Active Layout Engine: Algorithms and Applications in Variable Data Printing

Lin, Xiaofan

HP Development Company

关键词: automatic document layout;    constraint solving;    table formatting;    Simplex;    variable data printing;   

RP-ID  :  HPL-2005-6R1

学科分类：计算机科学（综合）

美国|英语

来源: HP Labs

【 摘 要 】

Variable Data Printing (VDP) provides a huge opportunity for HP's imaging and printing business. A core technology required by highly customized VDP applications is the automatic layout engine, whose task is to adjust the original design or generate a new layout to present variable contents. A brand-new layout engine, called Active Layout Engine (ALE), has been designed and implemented. "Active" reflects several unique features of the engine: First, through (multi)linear text block modeling and two-pass constraint solving algorithm, it supports a rich set of layout operations, such as simultaneous optimization of text block width and height, integrated image cropping, and non-rectangular text wrapping. Second, it does not rely on a particular layout description language and thus can actively pursue emerging formats and standards. This report describes the various technical aspects of ALE: Linearization of the text block modeling, two-pass constraint solving algorithm, format-neural Active Layout Template (ALT), system optimization, and typical VDP applications around the core engine. 32 Pages