Ricoh Company, Ltd.

International Business Machines Corporation

Ricoh Production Print Solutions LLC

Carl Michael Dennison

Adam A Swartz

Dwight Ross Palmer

Brian William Moroney

John Stuart Walker

Phillip Eugene Miller, Ii

Walter F Kailey

Michael Glen Lotz

Ned Otey

Ronald L Heiney

Brent James Winters

Garrett L Thompson

Systems and methods are provided for seeding print defects and inspecting print jobs. One embodiment is a system that includes a print server. The print server includes an interface that receives a test print job, a memory that stores the test print job, and a print controller that determines a number of copies of the test print job to print, subdivides each sheetside image of the test print job into a number of distinct zones corresponding to the number of copies, assigns each of the zones to a different copy of the test print job, and for each copy of the test print job, and seeds a print defect into each sheetside image of the copy within a zone assigned to the copy.

Print defect seeding within selected zones for print verification system

A method is disclosed. The method includes receiving one or more images of bitmap data applied to a print medium as print medium image data, register the print medium image data to the bitmap data, detecting one or more candidate defects based on whether a difference between the print medium image data at a location and the bitmap data at the location exceeds a predetermined threshold, detecting one or more defects among the candidate defects and transmitting information about the one or more candidate defects classified as defects.

Print defect detection mechanism

Systems and methods are provided for evaluation of a print verification system. One embodiment is a print system that includes a printer, a virtual printer, a print verification system, and a print server. The print server is configured to initiate an evaluation of the print verification system by providing a defective version of a print job to one of the printer and the virtual printer and providing a non-defective version of the print job to the other one of the printer and the virtual printer. The print server verifies functionality of the print verification system based on whether the print verification system detects the defects via comparison of the printed output of the print job by the printer against the bitmap image output of the print job by the virtual printer.

Evaluation of print verification system

A system is disclosed. The system includes a print controller including one or more processors to receive print data, rasterize the print data into bitmap data, analyze objects in each page of bitmap data to determine sizes of objects and generate mapping data for each page of bitmap data that maps locations of page bitmap data having same size objects, a print engine to print the bitmap data to a medium and a print verification system to capture one or more images of the medium as print verification data and to detect one or more defects in the print verification data.

Defect size detection mechanism

Systems and methods are provided for print verification that reports defective printheads. One embodiment is a Print Verification System (PVS) that includes an interface to receive print data, and an imaging device to obtain image data of printed output of the print data. The PVS also includes a processor to detect a print error on a page by comparing the print data and the image data. The processor determines a lateral distance of a location of the print error with respect to an edge of the page, identifies a print engine that printed the page, determines a lateral offset of the print engine with respect to the edge of the page, identifies a printhead among a plurality of printheads of the print engine that caused the print error based on the lateral distance of the print error and the lateral offset of the print engine.

Print verification system that reports defective printheads

Systems and methods are provided for print verification. One embodiment is a Print Verification System (PVS) that includes an imaging device which image pages of physical print media that were marked by a printer for a print job. The PVS also includes an interface that receives rasterized logical pages representing the pages of physical print media, and a controller that correlates images of the physical pages with the rasterized logical pages. The controller identifies discrepancies between images of physical pages and correlated rasterized logical pages. The controller also identifies a first mark on an image of a physical page that flags the page for special processing, identifies, in response to identifying the first mark, a second mark on the image that indicates a type of special processing for the page, and performs the indicated type of special processing upon the page at the PVS based on the second mark.

Special processing indicators for print verification systems

Systems and methods for suppressing print verification of a printed page. One embodiment is an apparatus that includes a print verification system that performs a verification process that analyzes printed pages of a printer for print errors. The print verification system receives a rasterized page from the printer and analyzes a predetermined location of the rasterized page for a bypass symbol. The print verification system also bypasses the verification process for a printed page that corresponds with the rasterized page responsive to detecting the bypass symbol in the predetermined location.

Suppressing print verification of a printed page

Systems and methods are provided for inserting hidden information into flush patterns. One embodiment is a system comprising a marking engine that includes multiple printheads, an interface that receives print data for a print job, multiple Raster Image Processors (RIPs), and a print controller. The print controller divides the print data into logical pages, inserts printable information into the logical pages that distinguishes each logical page from other logical pages, and transmits the logical pages to the RIPs for rasterization. The print controller determines that a RIP has completed rasterizing a logical page, transmits the rasterized logical page to a Print Verification System (PVS), directs the printheads of the marking engine to print the rasterized logical page onto a physical page, and directs the printheads of the marking engine to apply a flush pattern onto the physical page at the location of the inserted printable information.

Hidden information at flush pattern locations for print jobs

Systems and methods are provided for ensuring that printed output for a print job matches the expected output for a print job. The system comprises a control unit and a comparison unit. The control unit receives a print job and modifies the print job by adding a tag to each logical page of the print job, and to transmit the modified print job to a printer. The control unit further generates target images for the logical pages of the print job. The comparison unit receives printed pages of the job from the printer. For each printed page of the job, the comparison unit identifies a tag on the printed page, identifies a target image corresponding with the tag on the printed page, and compares an image of the printed page to the target image to detect discrepancies between the printed page and the target image.

Quality checks for printed pages using target images that are generated external to a printer

Systems and methods for modification of post-print instructions. The system includes a data center and a post-printing system. The data center is operable to receive a first print job that includes a plurality of documents and a first post-print instruction defining how the documents are processed after printing. The data center is also operable to receive a request that one or more documents in the print job be processed according to a second post-print instruction, and to extract the document(s) from the print job to generate a second print job. The second print job includes the extracted document(s) and the second post-print instruction defining how the document(s) are processed after printing. The post-printing system is operable to process the remaining documents of the first print job according to the first post-print instruction, and to process the document(s) of the second print job according to the second post-print instruction.

Modification of post-print instructions for documents of print jobs already within an ADF system

Methods, systems, and media are disclosed for testing the accuracy of a print verification system (PVS) in test mode, wherein a PVS is often used to validate the accuracy of printed output. One embodiment includes receiving, by an application, an output from a print verification system associated with the application, wherein the output comprises one or more defects. The embodiment also includes receiving, by the application, a list, such as a copy, of seeded defects for the output, wherein the list is uploaded to and saved by the application. In addition, the embodiment includes matching, by the application, the one or more seeded defects in the list that correspond to the one or more defects in the output. Finally, the embodiment includes displaying, by the application, results of the testing after the matching.

Validation of a print verification system

A print job is preferably displayed using a visual job ticketing application. An operator is enabled to create multiple job tickets describing print parameters to be applied to the print job. Using the visual job ticketing application, the operator may select a previously created job ticket to be used to display and/or print the print job. Alterations made to the print job are automatically propagated across all associated print job tickets. When creating new print job tickets, the operator may choose to start with a blank job ticket, a default job ticket, the last active job ticket or any previously created job ticket.

Method, apparatus and program product providing for multiple print job tickets per print job source file

Disclosed is a method, system, and program for accessing a control system, such as a printing systems manager (PSM) in a server from a client computer. The control system includes a logon program to allow a client side of the control system executing in the client computer use a terminal emulation program to access a client process executing in the server to perform control system operations. The client requests security context for the client including authorization, such as a Distributed Computing Environment (DCE) type authorization, to allow the client to access control system functions in the server. The server returns the requested security context to the client. A client program executing in the client transmits a control system command and the security context to access the server control system.

Method, system, and program for accessing a system without using a provided login facility

A print job is displayed as a sequence of pages. An operator is enabled to create artificial pages representing such elements as cover pages and preprinted sheets which are normally apart from the print job data file. The artificial pages are inserted into a display of the real pages defined by the print job data file or original document and are therefore displayed visually just as the other document pages are displayed. They can be manipulated just like other pages; that is, they can be moved, deleted, replaced and so on.

Method, apparatus and program product using artificial pages in visual job ticketing

Disclosed is a method, system, and program for accessing an object in a network providing communication among multiple network devices and a namespace server including a namespace comprising one network address, e.g., IP address, for each network device in the system. The network device retrieves the namespace from the namespace server over the network and maintains the retrieved namespace as a local namespace at the network device. The network device may then determine the network address of a target network device to use to send a request to the network address of the target network device.

Growing community of inventors

Longmont, CO, United States of America

Carl Michael Dennison