Automatic layout method for full-bleed printing
View Patent ↗The invention is an improved method of automatically laying out a print job to be printed on a printer having a multiplicity of available media sizes. The method utilizes the ability of the printer to print full-bleed on at least some of the four edges of the paper media, and includes automatically performing the calculations to determine the appropriate shift in the location of the print area on the paper media, as well as determining whether the print area must be rotated to obtain the best fit to the media, thereby minimizing the amount of post-printing trimming required. The invention is useful in simplex and duplex printing.
1. A method of automatically laying out a print job for printing on a printer having a plurality of available media sizes, the method comprising the steps of:
a. setting up the print job, the print job comprising data denoting a print area, the print area comprising a length and a width of a finished output;
b. determining whether the print area is smaller than an available media size by a bleed margin requirement, the bleed margin requirement being associated with a bleed margin required by the printer;
c. automatically enabling the printer to print full-bleed;
d. determining whether the print area must be rotated to fit the print area on an available media size while accounting for the bleed margin requirement;
e. automatically selecting a media size from those available that accommodates the print area and the bleed margin requirement;
f. automatically calculating the distance and direction the print area must be shifted to locate the print area on the media in such a manner as to optimize the image location on the selected media while accounting for the bleed margin requirement for efficient post-print trimming;
g. printing the print job with the calculated image area shift and image area rotation.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the printed output is single-sided.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the printed output is double-sided.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the printer is capable of full-bleed printing on four edges of the media.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the printer is capable of full-bleed printing on three edges and requires a bleed margin on one edge of the media, and the bleed margin is automatically accounted for with the bleed margin requirement in determining the appropriate print area shift and print area rotation.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the bleed margin is on the leading edge.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:
a. printing an instruction sheet accompanying the print job that comprises trimming instructions for setting up a post-printing trimming device.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the trimming instructions are sent to a trimming device connected to the printer.
9. The method of claim 5 wherein the printed output is single-sided.
10. The method of claim 5 wherein the printed output is double sided.
11. A method of automatically laying out a print job for printing on a printer having a plurality of available media sizes, the method comprising the steps of:
a. setting up the print job, the print job comprising data denoting a print area, the print area comprising a length and a width of a finished output;
b. determining whether the length of the print area is smaller than a leading edge length of an available media size and that the width of the print area is smaller than a lateral edge length of an available media size;
c. determining whether the length of the print area is smaller than the lateral edge length of an available media size and whether the width of the print area is smaller than the trailing edge length of an available media size;
d. enabling the printer to print full-bleed;
e. determining whether the print area must be rotated to fit the print area on an available media size;
f. automatically selecting a media size from the available media;
g. automatically calculating the distance and direction the print area must be shifted to locate the print area on the media in such a manner as to optimize the image location on the media for minimizing post-print trimming;
h. printing the print job on the printer with the calculated image area shift and image area rotation, wherein the printer is capable of full-bleed printing on three edges and requires a printer margin on one edge of the media, and the printer margin is automatically accounted for in selecting the media size and determining the appropriate print area shift and print area rotation.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the printer is capable of full-bleed printing on four edges of the media.
13. The method of claim 11 wherein the printer margin is on the leading edge.
14. The method of claim 11 , further comprising the step of:
a. printing an instruction sheet accompanying the print job that comprises trimming instructions for setting up a post-printing trimming device.
15. The method of claim 11 , further comprising the step of sending trimming instructions are comprising instructions for efficiently performing post-printing trimming to a trimming device connected to the printer.