JP2001042413A - Device and method for image photographing, device and method for image processing, and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make photographable and processable an image by making it correspond to the photographing item of a hierarchical structure type by storing photographing additional information in which a photographing item inputted and a photographed image are made to correspond and the image. SOLUTION: A photographer selects one of the photographing items by depressing an operation button 26, and photographs the image of an object by depressing a photographing button 28. The photographing item is made to correspond to the image photographed by a photographing additional information setting part 22. The correspondence of the photographed image and the photographing item is set as the photographing additional information. Plural photographing items are read from a photographing plan data base 50 by a photographing item inputting part 24, and the photographing item inputted by the part 24 is stored by a photographing item storing part 16. Information with respect to the photographing item selected by a photographing item selecting part 18 is read from the part 16 by the part 22, and the photographing additional information related to the image picked up on film 13 is set. The photographing additional information set by the part 22 is stored in the magnetic recording part of the film 13 by a magnetic head 11.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image photographing apparatus and an image photographing method for photographing an image in association with a hierarchically structured photographing item, and an image processing apparatus for processing an image in correspondence with a hierarchically structured photographing item. And an image processing method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A construction photo album is created to edit a photograph of a construction site and to explain the amount of work completed.
In the construction photo album, it is necessary to add supplementary information explaining the situation of the output photo along with the photo. for that reason,
When taking a volume photo, a blackboard explaining the shooting situation was printed, and the information written on the blackboard of the developed photo was classified as a source. However, there was a problem that the characters on the blackboard were difficult to read. In addition, the photographer may classify the photographed photograph on the basis of a memo written at the time of photographing. However, if the memo is lost or the memo is forgotten, it becomes difficult to create an album.

[0003] JP-A-10-246628, 10-24
No. 6,629, 10-246630 (publication date: Sep. 14, 1998) discloses a photography management method, in which photography items and photography locations are managed in advance in a database, and A method is described in which a sign specifying a photographing position or the like is installed, a photograph is taken at a photographing site according to a photographing plan, the photographed photograph is taken into a database, and the photograph is managed according to the photographing plan. However, the correspondence between the developed photos and the shooting items,
There is a problem in that the classification work requires a lot of man-hour because it has to be performed manually.

[0004]

As described above, the conventional method has a problem that the work of classifying photographs taken by a camera according to the photographing items after development is complicated.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides an image photographing apparatus for photographing an image in association with a hierarchically structured photographing item, an image photographing method, and an image in association with a hierarchically structured photographing item. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, and a recording medium for processing the image. This object is achieved by a combination of features described in the independent claims. The dependent claims define further advantageous embodiments of the present invention.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image photographing apparatus for photographing an image in association with a hierarchically structured photographing item, comprising: A shooting item input section for inputting a shooting item of a type, a shooting section for shooting an image, a shooting auxiliary information setting for setting shooting additional information that associates an image shot by the shooting section with a shooting item of a hierarchical structure type And a storage unit for storing the image and the supplementary information of the photographing.

A photographing item display unit for displaying a hierarchically structured photographing item, and a photographing item selecting unit for selecting a specific photographing item from the hierarchically structured photographing items displayed by the photographing item display unit are further provided. The shooting supplementary information setting unit may set shooting supplementary information that associates an image shot by the shooting unit with a specific shooting item selected by the shooting item selection unit.

[0008] The shooting supplementary information may be information in which a file name of an image shot by the shooting section is associated with an item name of a specific shooting item selected by the shooting item selection section.

The photographing item input section inputs a hierarchically structured photographing item and a photographing order for photographing the hierarchically structured photographing item, and the photographing item display section displays the hierarchically structured photographing item based on the photographing order. You may sort and display.

[0010] The photographing item selecting section may select the photographing item input by the photographing item input section based on the photographing order input by the photographing item input section.

A recording unit for recording an image on a photosensitive portion of the film with respect to a film having a photosensitive portion and a magnetic recording portion;
The shooting supplementary information may be recorded on the magnetic recording section of the film.

The photographing item input unit has a receiving unit for communicating with a host computer via a communication line.
It is also possible to receive a hierarchically structured shooting item from a host computer via a communication line and input the received hierarchically structured shooting item.

The photographing item input unit has a transmitting unit and a receiving unit for communicating with a host computer via a communication line. The transmitting unit inputs a photographing item having a hierarchical structure as audio data, and connects the communication line to the communication line. Via the communication line, the receiving unit receives character data generated based on the voice data from the host computer, and inputs the character data as a shooting item having a hierarchical structure. May be.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a host computer having a character information database and transmitting / receiving data via a communication line, comprising: a receiving unit for receiving voice data via a communication line; It is characterized by comprising a photographing item recognizing unit for searching for a photographing item that best matches a voice recognition result of voice data from a character information database, and a transmitting unit for transmitting the photographing item as character data via a communication line. .

The character information database has photographing items of a hierarchical structure type, and the photographing item recognizing unit selects a photographing item that best matches the voice recognition result of the voice data from the photographing items of the hierarchical structure type. Good.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image processing apparatus for processing an image in association with a photographing item of a hierarchical structure type, and inputs image data and photographing supplementary information associated with the image data. An image information input unit, a photographing item extracting unit that extracts a hierarchically structured photographing item from photographing supplementary information, and a hierarchically structured directory is created based on the hierarchically structured photographing item, and the image data corresponds to the directory. An image data storage unit for additionally storing the image data and a recording unit for recording the image data together with the directory are provided.

The image information input section may extract image data from the photosensitive section of the film having the photosensitive section and the magnetic recording section, and may extract the supplementary photographing information from the magnetic recording section of the film.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image photographing method for photographing an image in association with a hierarchically structured photographing item. Among them, a specific shooting item is selected, an image is shot, shooting additional information that associates the image with the selected specific shooting item is set, and the image and the shooting additional information are stored. I do.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image processing method for processing an image in association with a photographing item having a hierarchical structure, wherein image data and photographing supplementary information associated with the image data are inputted. , Extract the shooting items of the hierarchical structure type from the shooting incidental information, and based on the shooting items of the hierarchical structure type,
A hierarchical directory is created, image data is stored in association with the directory, and the image data is recorded together with the hierarchical directory.

The image data may be extracted from the photosensitive portion of the film having the photosensitive portion and the magnetic recording portion, and the photographing supplementary information may be extracted from the magnetic recording portion of the film.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording medium storing a computer program for processing an image in association with a hierarchically structured photographing item. And an image information input module for inputting shooting supplementary information associated with image data, a shooting item extraction module for operating a computer to extract a shooting item having a hierarchical structure from shooting supplementary information, and a shooting item having a hierarchical structure And an image data storage module for creating a directory having a hierarchical structure based on the image data and storing the image data in association with the directory.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording medium storing a computer program for storing an image in an imaging plan database in which imaging items are registered.
An image information input module that causes a program to work on a computer to input image data and shooting supplementary information associated with the image data; a shooting item extraction module that works on a computer to extract a shooting item from shooting shooting information; An image data storage module for storing image data in a corresponding shooting item of the shooting plan database based on the shooting item.

In a sixth or seventh aspect of the present invention,
The image information input module may extract image data from a photosensitive portion of a film having a photosensitive portion and a magnetic recording portion, and may extract shooting-related information from a magnetic recording portion of the film.

Note that the above summary of the present invention does not enumerate all of the necessary features of the present invention, and a sub-combination of these features can also be an invention.

[0025]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described through embodiments of the present invention. However, the following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims and are described in the embodiments. Not all combinations of the features described above are essential to the solution of the invention.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an APS camera as an example of an image photographing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The image photographing apparatus 10 of the present embodiment includes a photographing unit 12, a film 13, a magnetic head 11, a photographing item storage unit 16, a photographing item selecting unit 18, a photographing item display unit 20, and a photographing incidental information setting unit. 22, a photographing item input unit 24, an operation button 26, a photographing button 28, and a control unit 30 are connected to a photographing plan database 50 via an external interface (not shown).

The photographing section 12 photographs an image of a subject when the photographing button 28 is pressed. Although not shown, the imaging unit 12 includes an optical lens, a shutter, and an aperture. The film 13 is an example of a storage unit, and is an APS (Advanced Photo System) film having a photosensitive unit and a magnetic recording unit. An image of a subject photographed by the photographing unit 12 is captured on a photosensitive portion of the film 13.

The photographing item input section 24 reads a plurality of photographing items from the photographing plan database 50. The shooting item storage unit 16 stores shooting items input by the shooting item input unit 24. The shooting item display unit 20 displays shooting items stored in the shooting item storage unit 16. The shooting item selection unit 18
A specific photographing item is selected from the photographing items displayed by the photographing item display section 20.

The photographing supplementary information setting unit 22 reads out information on the photographing item selected by the photographing item selecting unit 18 from the photographing item storage unit 16 and sets the photographing supplementary information associated with the image captured on the film 13. Magnetic head 11
Stores the shooting supplementary information set by the shooting supplementary information setting unit 22 in the magnetic recording unit of the film 13.

Hereinafter, the operation of the image photographing apparatus of the present embodiment will be described in detail when the image photographing apparatus of the present embodiment is used for photographing a construction site. It can also be used for other types of photography.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the photographing items of the construction photograph stored in the photographing plan database 50. The shooting item of the construction photograph is represented by a folder having a hierarchical structure.
The shooting items include, for example, the names of shooting items designated by a plurality of shooting categories, the shooting order of the shooting items, and the number of photos of each shooting item.

In the example of FIG. 2, the highest level (level 1) of the hierarchical structure of the photographing item indicates the construction category, level 2 indicates the construction type, level 3 indicates the type, and level 4 indicates the subdivision. The shooting category of Level 1 is “Bridge lower part”. Level 2 shooting categories are "steel pier" and "bank protection". Level 3
The shooting categories are, for example, “Steel pier / temporary deadline”,
There are three types: "water refills" and "lowering groundwater levels". Further, the shooting category of the level 4 is, for example, “Yokoyaita”,
There are four types: mud treatment, medium filling, and shell transport treatment.

The photographing items are designated by photographing categories from level 1 to level 4, for example, "construction category is bridge lower part, construction type is steel pier, classification is earth retaining / temporary deadline construction, and subdivision is medium fill." Is one shooting item. The order of shooting the shooting items is set in the item column of the shooting order. In the item column of the number of shots, the number of photos to be shot for each shooting item is set.

FIG. 3 shows an example of photographing items input to the image photographing apparatus 10 from the photographing plan database 30 and stored in the photographing item storage section 16. The shooting item storage unit 16 may store the shooting items rearranged in the shooting order.

FIG. 4 is a display example of a photographing item on the photographing item display section 20. The image capturing device 10 includes a liquid crystal display unit 32
The shooting item display unit 20 displays a part of the shooting items stored in the shooting item storage unit 16. Operation button 26
Are shown at 26a, b, c, d and e. 26a and 2
6b is a left scroll button and a right scroll button, 26c and 26d are an up scroll button and a down scroll button, respectively, and 26e is a selection button. The shooting items displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 32 are scrolled left by the left scroll button, right by the right scroll button, up by the up scroll button, and downward by the down scroll button. When the selection button is pressed, any one of the photographing items is highlighted and the photographing item can be selected.

The liquid crystal display section 32 may be a touch panel that reacts when touched by a finger. In that case, the shooting item touched by the finger is selected.

The photographing item display section 20 scrolls the displayed photographing items when the photographing section 12 captures an image and the photographing of the number of photographing items selected by the photographing item selecting section 18 is completed. Alternatively, the next shooting item may be selectable. Further, the number of shots or the remaining number of shots may be displayed simultaneously in the field of the number of shots. As a result, the progress of the shooting of the shooting item can be easily grasped.

The photographer presses the operation button 26 to select one of the photographing items, and presses the photographing button 28 to photograph an image of the subject. The shooting supplementary information setting unit 22 associates shooting items with the shot images. The correspondence between the shot image and the shooting item is set as shooting supplementary information.

FIG. 5 shows an example of the photographing supplementary information set by the photographing supplementary information setting section 22. The shooting supplementary information is information in which a shooting item and a shooting date are associated with each file name of a shot image. For example, in the image file name IM100001, the shooting item is "construction type is bridge lower part, construction type is steel pier, type is earth retaining / temporary deadline, subdivision is shell transportation process", and shooting date is "June 10, 1999 Day "is associated with the date. The photographing incidental information setting unit 22 includes an APS
Filming auxiliary information is stored in the film 60.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the APS film 60. The APS film 60 includes magnetic recording portions 62a, 62b,
c and d (hereinafter collectively referred to as 62) and photosensitive portions 64a, b and c (hereinafter collectively referred to as 64). The image captured by the image capturing device 10 is captured and recorded on the photosensitive unit 64 of the APS film 60. on the other hand,
The shooting supplementary information set by the shooting supplementary information setting unit 22 is A
It is recorded on the magnetic recording section 62 of the PS film 60. For example, the photographed image IM100001 is photographed on the photosensitive unit 64a, and the supplementary information of the photographing is recorded as “image file name = IMI100001, construction section = lower bridge, construction type = steel pier, type = dome / temporary deadline, subdivision = shell Transportation, shooting date = June 10, 1999 "
Is recorded in the magnetic recording unit 62a. Similarly, the photographed image IM100002 is recorded on the photosensitive unit 64b, and the photographing supplementary information is recorded on the magnetic recording unit 62b.

Although an example has been described in which the supplementary imaging information is recorded in the magnetic recording units 62a, b, and c divided for each image, the supplementary imaging information is collectively recorded in the magnetic recording unit 62d above the photosensitive unit 64. May be.

FIG. 7 shows an example in which the negative of the APS film is collectively developed on one sheet of photographic paper. Below the captured image,
Shooting supplementary information corresponding to each image is printed. Thus, the photographer can easily identify which photographed item corresponds to each photographed image. If multiple images corresponding to the same shooting item have been taken, select the best image,
It is possible to request the lab to print the image of the shot frame.

FIG. 8 shows an example in which the image and the supplementary information of the photographing are read from the APS film and stored in the CD-ROM. By bringing the APS film to the lab or inputting data into a computer having a device for reading the APS film, the image and the supplementary information recorded in the APS can be stored in the CD-ROM. As shown in FIG. 8, it is possible to store and record the incidental information in the property information of the image data file. Further, the file storing the photographing supplementary information can be stored and recorded as a text file separately from the image data file.

According to the image pickup apparatus of this embodiment, the supplementary information of the photograph, which describes the situation of the photograph in advance, is edited in accordance with the photographing plan by a computer or the like, and the supplementary information of the photograph is input to the camera, so that the photographing plan is obtained. An image can be taken along the image, and the shooting supplementary information corresponding to the image can be stored in association with the image. As a result, when developing the APS film, it is possible to display the supplementary photographing information below the developed image. In the lab system, APS
When recording image data obtained by capturing a film on a CD-ROM, it is possible to store additional shooting information in the file name or property information of the image file. Therefore, the user can easily determine to which photographing item the photographed image belongs.

(Embodiment 2) FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram of a digital camera as an example of an image photographing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The image photographing device 10 of the present embodiment includes:
A photographing unit 12, a CCD 14, a frame memory 15,
A shooting item storage unit 16, a recording medium 17, a shooting item selection unit 18, a shooting item display unit 20, a shooting incidental information setting unit 22, a shooting item input unit 24, an operation button 26, a shooting button 28, , A control unit 30.

The components having the same reference numerals as those in the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 operate in the same manner, and the description thereof will be omitted, and only the portions different from those of the first embodiment will be described.

The image photographing apparatus 10 of this embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that the photographing section 12
An image is captured by a D (Charged Coupled Device) 14, buffered in a frame memory 15, and stored in a recording medium 17.

The recording medium 17 is an example of a storage unit, and may be a magnetic recording medium such as a floppy disk or a mini disk, or a non-volatile memory such as a flash memory which is detachable from the image photographing apparatus 10.

In this embodiment, the photographing incidental information setting unit 22
Records the set shooting supplementary information on the recording medium 17 together with the image data.

FIG. 10 shows an example of a format of image data recorded on the recording medium 17. The image data has a header section and a data section. In the header section, tag information can be set in addition to compression information such as the name of a compression format, information such as a file name and a file size. Shooting supplementary information can be recorded in the user area of the tag information. The data section records the compressed data of the image.

The image data and the accompanying information stored in the recording medium 17 are read by a digital lab system or a computer having a reading device for reading data from the recording medium, and are recorded on a recording medium such as a CD-ROM. Can be. An example of the image data and the shooting supplementary information recorded on the CD-ROM is the same as that of FIG. 8 described above.

According to the image pickup apparatus of the present embodiment, it is possible to record the supplementary information of the photographing together with the image data on the recording medium, and to record the image data stored on the recording medium on the CD-ROM by a laboratory system or a computer. In such a case, the shooting supplementary information can be stored in the file name or property information of the image file. Therefore,
The user can easily determine to which photographing item the photographed image belongs.

(Embodiment 3) FIG. 11 is a configuration diagram of a digital camera as an example of an image photographing apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention. Image photographing apparatus 10 of the present embodiment
Is a photographing unit 12, a CCD 14, and a frame memory 15
A shooting item storage unit 16, a recording medium 17, a shooting item selection unit 18, a shooting item display unit 20, a shooting incidental information setting unit 22, an operation button 26, a shooting button 28, a control unit 30, , A voice input unit 34, a receiving unit 36, and a transmitting unit 38.

The components having the same reference numerals as those in the second embodiment shown in FIG. 9 operate in the same manner, and the description thereof will be omitted, and only the portions different from those of the second embodiment will be described. .

In the image photographing apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, the photographing item input section 24 has a receiving section 36 and a transmitting section 38, and communicates with an external host computer 58 via a communication line. Transmission and reception. Image capturing device 10
The voice input unit 34 inputs a user's voice and converts it into an electric signal.

The host computer 58 includes a transmitting unit 52
, A receiving unit 54, a photographing item recognizing unit 56, and a photographing plan database 50. The shooting plan database is
The photographing items having a hierarchical structure and the photographing order of the photographing items are managed as a database.

The user of the image photographing apparatus 10 inputs a voice for designating a photographing item from the voice input unit 34. The transmitting unit 38 of the image photographing device 10 transmits the input voice to the host computer 58 via the communication line. The receiving unit 54 of the host computer 58 receives the audio data transmitted from the image capturing device 10. The photographing item recognition unit 56 of the host computer 58 recognizes the voice data by voice, and searches the photographing plan database for a photographing item that best matches the recognized content. The transmission unit 52 of the host computer 58 transmits the searched character data of the photographing item to the image photographing device 10 via the communication line. The receiving unit 36 of the image photographing device 10 receives the character data of the photographing item transmitted from the host computer 58. The character data of the shooting item received by the receiving unit 36 is stored in the shooting item storage unit 16.

The communication line may be a wireless communication line used in a portable telephone, a PHS or the like, or may be a wired telephone line. Further, the image capturing apparatus 10 and the host computer 58 may have an infrared communication sensor, and infrared communication may be used for communication between the two.

In the above description, the user enters the voice input unit 3
4, the photographing item is designated, but the image photographing apparatus 10 does not have the sound input unit 34 and the transmitting unit 38
Thus, it is only necessary to instruct the host computer 58 to download the hierarchically structured shooting item. In this case, the transmission unit 52 of the host computer 58 transmits all the contents of the hierarchically structured shooting items recorded in the shooting plan database 50 to the image shooting device 10.

In the above description, the host computer 58 has the photographing plan database 50, but the host computer 58 does not have the photographing plan database 50,
The imaging item recognition unit may perform voice recognition on the voice data received by the receiving unit 54 and convert the voice data into character data. In that case,
The transmission unit 52 of the host computer 58 uses the character data obtained by the voice recognition as character data of the photographing item.
The image is transmitted to the image capturing device 10.

In the above description, the image picked up by the image pickup unit 12 is picked up by the CCD 14 and the image data is recorded on the recording medium 17 together with the photographing supplementary information. However, as in the first embodiment shown in FIG. Alternatively, the image photographed by the photographing section 12 and the photographing supplementary information may be recorded on the film 13.

According to the image photographing apparatus of the present embodiment, since data can be transmitted and received via the communication line, the photographing items are inputted from the external host computer via the communication line in accordance with the voice instruction of the user. can do. Therefore, the photographing items can be downloaded from the photographing plan database of the host computer, or voice recognition can be performed by the host computer, and the photographing items matching the recognition result can be received from the photographing plan database, and the photographing items can be easily set in the camera. can do.

Since the voice recognition means is left to an external host computer, the camera can be downsized and designed at low cost. Further, since the camera does not need to have a means such as a keyboard or a button for inputting text data of a photographing item, the camera can be downsized and designed at low cost.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of the image photographing method. This figure shows an image photographing method in the image photographing apparatuses of the first, second and third embodiments.

The photographing item input section 24 inputs photographing items (S200). The shooting item includes a category representing a plurality of shooting details, a shooting order, and the number of shots. The shooting item display unit 20 displays the shooting items (S202). The shooting item selection unit 18 selects one of the displayed shooting items (S204). The photographing unit 12 photographs and records an image (S206). The photographing supplementary information setting unit 22 sets and records the photographing supplementary information that associates the selected photographing item with the photographed image (S208). If the photographing has been completed, the processing is terminated; otherwise, the process returns to S204,
The photographing is repeated by selecting another photographing item (S212).

(Embodiment 4) A fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 13 is a configuration diagram of a digital lab system as an example of an image processing device according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. The image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment includes an input unit 110
, A processing unit 120, a recording unit 140, and an output unit 150.

The input section 110 inputs image information to the image processing apparatus. When an image captured by the APS camera is input to the image processing apparatus, a film scanner that optically scans an image on the APS film and converts the image into an electric signal is used as the input unit 110. When a digital image captured by a digital camera is input to an image processing apparatus, the input unit 110 includes various reading devices corresponding to a recording medium storing the input digital image. For example, when reading image data from a nonvolatile semiconductor memory card, a memory card reader or the like is used as the input unit 110. When image data is read from a magnetic recording medium such as a floppy disk or a mini disk, a floppy drive, a mini disk drive, or the like is used as the input unit 110, respectively.

The processing section 120 extracts the image data and the supplementary shooting information from the image information input by the input section 110,
The image data is stored in a directory of a hierarchical structure based on the shooting supplementary information.

The recording unit 140 records the image data stored in the hierarchical structure type folder by the processing unit 120 together with the hierarchical structure type folder on a removable recording medium. Examples of the recording medium include a writable optical recording medium such as a CD and a DVD, a magneto-optical recording medium such as an MO, and a magnetic recording medium such as a floppy disk. As the recording unit 140, a CD-R drive, a DVD drive, an MO drive, a floppy drive, or the like is used.

The output unit 150 outputs the image data stored in the hierarchical structure type folder by the processing unit 120 together with the hierarchical structure type folder. For example, when displaying an image on a screen, a monitor that displays the image is used as the output unit 150. For example, when printing an image, a printer such as a digital printer or a laser printer is used for the output unit 150.

Next, the configuration and operation of the processing section 120 will be described in detail. FIG. 14 is a configuration diagram of the processing unit 120. The processing unit 120 includes an image data storage unit 122, a shooting supplementary information storage unit 124, a shooting item extraction unit 126, and an image data storage unit 128.

The image data storage unit 122 includes the input unit 110
Extracts and stores the image data from the input image information. The shooting supplementary information storage unit 124 extracts and stores the shooting supplementary information from the image information input by the input unit 110.

For example, when the input unit 110 inputs image information from an APS film, the image data is
The image captured on the photosensitive portion of the film is read by a scanner and converted into digital data. The shooting supplementary information is obtained by reading digital character information recorded on the magnetic recording unit of the APS film.

When the input section 110 inputs image information from a recording medium for a digital camera, the image data is read from the data section of the image data format, and the supplementary information of shooting is stored in the tag of the header section of the image data format. Read from information.

The photographing item extracting section 126 extracts a photographing item from the photographing supplementary information. The shooting item is a shooting item name having a hierarchical shooting category such as "lower bridge ￥ steel pier construction ￥ earth retaining / temporary closing work ￥ shell transportation processing."

The image data storage unit 128 first creates a hierarchical structure type folder as an example of a hierarchical structure type directory according to the photographing item. If the shooting item is “Bridge lower part ￥ Steel pier work ￥ Soil retention / temporary deadline work ￥ Shell transport processing”, first create a folder with the folder name “Bridge lower part”. Next, a folder with the folder name “steel pier” is created in the folder “Bridge lower part”. Further, a folder having a folder name of "dome retaining / temporary deadline" is created in the folder "steel pier". Finally, a folder with the folder name “shell transport processing” is created in the folder “earth retaining / temporary deadline”. Next, the image data storage unit 128 creates the folder in which the image data corresponding to the shooting item “Bridge lower part ￥ Steel pier construction ￥ Soil retention / temporary closing work 切 Shell transportation processing” stored in the image data storage unit 122 is created. Stored in “shell transportation processing”.

The image data storage unit creates a corresponding folder for the photographing items included in all the image information input by the input unit 110, and stores the image data corresponding to the photographing items in the created folder. When a folder is created from a shooting item, if a folder corresponding to each level of the shooting item has already been created, it is not necessary to create the same folder, and the already created folder is used.

In the above description, a folder having a hierarchical structure is created from the shooting items, and the image data is stored in the created folder. However, shooting supplementary information including the shooting items is added to the file name and property information of the image data file. It may be stored. For example, a part of the shooting item may be used for the file name of the image data file, or the shooting item and the shooting date information may be recorded in the property information of the image data file.

FIG. 15 shows an example of a hierarchical structure type folder recorded by the recording unit 140 and image files stored in the hierarchical type folder.

According to the image processing apparatus of the present embodiment, when image information including image data and supplementary shooting information is input, and the image data is recorded on a CD-ROM or the like, a hierarchical structure of shooting is obtained from the supplementary shooting information. Items can be extracted, a folder structure based on the hierarchical structure of shooting items can be created, and image files can be stored in folders corresponding to shooting items.
Therefore, the user can easily determine to which photographing item the photographed image belongs by the hierarchical structure of the folder.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart of the image processing method. This figure shows an image processing method in the image processing apparatus according to the fourth embodiment.

A variable n for counting the number of images is initialized (S230). The input unit 110 inputs image information (S232). The image data and the supplementary photographing information are extracted from the input image information, and the photographing item extracting unit 126 extracts a photographing item, for example, "a \ b \ c \ d" from the photographing incidental information (S234). Here, a, b, c, and d are arbitrary character strings. The image data storage unit 128 stores the path “a @ b
If there is no folder specified by "¥ c ¥ d", create it (S
236), the image data is stored in the folder specified by the path “a \ b \ c \ d” (S238). The variable n is incremented (S240). If the variable n does not exceed the total number of shots, the process returns to S232, the next image information is input, and the processing up to storage of image data is repeated. If the sum exceeds the sum, the process proceeds to S244 (S242). The image data storage unit 128 records the image data together with the hierarchical folder on the recording medium (S2).
44), and the process ends.

(Embodiment 5) FIG. 17 is a configuration diagram of an image processing apparatus according to a fifth embodiment of the present embodiment. The basic configuration and operation of the image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment are shown in FIG.
The third embodiment is the same as the image processing apparatus according to the fourth embodiment.
The image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment is different from the image processing apparatus according to the fourth embodiment in that an electronic computer such as a personal computer or a workstation is used as the processing unit 120.

The hardware configuration of the processing unit 120 of the image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The CPU 130 operates based on programs stored in the ROM 132 and the RAM 134. keyboard,
Data is input by a user via an input device 131 such as a mouse. The hard disk 133 stores data such as images and a program for operating the CPU 130. The CD-ROM drive 135 is a CD-ROM 100
Read the data or program from the RAM 134,
It is provided to at least one of the hard disk 133 and the CPU 130.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of software executed by CPU 130. These software are stored in a recording medium such as the CD-ROM 100 and provided to the user. The software is installed on the hard disk 133 from the recording medium,
34 and executed by the CPU 130.

The software stored and provided on the recording medium, that is, the software installed on the hard disk 133 has, as functional components, an image data storage module 162 and a shooting supplementary information storage module 164.
And an imaging item extraction module 166 and an image data storage module 168.

The image data storage module 162 extracts and stores image data from the image information input by the input unit 110. The shooting supplementary information storage module 164 extracts and stores the shooting supplementary information from the image information input by the input unit 110.

The photographing item extraction module 166 extracts a photographing item from the photographing supplementary information. The shooting item is a shooting item name having a hierarchical shooting category such as "lower bridge ￥ steel pier construction ￥ earth retaining / temporary closing work ￥ shell transportation processing."

The image data storage module 168 first creates a folder having a hierarchical structure according to the photographing items. If the shooting item is “Bridge lower part ￥ Steel pier construction ￥ Soil retention / temporary closing work ￥ Shell transport processing”, first create a folder with the folder name “Bridge lower part”. Next, a folder with the folder name “steel pier” is created in the folder “Bridge lower part”.
Further, a folder having a folder name of "dome and temporary closing work" is created in the folder "steel pier". And finally,
Create a folder with the folder name "Shell transport processing" in the folder "Dome retention / temporary deadline". Next, the image data storage module 168 creates the folder in which the image data corresponding to the shooting items “Bridge lower part ￥ Steel pier work ￥ Soil retention / temporary closing work ￥ Shell transport processing” stored in the image data storage module 162 is created. Stored in “shell transportation processing”.

For the photographing items included in all the image information input by the input unit 110, the image data storage unit creates a corresponding folder, and stores the image data corresponding to the photographing item in the created folder. When a folder is created from a shooting item, if a folder corresponding to each level of the shooting item has already been created, it is not necessary to create the same folder, and the already created folder is used.

In the above description, a folder having a hierarchical structure is created from the shooting items and the image data is stored in the created folder. However, the shooting supplementary information including the shooting items is added to the file name and property information of the image data file. It may be stored. For example, a part of the shooting item may be used for the file name of the image data file, or the shooting item and the shooting date information may be recorded in the property information of the image data file.

The image data storage module 168 may record the image data in the photographing plan database 50.
At this time, based on the shooting item extracted by the shooting item extraction module 166, it is determined which of the shooting items recorded in the shooting plan database 50 the image file stored in the image data storage module 162 belongs to. The image data is stored in a folder corresponding to the shooting item.

CD-ROM 10 as an example of a recording medium
In 0, some or all of the functions of the operation of the processing unit 120 described in the present application can be stored. CD-RO
M100 can store some or all of the functions of other devices. These programs may be directly read from the recording medium to the RAM 134 and executed.

The recording medium may be an optical recording medium such as a DVD or a PD, a magnetic recording medium such as a floppy disk or a mini disk (MD), or an optical recording medium other than the CD-ROM 100.
And the like, a magneto-optical recording medium, a tape-shaped recording medium, a nonvolatile semiconductor memory card, and the like can be used. The recording medium storing the above-mentioned program is used only for manufacturing an image photographing apparatus, and the manufacture and sale of such a recording medium as a business constitutes infringement of a patent right based on the present application. It is clear that.

As described above, according to the image photographing apparatuses of the first and second embodiments, the photographing supplementary information that describes the situation of the photograph in advance is edited by a computer or the like according to the photographing plan, and the photographing supplementary information is edited. By typing into the camera,
An image can be photographed in accordance with a photographing plan, and photographing supplementary information corresponding to the image can be stored in association with the image. As a result, the lab system or the computer can display or output the image and the incidental information in association with each other. Therefore, the user can easily determine to which photographing item the photographed image belongs.

Further, according to the image photographing apparatus of the third embodiment, since data can be transmitted and received via the communication line, the photographing item can be changed by the user's voice instruction via the communication line. It can be input from the host computer. Therefore, the photographing items can be downloaded from the photographing plan database of the host computer, or voice recognition can be performed by the host computer, and photographing items matching the recognition result can be received from the photographing plan database, and the photographing items can be easily set in the camera. can do.

Further, according to the image processing apparatus of the fourth embodiment, when inputting image information including image data and supplementary information for photographing and recording the image data on a CD-ROM or the like,
It is possible to extract a hierarchically structured shooting item from the shooting supplementary information, create a folder structure based on the hierarchical structure of the shooting item, and store the image file in a folder corresponding to the shooting item. Therefore, the user can easily determine to which photographing item the photographed image belongs by the hierarchical structure of the folder.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiment, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiment. It is apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes or improvements can be added to the above embodiment. It is apparent from the description of the appended claims that embodiments with such changes or improvements can be included in the technical scope of the present invention.

[0099]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, an image can be photographed and processed in association with a hierarchically structured photographing item.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an APS camera as an example of an image photographing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an example of photographing items of a construction photograph stored in a photographing plan database 50;

FIG. 3 is an example of shooting items input to the image shooting device 10 from the shooting plan database 30 and stored in the shooting item storage unit 16;

FIG. 4 is a display example of a shooting item by a shooting item display unit 20;

FIG. 5 is an example of shooting supplementary information set by a shooting supplementary information setting unit 22;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of an APS film 60.

FIG. 7 is an example in which a negative of an APS film is collectively developed on one sheet of photographic paper.

FIG. 8 is an example in which an image and supplementary information of photographing are read from an APS film and stored in a CD-ROM.

FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram of a digital camera as an example of an image photographing device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an example of a format of image data recorded on a recording medium 17;

FIG. 11 is a configuration diagram of a digital camera as an example of an image photographing apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of an image capturing method.

FIG. 13 is a configuration diagram of a digital lab system as an example of an image processing device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

14 is a configuration diagram of a processing unit 120. FIG.

FIG. 15 is an example of a hierarchical structure type folder recorded by the recording unit 140 and an image file stored in the hierarchical type folder.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart of an image processing method.

FIG. 17 is a configuration diagram of an image processing apparatus according to a fifth embodiment of the present embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of software executed by a CPU.

[Explanation of symbols]

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10 image photographing device 11 magnetic head 12 photographing unit 13 film 14 CCD 15 frame memory 16 photographing item storage unit 17 recording medium 18 photographing item selecting unit 20 photographing item display unit 22 photographing incidental information setting unit 24 photographing item input unit 26 operation button 28 Shooting button 30 control unit 32 liquid crystal display unit 34 voice input unit 36 receiving unit 38 transmitting unit 50 shooting plan database 52 receiving unit 54 transmitting unit 56 shooting item recognition unit 58 host computer 60 APS film 62 magnetic recording unit 64 photosensitive unit 100 recording medium 110 input unit 120 processing unit 130 CPU 131 input device 132 ROM 133 hard disk 134 RAM 135 CD-R
OM drive 140 Recording unit 150 Output unit

Continued on the front page F-term (reference) 2H103 AA11 AA28 AA31 AA43 BA05 BA06 BA07 BA33 BA44 CA02 ZA41 ZA51 5C022 AA13 AC03 AC32 AC42 AC72

Claims (18)

[Claims] An image photographing apparatus for photographing an image in association with a hierarchically structured photographing item, comprising: a photographing item input section for inputting the hierarchically structured photographing item; and a photographing section for photographing the image. A photographing supplementary information setting unit that sets photographing supplementary information that associates the image photographed by the photographing unit with the hierarchically structured photographing item; and a storage unit that stores the image and the photographing supplementary information. An image photographing apparatus comprising: 2. A photographing item display unit for displaying the photographing items of the hierarchical structure type, and a photographing item selecting unit for selecting a specific photographing item from the photographing items of the hierarchical structure type displayed by the photographing item display unit. Wherein the shooting supplementary information setting unit sets the shooting supplementary information that associates the image shot by the shooting unit with a specific shooting item selected by the shooting item selection unit. The image photographing device according to claim 1. 3. The photographing supplementary information is information in which a file name of the image photographed by the photographing unit is associated with an item name of the specific photographing item selected by the photographing item selecting unit. The image photographing device according to claim 2, wherein 4. The photographing item input unit inputs a photographing item of the hierarchical structure type and a photographing order for photographing the hierarchical structure-type photographing item, and the photographing item display unit, based on the photographing order, 3. The image photographing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the photographing items of the hierarchical structure are rearranged and displayed. 5. The photographing item selecting unit according to claim 4, wherein the photographing item selecting unit selects a photographing item input by the photographing item input unit based on a photographing order input by the photographing item input unit. Image capturing device. 6. The recording section records the image on the photosensitive section of the film for a film having a photosensitive section and a magnetic recording section, and records the photographing supplementary information on the magnetic recording section of the film. The image photographing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: 7. The photographing item input unit has a receiving unit that communicates with a host computer via a communication line, and the receiving unit transmits the hierarchical structure type from the host computer via the communication line. The image photographing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the photographing item is received, and the received photographing item having the hierarchical structure is input. 8. The photographing item input unit has a transmitting unit and a receiving unit that communicate with a host computer via a communication line, and the transmitting unit inputs the hierarchically structured photographing item as audio data. Transmitting the voice data to the host computer via the communication line, and receiving the character data generated based on the voice data from the host computer via the communication line. 2. The image photographing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the character data is input as the photographing items of the hierarchical structure type. 9. A host computer having a character information database and transmitting and receiving data via a communication line, comprising: a receiving unit for receiving voice data via the communication line; A host computer comprising: a photographing item recognizing unit that searches for a photographing item that best matches a voice recognition result of voice data; and a transmitting unit that transmits the photographing item as character data via the communication line. 10. The character information database includes hierarchically structured photographing items, and the photographing item recognizing section performs photographing most suitable for the voice recognition result of the voice data among the hierarchically structured photographing items. 10. The host computer according to claim 9, wherein an item is selected. 11. An image processing apparatus for processing an image in association with a hierarchically structured photographing item, comprising: an image information input unit for inputting image data and photographing supplementary information associated with the image data; A photographing item extraction unit for extracting the hierarchically structured photographing item from photographing incidental information; and creating a hierarchically structured directory based on the hierarchically structured photographing item, and associating the image data with the directory. An image processing apparatus, comprising: an image data storage unit for storing; and a recording unit for recording the image data together with the directory. 12. The image information input section extracts the image data from the photosensitive section of a film having a photosensitive section and a magnetic recording section, and extracts the photographing incidental information from the magnetic recording section of the film. The image processing apparatus according to claim 11, wherein: 13. An image photographing method for photographing an image in association with a hierarchically structured photographing item, wherein the hierarchically structured photographing item is input, and a specific photographing is selected from among the hierarchically structured photographing items. Selecting an item, photographing the image, setting supplementary information of the photograph in association with the image and the selected particular photographing item, and storing the image and the supplementary information of the photographing. Image shooting method. 14. An image processing method for processing an image in association with a shooting item having a hierarchical structure, comprising: inputting image data and shooting supplementary information associated with the image data; Extracting a hierarchically structured shooting item, creating a hierarchically structured directory based on the hierarchically structured shooting item, storing the image data in association with the directory, and storing the image data in the hierarchically structured shooting item. And an image processing method for recording the image data together with the directory. 15. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the image data is extracted from the photosensitive section of the film having a photosensitive section and a magnetic recording section, and the shooting supplementary information is extracted from the magnetic recording section of the film. The image processing method described in the above. 16. A recording medium storing a computer program for processing an image in association with a hierarchically structured photographing item, said program acting on said computer to correspond to image data and said image data. An image information input module for inputting attached photographing supplementary information; a photographing item extracting module for operating the computer to extract the hierarchically structured photographing item from the photographing supplementary information; and a hierarchically structured photographing item. A storage medium for creating a directory having a hierarchical structure based on the image data and storing the image data in association with the directory. 17. A recording medium storing a computer program for storing an image in a photographing plan database in which photographing items are registered, wherein the program works on the computer to associate the image data with the image data. An image information input module for inputting the obtained shooting supplementary information, a shooting item extraction module for operating the computer to extract a shooting item from the shooting supplementary information, and a corresponding shooting plan database based on the shooting item. An image data storage module for storing the image data in a shooting item. 18. The image information input module extracts the image data from the photosensitive section of a film having a photosensitive section and a magnetic recording section, and extracts the photographing incidental information from the magnetic recording section of the film. The recording medium according to claim 16, wherein: