JP3918251B2 - Print data creation system based on personal data - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a print data creation system based on personal data, and more particularly to a system suitable for creating a printed matter such as a direct mail or an invoice containing different information for each customer.
[0002]
[Prior art]
When creating printed materials with different contents for each customer, such as invoices, usually a sheet of paper with a background pattern or ruled line that is common to all invoices printed in advance by offset printing is prepared. In addition, a method of additionally printing a name or amount unique to each customer with a dot printer or the like is employed. In addition, when creating printed matter using a word processor or a printer for computers, a so-called “merge printing” technique is used, and a character string (name) , Addresses, etc.) can be mixed. These methods are used not only for invoices but also for including individual-specific information in printed materials distributed to individuals such as direct mail.
[0003]
Further, as a use mode for direct mail, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-200701, personal data such as age, gender, purchase history, etc. is prepared for each customer, and based on this personal data. A system for creating a catalog for mail order for each individual customer is disclosed. Using this system, only products suitable for individual customers can be selected and listed in the catalog, and a unique catalog can be created for each customer.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By using the various methods described above, it is possible to create a printed matter with customized contents for each customer, but the degree of customization is still insufficient. For example, in the case of a general invoice, a background pattern, ruled lines, and the like are pre-printed on paper, and cannot be changed for each individual customer. In addition, it is common to print a certain number of such sheets at once. If it is necessary to change the background pattern or ruled lines, the printed sheets must be wasted. . In addition, the general “merge printing” method can only perform processing that replaces part of the character string with the unique information of each customer, so the name, address, etc. can be printed with character strings for each customer. I can only do it.
[0005]
On the other hand, if the mail order catalog creation system disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-200701 described above is used, the product images to be posted can be changed for each customer, and the degree of freedom of customization is considerable. Will improve. However, even if the product images are replaced, the overall design of the catalog created for each customer tends to be uniform, making the catalog a flashy design for younger customers, and for older customers. It is difficult to make changes such as creating a catalog with a calm design.
[0006]
SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides a printing data creation system suitable for creating printed matter that can be customized for each customer.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
(1) A first aspect of the present invention is a printing data creation system suitable for creating a printed matter including different information for each customer.
Personal data input means for entering individual customer personal data;
Material data storage means for storing material data for a plurality of materials to be posted on printed matter;
An allocation pattern storage means for storing a plurality of allocation patterns for each material;
Correspondence information storing means for associating specific personal data with a specific assignment pattern and storing correspondence information associating specific personal data with specific material data;
An assignment pattern selection means for referring to the correspondence information based on the personal data input by the input means and selecting a specific assignment pattern in the assignment pattern storage means;
Material data selection means for referring to correspondence information based on the personal data input by the input means and selecting specific material data in the material data storage means;
The material data selected by the material data selection means is read from the material data storage means, the assigned material data is subjected to an assignment process based on the assignment pattern selected by the assignment pattern selection means, and a specific customer Assignment processing means for generating print data;
Provided,
Material data is composed of image data and text data,
The allocation pattern shows the allocation mode of image data and text data,
The allocation processing means generates print data for a printed matter including an image and text .
[0009]
(2) According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the print data creation system based on the personal data according to the first aspect described above,
Pre-define common material data that is selected in common for multiple customers and unique material data that is selected differently for each customer,
The material data selection means selects specific specific material data by referring to the corresponding information based on specific personal data, and unambiguously selects common material data regardless of specific personal data. Is.
[0010]
(3) According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the system for creating print data based on the personal data according to the first or second aspect described above,
As material data, object image data indicating an image of an object to be presented to a customer and background image data indicating a background image when presenting the image of the object are prepared,
Correspondence information for associating specific personal data with specific object image data and specific background image data is stored in the correspondence information storage means.
[0011]
(4) A fourth aspect of the present invention is a printing data creation system based on personal data according to the first to third aspects described above.
An imposition processing means for performing imposition processing on print data for a plurality of customers is further provided so that printing is performed based on the data after the imposition processing, and printed materials distributed to a plurality of customers are collected. It can be printed.
[0012]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on the illustrated embodiments. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of a printed matter creation system including a print data creation system based on personal data according to the present invention. The personal data input means 10 has a function of inputting personal data D. The personal data D is information obtained by converting individual customer-specific information into digital data. Here, for example, a specific case where the personal data D as shown in FIG. 2 is prepared will be described. The example shown in FIG. 2 is personal data prepared based on information collected by the department store about the customer, and includes information such as customer code, name, age, gender, and purchase history (the name of the product purchased so far). Yes. Of course, in addition to this, various information such as family structure, hobbies, and annual income can be added. The personal data input means 10 is a component that inputs such personal data D as digital data, and the specific hardware configuration differs depending on the form of provision of the personal data D. For example, if the personal data D is provided by a recording medium such as a floppy disk, the personal data input means 10 can be configured by a floppy disk drive device, and the personal data D is provided via a communication line. In this case, the personal data input means 10 can be configured by a communication device such as a modem.
[0013]
On the other hand, the material data storage means 20, the allocation pattern storage means 30, and the correspondence information storage means 40 are means constituted by a computer storage device such as a memory, a magnetic disk, and an optical disk. Is remembered. Here, for convenience of explanation, these three storage means are shown separately for each block, but it is not necessary to distinguish these three in terms of hardware. You may comprise a memory | storage means.
[0014]
The material data prepared in the material data storage means 20 is data indicating various materials to be printed, and is composed of image data and text data. Here, the configuration of each data will be described with respect to a specific example in which a department store sends a guide for introducing a new product that also serves as a thank-you note for the previous product purchase to a customer by direct mail. First, image data is classified into product image data, background image data, and logo image data. The product image data is obtained by taking a photograph of the product handled by this department store, and the background image data is an image (background pattern, decorative ruled line, etc.) to be presented as a background when presenting this product image on a printed matter The logo image data is image data indicating the logo of this department store. The format (file format) of these image data may be any format as long as it can be used by the allocation processing unit 50 described later. On the other hand, the text data is data consisting of character strings, and in this embodiment, the text data is composed of a thank-you text and a product description text. These text data may be prepared, for example, in a general JIS kanji code format.
[0015]
The allocation pattern prepared in the allocation pattern storage unit 30 is information indicating an allocation mode of each material data prepared in the material data storage unit 20. In other words, it is composed of information that specifies which material is placed in what position on the printed matter and in what form. For example, for image data, the allocation position and magnification are specified, and text For data, an allocation position, font, character size, color, and the like are specified. A plurality of types of allocation patterns are prepared in the allocation pattern storage means 30. In this case, it is only necessary to prepare allocation patterns suitable for each purchasing layer in advance for various purchasing layers. For example, it is possible to prepare a flashy design layout pattern for young customers and a calm design layout pattern for elderly customers.
[0016]
The correspondence information prepared in the correspondence information storage means 40 has a function of associating specific personal data with a specific allocation pattern and associating specific personal data with specific material data. FIG. 3 shows an example of the correspondence information. In this example, a specific allocation pattern and specific material data (unique material data) are associated with a specific age and a specific gender in the personal data. For example, with regard to the allocation pattern, the allocation pattern L1 is associated with the age of 10 to 29 years, and the allocation pattern L2 is associated with the age of 30 years or older. In this example, the mapping of allocation patterns is irrelevant to gender, but of course, different allocation patterns may be correlated based on gender.
[0017]
Here, the following description will be given assuming that patterns as shown in FIG. 4 are prepared as the allocation patterns L1 and L2. In any of the allocation patterns, the allocation modes of the six materials of “advertiser display”, “customer name”, “thank you text”, “product image”, “background image”, and “product description text” are shown. . Here, the three materials “advertiser display”, “product image”, and “background image” are materials expressed by image data, and “customer name”, “thank you text”, and “product description text” 3 One material is a material expressed by text data. As described above, information for designating the allocation position and magnification is prepared for the image data, and information for designating the layout position, font, character size, color, etc. is prepared for the text data. Will be.
[0018]
In the correspondence information shown in FIG. 3, specific personal data and specific material data (unique material data) are further associated with each other. That is, three materials, a background image, a product image, and a product description text, are associated with each other according to age and gender. For example, for a man aged 18 years, a background image BK1, a product image PIC1, and a product Explanation text TX1 is associated. These material data are all stored in the material data storage means 20. That is, according to the correspondence information shown in FIG. 3, three types of background images BK1 to BK3, eight types of product images PIC1 to PIC8, and ten types of product description texts TX1 to TX10 are associated with each other. The material data is all material data prepared in the material data storage means 20.
[0019]
By the way, among the six materials indicated by the allocation patterns L1 and L2 in FIG. 4, “background image”, “product image”, and “product description text” are listed in the corresponding material data column of the correspondence information in FIG. Although “advertiser display”, “customer name”, and “thank you text” are not shown in the correspondence information of FIG. This is because it is not necessary to prepare correspondence information for the latter three materials. In other words, among the individual materials expressed on the printed matter, data on materials that differ for each customer is called unique material data, and data on materials common to all customers is called common material data. For example, it is sufficient to prepare correspondence information only for specific material data. In the example shown here, the “advertiser display” is common material data that is commonly used for all customers, and therefore correspondence information is not necessary. Therefore, the image data to be allocated as “advertiser display” is prepared as logo image data in the material data storage means 20, but is used for all customers without referring to the correspondence information.
[0020]
On the other hand, “customer name” and “thank you text” contain both common material data and unique material data. However, part of the personal data can be used as is for the unique material data. Therefore, it is not necessary to prepare correspondence information. For example, “customer name” is composed of a character string obtained by synthesizing “customer name (unique material data)” and “sama (common material data)”, but the former is directly from the personal data D shown in FIG. Since the latter is common material data, no correspondence information is required in either case. The “thank you note text” is composed of a character string composed of “thank you letter text (common material data)” and “past purchased product name (unique material data)”. The former is common material data. Yes, since the latter can be used as it is from the personal data D shown in FIG. 2, no correspondence information is required.
[0021]
In the block diagram of FIG. 1, the material data selection unit 25 refers to the correspondence information in the correspondence information storage unit 40 based on the personal data input by the personal data input unit 10, and stores the information in the material data storage unit 20. It has a function of selecting specific material data. That is, by referring to the correspondence information shown in FIG. 3, a specific unique material data is selected, and a process for uniquely selecting the common material data irrespective of the input personal data is executed. Similarly, the allocation pattern selection unit 35 refers to the correspondence information in the correspondence information storage unit 40 based on the personal data input by the personal data input unit 10 and selects a specific allocation pattern in the allocation pattern storage unit 30. It has the function to do.
[0022]
For example, consider a case where the first row of personal data D shown in FIG. That is, when personal data about a customer with the name “Suzuki A male” is input, the correspondence information in FIG. 3 is referred to based on the condition of age: 43 years old, gender: male. Therefore, the allocation pattern selection unit 35 selects the allocation pattern L2, and the material data selection unit 25 selects the background image BK3, the product image PIC5, and the product description text TX7. The material data selection means 25 uniquely selects image data to be allocated as “advertiser display”, common material data used for “customer name” and “thank you text”. The selected allocation pattern and material data are given to the allocation processing means 50. In this embodiment, the material data selection unit 25 selects the material data (name and character string of purchase history) to be diverted from the personal data D input from the personal data input unit 10 as the selected material data. As shown in FIG.
[0023]
Thus, the allocation processing means 50 is provided with the selected specific allocation pattern and the material data to be allocated. The allocation processing means 50 performs allocation processing based on these data, and generates print data for a specific customer. FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram of print data generated based on the personal data about the customer “Suzuki Ao” described above. It can be seen that the respective materials shown in FIG. 5 are assigned based on the assignment pattern L2 shown in FIG. The logo “XXX department store” assigned to the “advertiser display” position is obtained by assigning logo image data prepared as common material data. The character string “Suzuki A Yu-sama” assigned to the position of “customer name” is a combination of a common character “sama” and a character string diverted from the name of personal data. The character string “Golf Club…” assigned to the position of “Thank you text” is composed of the character string “Golf Club” diverted from the purchase history of personal data to the common letter of thanks text string. It is a thing. Furthermore, the images assigned to the positions of “product image” and “background image” in the lower left are assigned product images PIC5 and background image BK3 prepared as specific material data, respectively. The text assigned to the “description text” position is the product description text TX7 prepared as the unique material data.
[0024]
Similarly, FIG. 6 shows a conceptual diagram of print data generated based on the personal data “Tanaka B-ko” shown in the second line of the personal data D shown in FIG. FIG. 7 shows a conceptual diagram of print data generated based on personal data “Chiro Yamamoto”. 6 is assigned using the assignment pattern L1, whereas FIG. 7 is assigned using the assignment pattern L2, and the overall design is greatly different. As described above, a feature of the present invention is that a printed matter having a design that is greatly different for each customer can be created.
[0025]
Eventually, when personal data for one customer is input in the personal data input means 10, the allocation processing means 50 is given an allocation pattern and material data for this specific customer, and printing for one customer is performed. Data will be created. The imposition processing means 60 has a function of collecting such printing data for several persons and performing imposition processing. The imprinting data thus subjected to imposition processing is given to the printing means 70, and printing is performed based on the data after imposition processing. Here, a color electronic printer is used as the printing unit 70, and when printing data after imposition processing is given from the imposition processing unit 60, printing based on the printing data is sequentially performed. For example, if the imposition processing means 60 performs imposition processing for printing data for four customers, the printed materials for the four customers are printed together on one sheet. Will be. Finally, the post-processing unit 80 performs post-processing on the paper output from the printing unit 70. For example, a cutting process, a bending process, and the like are performed, and finally, a printed material P to be distributed to individual customers is created.
[0026]
After all, in this system, if the necessary data is prepared in advance in the material data storage means 20, the allocation pattern storage means 30, and the correspondence information storage means 40, then only the work of sequentially inputting the personal data D is performed. As a result, the printed material most suitable for each customer is automatically created.
[0027]
As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated based on embodiment shown in figure, this invention is not limited to this embodiment, In addition, it can implement with a various form. In particular, the configuration shown in FIG. 1 shows a printed material creation system using the present invention as functional blocks, and most of these functional blocks are realized by hardware and software using a computer. Is done. For example, the material data selection means 25, the assignment pattern selection means 35, the assignment processing means 50, and the imposition processing means 60 are means realized by incorporating dedicated software into a computer. The pattern storage means 30 and the correspondence information storage means 40 are means realized by this computer storage device.
[0028]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the printing data creation system based on personal data according to the present invention, a predetermined layout pattern and material can be selected based on personal data, so that the design can be freely customized for each individual customer. Will be able to.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of a system for creating printed matter based on personal data using the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a specific example of personal data D shown in FIG.
3 is a diagram showing a specific example of correspondence information prepared in correspondence information storage means 40 shown in FIG.
4 is a diagram showing a specific example of an allocation pattern prepared in the allocation pattern storage means 30 shown in FIG. 1. FIG.
5 is a diagram showing a printed matter created based on the information on the first line of personal data D in FIG. 2. FIG.
6 is a diagram showing a printed matter created based on the information in the second row of personal data D in FIG. 2;
7 is a diagram showing a printed matter created based on the information in the third row of personal data D in FIG. 2;
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Personal data input means 20 ... Material data storage means 25 ... Material data selection means 30 ... Assignment pattern storage means 35 ... Assignment pattern selection means 40 ... Corresponding information storage means 50 ... Assignment processing means 60 ... Imposition processing means 70 ... Printing Means 80 ... Post-processing means BK1, BK2, BK3 ... Background image D ... Personal data L1, L2 ... Allocation pattern P ... Printed matter PIC1-PIC8 ... Product image TX1-TX10 ... Product description text

Claims (4)

A system for creating printing data that includes different information for each individual customer,
Personal data input means for entering individual customer personal data;
Material data storage means for storing material data for a plurality of materials to be posted on printed matter;
Assignment pattern storage means for storing a plurality of assignment patterns for the material;
Correspondence information storing means for associating specific personal data with a specific assignment pattern and storing correspondence information associating specific personal data with specific material data;
An allocation pattern selection unit that refers to the correspondence information based on the personal data input by the input unit and selects a specific allocation pattern in the allocation pattern storage unit;
Material data selection means for referring to the correspondence information based on personal data input by the input means and selecting specific material data in the material data storage means;
The material data selected by the material data selection means is read from the material data storage means, and the read material data is assigned based on the assignment pattern selected by the assignment pattern selection means, and a specific data An assignment processing means for generating print data about the customer;
With
The material data is composed of image data and text data,
The allocation pattern indicates an allocation mode of image data and text data,
The assignment processing means generates print data for a printed matter including an image and text, and a print data creation system based on personal data. The system of claim 1, wherein
Predefine common material data that is selected in common for multiple customers and unique material data that is selected differently for each customer.
The material data selection means selects specific specific material data by referring to the corresponding information based on specific personal data, and uniquely selects the common material data regardless of the specific personal data. A system for creating print data based on personal data. The system according to claim 1 or 2,
As material data, object image data indicating an image of an object to be presented to a customer and background image data indicating a background image when presenting the image of the object are prepared,
A system for creating printing data based on personal data, wherein correspondence information storing means stores correspondence information for associating specific personal data with specific object image data and specific background image data. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
An imposition processing means for performing imposition processing on print data for a plurality of customers is further provided so that printed matter distributed to a plurality of customers can be printed on the same sheet. Print data creation system based on personal data.

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