Method of printing image information having a specific orientation

Abstract

A method of printing image information on a receiving material, two sides of which are provided with a binding portion for collecting a plurality of receiving materials into a booklet, the image information of at least two images being printed next to one another on the receiving material such that the images situated next to one another are printed with reading orientations rotated 180° relative to one another and forming a right angle with the sides of the receiving material that are provided with the binding portion. To rotate the images, a fast method of rotating digital images is described which requires minimal memory space. Furthermore, the rotation method is particularly applicable to rotating a series of images and includes the capability of rotating each image in the series differently while utilizing minimal memory space and processor time.

We claim:  
     
       1. A method of printing image information on a receiving material, two opposite sides of which are individually provided with a binding portion for binding a plurality of the receiving materials into a collection, comprising the steps of: 
       printing a first image on the receiving material;  
       rotating a second image relative to the first image such that a reading orientation of the second image is rotated 180° relative to a reading orientation of the first image;  
       printing the rotated second image next to the first image on the receiving material such that the reading orientations of the first image and the rotated second image form right angles with respective sides of the receiving material that are provided with the binding portion.  
     
     
       2. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the first image is identical to the second image. 
     
     
       3. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein each of the binding portions includes a plurality of holes. 
     
     
       4. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the image information for printing includes a series of at least two images beginning with the first image, said rotating step utilizing a memory having memory locations corresponding to a matrix of image elements, said rotating step including the substeps of: 
       writing the first image into memory locations in the memory according to a first sequence of memory locations, wherein the first sequence of memory locations is a consecutive sequence of memory locations;  
       reading the first image out of the memory according to a second sequence of memory locations;  
       writing the second image into memory locations in the memory according to the second sequence of memory locations utilized in said step of reading the first image; and  
       reading the second image out of the memory according to a third sequence of memory locations,  
       wherein said step of reading the first image and said step of writing the second image are performed substantially simultaneously.  
     
     
       5. The method according to  claim 4 , wherein the first and second images are written consecutively into the memory by said writing steps and the read-out of the memory by said reading steps after each write-in takes place successively in accordance with the sequences of memory locations given by a formula, selected angles of rotation differing from one another by 180°, and wherein the data of the two read-outs are fed successively to the printer for imaging on the same receiving material by said printing steps. 
     
     
       6. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the image information for printing includes a series of at least two images beginning with the first image, said rotating step utilizing a memory having memory locations corresponding to a matrix of image elements, said rotating step including the substeps of: 
       writing image data into the memory in a first sequence of memory locations and reading out of the memory the written-in image data in a second sequence of memory locations,  
       wherein the writing into the memory of image data of a certain image from the series is effected in substantially the same sequence as that in which image data of an image directly preceding the said certain image in the said series were read out,  
       wherein at a start of the series of images the first image data are written into consecutive memory locations,  
       and wherein for rotation through an angle of {0, +90, +180, −90} degrees, image data are read out of memory locations of the buffer memory in a sequence given by an address sequence series built up from series elements each relating to a memory location of the memory in which an element or a block of elements of the said matrix is stored, which series elements have a value given by:          series                   element        (     i   j     )         =         (     i   *     ∏                x   k         )              modulo   j       k   =   1            (         d   1     *     d   2       +   1     )         -   1                     
       where i=position within the address sequence series, 
       where 1≦i≦d 1 *d 2 ,  
       j=serial number of a relevant image in the series,  
       d 1 =number of columns of the matrix,  
       d 2 =number of rows of the matrix,  
       X k =parameter related to the required angle of rotation for the k th  image in the series,  
       where x k =1 for a rotation through 0°, 
       −d 1  for a rotation through 90°,  
       −1 for a rotation through 180°, and  
       d 1  for a rotation through −90°.  
     
     
       7. An apparatus for printing image information on a receiving material, two opposite sides of which are individually provided with a binding portion for binding a plurality of the receiving materials into a collection, comprising: 
       a memory in which the image information is temporarily stored before printing;  
       a printer receiving a first image from said memory and printing a first image on the receiving material; and  
       an image rotator utilizing said memory to rotate a second image relative to the first image such that a reading orientation of the second image is rotated 180° relative to a reading orientation of the first image,  
       said printer printing the rotated second image next to the first image on the receiving material such that the reading orientations of the first image and the rotated second image form right angles with respective sides of the receiving material that are provided with the binding portion.  
     
     
       8. The apparatus according to  claim 7 , said image rotator rotating the first image through an angle of −90° and rotating the second image through an angle of 90° by utilizing said memory. 
     
     
       9. The apparatus according to  claim 7 , said image rotator not rotating the first image and rotating the second image through an angle of 180°. 
     
     
       10. The apparatus according to  claim 7 , wherein the image information for printing includes a series of at least two images beginning with the first image, said memory having memory locations corresponding to a matrix of image elements, the apparatus further comprising a controller, 
       said controller controlling said rotator to write the first image into memory locations in said memory according to a first sequence of memory locations, wherein the first sequence of memory locations is a consecutive sequence of memory locations;  
       said controller controlling said rotator to read the first image out of said memory according to a second sequence of memory locations;  
       said controller controlling said rotator to write the second image into memory locations in said memory according to the second sequence of memory locations;  
       said controller controlling said rotator to read the second image out of said memory according to a third sequence of memory locations; and  
       said controller controlling said rotator to read the first image and write the second image substantially simultaneously.  
     
     
       11. The apparatus according to  claim 7 , wherein the image information far printing includes a series of j images beginning with the first image and ending with a j −th  image, said rotator rotating images through angles of 0, +90, +180, or −90 degrees, the apparatus further comprising 
       a control unit controlling said rotator to write-in and read-out image data in said memory in such manner that image data of a certain image from the series are written into the memory in substantially a same sequence as that in which image data of an image directly preceding said certain image in the said series were read out,  
       wherein at a start of the series of images the image data are written into consecutive memory locations, and  
       wherein for rotation through an angle of +{0, +90, +180, −90} degrees, image data are read out from memory locations of said memory in a sequence given by an address sequence series built up of series elements each relating to a memory location of said memory in which an element or a block of elements of the said matrix is stored, which series elements have a value given by          series                   element        (     i   j     )         =         (     i   *     ∏                x   k         )              modulo   j       k   =   1            (         d   1     *     d   2       +   1     )         -   1                     
       where i=position within the address sequence series, 
       where 1≦i≦d 1 *d 2 , 
       j=serial number of a relevant image in the series,  
       d 1 =number of columns of the matrix.  
       d 2 =number of rows of the matrix,  
       X k =parameter related to a required angle of rotation for the k th  image in the series,  
       where X k =1 for a rotation through 0°,  
       −d 1  for a rotation through 90°,  
       −1 for a rotation through 180°, and  
       d 1  for a rotation through −90°.  
     
     
       12. A method of printing image information, the method comprising: 
       
         providing a receiving material, two opposite sides of which each having a binding portion for binding a plurality of the receiving materials into a collection; and  
       
       
         printing two images on the receiving material, wherein the two images are situated next to one another with reading orientations of the images rotated through  180 ° relative to one another, and wherein the reading orientations form right angles with the said opposite sides of the receiving material. 
       
     
     
       13. The method according to  claim 12 , wherein the images are printed simultaneously on the receiving material. 
     
     
       14. An apparatus for printing image information on a receiving material, two opposite sides of which are individually provided with a binding portion for binding a plurality of the receiving materials into a collection, the apparatus comprising: 
       
         a memory in which the image information is temporarily stored before printing;  
       
       
         a printer receiving a first image from said memory and printing a first image on the receiving material, the printer also receiving a second image from said memory and printing the second image on the receiving material, the second image being rotated relative to the first image such that a reading orientation of the second image is rotated  180 ° relative to a reading orientation of the first image,  
       
       
         said printer printing the rotated second image next to the first image on the receiving material such that the reading orientations of the first image and the rotated second image form right angles with respective sides of the receiving material that are provided with the binding portion. 
       
     
     
       15. The apparatus according to  claim 14 , comprising an image rotator, said image rotator rotating the first image through an angle of − 90 ° and rotating the second image through an angle of + 90 ° by utilizing said memory. 
     
     
       16. The apparatus according to  claim 14 , comprising an image rotator said image rotator not rotating the first image and rotating the second image through an angle of  180 °.