Document printing using hardware-independent pattern ink cells

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10063737-B2
Application number	US-201715412328-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 23, 2017
Priority date	Jan 23, 2017
Publication date	Aug 28, 2018
Grant date	Aug 28, 2018

Abstract

A system prints a document using a device-independent pattern ink cell that is appropriate for the print device. The system does this by identifying an object in a print job corresponding to a security element that identifies a pattern ink cell for a color parameter. The system then defines a device-independent pattern ink cell for rendering the identified object. The definition of the device-independent pattern ink cell includes at least one scaling routine for adjusting a parameter of the device-independent pattern ink cell based on a resolution of a print device that will be used for printing the document. The system then queries and receives from a print system a device resolution of the print device, executes the at least one scaling routine to transform the device-independent pattern ink cell to yield a device-dependent pattern ink cell, and generates a print using the device-dependent pattern ink cell.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method of printing a document using a device-independent pattern ink cell, the method comprising, by a processor:
receiving a print job for printing a document that includes one or more security elements;
identifying an object corresponding to a security element in the print job that identifies a pattern ink cell for a color parameter;
defining a device-independent pattern ink cell for rendering the identified object, wherein the definition of the device-independent pattern ink cell comprises at least one scaling routine for adjusting a parameter of the device-independent pattern ink cell based on a resolution of a print device that will be used for printing the document;
querying a print system to return a device resolution and a current page location for a print device of the print system that will be used for printing the document;
receiving, from the print system, the device resolution and the current page location;
executing the at least one scaling routine to transform the device-independent pattern ink cell to yield a device-dependent pattern ink cell;
generating a print file for the document using the device-dependent pattern ink cell so that the print file will, when received by the print system, cause the print device of the print system to print the document with the one or more security elements at a scale corresponding to the device resolution and the current page location; and
transmitting the print file to the print device of the print system.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, by the print device:
receiving the print file; and
using the print file to print the document on a substrate.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the print file for the document using the device-dependent pattern ink cell comprises generating a raster image print file for the identified object using the device-dependent pattern ink cell.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein querying the print system to return the device resolution and the current page location comprises:
querying a digital front end of the print system to return the current page location; and
querying a print engine of the print system to return the device resolution.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the identified object includes one or more of the following:
a straight line segment that identifies a pattern ink cell for line color;
a freeform line segment that identifies the pattern ink cell for line color;
a geometrical shape that identifies the pattern ink cell for fill color; or
a freeform geometrical shape that identifies the pattern ink cell for fill color.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein defining the device-independent pattern ink cell for rendering the identified object comprises:
defining, in a page description language, a bounding shape for the device-independent pattern ink that comprises a first scaling routine, wherein the first scaling routine adjusts a parameter of the bounding shape based on a resolution of the print device used for printing the document; and
defining, in the page description language, a procedure for painting a variable portion and a fixed portion of the device-independent pattern ink cell within the bounding shape that comprises a second scaling routine, wherein the second scaling routine adjusts a parameter of the paint procedure based on the resolution of the print device.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
defining the variable portion of the device-independent pattern ink in the page description language; and
defining the fixed portion of the device-independent pattern ink in the page description language.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein executing the at least one scaling routine to transform the device-independent pattern ink cell to yield the device-dependent pattern ink cell comprises adjusting the parameter of the device-independent pattern ink cell based on the device resolution and the current page location.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising saving the defined device-independent pattern ink cell to a memory.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein defining the device-independent pattern ink cell for rendering the identified object comprises:
receiving a previously stored device-dependent pattern ink cell; and
transforming the previously stored device-dependent pattern ink cell to the device independent pattern-ink cell by adding a scaling routine to the definition of the previously stored device-dependent pattern ink cell.

11. A document printing system for printing a document using a device-independent pattern ink cell, the system comprising:
a processing device; and
a non-transitory, computer-readable memory containing programming instructions that are configured to cause the processing device to:
receive a print job for printing a document that includes one or more security elements;
identify an object corresponding to a security element in the print job that identifies a pattern ink cell for a color parameter;
define a device-independent pattern ink cell for rendering the identified object, wherein the definition of the device-independent pattern ink cell comprises at least one scaling routine for adjusting a parameter of the device-independent pattern ink cell based on a resolution of a print device that will be used for printing the document;
query a print system to return a device resolution and a current page location for a print device of the print system that will be used for printing the document;
receive, from the print system, the device resolution and the current page location;
execute the at least one scaling routine to transform the device-independent pattern ink cell to yield a device-dependent pattern ink cell;
generate a print file for the document using the device-dependent pattern ink cell so that the print file will, when received by the print system, cause the print device of the print system to print the document with the one or more security elements at a scale corresponding to the device resolution and the current page location; and
transmit the print file to the print device of the print system.

12. The system of claim 11 , further comprising:
the print device; and
additional programming instructions that are configured to cause the print device to:
receive the print file, and
use the print file to print the document on a substrate.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the instructions to generate the print file for the document using the device-dependent pattern ink cell comprise instructions to generate a raster image print file for the identified object using the device-dependent pattern ink cell.

14. The system of claim 11 , wherein the instructions to query the print system to return the device resolution and the current page location comprise instructions to:
query a digital front end of the print system to return the current page location; and
query a print engine of the print system to return the device resolution.

15. The system of claim 11 , wherein the identified object includes one or more of the following:
a straight line segment that identifies a pattern ink cell for line color;
a freeform line segment that identifies the pattern ink cell for line color;
a geometrical shape that identifies the pattern ink cell for fill color; or
a freeform geometrical shape that identifies the pattern ink cell for fill color.

16. The system of claim 11 , wherein the instructions to define the device-independent pattern ink cell for rendering the identified object comprise instructions to:
define, in a page description language, a

Assignees

• Xerox Corp

Inventors

• Chapman Edward N

Classifications

• H04N1/32197 Primary

  according to the spatial domain characteristics of the transform domain components · CPC title

• H04N1/32352

  Controlling detectability or arrangements to facilitate detection or retrieval of the embedded information, e.g. using markers (for decoding, detection or retrieval operations H04N1/32149 and subgroups take precedence) · CPC title

• H04N1/32251

  in multilevel data, e.g. greyscale or continuous tone data · CPC title

• H04N1/32219

  involving changing the position of selected pixels, e.g. word shifting, or involving modulating the size of image components, e.g. of characters (H04N1/32224 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G06K15/1836

  Rasterization · CPC title