Automatic high speed publishing system

Claim 1

A method of imaging a publication composed of manuscript material such as text and graphics, said method comprising the steps of: defining in a computer system the structure of a publication to be imaged to include a plurality of identifiable entities associable with manuscript material wherein said entities make up at least a portion of said structure, and assigning at least one imaging attribute to each entity; receiving manuscript material along with entity-identifying information; associating said material with ones of said entities identified by said information; and imaging said manuscript material associated with each of said entities according to said attributes assigned thereto, said imaging step further including the steps of searching the manuscript material associated with predetermined ones of said entities for at least one predetermined manuscript item, retrieving in response to detection of said manuscript item, predetermined manuscript material stored in said computer system memory and unassociated with any particular publication, and imaging said predetermined manuscript material in association with said entity having said manuscript item.

Claim 2

A method of imaging a publication composed of manuscript material such as text and graphics, said method comprising the steps of: defining in a computer system the structure of a publication to be imaged to include a plurality of identifiable entities associable with manuscript material wherein said entities make up at least a portion of said structure, and assigning at least one imaging attribute to each entity; receiving manuscript material along with entity-identifying information; associating said material with ones of said entities identified by said information; and imaging said manuscript material associated with each of said entities according to said attributes assigned thereto, said imaging step further including the steps of searching the manuscript material associated with predetermined ones of said entities for at least one predetermined manuscript item, retrieving in response to detection of said manuscript item, predetermined manuscript material stored in said computer system memory and unassociated with any particular publication, and imaging said predetermined manuscript material in association with said entity having said manuscript item.

Claim 5

An apparatus for imaging a publication composed of manuscript material such as text and graphics, said apparatus comprising: a computer system including means for defining the structure of a publication to be imaged to include a plurality of identifiable entities associable with manuscript material wherein said entities make up at least a portion of said structure, and for assigning at least one imaging attribute to each entity before associating a manuscript material therewith, means for receiving manuscript material along with entity-identifying information, means for associating said material with ones of said entities identified by said information, and means for imaging said manuscript material associated with each of said entities according to said attributes assigned thereto, said imaging means further including means for searching the manuscript material associated with predetermined ones of said entities for at least one predetermined manuscript item, means for retrieving, in response to detection of said manuscript item, predetermined manuscript material stored in said computer system memory and unassociated with any particular publication, and means for imaging said predetermined manuscript material in association with said entity having said manuscript item.

Claim 6

An apparatus for imaging a publication composed of manuscript material such as text and graphics, said apparatus comprising: a computer system including means for defining the structure of a publication to be imaged to include a plurality of identifiable entities associable with manuscript material wherein said entities make up at least a portion of said structure, and for assigning at least one imaging attribute to each entity before associating a manuscript material therewith, means for receiving manuscript material along with entity-identifying information, means for associating said material with ones of said entities identified by said information, and means for imaging said manuscript material associated with each of said entities according to said attributes assigned thereto, said imaging means further including means for searching the manuscript material associated with predetermined ones of said entities for at least one predetermined manuscript item, means for retrieving, in response to detection of said manuscript item, predetermined manuscript material stored in said computer system memory and unassociated with any particular publication, and means for imaging said predetermined manuscript material in association with said entity having said manuscript item.

Claim 9

A method of imaging a cook book for printing, the cook book including recipes with each recipe having a title, ingredient list, and recipe method, said method comprising the steps of: defining in a computer system entities making up the structure of the cook book to include at least the entities of recipe and associated recipe title, ingredient list and method; assigning an entity-identifying code to each of said entities and assigning at least one imaging attribute to each of said entities; receiving manuscript material into said computer system including recipes and associated recipe titles, ingredient lists and methods identified by respective codes without any attribute information included in said manuscript material; performing at least one processing operation on said manuscript material before imaging in accordance with said attributes; and imaging said manuscript material according to said attributes into a camera-ready signature page format to include left and right hand pages, said imaging step including the steps of searching the manuscript material associated with at least one of said recipe title entities for a predetermined food item word, retrieving in response to detection of said word a predetermined graphical icon stored in said computer system memory and unassociated with any particular publication and illustrative of said food item, and imaging said icon in association with the recipe of the recipe title having said word on the same page therewith.

Claim 10

A method of imaging a cook book for printing, the cook book including recipes with each recipe having a title, ingredient list, and recipe method, said method comprising the steps of: defining in a computer system entities making up the structure of the cook book to include at least the entities of recipe and associated recipe title, ingredient list and method; assigning an entity-identifying code to each of said entities and assigning at least one imaging attribute to each of said entities; receiving manuscript material into said computer system including recipes and associated recipe titles, ingredient lists and methods identified by respective codes without any attribute information included in said manuscript material; performing at least one processing operation on said manuscript material before imaging in accordance with said attributes; and imaging said manuscript material according to said attributes into a camera-ready signature page format to include left and right hand pages, said imaging step including the steps of searching the manuscript material associated with at least one of said recipe title entities for a predetermined food item word, retrieving in response to detection of said word a predetermined graphical icon stored in said computer system memory and unassociated with any particular publication and illustrative of said food item, and imaging said icon in association with the recipe of the recipe title having said word on the same page therewith.