AUTOMATIC CREATION OF OUTPUT FILE FROM IMAGES IN DATABASE

Abstract

A query is run against a database with information related to images. Images of interest are selected for inclusion in an output file, for example, a presentation application file. Configuration and other choices are made regarding the output file, and any other information needed to generate the output file is gathered. When all the necessary information is available, an output file is automatically generated and delivered to a user. The output file includes the selected images and identifying information about the images.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/094,506 filed Mar. 30, 2005, and which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/558,007, filed Mar. 31, 2004, the entirety of which are both hereby incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

The present invention generally relates to presenting database information. More particularly, the present invention relates to the automatic creation of an output file including at least one image and identifying information therefor obtained from a database.

2. Background Information

Databases contain many different types of information, including information related to digital or digitized images. Databases can contain images and/or pointers to images that are stored externally to the database, and/or information about the images. A wide variety of industries utilize databases related to images. For example, retailers, manufacturers, brokers, ad agencies and other companies use images of products and services that are offered for sale in advertisements. Many companies have found it useful to analyze advertising images, typically in digital or digitized form (making it possible to include them or pointers to them in a database), to gain insight into how different approaches affect sales of a given product (or service) or group of products, to understand how the volume and type of advertising for one brand or product compares to that of other brands and products, to verify that advertisements have been presented for review by consumers so that payments that are contingent on such advertising placements can be made, to review trademark usage by various advertisers, and for many other purposes.

Typically, advertising image databases contain or reference digital representations of advertising images, along with varying degrees of information about the advertising images. As with many databases, queries can be run against the data to retrieve specific information which contains references to the images or retrieve the images themselves. While it can be helpful to review the results of such queries on-line, there is also a significant need for offline review and/or sharing of query results or portions thereof. This is typically accomplished by a user copying individual images from the database to a local workstation or personal computer where the image can then be manipulated locally. This manipulation frequently takes the form of a user inserting the image into a word processing program or a presentation program, such as Microsoft PowerPoint or Adobe Acrobat, resizing the image to fit properly within the allocated space, and manually inserting identifying information related to the image so that others who subsequently view the image can understand the source and relevance of the image. When multiple images are inserted in such programs, additional time must be devoted to creating a template to organize the way the images and related identifying information are presented. This is a very time consuming and inefficient process, which significantly reduces the extent to which images retrieved from databases are used in word processing and presentation programs.

Thus, a need exists for a flexible and efficient method of creating documents, and other ways of presenting information, that enable people to view images and identifying information related thereto that have been retrieved from a database, offline from the database.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Briefly, the present invention satisfies the need for a flexible way to view image query results or portions thereof offline from the database, by automatically creating, in response to a request, output files that include one or more images and identifying information for the images in a multitude of formats and layouts. These output files can then be viewed offline and/or shared with others.

In accordance with the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide the automatic creation of at least one output file including at least one image and identifying information therefor.

The present invention provides, in a first aspect, a method of creating an output file from images. The method comprises processing a query by a processor against information in a database regarding a plurality of images and generating query results, and selecting at least one result from the generated query results. The method also comprises automatically creating at least one output file comprising at least one image associated with the at least one selected result and preexisting identifying information related to the at least one image, the plurality of images comprising the at least one image.

System and computer program products corresponding to the above-summarized methods are also described and claimed herein.

These, and other objects, features and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the various aspects of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts one example of a system in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 depicts one example of a central query page.

FIG. 3 depicts one example of query results 300 shown as images of entire pages in ads.

FIG. 4 depicts one example of a page for choosing one or more templates to be used to create the requested output file(s).

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram for one of example of automatic creation of an output file including at least one image and identifying information therefor.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram for a more detailed example of automatic creation of an output file including at least one image and identifying information therefor.

FIG. 7 depicts one example of a page for creating a subscription.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 depicts one example of a system 100 for presenting database information, in accordance with the present invention. System 100 comprises a conventional user computer 102, which can take many different forms. As one example, user computer 102 comprises a conventional housing 104 within which is at least one processor 106, and at least one storage device 108. In this example, user computer 102 also comprises a monitor 110, and two input devices, a keyboard 112 and a mouse 114. The computer runs some type of operating system, e.g., some version of Microsoft Windows. The user computer could instead be a notebook computer, handheld computer, etc., and the components could be different, for example, a different pointing device, multiple processors, multiple storage devices, storage in another location, just to name a few.

System 100 further comprises, in this example, a conventional web server 116 that communicates with computer 102 over a global communications network 118 (e.g., the Internet) via, for example, TCP/IP (a standard communications protocol). A database server 120 communicates with web server 116 over a network 122. In one example, the network is a local area network. In another example, the network is a wide area network. In yet another example, the network is a global communications network (e.g., the Internet). Database server 120 accesses image storage 124 over a network 128. Image storage 124 is, for example, another server that simply acts as storage for the images.

It will be understood that system 100 is merely one example of a system in accordance with the present invention. Many different configurations of such a system are possible. For example, there need not be a web server at all, the database server 120 and computer 102 may communicate directly over a network, such as, for example, a local area network. In addition, any of the networks noted in the example could be wireless or wired. Still further, image storage 124 need not be separate from database server 120; they could be part of the same physical machine. Similarly, web server 116 need not be physically separate from database server 120. As yet another example, a user could access database server 120 directly, rather than from user computer 102.

Database server 120 runs a database program, for example, Microsoft SQL Server, and comprises, for example, a database 126 of information related to advertising images. The information includes, for example, pointers to page images stored in image storage 124, pointers to images of portions of page images stored in image storage 124, pointers to images of web page ads stored in image storage 124, pointers to images of portions of web page ads stored in image storage 124, pointers to additional sizes of any of the images described previously, and information about the images. Page images are images of entire pages that contain advertisements that might be published, for example, in a magazine, as part of a local newspaper, or on a web page. The database could, instead of pointers to the advertising images, hold the images themselves. In that case, image storage 124 would not be necessary, though it could be used as a backup for the database.

The information about the advertising images may include any or all of, for example, the geographic market(s) in which the ad appeared, the date(s) the ad appeared, the advertiser that placed the ad, what type of media the ad appeared in, a description of one or more products shown, the brand(s), the category or categories for the product(s), the advertised prices for the product(s), any restrictions on the offer, and additional information of this sort. Other types of images would have different relevant identifying information. As with most databases, queries can be run against the information in the database.

One example of the operation of the present invention will now be described with reference to system 100 of FIG. 1. Initial queries against database 126 are run from a central query page 200, shown in FIG. 2. The user interface for making queries can be implemented in many different ways, FIG. 2 merely being one example. The central query page is presented in this example as a web page to a user of computer 102 in a web browser on monitor 110. The central query page comprises a plurality of scrollable boxes (e.g., box 202), one for each type of information in the database. For example, box 202 relates to Account, and includes a list of retailers included in the database and a choice to select all retailers listed in that box. A user makes one or more choices in each box using, for example, keyboard 112 and/or mouse 114.

A drop-down box 206 includes a choice for how the query results will be presented to the user. For example, the results can be shown as page images. As another example, the results can be shown as product images; that is, a portion of a page image showing, for example, one or more products or services. As still another example, the user can choose to skip viewing the results of the query at this time, and instead choose to have the results emailed, or have an output file created in a particular format. For example, the output file could be created as a presentation application file (e.g., Microsoft PowerPoint), as a spreadsheet file (e.g., Microsoft Excel), as a word processing application file (e.g., Microsoft Word), or as an image file (e.g., in Adobe PDF format) for use in an imaging application (e.g., various Adobe products), to name only a few.

A series of action buttons 210 cause some action to take place. For example, action button 212 instructs that the query should be run and the results shown (on display 110) in accordance with the choices made. As another example, action button 214 instructs to run the query and email the results. This button can be used in conjunction with drop-down box 206 to have the query results emailed as page or product images, for example. As still another example, action button 216 instructs to run the query, but stay on the central query page. As yet another example, action button 218 instructs to show the results of the last query that was run by the user during the current session.

FIG. 3 depicts one example of query results 300 shown as page images (e.g., page image 302), and how the query results can be used to create an output file. In some manner, one or more page images can be selected for further use or to be included in an output file(s). For example, simple check boxes (e.g., check box 304) can be used for selecting images, or the user can use an icon 305 in the toolbar to select all images After one or more images are selected, an indication of which type of output file is made in some manner. For example, a number of icons 306 are provided along the top for various purposes, including indicating the type of output file. For example, a user might click on an icon 308 to indicate the type of output file as a presentation application file. In this specific example, an icon for Microsoft PowerPoint is provided. After clicking on icon 308, a popup box 310 appears, asking the user to choose what types of images to save for use in creating the output file; in this example, page images, product images or both.

In addition to making the choice for the type(s) of image, unless the presentation application output file is provided in only one layout, the user also needs to indicate the layout of the images on the slides. In the present example, the user is asked to choose from among a multitude of predefined layout templates. Alternatively, the user could be allowed to create a custom layout template, as another example. If a different type of output file were chosen, different choices would be presented. Returning to the present example, FIG. 4 depicts a screen 400 showing choices in a top row 402 for example templates that use page images. For example, one possible choice is template 404, using full size images, one per slide, in either landscape or portrait orientation. As another example, template 406 uses four mid-size page images per slide in either landscape or portrait orientation. As still another example, template 408 uses 10 thumbnail-size images per slide. In a bottom row 410, example choices are given for partial-page images (i.e., product images or custom images). For example, template 412 places four such images on each slide, while template 414 places 12 partial-page images per slide.

Further template examples include combining multiple images of one or more individual products, combining page images from one or more advertisements (e.g., two pages, four pages or more), combining related or unrelated product and page images (e.g., a product image and page in which it is included), combining one or more product and/or page images with data pertaining to sales of one or more products and/or services therein or sales resulting from an advertisement.

The bottom 416 of FIG. 4 shows a number of other choices that can be made. For example, a user can choose to have only product image thumbnails 418, saving the selections made, so they can be viewed again later 420, deleting duplicate product images 422, and combining all selected images into one report 424 (in one embodiment, the default is that each template chosen results in a separate output file). In addition, the user can choose to send the output file(s) attached to an email 426, send an email with a link to download the output file(s) 428, or download the output file(s) now 430 (e.g., via web server 116 in FIG. 1). A name 432 can be specified by the user to be used to name the output file(s), as well as the text to be used in the email subject line 434.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram 500 for one example of automatic creation of an output file including at least one image and identifying information therefor, described with reference to the system 100 of FIG. 1. The relevant identifying information for an image will vary depending on the type of image, and the needs of the users. In the present example, the images are advertising images. The users of such images typically need to know, at a minimum, the date(s) the image appeared publicly and an indication of where it appeared, for example, as a supplement in a particular newspaper or on a particular web site. It could also include, for example, any or all of the information described with respect to database 126 in FIG. 1.

In some manner, either initiated by a user or in an automated fashion under a subscription previously requested by a user, a query is run 502 against database 126. Based on this query, one or more images are selected 504 for further use or for use in automatically creating an output file in response to a request therefor. Once at least one image is selected, a request is made 506, in some manner, for an output file for the selected image(s) and identifying information therefor. The request can be made by a user during the present session, or can be part of an automated subscription that periodically updates the query results. When initiated by a user during the present session, the request can come at various points during the session. One example was described with respect to FIG. 3. Output options are made 508 by the user, again either currently or previously, such as, for example, the size of image(s) to use, the delivery method and the template (where applicable, depending on the type of output file), as explained in detail above. Database server 120 then begins gathering 510 the information necessary to create the requested output file. Once all the necessary information has been gathered, the requested output file is generated 512 and delivered 514, in accordance with the output options indicated.

A subscription is essentially an automated database query according to variables chosen by a user. For example, one or more previously executed queries and/or query groups are configured according to format, recipient and schedule choices made by the user. FIG. 7 depicts one example of a page 700 for creating a subscription. A user first chooses 702 the data to be included in the subscription, for example, saved queries 704 and/or query groups. Next, the user selects 706 the report format(s) and/or format group(s) to be used for the subscription, with various suboptions 708 also available. The user then indicates 710 who the recipients are, by selecting email addresses and/or email groups that the output of the subscription will be automatically sent to. The user also indicates 712 what the subscription delivery schedule will be, such as once only, or on a recurring basis, with or without an ending date. A name 716 is also chosen for the subscription to easily identify it later on. The configuration of a previously created subscription can be modified, for example, by choosing it from the “available subscriptions” drop-down list.

The automatic creation of an output file can be accomplished, for example, using computer programming executing on, for example, database server 120 in FIG. 1. The programming can be done in a multitude of ways known to one of ordinary skill in the art, for example, using Microsoft Visual Basic or Microsoft.net.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram 600 for a more detailed example of the automatic creation of an output file including at least one image and identifying information therefor. Flow diagram 600 assumes a case where there are predefined output file templates to choose from. When an image is selected for further use or for use with an output file, identifying information for the image is stored, for example, on database server 120 in system 100 of FIG. 1. In the FIG. 1 scenario, the actual images are stored in image storage 124, and database server 120 uses pointers to the stored images. Thus, in the present example, the identifying information comprises the pointer for a given image. After output options are made, they are also stored 604, for example, on database server 120.

Any information necessary for generating the output file in the template chosen, and which is not already available, is gathered 606. The necessary information will depend on the type of output file, but might include, for example, a file name, whether any compression will be applied to the file, what image(s) go on a given slide (where the type of output file is a presentation application file), any custom images, color scheme(s), images size(s), email address(es), and an email subject, just to name a few. Gathering the necessary information could include the need to request information from the user.

After the necessary information has been gathered, the output file is generated 608 by putting the image(s) and identifying information into the template. An inquiry 610 is then made as to whether there is another template that needs to be populated. If there is another template to be populated, step 606 is returned to. If there is no other template to be populated, the output file(s) is delivered 612.

The capabilities of one or more aspects of the present invention can be implemented in software, firmware, hardware or some combination thereof.

One or more aspects of the present invention can be included in an article of manufacture (e.g., one or more computer program products) having, for instance, computer usable media. The media has therein, for instance, computer readable program code means or logic (e.g., instructions, code, commands, etc.) to provide and facilitate the capabilities of the present invention. The article of manufacture can be included as a part of a computer system or sold separately.

Additionally, at least one program storage device readable by a machine embodying at least one program of instructions executable by the machine to perform the capabilities of the present invention can be provided.

The flow diagrams depicted herein are just examples. There may be many variations to these diagrams or the steps (or operations) described therein without departing from the spirit of the invention. For instance, the steps may be performed in a differing order, or steps may be added, deleted or modified. All of these variations are considered a part of the claimed invention.

While several aspects of the present invention have been described and depicted herein, alternative aspects may be effected by those skilled in the art to accomplish the same objectives. Accordingly, it is intended by the appended claims to cover all such alternative aspects as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A method of creating an output file from images, comprising:

processing a query by a processor against information in a database regarding a plurality of images and generating query results;

selecting at least one result from the generated query results; and

automatically creating at least one output file comprising at least one image associated with the at least one selected result and preexisting identifying information related to the at least one image, wherein the plurality of images comprises the at least one image.

2-48. (canceled)

49. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one image is automatically selected from the generated query results for inclusion in the created output file based on one or more variables.

50. The method of claim 1, wherein all images associated with the generated query results are selected for inclusion in the at least one created output file.

51. The method of claim 1, wherein a user selects the at least one image from the generated query results for inclusion in the at least one created output file.

52. The method of claim 51, wherein the at least one image is selected based on a user's review of at least one of one or more attributes of the preexisting identifying information associated with the at least one image included in the generated query results and the at least one image included in the generated query results.

53. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving at least one selection of at least one output option related to the at least one created output file, wherein the automatically creating comprises applying the at least one selected output option to the at least one created output file.

54. The method of claim 53, wherein the at least one output option comprises at least one of at least one output file type, at least one layout for the at least one created output file, a specified portion of the preexisting identifying information to be included in the at least one created output file, at least one image size to be used in the at least one created output file, at least one method of delivering the at least one created output file, at least one destination to which the at least one created output file will be delivered, and at least one request for at least one subscription.

55. The method of claim 53, wherein the at least one selected output option comprises at least one output file type.

56. The method of claim 53, wherein the selected at least one output file type comprises an output file of at least one of a presentation application, a word processing application, a spreadsheet application, an image application, an application that creates portable document format files, or an email application.

57. The method of claim 55, wherein the selected at least one output file type comprises an output file of a presentation application.

58. The method of claim 55, wherein the selected at least one output file type comprises an output file of a word processing application.

59. The method of claim 55, wherein the selected at least one output file type comprises an output file of a spreadsheet application.

60. The method of claim 55, wherein the selected at least one output file type comprises an output file of an image application.

61. The method of claim 56, wherein the selected at least one output file type comprises an output file of an application that creates portable document format files.

62. The method of claim 55, wherein the selected at least one output file type comprises an output file of an email application.

63. The method of claim 53, wherein the at least one selected output option comprises at least one layout for the at least one created output file, and wherein a layout is a format for presenting the at least one selected image and any preexisting identifying information related thereto on a defined portion of the at least one created output file.

64. The method of claim 63, wherein the defined portion comprises at least one of a page, slide or section.

65. The method of claim 63, wherein at least one custom layout is selected.

66. The method of claim 63, wherein the layout comprises a predefined template and at least one predefined layout template option is selected.

67. The method of claim 66, wherein the predefined layout template comprises displaying on each defined portion within the at least one created output file at least one of one or more images of pages previously used in advertising, one or more images of portions of pages previously used in advertising, one or more product images, one or more product images and one or more images of complete or partial pages previously used in advertising, one or more product images and data pertaining to sales related thereto, images of one or more complete or partial pages previously used in advertising and sales data related thereto, and a portion of the preexisting identifying information contained in the database associated with the displayed images.

68. The method of claim 53, wherein the at least one selected output option comprises a portion of the preexisting identifying information pertaining to the at least one selected image to be included in the at least one output file.

69. The method of claim 68, wherein a custom portion of the preexisting identifying information is selected.

70. The method of claim 68, wherein a predefined portion of the preexisting identifying information is selected.

71. The method of claim 68, wherein the portion of the selected preexisting identifying information comprises data pertaining to one or more image of previously used advertising.

72. The method of claim 71, wherein the selected portion of the preexisting identifying information comprises at least one of at least one date the one or more image was used in advertising, one or more geographic areas in which the one or more image appeared, a type of media in which the one or more image appeared, one or more web sites on which the one or more image appeared, one or more advertisers who placed the one or more image, the size of the one or more image, one or more product categories depicted within the one or more image, one or more manufacturers of one or more products depicted within the one or more image, one or more brands depicted within the one or more image, one or more products depicted within the one or more image, pricing information included in the one or more image, promotional information included in the one or more image, measures of the effectiveness of the one or more image or at least one portion thereof, sales data related to the one or more image or at least one portion thereof, and at least one pointer to at least one of the one or more image.

73. The method of claim 53, wherein the at least one selected output option comprises a delivery method for the at least one created output file.

74. The method of claim 73, wherein the selected delivery method comprises one or more of sending at least one electronic mail message with the at least one created output file attached, sending at least one electronic mail message containing at least one link pointing to a location of the at least one created output file, sending at least one electronic mail message that comprises the at least one created output file, directly downloading the at least one created output file, displaying the at least one created output file, and saving the at least one created stand alone output file for later retrieval.

75. The method of claim 53, wherein the wherein the at least one selected output option comprises at least one destination to which the at least one created output file will be delivered.

76. The method of claim 75, wherein the selected destination comprises one or more of at least one email address and at least one location where the at least one created output file is to be saved.

77. The method of claim 73, further comprising delivering the at least one created output file using the selected delivery method.

78. The method of claim 53, wherein at least one output option is selected by a user.

79. The method of claim 53, wherein at least one of the at least one output option is selected based on a predetermined default.

80. The method of claim 53, wherein at least one output option is automatically selected based on one or more variables.

81. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one created output file is created in response to a request received over a network.

82. The method of claim 81, wherein the network comprises at least one of a global communications network, a local area network and a wide area network.

83. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one created output file is created in response to a request received from a stand-alone computer.

84. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one image comprises at least one image of advertising that has been made publicly available.

85. The method of claim 84, wherein the at least one advertising image comprises at least one of a product image and a partial or complete page image, wherein a product image comprises a discrete portion of a page image that contains at least one of one or more products and one or more services.

86. The method of claim 1, wherein at least some of the plurality of images are stored outside the database.

87. The method of claim 86, wherein the database comprises pointers to the at least some of the plurality of images are stored outside the database.

88. The method of claim 1, wherein at least some of the plurality of images are stored remotely from the database.

89. The method of claim 1, wherein the preexisting identifying information comprises at least one description of the at least one selected image.

90. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying the query results.

91. The method of claim 1, wherein the automatically creating comprises:

automatically gathering information necessary to create the at least one output file; and

automatically creating the at least one output file using the gathered information.

92. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

reprocessing the query at a subsequent time against updated information in the database and generating updated query results;

automatically selecting one or more images associated with the updated query results according to one or more variables; and

automatically creating at least one other output file, the at least one other output file comprising at least one of the one or more images and preexisting identifying information related thereto.

93. The method of claim 92, wherein the automatically creating is performed using at least one predefined default output option.

94. The method of claim 92, wherein the automatically creating comprises automatically determining at least one output option for the at least one other output file.

95. The method of claim 92, wherein the automatically creating is performed using at least one output option selected by a user.

96. The method of claim 92, further comprising automatically delivering at least one of the at least one other created output file to one or more destinations.

97. The method of claim 92, wherein the reprocessing, the automatically selecting and the automatically creating are performed in accordance with a subscription.

98. The method of claim 97, wherein a subscription comprises automatic creation and delivery of at least one created output file according to one or more variables.

99. The method of claim 98, wherein the one or more variables comprises at least one of when the subscription should be executed, the criteria to be used to automatically execute a query, the criteria to be used to select at least one image and preexisting identifying information related thereto from the generated query results for inclusion in the at least one output file to be created, one or more output options relative to the at least one output file to be created, one or more delivery methods for the at least one created output file, one or more destinations to which the at least one created output file is to be delivered, and one or more recipients to whom the at least one created output file is to be delivered.

100. The method of claim 97, further comprising automatically delivering at least one of the at least one other created output file to one or more destinations identified in the subscription.

101. The method of claim 1, further comprising delivering the at least one created output file.

102. The method of claim 1, wherein the automatically creating is performed using at least one predefined default output option.

103. The method of claim 1, wherein the automatically creating comprises automatically selecting at least one output option.

104. The method of claim 1, wherein the automatically creating is performed using at least one output option selected by a user.

105. A computer system for creating output file from images, the computer system comprising:

storage storing a database comprising information regarding a plurality of images;

a memory; and

a processor in communications with the memory to execute a method of creating an output file from images, the method comprising: processing a query by the processor against information in the database and generating query results; selecting at least one result from the generated query results; and automatically creating at least one output file comprising at least one image associated with the at least one selected result and preexisting identifying information related to the at least one image, wherein the plurality of images comprises the at least one image.

106. The computer system of claim 105, wherein the at least one image is automatically selected from the generated query results for inclusion in the created output file based on one or more variables.

107. The computer system of claim 105, wherein all images associated with the generated query results are selected for inclusion in the at least one created output file.

108. The computer system of claim 105, wherein a user selects the at least one image from the generated query results for inclusion in the at least one created output file.

109. The computer system of claim 108, wherein the at least one image is selected based on a user's review of at least one of one or more attributes of the preexisting identifying information associated with the at least one image included in the generated query results and the at least one image included in the generated query results.

110. The computer system of claim 105, further comprising receiving at least one selection of at least one output option related to the at least one created output file, wherein the automatically creating comprises applying the at least one selected output option to the at least one created output file.

111. The computer system of claim 110, wherein the at least one output option comprises at least one of at least one output file type, at least one layout for the at least one created output file, a specified portion of the preexisting identifying information to be included in the at least one created output file, at least one image size to be used in the at least one created output file, at least one method of delivering the at least one created output file, at least one destination to which the at least one created output file will be delivered, and at least one request for at least one subscription.

112. The computer system of claim 111, wherein the at least one selected output option comprises at least one output file type.

113. The computer system of claim 105, wherein the selected at least one output file type comprises an output file of at least one of a presentation application, a word processing application, a spreadsheet application, an image application, an application that creates portable document format files, or an email application.

114. The computer system of claim 113, wherein the selected at least one output file type comprises an output file of a presentation application.

115. The computer system of claim 113, wherein the selected at least one output file type comprises an output file of a word processing application.

116. The computer system of claim 113, wherein the selected at least one output file type comprises an output file of a spreadsheet application.

117. The computer system of claim 113, wherein the selected at least one output file type comprises an output file of an image application.

118. The computer system of claim 113, wherein the selected at least one output file type comprises an output file of an application that creates portable document format files.

119. The computer system of claim 113, wherein the selected at least one output file type comprises an output file of an email application.

120. The computer system of claim 110, wherein the at least one selected output option comprises at least one layout for the at least one created output file, and wherein a layout is a format for presenting the at least one selected image and any preexisting identifying information related thereto on a defined portion of the at least one created output file.

121. The computer system of claim 120, wherein the defined portion comprises at least one of a page, slide or section.

122. The computer system of claim 120, wherein at least one custom layout is selected.

123. The computer system of claim 120, wherein the layout comprises a predefined template and at least one predefined layout template option is selected.

124. The computer system of claim 123, wherein the predefined layout template comprises displaying on each defined portion within the at least one created output file at least one of one or more images of pages previously used in advertising, one or more images of portions of pages previously used in advertising, one or more product images, one or more product images and one or more images of complete or partial pages previously used in advertising, one or more product images and data pertaining to sales related thereto, images of one or more complete or partial pages previously used in advertising and sales data related thereto, and a portion of the preexisting identifying information contained in the database associated with the displayed images.

125. The computer system of claim 110, wherein the at least one selected output option comprises a portion of the preexisting identifying information pertaining to the at least one selected image to be included in the at least one output file.

126. The computer system of claim 125, wherein a custom portion of the preexisting identifying information is selected.

127. The computer system of claim 125, wherein a predefined portion of the preexisting identifying information is selected.

128. The computer system of claim 125, wherein the portion of the selected preexisting identifying information comprises data pertaining to one or more image of previously used advertising.

129. The computer system of claim 128, wherein the selected portion of the preexisting identifying information comprises at least one of at least one date the one or more image was used in advertising, one or more geographic areas in which the one or more image appeared, a type of media in which the one or more image appeared, one or more web sites on which the one or more image appeared, one or more advertisers who placed the one or more image, the size of the one or more image, one or more product categories depicted within the one or more image, one or more manufacturers of one or more products depicted within the one or more image, one or more brands depicted within the one or more image, one or more products depicted within the one or more image, pricing information included in the one or more image, promotional information included in the one or more image, measures of the effectiveness of the one or more image or at least one portion thereof, sales data related to the one or more image or at least one portion thereof, and at least one pointer to at least one of the one or more image.

130. The computer system of claim 110, wherein the at least one selected output option comprises a delivery method for the at least one created output file.

131. The computer system of claim 130, wherein the selected delivery method comprises one or more of sending at least one electronic mail message with the at least one created output file attached, sending at least one electronic mail message containing at least one link pointing to a location of the at least one created output file, sending at least one electronic mail message that comprises the at least one created output file, directly downloading the at least one created output file, displaying the at least one created output file, and saving the at least one created stand alone output file for later retrieval.

132. The computer system of claim 110, wherein the wherein the at least one selected output option comprises at least one destination to which the at least one created output file will be delivered.

133. The computer system of claim 132, wherein the selected destination comprises one or more of at least one email address and at least one location where the at least one created output file is to be saved.

134. The computer system of claim 130, further comprising delivering the at least one created output file using the selected delivery method.

135. The computer system of claim 110, wherein at least one output option is selected by a user.

136. The computer system of claim 110, wherein at least one of the at least one output option is selected based on a predetermined default.

137. The computer system of claim 110, wherein at least one output option is automatically selected based on one or more variables.

138. The computer system of claim 105, wherein the at least one created output file is created in response to a request received over a network.

139. The computer system of claim 138, wherein the network comprises at least one of a global communications network, a local area network and a wide area network.

140. The computer system of claim 105, wherein the at least one created output file is created in response to a request received from a stand-alone computer.

141. The computer system of claim 105, wherein the at least one image comprises at least one image of advertising that has been made publicly available.

142. The computer system of claim 141, wherein the at least one advertising image comprises at least one of a product image and a partial or complete page image, wherein a product image comprises a discrete portion of a page image that contains at least one of one or more products and one or more services.

143. The computer system of claim 105, wherein at least some of the plurality of images are stored outside the database.

144. The computer system of claim 143, wherein the database comprises pointers to the at least some of the plurality of images are stored outside the database.

145. The computer system of claim 105, wherein at least some of the plurality of images are stored remotely from the database.

146. The computer system of claim 105, wherein the preexisting identifying information comprises at least one description of the at least one selected image.

147. The computer system of claim 105, further comprising displaying the query results.

148. The computer system of claim 105, wherein the automatically creating comprises:

automatically gathering information necessary to create the at least one output file; and

automatically creating the at least one output file using the gathered information.

149. The computer system of claim 105, further comprising:

reprocessing the query at a subsequent time against updated information in the database and generating updated query results;

automatically selecting one or more images associated with the updated query results according to one or more variables; and

automatically creating at least one other output file, the at least one other output file comprising at least one of the one or more images and preexisting identifying information related thereto.

150. The computer system of claim 149, wherein the automatically creating is performed using at least one predefined default output option.

151. The computer system of claim 149, wherein the automatically creating comprises automatically determining at least one output option for the at least one other output file.

152. The computer system of claim 149, wherein the automatically creating is performed using at least one output option selected by a user.

153. The computer system of claim 149, further comprising automatically delivering at least one of the at least one other created output file to one or more destinations.

154. The computer system of claim 149, wherein the reprocessing, the automatically selecting and the automatically creating are performed in accordance with a subscription.

155. The computer system of claim 154, wherein a subscription comprises automatic creation and delivery of at least one created output file according to one or more variables.

156. The computer system of claim 155, wherein the one or more variables comprises at least one of when the subscription should be executed, the criteria to be used to automatically execute a query, the criteria to be used to select at least one image and preexisting identifying information related thereto from the generated query results for inclusion in the at least one output file to be created, one or more output options relative to the at least one output file to be created, one or more delivery methods for the at least one created output file, one or more destinations to which the at least one created output file is to be delivered, and one or more recipients to whom the at least one created output file is to be delivered.

157. The computer system of claim 154, further comprising automatically delivering at least one of the at least one other created output file to one or more destinations identified in the subscription.

158. The computer system of claim 105, further comprising delivering the at least one created output file.

159. The computer system of claim 105, wherein the automatically creating is performed using at least one predefined default output option.

160. The computer system of claim 105, wherein the automatically creating comprises automatically selecting at least one output option.

161. The computer system of claim 105, wherein the automatically creating is performed using at least one output option selected by a user.

162. A computer program product for creating output file from images, the computer program product comprising:

a storage medium readable by a processor and storing programming for execution by the processor for performing a method of creating an output file from images, the method comprising: processing a query by a processor against information in a database regarding a plurality of images and generating query results; selecting at least one result from the generated query results; and automatically creating at least one output file comprising at least one image associated with the at least one selected result and preexisting identifying information related to the at least one image, wherein the plurality of images comprises the at least one image.

163. The computer program product of claim 162, wherein the at least one image is automatically selected from the generated query results for inclusion in the created output file based on one or more variables.

164. The computer program product of claim 162, wherein all images associated with the generated query results are selected for inclusion in the at least one created output file.

165. The computer program product of claim 162, wherein a user selects the at least one image from the generated query results for inclusion in the at least one created output file.

166. The computer program product of claim 165, wherein the at least one image is selected based on a user's review of at least one of one or more attributes of the preexisting identifying information associated with the at least one image included in the generated query results and the at least one image included in the generated query results.

167. The computer program product of claim 162, further comprising receiving at least one selection of at least one output option related to the at least one created output file, wherein the automatically creating comprises applying the at least one selected output option to the at least one created output file.

168. The computer program product of claim 167, wherein the at least one output option comprises at least one of at least one output file type, at least one layout for the at least one created output file, a specified portion of the preexisting identifying information to be included in the at least one created output file, at least one image size to be used in the at least one created output file, at least one method of delivering the at least one created output file, at least one destination to which the at least one created output file will be delivered, and at least one request for at least one subscription.

169. The computer program product of claim 167, wherein the at least one selected output option comprises at least one output file type.

170. The computer program product of claim 162, wherein the selected at least one output file type comprises an output file of at least one of a presentation application, a word processing application, a spreadsheet application, an image application, an application that creates portable document format files, or an email application.

171. The computer program product of claim 170, wherein the selected at least one output file type comprises an output file of a presentation application.

172. The computer program product of claim 170, wherein the selected at least one output file type comprises an output file of a word processing application.

173. The computer program product of claim 170, wherein the selected at least one output file type comprises an output file of a spreadsheet application.

174. The computer program product of claim 170, wherein the selected at least one output file type comprises an output file of an image application.

175. The computer program product of claim 170, wherein the selected at least one output file type comprises an output file of an application that creates portable document format files.

176. The computer program product of claim 170, wherein the selected at least one output file type comprises an output file of an email application.

177. The computer program product of claim 167, wherein the at least one selected output option comprises at least one layout for the at least one created output file, and wherein a layout is a format for presenting the at least one selected image and any preexisting identifying information related thereto on a defined portion of the at least one created output file.

178. The computer program product of claim 177, wherein the defined portion comprises at least one of a page, slide or section.

179. The computer program product of claim 177, wherein at least one custom layout is selected.

180. The computer program product of claim 177, wherein the layout comprises a predefined template and at least one predefined layout template option is selected.

181. The computer program product of claim 180, wherein the predefined layout template comprises displaying on each defined portion within the at least one created output file at least one of one or more images of pages previously used in advertising, one or more images of portions of pages previously used in advertising, one or more product images, one or more product images and one or more images of complete or partial pages previously used in advertising, one or more product images and data pertaining to sales related thereto, images of one or more complete or partial pages previously used in advertising and sales data related thereto, and a portion of the preexisting identifying information contained in the database associated with the displayed images.

182. The computer program product of claim 167, wherein the at least one selected output option comprises a portion of the preexisting identifying information pertaining to the at least one selected image to be included in the at least one output file.

183. The computer program product of claim 182, wherein a custom portion of the preexisting identifying information is selected.

184. The computer program product of claim 182, wherein a predefined portion of the preexisting identifying information is selected.

185. The computer program product of claim 182, wherein the portion of the selected preexisting identifying information comprises data pertaining to one or more image of previously used advertising.

186. The computer program product of claim 185, wherein the selected portion of the preexisting identifying information comprises at least one of at least one date the one or more image was used in advertising, one or more geographic areas in which the one or more image appeared, a type of media in which the one or more image appeared, one or more web sites on which the one or more image appeared, one or more advertisers who placed the one or more image, the size of the one or more image, one or more product categories depicted within the one or more image, one or more manufacturers of one or more products depicted within the one or more image, one or more brands depicted within the one or more image, one or more products depicted within the one or more image, pricing information included in the one or more image, promotional information included in the one or more image, measures of the effectiveness of the one or more image or at least one portion thereof, sales data related to the one or more image or at least one portion thereof, and at least one pointer to at least one of the one or more image.

187. The computer program product of claim 167, wherein the at least one selected output option comprises a delivery method for the at least one created output file.

188. The computer program product of claim 187, wherein the selected delivery method comprises one or more of sending at least one electronic mail message with the at least one created output file attached, sending at least one electronic mail message containing at least one link pointing to a location of the at least one created output file, sending at least one electronic mail message that comprises the at least one created output file, directly downloading the at least one created output file, displaying the at least one created output file, and saving the at least one created stand alone output file for later retrieval.

189. The computer program product of claim 167, wherein the wherein the at least one selected output option comprises at least one destination to which the at least one created output file will be delivered.

190. The computer program product of claim 189, wherein the selected destination comprises one or more of at least one email address and at least one location where the at least one created output file is to be saved.

191. The computer program product of claim 187, further comprising delivering the at least one created output file using the selected delivery method.

192. The computer program product of claim 167, wherein at least one output option is selected by a user.

193. The computer program product of claim 167, wherein at least one of the at least one output option is selected based on a predetermined default.

194. The computer program product of claim 167, wherein at least one output option is automatically selected based on one or more variables.

195. The computer program product of claim 162, wherein the at least one created output file is created in response to a request received over a network.

196. The computer program product of claim 195, wherein the network comprises at least one of a global communications network, a local area network and a wide area network.

197. The computer program product of claim 162, wherein the at least one created output file is created in response to a request received from a stand-alone computer.

198. The computer program product of claim 162, wherein the at least one image comprises at least one image of advertising that has been made publicly available.

199. The computer program product of claim 198, wherein the at least one advertising image comprises at least one of a product image and a partial or complete page image, wherein a product image comprises a discrete portion of a page image that contains at least one of one or more products and one or more services.

200. The computer program product of claim 162, wherein at least some of the plurality of images are stored outside the database.

201. The computer program product of claim 200, wherein the database comprises pointers to the at least some of the plurality of images are stored outside the database.

202. The computer program product of claim 162, wherein at least some of the plurality of images are stored remotely from the database.

203. The computer program product of claim 162, wherein the preexisting identifying information comprises at least one description of the at least one selected image.

204. The computer program product of claim 162, further comprising displaying the query results.

205. The computer program product of claim 162, wherein the automatically creating comprises:

automatically gathering information necessary to create the at least one output file; and

automatically creating the at least one output file using the gathered information.

206. The computer program product of claim 162, further comprising:

reprocessing the query at a subsequent time against updated information in the database and generating updated query results;

automatically selecting one or more images associated with the updated query results according to one or more variables; and

automatically creating at least one other output file, the at least one other output file comprising at least one of the one or more images and preexisting identifying information related thereto.

207. The computer program product of claim 206, wherein the automatically creating is performed using at least one predefined default output option.

208. The computer program product of claim 206, wherein the automatically creating comprises automatically determining at least one output option for the at least one other output file.

209. The computer program product of claim 206, wherein the automatically creating is performed using at least one output option selected by a user.

210. The computer program product of claim 206, further comprising automatically delivering at least one of the at least one other created output file to one or more destinations.

211. The computer program product of claim 206, wherein the reprocessing, the automatically selecting and the automatically creating are performed in accordance with a subscription.

212. The computer program product of claim 211, wherein a subscription comprises automatic creation and delivery of at least one created output file according to one or more variables.

213. The computer program product of claim 212, wherein the one or more variables comprises at least one of when the subscription should be executed, the criteria to be used to automatically execute a query, the criteria to be used to select at least one image and preexisting identifying information related thereto from the generated query results for inclusion in the at least one output file to be created, one or more output options relative to the at least one output file to be created, one or more delivery methods for the at least one created output file, one or more destinations to which the at least one created output file is to be delivered, and one or more recipients to whom the at least one created output file is to be delivered.

214. The computer program product of claim 211, further comprising automatically delivering at least one of the at least one other created output file to one or more destinations identified in the subscription.

215. The computer program product of claim 162, further comprising delivering the at least one created output file.

216. The computer program product of claim 162, wherein the automatically creating is performed using at least one predefined default output option.

217. The computer program product of claim 162, wherein the automatically creating comprises automatically selecting at least one output option.

218. The computer program product of claim 162, wherein the automatically creating is performed using at least one output option selected by a user.