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1. 3761 Victoria Park Avenue Scarborough Ontario Canada M1W 382 5 a color moni tor 38 for example a Goldstar Mode 1460 Plus Goldstar Co Ltd Lucky Goldstar Twin Tower 20 Yeouido dong Yeongdungpo gu Seoul 150 606 Korea 6 a keyboard 37 for example a Marquart Series 7065 MiniBoard Mar quart Switches Inc 2711 Route 20 East Cazenovia N Y 13035 and or other input means such as a trackball for example a Happ Model 56 5500 11 Trackball Happ Con trols Inc 106 Garlisch Drive Elk Grove Village Ill 60007 7 a color printer 39 for example a Tektronix Phaser III Color Printer Model 4698RX Tektronix Graph ics Printing and Imaging Division 26600 S W Parkway Wilsonville Oreg 97070 and 8 a direct memory access printer interface card for example a SuperVend DMA card A floppy disk controller IDE drive interface adapter card and a floppy disk drive can also be included Each card printing system is typically housed in either a single kiosk or a printer enclosure and one or more display and input enclosures that can be placed in card shops supermarkets and other locations where greeting card are commonly sold The computer system hard drive in the card printing system contains 1 an operating system program for example DOS 5 0 Microsoft Corporation One Microsoft Way Redmond Wash 98052 2 a CD ROM driver pro gram 3 a printer driver program and 4 a card printing system control program2. 3 The Cardmaker program assumes the social expression card is rectangular for example four and one half inches by six and one half inches so the card format must be designated as horizontal or vertical 4 The desired panel for image placement is selected F for front panel P for inside panel or B for back panel 5 The image name DMFO01501 is entered the first image on the front panel 6 The image position is entered C for center of panel T for top of panel B for bottom of panel L for left side of panel R for right side of panel or specific x and y coordinates are entered Positioning of the first image would be completed at this point Additional images are positioned by repeating steps three through five Text is entered and positioned on the social expression card format by 1 selecting Text from a menu 2 Selecting the panel on which the text is to be placed 3 Entering the text position by selecting C for center of panel T top of panel B bottom of panel L left side of panel R right side of panel or by entering specific x and y coordinates 4 Selecting the text font and point size from a list of fonts and point sizes For example 1035 Avon Book 16 point 5 Selecting the text color from a list of available colors For example black white red blue magenta green or cyan 6 Entering the text for example Happy Birthday using the keyboar
3. for example Cardfinder SuperV end Inc As shown in FIG 4 when a CD ROM 33 is installed in a card printing system s CD ROM drive 34 the card print ing system control program on the hard disk drive 36 transfers from the CD ROM 33 to the hard disk drive 36 any standard display image files and display font files that are not already on the hard disk drive The card printing system control program analyzes the card descriptions contained in the card description database the menu descriptions con tained in the menu database the standard display image files and display font files present on the hard disk drive and the dithered print image files and print font files present on the CD ROM and creates four files 1 a file indicating which standard display images and dithered print images are present good images file 2 a file indicating which display font files and print font files are present good font files 3 a file indicating which card formats in the card 15 20 25 30 35 45 50 55 60 65 12 description database have all the files present that are necessary to display card images and print cards good card file and 4 a file indicating which card list screens have at least one card name listed that is also listed in the good card file good menu file The good menu file is used to determine which card parameters will be displayed on the menu screens of the card printing sy
4. be compressed using for example the Lempel Zev and Welch LZW compression algorithm The file is identified with the image name followed by the extension PCP Print image file name For example DMF01501 PCP is the print image file name for the first print image on card number 150 published by David Mekelburg and Friends The print image files are typically saved to a separate directory The hue and saturation of palette colors associated with each print image file must be adjusted to new values i e 10 15 20 25 30 35 50 55 65 6 color corrected so the printed output will match the colors of the original card image or original art image This is accomplished with a color correction program such as Colorcorrect SuperVend Inc 228 Barberry Place Love land Colo 80537 which generates new palette colors by automatically applying red green and blue color correction curves to each color in the indexed color image palette The details of color correction are well known in the art and therefore need not be explained here To allow rapid printing print image files should be modified with a dithering program for example Ditherimage SuperVend Inc before they are used by a color printer in acard printing system In an indexed color image each pixel is represented by an index number that corresponds to an entry in a 24 bit color table containing 256 colors of a possible 16 7 million colors The pro
5. card list screen For example the menu path for card number 150 published by David Mekelburg and Friends is Birthday Relative Son The card name to be entered is DMF0150 A card name is entered by 1 holding down the ALT key on the keyboard and pressing the L key and 2 selecting the desired card name from a list of available card names card name list Only card names found in the card description database appear in the card name list Any time after card names are entered the order in which they will be displayed can be changed by 1 entering the menu creation mode 2 displaying the appropriate card list screen 3 selecting a card name whose position is to be altered 4 holding down the ALT key on the keyboard and pressing the M key 5 then selecting the card name which the previously selected card name is to appear before or after 6 pressing the Return key on the keyboard and 7 then selecting either Before or After from a menu display Card parameters can be deleted from menu creation screens and card names from the card list screens by 1 selecting the card parameter or card name 2 holding down the ALT key on the keyboard and 3 pressing the D key The file created using the menu layout program menu database is automatically saved to the hard disk After these databases have been prepared by the computer System this data must be distributed to the card printing systems
6. g birthday cards anniversary cards get well cards A list of card designs is linked to categories in the menu database The databases and image files are then copied cnto remov 5 600 563 3 able data storage media for distribution to each of the card printing units A typical card printing unit has a display a color printer input means e g a keyboard or trackball data storage means for reading the removable data storage media and a computer processor The processor uses the menu database to prompt the customer to select a desired category of cards The processor uses the card description database to selectively retrieve and display images of cards linked to the selected category using the display images If the card printing system user selects a card to be printed the pro cessor retrieves and prints the print images for the selecied card A primary object of the present invention is to provide a card printing system capable of rapidly displaying card images to card printing system users and also producing high resolution printed cards Another object of the present invention is to provide a card printing system for creating a card description database in which each card is defined in terms of its component images text and fields for personalization Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a card printing system having a menu database that enables a card printing system user to specify a desired category o
7. in the field Due to their size the dithered print image files standard display image files print font files display font files card description database and menu database must be transferred to a large capacity memory means While a variety of such devices might be used an optical compact disc read only memory CD ROM is the preferred means because 1 it will store approximately 640 megabytes of data 2 can be produced in quantity at a low cost 3 the data on the compact disc cannot be altered 4 5 600 563 11 compact discs can be easily replaced in the field and 5 CD ROM drive devices are relatively inexpensive compared to other drive devices Techniques for producing a CD ROM are well known and need not be explained here Alterna tively other types of optical or magnetic disks or similar media can be used As shown in FIG 3 each card printing system contains a computer system which includes 1 an IBM PC or com patible computer 35 CPU with a large quantity of RAM for example eight megabytes 2 a hard disk 36 for example a Seagate Model ST1239A 211 megabyte hard drive Seagate 920 Disc Drive Scotts Valley Calif 95066 3 a CD ROM drive 34 and a CD ROM drive controller card for example a Sony CD ROM Drive Model CDU 53501 Sony Corporation of America P O Box 60590 Los Angeles Calif 90060 4 a graphics adapter card for example an ATI Technologies VGA Integra graphics adapter ATI Technologies Inc
8. interactive design terminal for custom imprinted articles such as T shirts and the like A memory stores a library of available design elements and a set of design rules for combination of the design elements in accordance with selections made by the operator Ciarlo discloses a computer system for readily dispensing information such as information on travel entertainment accommodations and the like Montagna et al disclose a system for storing and retriev ing text and associated graphics Graphic images are stored in compressed digital format Graphic images can be tied into specific points in a menu structure as shown in FIG 3 There are also a number of commercially available soft ware programs that allow personal computer systems to print greeting cards For example Card Shop by Artsci Inc allows Macintosh computer users to select from a menu of fifty greeting cards covering a variety of occasions Greeting Card Maker by Artivision Inc allows Apple computer users to print cards invitations and announce ments Also The Print Shop by Broderbund Inc allows IBM PC users to create and print greeting cards In addition to these references a wide variety desktop publishing software e g Aldus Pagemaker and QuarkX Press has long been commercially available for conven tional personal computers Desktop publishing systems allow a trained user to create virtually any type of custom publications primarily suc
9. 24 bit colors Image Data Palette index values 1 byte 1 pixel Display Palette color TIFF file Fig 6 Tag Section Photometricinterpretation Palette Color ImageWidth 85 dots per inch resolution ImageLength 85 dots per inch resolution Fig 7 Color Patette 256 entries of 24 bit colors Image Data Palette index values 1 byte 1 pixel U S Patent Feb 4 1997 Sheet 7 of 10 5 600 563 Display Image File Signature Image length at 85 dots per inch resolution Image Width at 85 dots per inch resulution Compression Block Size Normalized Color Palette Data Block 1 Compressed Size Compressed Data Block 1 Fig 8 Data Block 2 Compressed Size Compressed Data Block 2 Data Block N Compressed Size Compressed Data Block N Print Image File Fig 9 Data Block N Compressed Size Compressed Data Block N 5 600 563 Sheet 8 of 10 Feb 4 1997 U S Patent OL 514 N 1ueuoduioo piep G jueuoduioo piep L JUBUOdWOO p129 N 1ueuoduioo piep cst Jusuodwoo piep Lit JUBUOdWOD pieg N lusuoduwo9 piep cit Jusuodwoo pJje L JUQ UOdWODS piep JopeoH 94 U S Patent Feb 4 1997 Sheet 9 of 10 5 600 563 Fig 11 Card parameter 1 Card parameter 2 Card parameter N Secondary menu 1 Card parameter 1 Card parameter 2 Card parameter N Secondary menu 2 Card paramet
10. 38 Now There s A Robot Design News Mar 26 1990 pp 78 81 Hohman Edward J How Computerized Cards Make This Shop Truly A Treat Greetings Magazine vol 55 No 3 Jan 1987 pp 12 13 and 24 McAndress Steve Magical Poet Literature pp lec20 date unknown Balsam David and Martin Kahn The Print Shop Reference Manual Copyright 1986 1989 Broderbund Software Inc pp 1 51 Lets Make Calendars and Stationery User s Manual Kyocera Unison Inc 1986 Solomon Got Something to Announce Promote Sell Family Computing Jul 1987 pp 43 45 List continued on next page Primary Examiner James P Trammell Attorney Agent or Firm Dorr Carson Sloan amp Birney 57 ABSTRACT A system for printing social expression cards includes both a database preparation system and a plurality of remote card printing systems The database preparation system uses a scanner to input images from a plurality of cards or a computer software program to create a plurality of images for use in card designs A high resolution print image and a lower resolution display image are created from each of these images A card description database defines the layout of each card in terms of its component images and their locations on the card The database preparation system can also build a menu database defining a structure of menu screens to query the user to select a desired category of cards A list of card names
11. 88 Suzuki 364 479 Promotional Literature InScribe Inc date unknown 12 1988 Fischetti et al 360 33 1 Print A Little Message InScribe Inc date unknown 1 1989 Padilla 210 100 Hallmark gets personal with cards Boulder Daily Cam 3 1989 Kubota et al 364 468 era Business Plus Mar 31 1992 p 5 3 1989 Brown 364 518 A 4 1989 Davies et al 235 381 Itex p II brochure Itex Corporation date unknown 5 1989 Gonzalez Justiz 235 375 CreataCard system introduced by Custom Expressions 10 1989 Powell et al 12121111112211 364 468 Inc May 1990 U S Patent Feb 4 1997 Sheet 1 of 10 5 600 563 Fig 1 10 18 Original Card Color Monitor or Artwork 12 15 17 Color Scanner 19 Color Printer Oo Hard Drive U S Patent Feb 4 1997 Sheet 2 of 10 5 600 563 Fig 2 Name Card Images Create Print Fonts Scan or Create Card Images Create Display Fonts Convert Images to Run Font Placement indexed Color Program Modify Images Save to Font Directory Save Print Image Files Create Dithered Print image Files Resample Print Images Save Display Image Files Run Palette Normalization Program Save Standard Image Display Files Run Image File Placement Program Save to Card Image Directory To Fig 2a U S Patent Feb 4 1997 Sheet 3 of 10 5 600 563 Fig 2a Run Card Layout Program Position Images Enter and Position Text Save Card Format to C
12. United States Patent s Cannon et al DO AUTRE A AA US005600563A 5 600 563 Feb 4 1997 11 Patent Number 45 Date of Patent 54 SYSTEM FOR PRINTING SOCIAL EXPRESSION CARDS 75 Inventors Thomas G Cannon Loveland Daniel L DeHart Greeley Eric M Krug Loveland all of Colo 73 Assignee Onkor Ltd Masonville Colo 21 Appl No 949 715 22 Filed Sep 23 1992 51 Tnt CL cese teretes G06F 19 00 52 US CL ee 364 468 24 364 479 03 364 479 05 58 Field of Search 364 479 03 468 24 364 479 05 408 410 412 235 379 383 381 382 902 18 30 21 23 41 358 527 395 155 161 101 106 114 117 56 References Cited U S PATENT DOCUMENTS 8 1972 Quinn see 340 172 5 9 1973 Bialek 178 6 6 A 7 1975 Kraynak et al 281 15 R 4 1976 Ciarlo sese 340 172 5 3 688 276 3 751 037 3 892 427 3 949 375 List continued on next page FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS 0010399 4 1980 European Pat Off OTHER PUBLICATIONS High Tech Bard of Greeting Cards Nation s Business Feb 1985 1 page Card Shop Brochure Artsci 1986 1 page The Social Secretary Brochure 5 pages date unknown The Card O Mat brochure 6 pages date unknown 7 Eleven to Sell Do it Yourself Tickets Insight Jan 16 1987 p 42 In Store Computer Designs Home Projects Design News Oct 23 1989 p
13. ard Description Database Run Menu Layout Program Create Menu Screens Create Menu Path Create Card List Screens Save to Menu Database U S Patent Feb 4 1997 Sheet 4 of 10 5 600 563 Paper Color Monitor 38 39 35 37 Color Printer Computer 34 36 Hard Drive CD ROM Drive Operating System Program CD ROM Driver Program Printer Driver Program Card Printing System 33 Control Program Display Image Files CD ROM Display Font Files Card Description Database Menu Database Good Images File Good Fonts File Good Cards File Good Menu file Display Image Files Display Font Files Dithered Print Image Files Print Font Files Card Description Database Menu Database Fig 3 U S Patent Feb 4 1997 Sheet 5 of 10 5 600 563 Fig 4 Turn on Card Printing System insert CD ROM in CD ROM Drive Automatic Copying of Selected Files to Hard Drive Good Images File Created Good Fonts File Created Good Cards File Created Good Menu Parameters File Created Card Printing System Menu Created Card Printing System Operational U S Patent Feb 4 1997 Sheet 6 of 10 5 600 563 RGB color TIFF file from original scan Tag Section photometricinterpretation RGB Fig 5 Image Data RGB 3 bytes 1 pixel Print Palette color TIFF file Tag Section Photometricinterpretation Palette Color ImageWidth 300 dots per inch resolution ImageLength 300 dots per inch resolution Color Palette 256 entries of
14. ath is linked to a group of card names that can be used to retrieve card designs to be displayed to the card printing system user The structure of a typical menu database is shown in FIG 11 The program also allows the entry of text which appears at the top of each screen screen title to instruct the user for example Choose a Category or inform the user of their present location in the menu path for example Birth day Relative Son Cardmaker is such a program SuperV end Inc In the Cardmaker program menu screens are created in a menu creation mode where a card parameter s text is entered and then displayed in a white rectangle menu creation screen Rectangles containing card parameter text are displayed in rows each containing a maximum of four rectangles A maximum of six rows may be entered on a menu creation screen If more than three rows are entered a second primary menu screen will be created and the two screens are inter linked The card printing system user can view the primary menu screens alternately by selecting a More Choices button Before any card parameter is entered text for the screen title on the menu screen must be entered on a keyboard e g Choose a Category The first card parameter is then 1 selected from card parameters which have previously been entered and are displayed on the menu creation screen e g Birthday Anniversary or Wedding or 2 if no card paramete
15. cards or social expression cards After manufacture the cards are shipped either directly or through wholesale distributors to a variety of retail outlets such as specialty card shops drug stores grocery stores and the like where they are displayed and sold to retail custom ers One of the most significant problems associated with the remote manufacture of greeting cards is the very large amount of inventory needed at the point of sale and the space required to properly display the inventory of greeting cards For example most greeting cards are displayed on card racks that group the cards into a number of categories or fields to assist a customer in locating the type of card desired Typically a large display rack is needed to expose a sufficient portion of the face of each card to allow easy scanning by the customer of the various cards available in a particular category or field A number of systems have been invented in the past to provide on site manufacture or customization of social expression cards and the like including the following Inventor Pat No Issue Date Cannon 5 056 029 Oct 8 1991 Buckley et al 5 036 472 July 30 1991 Montagna et al 4 899 292 Feb 6 1990 Powell et al 4 873 643 Oct 10 1989 Brown 4 817 043 Mar 28 1989 Ciarlo 3 949 375 Apr 6 1976 CreataCard system introduced by Custom Expressions Inc Glendale Calif in May 1990 U S Pat No 5 056 029 was previously is
16. cess of dithering reduces an indexed color image to a 4 bit color image dithered print image The dithered print image matches the subtractive primary colors i e cyan magenta and yellow plus black used by the printer To compensate for this loss of color resolution a dithering algorithm is used A dithered print image uses an N by N matrix for example 5 by 5 of cyan magenta yellow or black pixels dither matrix to represent the 24 bit color value of each indexed color image pixel Individual dither matrix color pixels have varying values so the color of the matrix is perceived by the human eye as an approximation of the original pixel color in the indexed color image In addition to dither matrix creation the dithering pro gram overlaps adjoining dither matrices This is necessary because the indexed color image has a resolution of 300 dpi which matches the printer resolution If no overlapping of dither matrices was done and for example a 5 by 5 dither matrix was used the resulting dithered image would have one twenty fifth the spatial resolution of the indexed color image By overlapping the dither matrices the color value of each 4 bit pixel is averaged between all overlapping pixels This overlapping gives the completed dithered print image a blended appearance that is visually pleasing The details of image dithering are well documented J D Foley amp A Van Dam Fundamentals of Interactive Computer Graphics Addis
17. d 17 If an area for personalized text to be entered by card printing system users is to be specified this is accomplished by 1 choosing Personalized Text from a menu 2 Selecting the panel where personalized text is to be placed 3 Entering the text position by selecting C for center of panel T for top of panel B for bottom of panel L for left side of panel R for right side of panel or by entering specific x and y coordinates 4 Selecting the text font and point size from a list of fonts and point sizes e g 1318 Howard Thin 14 point 5 Selecting the text color from a list of available colors e g black white red blue magenta green or cyan 6 Entering the number of lines of person alized text to be allowed e g six lines The card printing system control program determines at the time user text is input how many characters can be placed on each line given the font specified in the card description database The front inside and back panels are individually viewed on the monitor display 18 to assure that images and text are properly positioned If modifications are required the appro priate steps are repeated Card formats created by the card layout program are automatically saved under the card name to a database card description database as shown in FIG 10 Each card in the card description database is defined in terms of its components such as images text and person alization fie
18. er 1 Card parameter 2 Card parameter N Secondary menu 3 Card parameter 1 i Card parameter 2 Card parameter N Card list 1 Card name 1 U S Patent Feb 4 1997 Fig 12 File Header Card Image Component Image file designation Card User Text Component Type of user input Sheet 10 of 10 5 600 563 Card Repeated Image Header Deleted Flag Card orientation Type card or repeated image Number of card components Card Text Component Card component type Card side X coordinate Y coordinate Text Font RGB color of text Text string Card Repeated Image Component Card component type Name of Repeated Image 5 600 563 1 SYSTEM FOR PRINTING SOCIAL EXPRESSION CARDS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1 Field of the Invention The present invention relates generally to the field of greeting cards More specifically the present invention discloses a system for creating a database of available greeting card designs that then can be manufactured through on site printing units 2 Statement of the Problem Greeting cards or social expression cards have tradition ally been manufactured in large quantities by various manu facturers at locations remote from the point of purchase or retail outlet Social expression cards include greeting cards invitations announcements and the like and are referred to herein as greeting
19. f card designs and then displays images of cards that have been linked to that category These and other advantages features and objects of the present invention will be more readily understood in view of the following detailed description and the drawings BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention can be more readily understood in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which FIG 1 is a schematic diagram of a computer system used in preparing social expression card designs by the process of this invention FIGS 2 and 2a show a flow chart of the overall method of this invention FIG 3 is a diagrammatic view of a card printing system used in on site printing of social expression cards FIG 4 is a flow chart of the method used by this invention to configure a card printing system FIG 5 is a diagram of the structure of the RGB color TIFF file produced from the images scanned by the color scanner FIG 6 is a diagram of the structure of the print palette color TIFF file generated from the image file shown in FIG 5 FIG 7 is a diagram of the structure of the display palette color TIFF file generated from the image file shown in FIG 5 FIG 8 is a diagram of the structure of the compressed display image file generated from the display image file shown in FIG 7 FIG 9 is a diagram of the structure of the compressed print image file generated from the print image file shown in FIG 6 FIG 10 is diagra
20. h as newsletters and brochures However it is possible to create custom greeting cards invitations business cards and the like using a desktop publishing system 3 Solution to the Problem None of the prior art references uncovered in the search show a system for printing social expression cards in which card images are stored as a set of display images in a format to facilitate rapid display on a color monitor and as a corresponding set of print images in a format to rapidly produce high resolution printed cards In addition the sys tem includes a card description database that defines each card in terms of its component images text and fields for personalization SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention provides a system for printing social expression cards that includes both a database preparation computer system and a plurality of remote card printing systems The database preparation computer system uses a scanner to input graphic images from a plurality of cards or a computer software program to create a plurality of images for use in card designs A high resolution print image and a lower resolution display image are created from each of these images A card description database defines the layout of each card in terms of its component images and their locations on the card The database preparation unit can also build a menu database defining a structure of menu screens to query the user to select a desired category of cards e
21. her comprises means for creating a menu database for querying the card printing system user for a p urality of special occasion parameters and linking 10 14 cards to said special occasion parameters wherein said menu database is copied on said removable storage media and wherein the sequence of menus and the cards displayed for the user by said card printing system is controlled by said menu database 7 The system of c aim 1 wherein said printer reproduces co or images by means of dots of a predetermined set of colors and black and wherein said print images are stored in a dithered format in which said print images are reduced to patterns of said colors and black X k k
22. is linked to each category in the menu database These databases and image files are then copied onto removable data storage media for distribution to each of the card printing systems A typical card printing system has a display a color printer input means e g a keyboard or trackball data storage means for reading the removable data storage media and a computer processor The processor uses the menu database to prompt the cus tomer to select a desired category of cards 7 Claims 10 Drawing Sheets 5 600 563 3 982 744 4 436 776 4 650 977 4 654 799 4 655 026 4 672 554 4 674 055 4 710 885 4 750 151 4 787 050 4 789 907 4 801 375 4 817 005 4 817 043 4 818 854 4 833 307 4 873 643 Page 2 U S PATENT DOCUMENTS 4 899 292 2 1990 Montagna et al 4 982 337 1 1991 Burret al 364 479 9 1976 Kraynak et al sss 270 12 5 036 472 7 1991 Buckley et al sss 364 479 3 1984 Wojcik 428 14 5 053 956 10 1991 Donald et al see 364 401 3 1987 Couch 235 379 5 056 029 10 1991 Cannon 364 468 3 1987 Ogaki et al 364 479 5 172245 12 1992 Kita et al 358 403 4 1987 Wigoda sse 53 55 5 243 174 9 1993 Veeneman et al 235 381 6 1987 Ogaki eee 364 479 5 327 265 7 1994 McDonald see 358 527 6 1987 Ogaki et al eeecscssscssesene 364 479 12 1987 Litteken 364 518 OTHER PUBLICATIONS 6 1988 Baus 364 900 11 19
23. lds or card user text FIG 12 shows how each type of component is defined within the card description database One preferred method of retrieving card images for dis play and selection by users of a card printing system is 5 600 563 9 through a series of displayed menus that allow the user to describe in a progressive manner through selection of a word phrase or icon special occasion parameter or card parameter the type of social expression card desired For example the user may first be asked to select a general class of cards such as Birthday Anniversary Get Well etc If Birthday is selected the user is then prompted to select a sub classification of birthday cards such as Relative Children or Humorous This menu process continues to prompt the user to select special occasion parameters until a single end category of cards is reached Upon selection of a category one or more card images linked to the category are retrieved and displayed on the color monitor Creating a menu which allows rapid retrieval of social expression card images requires a software program menu layout program capable of constructing a menu display primary menu screen and sub menu displays second ary menu screens One or more card parameters displayed on the primary menu screen are linked to card parameters displayed on secondary menu screens Ultimately the last card parameter in a series of menu screens menu p
24. lor monitor is 800 pixels by 600 pixels At this resolution for a display image to appear at the same size as a printed image created with a dithered print image file the display image must have a resolution of 85 dpi An 85 dpi display image can be created from the 300 dpi print image in Aldus Photostyler by selecting Resample from the Transform menu and entering the resolution desired When the display image is saved it is processed by a palette normalization program such as Fiximage SuperV end Inc which analyzes the color palette associated with each display image and transforms it as shown in FIG 8 into a palette having certain colors in specific palette loca tions standard color palette For example red green blue cyan magenta yellow black and white are located in the first through eighth palette locations The resulting file is then compressed using the LZW compression algorithm and saved in a proprietary format standard display image file as shown in FIG 8 The file is identified with the image name followed by the extension DSC standard display image file name For example DMF01501 DSC is the standard display image file name for the first display image on card number 150 published by David Mekelburg and Friends To provide rapid retrieval from a large number of display image files display image files are moved from the display images directory to a number of separate directories using a s
25. m of the structure of the card description database FIG 11 is a diagram of the structure of the menu database FIG 12 is a diagram of the various possible components of the card description database DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION FIG 1 shows an overall schematic view of the computer system used to prepare databases of social expression card 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 60 65 4 designs The steps in this process are outlined in the flow chart provided in FIG 2 Copies of these databases are then distributed via CD ROM or other removable storage media to a large number of card printing systems shown in FIG 3 that print cards at remote sites Turning to FIGS 1 and 2 each original social expression card is viewed and the publisher name and publisher s card number on the card is noted For example card number 150 pub ished by David Mekelburg and Friends If original art images i e images created using artistic media including computer paint programs are being used card numbers are assigned serially to each submission from an artist or other source A three letter publisher code is assigned to the publisher publisher code For example DMF for David Mekelburg and Friends The card is then named using the publisher code followed by no more than four numerals card name For example the card name for card number 150 published by David Mekelburg and Friends is DMF0150 Each image
26. mputer also includes input means 17 such as a keyboard mouse or trackball Optionally a color printer 19 can also be included Scanning is typically done at 300 dots per inch dpi and 24 bits per pixel Scanned image files resulting from the scanning process and computer art image files are stored in directories identified by a publisher code For example the directory for the publisher David Mekelburg and Friends is named DMF Individual image files are saved in the appro priate publisher directory under the image name previously assigned Each scanned image file or computer art image file is then opened in a digital image processing program such as Aldus Photostyler Aldus Corporation 411 First Avenue South Seattle Wash 98104 2871 Scanned images are displayed on a color monitor 18 such as a Goldstar Model 1460 Plus Goldstar Co Ltd Lucky Goldstar Twin Tower 20 Yeo uido dong Yeongdungpo gu Seoul 150 606 Korea capable of displaying images in at least 256 colors The scanned image or computer art image is saved in a file in RGB red green blue true color format as shown in FIG 5 600 563 5 5 which may contain up to 16 7 million colors Each pixel in the image requires three bytes of storage The capability of the monitor and video card used in the system will determine how many of the colors in an RGB true color file will be displayed For example the Goldstar Model 1460 Plus monitor used with a VGA Integra ca
27. n be changed by 1 entering the menu creation mode 2 selecting a rect angle containing a card parameter whose position is to be altered 3 holding down the ALT key on the keyboard and pressing the M key 4 then selecting the card parameter which the previously selected card parameter is to appear before or after and 5 then selecting either Before or After from a menu display After the primary menu screen has been completed a secondary menu screen can be created in the menu creation mode by selecting a card parameter which appears on the first menu screen and entering Return on the keyboard A second menu creation screen is then displayed A secondary menu screen is always linked to a card parameter displayed on another screen Screen titles and card parameters are entered on secondary menu screens in the same manner as on the primary menu screen After one or more secondary menu screens linked by card parameters have been created a card list screen is created This is accomplished in the Cardmaker program when a menu creation screen is displayed which has no card param eters displayed The menu creation screen is changed to a card list screen by holding down the ALT key on the keyboard and pressing the C key Card names of cards to be displayed in association with a specific menu path are entered on one or more screens listing the names of cards in the order in which they are to be displayed
28. oftware program which automatically relocates the files image file placement program This can be accom plished by using a program such as Putimage SuperVend Inc Two additional types of files which are created are print font files and display font files A font is defined as a set size bitmap of a particular typeface The resolution of print fonts must match the resolution of a particular printer e g 300 dpi for the Tektronix Phaser III color printer The resolution of display fonts must match the resolution of the color monitor they are to be displayed on For example one of the resolutions available on the Goldstar 1460 Plus color moni tor is 800 pixels by 600 pixels At this resolution for a display font to appear at the same size as a print font the display font must have a resolution of 85 dpi A six letter code is assigned the font font code For example the font code for Howard Thin is HOWLSS Each point size of the font is named by the font code followed by two numerals font name For example the font name for 14 point Howard Thin is HOWLSS14 Print font files are identified with the font name followed by the extension 0 300 print font file name For example HOWLSS14 300 is the print font file name for 14 point Howard Thin Display font files are identified with the font name followed by the extension 0 085 display font file name For example HOWLSS14 085 is the display font file name for 14 point H
29. on Wesley Publishing Co 1984 pages 593 602 In conventional systems dithering is done by the color printer after the image data has been downloaded from the com puter to the printer and before the image is printed In the present system the print image is pre dithered before the print image file is stored This results in more rapid printing and also reduces the size of the print image file Dithered print image files are identified with the image name followed by the extension PCD dithered print image file name For example DMF01051 PCD is the dithered print image file name for the first dithered print image on card number 150 published by David Mekelburg and Friends Dithered print image files are then compressed using the LZW compression algorithm and saved in a proprietary format as shown in FIG 9 To provide rapid retrieval from a large number of dithered print image files dithered print image files are moved from the dithered images directory to a number of nested directories using a Software program which automatically relocates the files image file placement program This can be accom plished by using a program such as Putimage SuperVend Inc The display image file shown in FIG 7 is also created from the print image The resolution of display images must match the resolution of the color monitor they are to be displayed on For example one of the resolutions available 5 600 563 7 on the Goldstar 1460 Plus co
30. on the original card original card image including the front panel inside panel and back panel images is named with the card name followed by a number indicating the order in which the image appears on the card image name For example DMF01501 would be the image name for the first image on card number 150 published by David Mekelburg and Friends Any image that appears in the same location on more than one card repeated image such as a logotype is named with the publisher code followed by a four letter code and a single numeral indicating the order in which the repeated image appears on the card relative to other repeated images on the same card repeated image name For example DMFLOGO1 is the repeated image name for the first repeated image to appear on card number 150 published by David Mekelburg and Friends Except for original art images created using computer paint programs computer art images all images on original cards 10 are scanned using a color scanner 12 such as the Microtek 600Z ScanMaker Microtek International Inc No 6 Industry East Road 3 Science based Industrial Park Hsinchu Taiwan 30077 R O C connected to a com puter 15 such as an IBM PC compatible having eight megabytes of random access memory RAM which in turn is connected to one or more large capacity memory devices 16 such as a 1 2 gigabyte Micropolis Model 1598 15 hard drive Micropolis Inc Chatsworth Calif The co
31. oward Thin Print fonts and display fonts can be created using a scalable font library such as the Digi Fonts Inc Typeface library and a font conversion program such as Digi Duit Digi Fonts Inc 528 Commons Drive Golden Colo 80401 Both print font files and display font files are saved to a directory named Fonts on the hard disk To provide rapid retrieval from a large number of font files both display and print font files are moved from the fonts directory to a number of nested directories using a software program which automatically relocates the files font file placement program This can be accomplished by using a program such as PutFonts Super Vend Inc For example when the font file placement program is run the 20 25 30 55 60 65 8 print font File HOWLSS14 300 and the display font file HOWLSS14 085 are automatically transferred from the fonts directory to a separate subdirectory Print images display images and text used in a social expression card format must be positioned on the front inside or back panels of the socia expression card using a software program with this capability card layout pro gram This can be accomplished with a program such as Cardmaker SuperVend Inc For example card number 150 published by David Mekelburg and Friends would be formatted using the Cardmaker software program by 1 selecting image from a menu 2 The card name DMFO0150 is entered
32. rd ATI Technolo gies Inc will display 256 of the 16 7 million colors possible in the RGB true color file The displayed scanned image or displayed computer art image is then converted to a format with a limited palette of colors indexed color image This is accomplished in Aldus Photostyler by selecting Indexed 256 color from the image menu which creates an indexed color image with a palette of 256 colors Before completing the conversion when Aldus Photostyler is used the type of color palette to be created is specified as Adaptive to best simulate the colors in the original image If necessary the indexed color image is cropped This is accomplished in Aldus Photostyler using a cropping tool to select an area to be saved The indexed color image size is checked to determine if it will fit within a defined area For example the area could be defined as a four inch by six inch rectangle If the image is larger than the defined area it should be reduced to four inches by six inches This is accomplished in Aldus Photostyler by selecting the area to be resized and then choosing Resize from the Transform menu and entering the appropriate dimensions Typically when an original card image or original art image on a white background is scanned the white back ground of the displayed indexed color image contains a number of random colored pixels These colored pixels must be removed This can be accomplished in Aldus Photo
33. rs have been previously entered or none of those previously entered are suitable a new card parameter is entered using a keyboard e g Blank Card parameters may be displayed on menu screens in a variety of formats For example the Cardmaker program may display card parameters as blue text in white rectangles or buttons two inches wide by one inch high against a blue background Menu screens may contain from one to twelve buttons The arrangement of buttons on the menu screen depends on the number of buttons present For example if twelve buttons are present they may be displayed in three rows each containing four buttons If three buttons are present they may be displayed in a single column in the center of the menu screen The relative position of card parameters on menu screens can be arranged with the menu layout program For example if two card parameters had been entered for display on the first menu creation screen and one other card param eter was already present the three card parameters would be displayed on the primary menu screen in a column of three buttons with the top button containing the card parameter 20 30 45 50 55 65 10 which was already present and the middle button containing the first new card parameter entered The second new card parameter would appear as the bottom button Any time after a card parameter is entered its relative position on the buttons which appear on a menu screen ca
34. stem The card printing system is then operational The com puter processor 35 uses the menu database to display menus to allow the card printing system user to select a desired category of social expression cards The menu path desig nated by the user is linked to a set of card names in the selected category The computer retrieves the display image files and display font files for these cards and then composes and displays images of each card for the user using the format data for the card in the card description database If appropriate the card can be personalized with information input by the user in accordance with format data stored in the card description database If the user selects a card to be printed the computer retrieves the corresponding print image files and print font files composes the card image in accordance with the card description database and then prints the card on the color printer 39 The above disclosure sets forth a number of embodiments of the present invention Other arrangements or embodi ments not precisely set forth could be practiced under the teachings of the present invention and as set forth in the following claims We claim 1 A system for printing social expression cards compris ing a database preparation computer system having a means for inputing graphic images for each of said cards b means for creating a high resolution print image for each of said images c means for crea
35. styler by selecting the white background area using the magic wand tool and then choosing the Clear command from the Edit menu When an original card image or original art image having areas of a single color is scanned the corresponding areas of the displayed indexed color image will contain a large number of pixels of varying colors These pixels should be changed to a single color which is the same as the single color area on the original card image or original art image This can be accomplished in Aldus Photostyler by selecting the dominant pixel color in a single color area of a displayed image with the eyedropper tool This color is identified as the fill color The color area to be made into a single color is then selected using the magic wand tool The Fill command is then chosen from the Edit menu and the selected area is automatically filled with the dominant pixel color previously chosen with the eyedropper tool When modification of the indexed color image is com pleted the image is saved in two different formats 1 a print image file which will be processed to create files which can be used by a color printer dithered print image file and 2 a display image file which can be displayed on a color monitor The print image file is saved to the hard drive in a color image file format such as Tag Image File Format TIFF as shown in FIG 6 In addition if a minimum amount of memory space is to be used the file can
36. sued to one of the present inventors less than one year prior to the filing date of this application This patent discloses a system for manufacturing and vending social expression cards that queries the customer to input a series of special occasion parameters to select a card from a database of available card designs The CreataCard system was introduced by Custom Expressions Inc in May 1990 This system is an on site unit that guides customers through a series of card selections on a touch sensitive display screen After choosing the desired style of card the customer enters information to personalize the card such as names dates ages messages etc It is believed that the card information is stored in vector graphic format since the card is drawn line by line using an eight color pen plotter Buckley et al disclose a computer controlled machine for vending personalized greeting cards and the like The 25 30 35 45 50 55 65 2 unit provides audio and video presentations of the products and options available to the customer Base products such as pre printed forms are stored within the unit for transfer by a robotic arm to a printer for customization Brown discloses an information kiosk with a video dis play that provides instructions and information to users The user enters choices on a keypad input device The kiosk can also provide textual or graphic printed information Powell et al disclose an
37. ting a lower resolution display image for each of said images d means for creating a card description database defining the layout of each card in terms of its component images and their locations on the card e data storage means for creating multiple copies of said card description database print images and display image files on removable data storage media and at least one card printing system having a a display b a printer c input means d data storage means for reading said removable data storage media and e processor means for using said card description database to selectively retrieve display images of cards from said data storage means and display said display images on said display allowing a user to select a desired card via said input means retrieving print images for said selected card from said data storage means and printing said print images on said printer 2 The system of claim 1 wherein said data storage means comprises a CD ROM 5 600 563 13 3 The system of claim 1 wherein said data storage means comprises a hard disk drive 4 The system of claim 1 wherein said card description database further comprises information defining any text appearing on each card 5 The system of claim 1 wherein said card description database further comprises information on fields that can be personalized for each card 6 The system of claim 1 wherein said database prepara tion computer system furt
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