Colored region barcode printing

Abstract

A system for automatically replacing selected content within an electronic document is disclosed. The system includes the superimposition of a geometric shape (e.g. a rectangle) over textual or other human-readable content within an ordinary word processing document that is to be replaced with a barcode or other machine-readable content. Thereafter, a print driver automatically detects the human-readable content underlying the detected geometric shape and converts that into the desired barcode type. Then, the document may be output physically or electronically, now including the barcode in place of the human-readable content.

1 . A system comprising:
 a computing device including:
 a processor; 
 a display device coupled to the processor; 
 a memory coupled to the processor, the memory storing program instructions that, when executed, cause the computing device to perform actions, comprising: 
   accessing an electronic document including printable content visible on the display device;   receiving interaction from a user instructing the computing device to draw a geometric shape of a selected color in an area identified by the user within the printable content of the electronic document;   transmitting the document including the geometric shape within the area to a printer driver;   detecting, using the printer driver, the printable content within the area defined by the geometric shape;   encoding, using the printer driver, the printable content within the area defined by the geometric shape, as a print job for output in a machine-readable format using a barcode printer; and   transmitting the print job to the barcode printer for output, the print job encoded so as to replace the printable content within the area defined by the geometric shape with the machine-readable format.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1  further comprising:
 the barcode printer including:
 a second processor; 
 a second memory coupled to the second processor, the second memory storing program instructions that, when executed, cause the barcode printer to perform actions, comprising: 
 generating a visible machine-readable marker based upon the print job; and 
 outputting a document including the machine-readable marker in place of the printable content within the area. 
 
 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the area is defined using a traditional word processing software, rather than specialized barcode design or printing software. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the electronic document is in the form of a word processing document, a portable document format document, an image format document, CAD file, or a spreadsheet document. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the processor identifies the geometric shape by:
 identifying a set of tolerances for color and an identification of the geometric shape; 
 determining the area to be suitable for the print job as machine-readable content if the geometric shape and the selected color are within a certain tolerance of a predetermined geometric shape and a predetermined color. 
 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the barcode contains additional predetermined information in addition to the printable content within the geometric shape. 
     
     
         7 . A non-volatile machine-readable medium storing a program having instructions which when executed will cause a processor to:
 access an electronic document including printable content visible on the display device;   receive interaction from a user instructing the computing device to draw a geometric shape of a selected color in an area identified by the user within the printable content of the electronic document visible on the display device;   transmit the document including the geometric shape within the area to a printer driver;   detect, using the printer driver, the printable content within the area defined by the geometric shape;   encode, using the printer driver, the printable content within the area defined by the geometric shape, as a print job for output in a machine-readable format using a barcode printer; and   transmit the print job to the barcode printer for output, the print job encoding so as to replace the printable content within the area defined by the geometric shape with the machine readable format.   
     
     
         8 . The machine-readable medium of  claim 7  wherein the instructions will further cause the processor to:
 generate visible machine-readable marker based upon the print job; and 
 output a document including the machine-readable marker in place of the printable content within the area. 
 
     
     
         9 . The machine-readable medium of  claim 7  wherein the area is defined using a traditional word processing software, rather than specialized barcode design or printing software. 
     
     
         10 . The machine-readable medium of  claim 7  wherein the electronic document is in the form of a word processing document, a portable document format document, an image format document, CAD file, or a spreadsheet document. 
     
     
         11 . The machine-readable medium of  claim 7  wherein the processor identifies a geometric shape by:
 identifying a set of tolerances for color and an identification of the geometric shape; and 
 determining the area to be suitable for the print job as machine-readable content if the geometric shape and the selected color are within a certain tolerance of a predetermined geometric shape and a predetermined color. 
 
     
     
         12 . The machine-readable medium of  claim 7  wherein the barcode contains additional predetermined information in addition to the printable content within the geometric shape. 
     
     
         13 . (canceled) 
     
     
         14 . (canceled) 
     
     
         15 . (canceled) 
     
     
         16 . (canceled) 
     
     
         17 . (canceled) 
     
     
         18 . A system comprising:
 a computing device including:
 a processor; 
 a display device coupled to the processor; 
 a memory coupled to the processor, the memory storing program instructions that, when executed, cause the computing device to perform actions, comprising: 
   accessing an electronic document including printable content within the electronic document visible on the display device;   receiving interaction from a user instructing the computing device to draw a geometric shape of a selected color in an area identified by the user within the printable content of the electronic document;   transmitting the document including the geometric shape within the area to a printer driver;   detecting, using the printer driver, the printable content visible within the area defined by the geometric shape; and   performing an action, based upon at least one of a color of the geometric shape within the area or the printable content within the area.   
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18  wherein the action is:
 encoding, using the printer driver, the printable content visible on the display device within the area defined by the geometric shape, as a print job for output in a machine-readable format using a barcode printer; and 
 transmitting the print job to the barcode printer for output, the print job encoded so as to replace the printable content visible on the display device within the area defined by the geometric shape with the machine-readable format. 
 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 18  wherein the action is a selected one of:
 emailing at least a portion of the electronic document to a predetermined email address; 
 emailing at least a portion of the electronic document to an email address by the printable content within the area; 
 sending a facsimile of at least a portion of the electronic document to a predetermined facsimile number; 
 sending a facsimile of at least a portion of the electronic document to a facsimile number by the printable content within the area; and 
 storing at least a portion of the electronic document to a remote storage location identified by the printable content within the area.