaneously managing print data and print order data as one data in order to prevent such human error.
[0017]
In the printing process, it is required to process complex and various orders quickly with a short delivery time. However, simply processing these various orders in order does not improve the processing efficiency. For this reason, it is required to perform similar printing processes and perform efficient processes. An object of the present invention is to provide a printing system capable of optimizing a printing process for generating optimum printing composition information and printing work process information by setting optimum conditions for these classification and sorting.
[0018]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the problems described above, the present invention utilizes print data in the XML (extensible Markup Language) format that can be operated by a browser on the Internet.
[0019]
In recent years, the Internet has rapidly spread, and data in XML format, which is a markup description language, has been used as data that can be operated from a client browser to a web server.
[0020]
The XML data is expressed by a document type definition file called DTD (document type definition), which expresses the structure of the document. Can be extended.
[0021]
In a printing system capable of managing print data on a web server, performing design editing from a web browser, and printing the edited print data, the web server includes: A template database in which various print formats are laid out, and XML (extensible Markup Language) format data, which is a markup description language, in which print XML template data is recorded, and the print XML template data on the web client side. This is a web printing system provided with print data editing means for generating print data by editing from a browser.
[0022]
In the template database, print formats such as business cards, company envelopes, postcards, company information, and calendars have already been laid out, and are XML-format data including all the detailed print information. This data can be directly converted as data for a typesetting system.
Since the data is in the XML format, it can include all of the detailed print information required for conversion to the data for typesetting, and can be mutually converted with the data for typesetting.
[0023]
The print data editing means is operated from a client browser, selects desired print XML template data from the template database provided on the web server, and inputs text data or image data to be changed. And a program that can set desired detailed print information and edit desired print data.
[0024]
Since the template data is XML data, various detailed print information can be set, and a tag for the print information can be arbitrarily set, so that the print information can be set freely according to the typesetting system on the output side. , Mutual data conversion is also possible.
[0025]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing system capable of managing print data and order data on a web server, operating and editing these data from a web client side, and printing the data. The order data is recorded as XML format data, is integrated print data in which the order information is recorded simultaneously with the print information, and is a web printing system capable of centrally managing the print data and the order data.
[0026]
The order data is various data described in an order form when the client orders a print, and in addition to the data regarding the print, the orderer, order date, quantity, delivery date, delivery method, order amount, order person, Contains management related data such as payment methods.
[0027]
Since the integrated printing data is XML data and the tag can be set arbitrarily, the management-related data as described above is also recorded as one XML data together with the printing data, and complete unified management becomes possible. No process management system is required.
[0028]
That is, since the print data becomes the management data as it is, the management data may be added at the stage when the print data is processed in each process, and no human error such as a mistake in data or a sorting error occurs. . Further, it becomes possible to print a part of the order data at the same time in the printed matter at the time of printing.
[0029]
According to the third aspect of the present invention, printing processing information such as imposition, paper quality, color printing, and a printing lot is acquired from the integrated printing data, and printing for generating optimal printing composition information and printing work process information. It is a web printing system provided with a process optimization means.
[0030]
The optimized printing composition information and printing work process information are for setting optimal conditions so that the composition process and the printing process can be efficiently performed. For example, from a plurality of print jobs, paper quality and color printing conditions are set. It is to extract equivalents and collectively imposition them and perform typesetting processing, or collect and print equivalents of color printing and process them as the same printing lot. A program for automatically performing processes such as integration, division, and replacement of data in accordance with the conversion conditions is provided.
[0031]
According to the invention as set forth in claim 4, a delivery assortment code generating means for creating a delivery assortment code for managing delivery of a printed matter from the integrated printing data, and the generated delivery assortment code is used for printing and delivery-related documents. And a delivery assortment code display means for printing and displaying on the web printing system.
[0032]
Conventionally, printed materials are sorted, packed, and delivered according to the delivery destination of the delivery note or delivery slip, but this sorting work requires careful attention, such as checking the order quantity and delivery destination. Inevitable mistakes are inevitable. As a method of minimizing these mistakes, generally, a method of adding and managing a code number for each job has been adopted.
[0033]
That is, this code number is described in a process management table, a delivery note, a sending slip, or the like, and the printed matter is managed. However, these code numbers are numbers generated at the start of management, and have been repeatedly transferred and confirmed artificially and sequentially in various subsequent steps, and are the most important numbers and number data. Therefore, in the post-process after printing, accurate collation with the printed matter is required again.
[0034]
Also, when sorting for delivery, only the code number for management is not enough, and even if the same management number is used, various conditions such as different delivery destinations may occur. For example, a delivery slip is created, sorted, and delivered, and accurate collation between the delivery slip and the printed matter is required.
[0035]
The delivery sorting code described above is generated from the integrated printing data and is provided exclusively for delivery sorting. The integrated print data is the print data itself, and is not data created by a separately constructed management system or the like as in the related art. There is no room for human error due to confirmation.
[0036]
That is, since the delivery sorting code is directly generated from the client's order data immediately before the typesetting, the delivery sorting code is not transcribed or checked before that, so that those mistakes can be completely eliminated. Further, since the delivery assortment code is printed on both the printed matter and the delivery-related documents at that time, human error can be prevented, and the delivery person can easily confirm the delivery assortment code.
[0037]
For example, in one order, when there are multiple printed materials for the delivery destination, or when the prints are divided and printed at different timings, the printed materials packed for delivery management can be delivered to the delivery box corresponding to the delivery assortment code. For example, it is possible to perform efficient and accurate sorting of packed printed materials, for example, by identifying a delivery sorting code with a box number or a serial number and delivering when all printed materials are collected.
[0038]
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a web printing system including a print management document print data generating unit for generating print management document print data from the integrated print data.
[0039]
The print management documents are an order sheet, an invoice, a delivery note, a sending slip, a process management table, and the like. Since the integrated print data is XML data, the document data can be included in one data together with the print data. Also, since it can be created as it is from the data at the time of ordering, there is no mistake in transcription.
[0040]
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a web printing system provided with a monitor for confirming the status of generation and correction of integrated printing data.
[0041]
The monitor means monitors the reception status of the printed matter, and edits the print XML template data from a browser on the client side to generate integrated print data. The print reception status list data and the like are created from the integrated data for use, and the order status can be grasped on the web server side. Since the print integration data includes the print data and the order data, a detailed list can be created, and the order status can be confirmed in detail and accurately.
[0042]
Further, when there is a change in the contents of the order, for example, the integrated printing data already created is corrected from the client side. In this case, the monitor function allows the user to know the overall order status, confirm the optimization status of the printing process, and if necessary, adjust the settings of the printing process optimization means to conditions suitable for the corrected content. Can be changed to
[0043]
In the invention according to claim 7, an external character registration unit capable of performing external character registration by an operation from the web client is provided, and the external character registration unit is provided with a web preview data generating unit, At the same time, the web printing system can display and confirm external characters in real time.
[0044]
The external character registration unit is capable of operating a client-side browser to create and register an external character when it is necessary to use a character other than a standard character code in creating print data. The external character registration database is provided on the web server.
[0045]
Also, the created external character is provided with a program for automatically generating web preview data at the same time as the creation, so that a preview screen at the time of printing is displayed on the screen so that the client can confirm the external character in real time. I have.
[0046]
In the invention according to claim 8, an external character selecting means is provided for selecting which of an external character and a designated JIS kanji corresponding to the external character is used for the print data. This is a web printing system.
[0047]
The external character selection means is used when editing print data from a browser on the client side, depending on the printed matter, for example, when the user wants to print the external characters as it is, such as a printed matter for an advertisement, or when printing on a corporate envelope. In some cases, such as in the case of typical printing, a JIS kanji corresponding to the external character is desired.
[0048]
In such a case, a program or the like is provided which allows the client to select one of them while checking with the preview function or the like.
[0049]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a web printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this web printing system, a terminal device 1 of a web client and a web server 2 are connected via the Internet 3. The web server 2 has a job management system 4 for managing all printing jobs, A typesetting system 5 for typesetting data for printing and a printing system 6 for printing typesetting data are connected by a local network. In addition, a sorting box 7 is provided for sorting printed and cut prints for each delivery unit.
[0050]
A web browser 8 is installed in the terminal device 1 of the web client, for example, a personal computer connected to the Internet.
[0051]
The web server 2 includes a network I / F unit 9 for transmitting and receiving a web client to and from the terminal device 1 and a data management unit 10 for creating print data. The data management unit 10 includes: A data editing unit 11 and an external character processing unit 12 are provided. Further, an XML template database (XML-DB) 13 and an external character database (external character DB) 14 are connected.
[0052]
The data to be edited here is XML template data 15 recorded in the XML template database 13. The data is data in which various print formats are laid out and is in XML format. Reference numeral 16 denotes integrated printing data 18 including order data 17.
[0053]
The external character processing unit 12 has a function of registering external characters and a function of switching between external characters and JIS kanji. An external character database 14 for recording external character registration data is connected.
[0054]
The job management system 4 is a system for managing printing jobs, and is provided with a monitor unit 20 for monitoring the status of orders, a form management unit 21 for managing and issuing various forms, and the like.
[0055]
The monitor section 20 acquires the integrated printing data 18 including the order data 17 and displays the integrated printing data 18 on a screen so that the overall order receiving status can be grasped. The form management unit 21 has a function of creating an order form, a delivery note, an invoice, a sending slip, and the like from the integrated print data 18 and printing the form.
[0056]
The typesetting system 5 includes a process optimizing unit 30, a code processing unit 31, and a typesetting unit 32, and a plurality of typesetting devices 33A, 33B, and 33C are connected to the typesetting unit 32. .
[0057]
The process optimizing unit 30 acquires print processing information such as imposition, paper quality, color printing, and a print lot from the edited integrated print data 18 and generates optimal print composition information data and print work process information data. The data is written into the integrated printing data 18 and the typesetting and printing are performed according to the data.
[0058]
The code processing section 31 generates a delivery sorting code 19 in the integrated printing data 18. The delivery assortment code 19 is an identification code set for a delivery unit from the order data included in the integrated print data 18.
[0059]
The typesetting unit 32 is connected to a plurality of typesetting devices 33A to 33C, converts the integrated printing data 18 into typesetting data, and forms print data by the typesetting devices 33A to 33C. You. In addition, each typesetting device is selected according to the optimum information data, and each typesetting process is performed.
[0060]
The printing system 6 includes a printing unit 40 to which a plurality of printing devices 42A, 42B, and 42C are connected, and a cutting unit 41 for performing a cutting process after printing.
[0061]
The printing unit 40 selects a printing apparatus in accordance with the typeset print data and the optimization information added as described above, and performs printing in accordance with the set print information. At the same time, a delivery slip on which the delivery sorting code 19 is displayed is also printed. The trimming section 41 performs a trimming process on printed printing paper.
[0062]
The assortment box 7 is identified by a code number corresponding to the delivery assortment code 19, is divided into a large number, and is a storage for delivery in which a box 50 for inputting printed matter is installed. The printed materials sorted into the boxes 50 in each section are delivered by a transportation means such as a truck 51.
[0063]
Next, the operation of the web printing system according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an operation procedure according to the present invention.
[0064]
In this embodiment, a business card creation print service using the Internet will be described as an example.
S-1) The terminal 1 of the web client connects to the web server 2 via the Internet 3 and calls a list of XML template data from the home page.
S-2) Select a desired business card data layout and confirm the layout.
S-3) Input necessary data into the template data.
[0065]
The template data is input to both the order-related data input section and the print-related data input section.
[0066]
Order related data
(1) Printed product information
Enter the product name, quantity, etc.
(2) Schedule information
Enter the order date, delivery date, etc.
(3) Orderer information
Enter the name of the orderer, contact information, customer code, etc.
[0067]
Print-related data
(1) Text input
Enter necessary information such as company name, department name, name, address.
(2) Image data input
Specify the required image data such as a logo and a face photo.
(3) Detailed design input
Set character size, font, appearance, color scheme, etc.
[0068]
S-4) After inputting the data, the editing completion is commanded.
S-5) When the editing is completed, the print image is preview-displayed.
After confirming the preview, an OK command is issued.
[0069]
S-6) The edited template data is sent to the typesetting system 5 as integrated printing data, and a process optimization process is performed.
From the integrated data for printing, print processing information such as imposition, paper quality, color printing, print lot, etc. is obtained, and optimal print composition information data and printing work process data are generated, and commands are issued to the composition system 5 and the printing system 6, respectively. Is done.
[0070]
S-7) Delivery sorting code addition processing is performed.
The delivery unit is identified from the integrated printing data, a sorting code is assigned to the delivery unit, and then the printing unit is identified from the printing operation process data, and a division code is added to the printing unit. Even if printing is performed in a divided manner, sorting management can be performed from this divided code. The delivery assortment code is added to the print data, and the added print data is sent to the business management system 4 and managed.
[0071]
S-8) A conversion process from the integrated printing data to the data for typesetting is performed.
S-9) The typesetting data is typeset by the typesetting device.
S-10) The print data that has undergone the typesetting processing is sent to the printing system 6, and the printing apparatus is specified and printing is performed in accordance with the printing operation process data. At this time, a delivery slip describing the delivery assortment code is also printed at the same time.
[0072]
S-11) The printed material is trimmed.
S-12) The cut printed material is sorted in the sorting box 7 according to the sorting code according to the delivery sorting code of the sending slip. Even in the case where printing is performed in a divided manner, it is possible to confirm whether or not there is a divided print and whether or not all of the divided printed materials are prepared by the above-described divided code.
[0073]
S-13) When all of the printed materials sorted in the sorting box 7 are collected, the delivery person confirms the delivery together with the delivery slip based on the delivery sorting code and delivers it.
[0074]
As described above, the browser operation from the web client 1 enables the detailed editing of the print data, the confirmation of the print image, and the realization of a highly reliable web print service capable of simultaneously specifying the order data and the print data.
[0075]
When an external character is used in editing the print data, the external character data is designated and transmitted to the web server 2 and recorded in the external character registration DB 14. At this time, web preview data is generated at the same time, and the external characters to be registered can be confirmed on the screen from the browser 8 of the client 1 in real time. Further, in the design details setting input of the print-related data input unit, it is possible to select whether to use a registered external character or to specify a JIS kanji character close to the registered external character.
[0076]
In the business management system 4, the integrated printing data after the delivery assortment code adding process described above is acquired, and a detailed list is displayed for each job by the monitor function. As a result, the entire printing process can be easily grasped, and when a change in the order data occurs, this list can be used to confirm the change. When the printing process is affected, the typesetting system is used. 5, the optimization information data of the printing system 6 or the process optimization unit 30 can be called to correct the optimization conditions.
[0077]
【The invention's effect】
The present invention described in detail above has the following effects.
1) By using the XML template data, the print data can be easily edited by operating from the client browser, and the data can be mutually converted into the typesetting data, and the detailed layout can be edited.
[0078]
2) Since this is integrated printing data in which order information is recorded simultaneously with print information, complete unified management is possible, and human errors due to transcription and confirmation can be prevented. In addition, management documents can be created directly from print data, and there is no need to separately create management basic data.
[0079]
3) By providing the printing process optimizing means, it is possible to dramatically improve the work efficiency even in complicated and various printing services.
[0080]
4) By setting the delivery sorting code, the sorting operation of the printed matter can be performed quickly and accurately.
[0081]
5) The provision of the monitor means makes it possible to easily grasp the overall printing order status.
[0082]
6) Since the external character registering means and external character selecting means capable of web preview are provided, external characters can be easily used for print data.
[0083]
7) Since the means for selecting external characters and JIS kanji are provided, the print quality can be changed depending on the printing device or the type of printed matter.
[0084]
As described above, according to the present invention, all print-related information, from print information to management information, can be set as detailed XML-format data, and detailed print settings can be made. A high web printing system can be realized.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a web printing system according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an operation procedure of the web printing system according to the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Web client
2 Web server
3 Internet
4 Business management system
5 Typesetting system
6 printing system
7 Sorting box
8 Web browser
9 Network I / F section
10 Data Management Department
11 Data Editing Department
12 External character processing unit
13 Template database
14 Gaiji Database
15 Template data
16 Data for printing
17 Order data
18 Integrated data for printing
19 Delivery sorting code
20 Monitor section
21 Report Management Department
30 Process Optimization Department
31 Code processing unit
32 Typesetting
33A-33C typesetting device
40 printing section
41 Cutting Department
42A-42C printing device
50 partition box
51 Delivery Truck

Claims (8)

In a printing system that manages print data on a web server, performs design editing from a web browser, and can print the edited print data,
A template database in which various print formats are laid out on the web server, and XML (extensible Markup Language) format data, which is a markup description language, in which print XML template data is recorded; and the print XML template data And a print data editing unit for generating print data by editing the print data from a browser on a web client side. In a printing system that manages print data and order data on a web server, edits and operates these data from the web client side,
The print data and the order data are recorded as XML format data, are integrated print data in which the order information is recorded together with the print information, and the print data and the order data can be centrally managed. Web printing system. From the integrated printing data, a printing process optimizing unit for obtaining printing process information such as imposition, paper quality, color printing, and printing lot, and generating optimal printing type information and printing work process information is provided. The web printing system according to claim 2, wherein: A delivery assortment code generating means for generating a delivery assortment code for managing the delivery of the printed matter from the integrated printing data, and a delivery assortment for printing and displaying the created delivery assortment code on the printed matter and delivery-related documents; The web printing system according to claim 2, further comprising a code display unit. 5. The print management document printing data generating means for generating print management document printing data from the integrated printing data is provided. Web printing system as described. The web printing system according to any one of claims 2 to 5, further comprising monitor means for confirming the status of generation and correction of the integrated print data. An external character registration unit capable of registering an external character by an operation from the web client side is provided. The external character registration unit is provided with a web preview data generation unit, and the external character is displayed and confirmed in real time at the time of creation. The web printing system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the web printing system can perform the web printing. 2. An external character selection means for selecting which of an external character and a designated JIS kanji corresponding to the external character is used for the print data. The web printing system according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

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