Experimental software for automating document design could be almost as good as having a graphic designer
looking over your shoulder.
Imagine text, pictures, graphics and headlines flowing easily into documents, arranging themselves
gracefully, finding their proper places without fuss or bother - all under the supervision of a computer,
not a graphic designer.
That's the idea behind automated layout. Using genetic algorithms -- automated problem solving methods
allowing computers to mimic the way nature develops species -- Xerox Corporation researchers in Webster,
N.Y., like Lisa Purvis and Steven Harrington are coaxing enough artificial intelligence from machines to
persuade them to custom-design documents.
Though they will never replace the trained eye of a skilled graphic artist, such applications might help
graphically-challenged office workers make documents look good in a hurry - whether for the Web or hardcopy.
"We want everybody at every level to have the tools so they can do great work," Purvis said.
Automated document layout software starts with raw content or a simple layout, then arranges it around sound
design principles, until it comes up with pages that look good. Add more elements - more text or graphics or
pictures -- and the computer redesigns the page. So-called genetic algorithms pick the best design a little
like the way nature picks the best genes - by examining many "species," eliminating those that aren't good
enough and allowing the most fit to survive.
That allows the computer to lay out the page according to what content it will incorporate and how it will
be presented. It is not forced to choose one static set of information that tries to speak to every reader
of the document over its entire lifetime.
Indeed, today's sea of available digital information is all about choices. One person might prefer to
incorporate mostly images while another might prefer full text without image content. To enable a document
to look its best in each instance -- and, certainly, to be most effective -- it must be designed anew for
each potential content combination. The Xerox system can do that automatically, ensuring that the document
is presented in the most effective way no matter what content it contains, or where it will be viewed. This
can free people from the time-consuming task of designing customized documents for varying content sources,
or for multiple media.
"The thing we're looking at is to make it a lot easier, so people don't have to be experts to make
great-looking documents," said Purvis.
The technology, which is still in the research prototype stage, might work for preparing reports or for
putting together summary of Web queries. Thus a sales rep could throw together a professional-looking,
customized brochure just before running out the door. And thus automation makes somebody's life a little
easier.
To learn more about Automated Document Layout, a paper from
the ACM Symposium on Document Engineering is available.
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