JP2000299777A - Image print method and image print system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain an image print method by which a plurality of images can be printed on one print paper sheet in the order of photographing them. SOLUTION: A flash memory of a digital camera stores image data photographed by the digital camera. According to an instruction of print of an image on the basis of the photographed image data, the image data stored in the flash memory are rearranged in the photographing order, and a plurality of the images is laid out on print paper 40 as images A, B, C in the photographing order according to the preset layout in response to the print paper depending on a size of the printed images and a print direction. Thus, this method allows a plurality of the images to be printed on one print paper efficiently in the photographing order. Furthermore, the images on the basis of the image data can be printed and photographing information 41 such as an image data photographing date and time, a photographing place and a photographer can be printed on a space of the print paper 40 at the same time.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an image printing method and an image printing system for printing an image such as a photograph.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, digital still cameras that convert light condensed by a lens using a light sensor such as a CCD into digital data and store image data in a storage medium have been reduced in cost and image quality, and have become popular. ing. The image data in the digital still camera can be transferred to the personal computer by connecting the digital still camera to a personal computer (hereinafter, referred to as a personal computer) with a cable, or by means such as infrared communication, and the image data can be taken into the personal computer. Some digital still cameras store image data on a memory card that is removable from the camera body.The memory card is inserted into a card slot built in or external to the PC either directly or through an adapter. Image data can be easily captured in a short time.

[0005] By connecting a sublimation type or ink jet type printer to a personal computer which has taken in image data and performing printing, even small-scale offices and homes can print inexpensive and high-quality photographs. Recently, a digital camera and a printer have been directly connected without a personal computer, and an image based on image data stored in a memory card of the digital camera can be printed.

[0004]

However, when an image such as a photograph is printed by a printer as described above, there are the following problems.

Generally, only one image can be printed on one printing paper. For example, when printing a plurality of images on one sheet of printing paper, processing the images using application software of a processing device such as a personal computer,
The work of laying out the image is required, and the processing work is complicated. For this reason, it was difficult for beginners to perform operations such as image processing and layout.

[0006] Since captured image data is stored in a free area of a storage medium such as a flash memory provided in a digital camera, the image data is not always stored in the order of imaging. For this reason, the shot images are not always printed in the shooting order, and if it is desired to print in the shooting order, the image data must be rearranged, and the operation is complicated.

The direction of a photographed image may be vertical or horizontal depending on the image. Therefore, when printing a plurality of images on one sheet of printing paper, the user efficiently arranges the images on the printing paper. The work was complicated.

An image captured by a digital camera generally has a ratio of a long side to a short side of 4: 3, and a printed image has the same ratio of the long side to the short side. Since the ratio of the long side to the short side in the above is almost 3: 2, a commercially available photo album or frame could not be used.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an image printing method and an image printing system capable of printing a plurality of images on a single print object in the order of input. Another object of the present invention is to provide an image printing method and an image printing system capable of efficiently arranging a plurality of images on one printing target.

[0010]

According to the image printing method according to the first aspect of the present invention or the image printing system according to the third aspect, the image data is rearranged in the order in which the image data was input to the image processing apparatus. The size and the printing direction of the image to be printed can be set based on the image, and the image to be printed can be allocated according to the printing target and printing can be executed. Therefore, a plurality of images can be printed on one print target in the order in which they were input. Further, since the assignment of images is set in advance according to the print target and the type of image to be printed, a plurality of images can be efficiently arranged on one print target.

According to the image printing method of the second aspect of the present invention, since a margin is provided around the image, not only the input image but also the image of the date and time when the image data was input, the input user, etc. Information about the data can be printed or written in the margins. Claim 4 of the present invention
According to the image printing system described above, since the image processing apparatus is a digital camera, image data input from the digital camera can be directly printed by the printing apparatus without passing through a processing apparatus such as a personal computer.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. One embodiment of the image data printing system of the present invention is shown in FIG. A printer 1 such as an inkjet printer as a printing device is directly connected to a digital camera 2 as an image processing device via a serial cable 3 or the like. The printer 1 can print a character or an image on a print target such as the printing paper 40 to obtain a print.

As printing objects, printing paper, cloth, OH, etc. of JIS standard A series and B series including A4 size.
A P sheet or the like can be used. As shown in FIG. 4, the printer 1 includes a RAM (Random Acces) for temporarily storing image data stored in a built-in or detachable flash memory 25 as a storage unit of the digital camera 2.
s Memory) 11, print head 1 for printing images and characters
2, an interface 13 for connecting to the digital camera 2 via the serial cable 3, a RAM 11, a print head 12 as a printing unit for printing images and characters, and a CPU 10 for controlling functions of the printer 1, such as the interface 13. .

The digital camera 2 includes a condenser lens 21 for collecting light from a subject, and a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) for converting light input from the condenser lens 21 into an electric signal.
e) an input section having an A / D converter 23 for converting an electric signal output from the CCD 22 into digital data, and a RAM 2 for temporarily storing digital data.
4. LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) 27 as an image display unit for displaying an image, an instruction screen for image processing, and a control screen for controlling the printer 1, and a RAM
The digital data temporarily stored in the memory 24 is subjected to image processing and data compression processing by the CPU 20 by a predetermined computer program, and then stored as flash memory 25 as a storage unit for storing as image data.
VR in which data for an image to be displayed in D27 is stored
AM 26, input means for inputting instructions to the digital camera 2 and instructions for the printer 1, input means 28 such as buttons (not shown) provided on the back of the digital camera 2, connected to the serial cable 3 connecting the digital camera 2 and the printer 1 And a CPU 20 for controlling functions of the digital camera 2 and processing images.

The flash memory 25 is a rewritable storage medium capable of storing the recorded contents without turning on the power. The flash memory 25 not only stores the image data of the photographed image, but also controls the digital camera 2 and the printer. 1 and a computer program for performing control. The flash memory 25 is a digital camera 2
Built-in or detachable digital camera 2
Attached to.

The image data includes not only the data of the photographed image itself but also a history such as the photographing date and time, and information on individual image data registered by the user, for example, a photographing place and a photographer are stored as photographing information. I have. The shooting information includes information automatically added to image data at the time of shooting by the digital camera 2 such as shooting date and time, and information arbitrarily added to image data by a user such as a shooting location or a photographer. . Also, instead of adding shooting information at the time of shooting, the information can be added at the time of printing an image or processing the image after shooting.

The printer 1 and the digital camera 2 are directly connected via a serial cable 3 and the printer 1
The interface 13 of the digital camera 2 is connected to the interface 13 of the digital camera 2. In the present embodiment, a wired transmission method using a serial cable is adopted.
A wireless transmission system using electromagnetic waves such as infrared rays, and a communication network such as the Internet can also be used. Further, the printer 1 and the digital camera 2 can be remotely located by using a network such as the Internet.

Next, the image printing method of the present invention will be described. The user can select whether to print all image data stored in the flash memory 25 or to print only desired image data. Here, a case where all the image data is printed will be described.

Image data of an image captured by the digital camera 2 is stored in the flash memory 25 of the digital camera 2. When the user instructs printing of image data from the input unit 28 of the digital camera 2, all the image data stored in the flash memory 25 are rearranged in the order of photographing, for example, in order from the oldest photographing history.

The image data rearranged in the shooting order automatically determines the printing direction according to the shooting direction of the image, that is, the vertical image or the horizontal image.

When the printing direction of the image is determined, the image is arranged according to a layout set in advance according to the size of the printing paper to be printed, the size of the image to be printed, the direction of the image to be printed, and the like. The determined image arrangement is displayed on the LCD 27 of the digital camera 2.

The printer 1 executes printing according to the determined arrangement. In the above-described image printing method, the transfer of image data from the digital camera 2 to the printer 1 may be performed any time before. In addition, the process of (1) to (5) may be performed by either the digital camera 2 or the printer 1.

Next, a printed matter printed using the image data printing system of the present invention will be described. Printable image sizes include hand size (long side 108 mm x short side 83 mm), postcard size (140 mm x 86 m)
m), card size (152 mm x 107 mm), cabinet size (165 mm x 120 mm), large cabinet size (180 mm x 130 mm), A5 size (210
mm x 148 mm), 8-piece size (216 mm x 1
65mm), 6-piece size (254mm × 203m)
m) and the size of an image corresponding to a conventional silver halide photograph size and printing paper of JIS standard A series are set.

In this embodiment, a case where a plurality of images based on image data are printed at a hand size (108 mm × 83 mm) on A4 size printing paper 40 will be described as an example. When printing an image of a hand size on A4 size printing paper 40, three images are set to be printed on one printing paper 40. Further, the first image of each page is set so as to be arranged at the upper left or the uppermost stage. When printing is performed by the printer, three images of image A, image B, and image C are printed in the order in which they were taken. Here, the image A, the image B, and the image C are the first, second, and third images, respectively, of the page to be printed.

When all three images from image A to image C are in the horizontal direction, the three images are laid out and printed as shown in FIG. In the case of all images in the vertical direction from the image A to the image C, three images are laid out and printed as shown in FIG. In the case of vertical images from image A to image C, layout is not performed as shown in FIG.
It is also possible to lay out only the image A in the upper part and the images B and C in the lower part.

When two of the images A to C are images in the horizontal direction and the other image is the image in the vertical direction, the images are laid out and printed as shown in FIGS. When two of the images A to C are images in the vertical direction and the other one is an image in the horizontal direction, the images are laid out and printed as shown in FIGS.

A predetermined space is provided between the images so that a margin is provided around the images arranged according to the predetermined layout. In this margin, photographing information 41 stored together with image data at the time of photographing can be printed. The shooting information 41 includes, for example, shooting date and time,
Arbitrary information input at the time of photographing or after photographing, such as a photographing place and a photographer, can be printed.

By printing three images per sheet of printing paper, the three images are always arranged efficiently per sheet of printing paper, even if the image direction differs depending on the image as described above. Can be. The arrangement of the images and the number of images to be allocated to one print sheet are set in advance according to the size of the print sheet 40, the size of the image to be printed, and the like. The contents such as the arrangement of the set images are stored in the flash memory 25 of the digital camera 2.
Is stored as a computer program for controlling the digital camera 2 and the printer 1. Further, a computer program for controlling the digital camera 2 and the printer 1 can be stored in the printer 1.

As described above, according to this embodiment,
By arranging the images to be printed as shown in FIGS. 1 to 8, when printing an image of a hand size on the A4 size printing paper 40, the digital camera 2 always shoots three images per printing paper in the order in which they were taken. One image can be printed. Also, the first image on each page must be printed paper 40
It is arranged in the upper left or upper row of.

In this embodiment, a digital camera is used as the image processing device. However, by using a personal computer as the image processing device, an image reading device such as a scanner can be used for the input unit. As described above, according to the image data printing system of the present invention, according to the image data printing system of the present invention, a plurality of image data can be printed on one print sheet in accordance with the order in which the image data is input to the image processing apparatus and the direction of the image data. Based images can be printed efficiently. Further, since an image based on a plurality of image data can be printed directly on printing paper, it is possible to organize images shot without using a commercially available album or the like.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a printed matter according to an embodiment of an image printing method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a printed matter according to an embodiment of the image printing method of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a printed matter according to an embodiment of the image printing method of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a printed matter according to an embodiment of the image printing method of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a printed matter according to an embodiment of the image printing method of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a printed matter according to an embodiment of the image printing method of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a printed matter according to an embodiment of the image printing method of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a printed matter according to an embodiment of the image printing method of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an embodiment of an image data printing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an image data printing system according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 printer (printing device) 2 digital camera (image processing device) 3 serial cable 10 CPU 11 RAM 12 print head 13 interface 20 CPU 21 condenser lens (input unit) 22 CCD (input unit) 23 A / D converter (input) Unit) 25 flash memory (storage unit) 27 LCD (image display unit) 28 input means 29 interface 40 printing paper (print target) 41 shooting information

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2C087 AA09 AA18 AC07 BD06 CA02 CA04 5C052 AA12 AB04 AC08 CC11 DD02 DD04 FA02 FA03 FA04 FA06 FB01 FB05 FC06 FC08 FD06 FE01 5C053 FA04 FA14 GA11 GA20 GB21 HA30 JA16 KA04 KA21 LA LA06 LA11 5C076 AA16 AA19 BA02 BA04 BA05 BA07

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An image printing method for printing an image based on a plurality of image data stored in a storage medium on a print target, wherein the step of rearranging the plurality of image data in the order of input is performed; A process of setting the size of the image to be printed based on the image data and the printing direction; and setting the image data in advance according to the size of the printing object, the size of the image to be printed, and the printing direction of the image. An image printing method comprising: allocating a single image or a plurality of images to a predetermined position; and printing an image based on the image data allocated to the print target on the print target. . 2. A part or all of the periphery of the image,
2. A predetermined margin is provided.
Image printing method as described. 3. An image processing apparatus having an input unit to which image data is input, and a storage unit capable of storing the image data, and the image data connected to the image processing device and stored in the storage unit A printing device that prints an image based on the image data on a print target, a permutation unit that rearranges the plurality of image data in the order in which the input unit has performed the input, a size of an image to be printed based on the image data, and Setting means for setting a printing direction, the image data, the size of the printing object, the size of the image to be printed, and a single or a plurality of images at a preset position according to the printing direction of the image Layout means for laying out, wherein the printing apparatus has layout printing means for printing an image based on the image data allocated to the printing target on the printing target. Image printing system, characterized in that. 4. The image printing system according to claim 3, wherein the image processing device is a digital camera.