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In order to be able to see their status outside of document management, drawings are marked with
Our challenge: Use free spaces efficiently
We repeatedly have requests from our customers to stamp the documents in a previously unknown, free position. What is child’s play for any employee in the secretariat or in construction turns out to be a hard nut to crack for a computer.
Drawing layouts are often not uniform in the company, so that a free space in the header cannot be clearly identified. External delivery documents do not have a uniform layout. However, the previous solution, a careful stamp using a watermark, outline font or a very small stamp, is often overlooked. The stamp must be clearly visible, but must not obscure anything. We took such inquiries as an opportunity and took on this task.
The task using the example of “Ornithopter”
The renowned painter and inventor Leonardo da Vinci provided us with a drawing for testing purposes. Here, he explores humanity’s eternal dream of flight, technically mimicking bird flight. We do not know the extent of his success. In the early stages of aircraft development, people abandoned this path in favor of rigid wings. What a missed opportunity.
The task is as follows:
- Attach a label stating that this drawing is for prototype construction only, as its flight suitability remains unproven.
- Display a clear warning to emphasize the danger of flying with such a device.
- Generate an overview of spare parts and model approval automatically.
Unfortunately, da Vinci did not consider leaving appropriate spaces for stamping when creating the drawing. That’s the nature of genius. Similarly, CAD designers from suppliers do not always adhere to their clients’ specifications today, leaving the machine or plant manufacturer to find a solution. Fortunately, we can address this issue now.
Our solution: Automatic image analysis
So how can we help? Our solution automatically finds suitable open spaces on the drawing and carries out the stamping. But how does that actually work? We briefly explain the software technology involved.
The search itself takes place on an image that is generated from the PDF. It is recursively broken down into squares, at whose corners it is checked whether there is a free area. The size of the desired free area can be specified. The starting position for the search can also be specified.
In the event that no contiguous area that has enough space for stamping can be found, smaller, free adjacent partial squares can be combined again to form a usable area.
Now to our task: For the first stamp – the status – a place above the title block makes the most sense and is most common. The algorithm produces this result and we are satisfied:
