JP2003256546A - Digital print order acceptance device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance the efficiency of a printing work without complicating the accepting work of a digital print. <P>SOLUTION: An acceptance machine accepts a digital print order by copying taken image data in a memory card carried by an orderer to a delivery media. When the memory card and the delivery media are set in the acceptance machine, and a copy button is pressed, the acceptance machine examines the data quantity to be copied and the free space of the delivery media. When the free space of the delivery media is insufficient, the effect is alarmed. Since the space confirmation is automatically executed, the accepting work can be reduced. The operator of the acceptance machine exchanges another delivery media, thereby collectively recording the data for one order in one delivery media. Since the data for one order are recorded in one delivery media, the printing work can be more efficiently performed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a digital print order receiving device for receiving an order for a digital print to be printed based on image data recorded as digital data.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Electronic still cameras (hereinafter referred to as digital cameras) for recording photographed images as digital data on a memory card have become widespread. A digital print service that undertakes high-quality prints at low cost based on image data taken by the electronic still camera has also become widespread. Images taken with a digital camera are
Since it is digital data, the camera user can confidently print the data on his or her own computer and print it. However, there are many users who use the digital print service in consideration of the time and effort of the printing work and the image quality of the finished print.

This digital print service is provided by a print company that develops and prints a photographic film, and the reception of the digital print service is performed by a DPE reception shop in each region that is affiliated with the print company or affiliated with each other. This D
There are various modes of PE reception shops, from a specialty store that specializes in photography-related products and services to a non-specialty store such as a convenience store.

At the DPE reception store, the memory card (first storage medium) of the orderer is kept and handed over to the printing company. The printing company uses the collection and delivery route that has been used to collect and deliver photographic film from the past.
Collect memory cards from the reception store and perform print processing. The collected memory cards are delivered to the DPE reception shop after printing and returned to the orderer together with the finished print.

However, if the memory card is deposited at the time of ordering the print, the orderer cannot use the memory card until receiving the print. On the other hand, since there are various types of memory cards, printing companies must prepare various types of card readers according to the types of memory cards. This causes a reduction in work efficiency.

Therefore, it is considered to install a digital print order receiving device as described in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-125867 in a DPE receiving store. In this digital print order receiving device, a memory card is detachably set, and a first media drive for accessing the memory card to read the photographed image data and the photographed image data recorded on the memory card are provided to a printing company. A delivery medium (second storage medium) for delivery is detachably set, and the delivery medium is accessed to write the captured image data read by the first media drive.
It is equipped with a media drive,
Accept print orders by copying from the memory card to the delivery media. In place of the memory card of the orderer, the delivery medium is distributed between the DPE reception shop and the printing company.

The use of this digital print order receiving device has an advantage that the orderer can return the memory card on the spot after receiving the order, while the printing company has a kind of delivery medium. By unifying the above, there is an advantage that it is not necessary to prepare equipment for each type of memory card and work efficiency is improved.

[0008]

In consideration of the print work efficiency, it is desirable that the data of one order be recorded in one delivery medium. Therefore, it is necessary to confirm the amount of data to be copied in advance by the store clerk and the free space of the delivery medium so that the data of one order can be recorded in one delivery medium. Such confirmation work complicates the reception work.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, it is an object of the digital print order receiving apparatus of the present invention to improve the efficiency of printing work without complicating the order receiving work.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, a digital print order receiving device of the present invention captures image data from a first storage medium in which the image data is stored, and captures the captured image data, In a digital print order receiving device that receives a print order by copying to a second storage medium different from the first storage medium, before the copying is started, the free space of the second storage medium A warning means is provided for checking the amount of image data to be copied and warning that the free space is insufficient when the free space is small.

Further, another digital print order receiving apparatus of the present invention takes in image data from a first storage medium in which image data is stored, and takes the taken image data different from the first storage medium. In the digital print order receiving device that receives a print order by copying to the second storage medium, the free space of one second storage medium and the captured image data that must be copied before starting the copy. When the free space is small, the image data is divided and copied to a plurality of second storage media, and the data written to each second storage medium is It is characterized in that it is recorded in a state in which it can be identified as divided data.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a work flow from order acceptance to delivery of a digital print service. When accepting an order for the digital print service at the acceptance store 11, the clerk 22 keeps the memory card 13 brought by the orderer 12 and accepts the order using the acceptance machine 21. The accepting machine 21 copies the data in the memory card 13 to the delivery medium 26.

The memory card 13 is an image storage medium for storing images taken by a digital camera. There are various types of memory cards 13, the first memory card 14 is, for example, a smart media (registered trademark) type memory card, and the second memory card 15 is a PC card type memory card.
In addition, the memory card 13 includes a memory stick (registered trademark), a compact flash (registered trademark), an S
D card (registered trademark), Microdrive (registered trademark)
and so on. There are various storage capacities of the memory card, and the storage capacities of about 16 MB to about 64 MB are currently standard.

As shown in FIG. 2, the memory card 13 stores photographed image data photographed by a digital camera. The captured image data is stored in the captured image folder 13a.
Is stored as a captured image file. The EXIF format is used as the format of the captured image file, for example. The EXIF file can be used to add EX
IFTAG data is added. EXIFTA
The G data includes shooting condition data regarding shooting conditions such as exposure value, focal length, and whether or not strobe light is emitted, and MakerN.
oteTAG data is included. MakerNote
The TAG is an area in which each camera maker can freely set information unique to the maker. In this area, for example, model data used for shooting is recorded.

The format of the image data is, for example, JP
The EG (Joint Photographic Experts group) format is used. The JPEG format is one of formats for compressing and recording still image data. This JPEG format file is a non-compressed bitmap format or TIFF (Ta
The file size is smaller than that of a file such as a gged Image File Format) format, which is convenient for storing many images in one memory card 13. Of course, there are various other file formats, but any of them may be used.

An order information file is stored in the order data folder 13b. The order information file is a file in which order details such as the file name of the captured image to be printed, the number of prints, and the trimming range are described, and can be created by a digital camera.

The format of this order information file is standardized by a plurality of camera manufacturers. For example, DP
OF (registered trademark: Digital Print Ord
erFormat) and COS (Camera Orde)
r System). DPOF (registered trademark)
In the order information file, the format of the captured image file, the model name of the camera, the shooting date, etc. are described in addition to the above contents. In addition, a shooting location may be input for each captured image in this order information file. In this way, the input shooting location can be printed together with the image.

If the orderer 12 creates this order information file in advance before placing an order at the reception shop 11, the print trader 18 causes the printer to read the order information file and print according to the order contents. Easy to process
And it can be done quickly and accurately.

Also, the latest DPOF version 1.1
In 0, in addition to the designation of the number of prints and the trimming range, designation of printing a plurality of frames on one sheet, designation of the image size of a frame, etc. can be performed.

A reception machine 21 for receiving digital print orders is installed in the reception shop 11. The reception machine 21 stores the captured image file in the memory card 13
Copy to the delivery medium 26. For example, a ZIP (registered trademark) disk is used as the delivery medium 26. ZIP (registered trademark) disks are
It has a storage capacity of 100 MB to 250 MB, which is larger than that of a memory card. Therefore, the picked-up image files read from the plurality of memory cards can be collectively recorded in the delivery medium 26.

The delivery medium 26 to which the photographed image file is copied is stored in the DP bag 31. DP bag 3
The name of the orderer, the telephone number, the details of the order, and the like are written in 1. After the acceptance processing is performed in this manner, the memory card 13 is returned to the orderer 12 on the spot.

The delivery medium 26 is stored in the DP bag 31 and collected by the printing company 18 through the collection and delivery company 33. The printing company 18 has a lab machine 36
Is installed. The lab machine 36 is a reading device that reads a captured image file from the delivery medium 26,
And a printer that prints based on the read captured image file. The lab machine 36 prints based on the photographed image file read from the delivery medium 26 according to an instruction from the operator 37. The photographic print 38 is collated with the order contents of the DP bag 31, then stored in the DP bag 31, delivered to the reception shop 11 through the collection and delivery company 33, and delivered to the orderer 12.

FIG. 3 is an external view of the reception machine 21. First to third slots 46 to 48 are provided on the front surface of the reception machine 21. The memory card 13 is set in the first and second slots 46 and 47. First slot 46
Is a slot into which the first memory card 14 is set and is a slot dedicated to SmartMedia (registered trademark). The second slot 47 is a slot in which the PC card type second memory card 15 is set. The second memory card 15 is set in the second slot 47, and a PC card type adapter is used.
Various memory cards such as the compact flash (registered trademark) described above can be set.

Behind these first and second slots 46 and 47 are first and second media drives 51 and 52 (FIG. 5) for accessing the first and second memory cards 14 and 15 to read data. (See) is located. Reference numeral 49 is an eject button for ejecting the memory cards 14 and 15 set in the slots 46 and 47.

A shield plate 53 is slidably provided near the entrances of the first and second slots 46 and 47, and the shield plate 53 is interlocked with a slide switch 56 so that the first and second slots 46 and 47 can be connected. A part of 47 is selectively blocked. Therefore, when the memory card is set in one of the first and second slots 46, 47, it cannot be set in the other. This prohibits the first and second media drives 51 and 52 from operating at the same time.

A delivery medium 26 is set in the third slot 48. A third media drive 61, which accesses the delivery medium 26 and writes the data read by the first and second media drives 46 and 47, is arranged at the back of the third slot 48.
Each of these media drives 51, 52, 61 is operated by an operation panel 63 provided on the upper surface of the reception machine 21. Reference numeral 62 is an eject button for ejecting the delivery medium 26.

The operation panel 63 is provided with various operation buttons such as a power button 66, a copy button 67, and a general-purpose key 68. The copy button 67 is a button for starting copying. When the button 67 is pressed, either the first or second media drive 51,
52 starts reading the set memory card 13, and writes the data read by the third media drive to the transfer medium 26.

The general-purpose key 68 is used for designating order contents such as frames to be printed and the number of prints, and for making various settings. A video output terminal 70 (see FIG. 5) is provided on the rear surface of the reception machine 21, and an operation screen is output to the monitor 69 connected to the video output terminal 70. On the monitor 69, for example, an index image or the like for designating order contents is displayed. Further, a confirmation screen for order contents, a setting screen for performing various kinds of specifications, and warnings such as error messages are displayed.

The order contents are designated when there is no order information file in the memory card 13. In this case, for example, the frame to be printed is designated from the index image displayed on the monitor 69. When the order details are specified, an order information file corresponding to the specified details is newly created, and the order information file is stored in the delivery medium 26 together with the captured image file.

Further, various image processing conditions may be designated for each image in the order information file, or the type of printing paper may be designated. Further, delivery date of the photo print 38 and customer information (customer ID number, name, address,
The telephone number), the ID of the reception shop that received the order, the reception date, and the like may be described.

The accepting machine 21 determines the amount of data to be copied before starting copying the photographed image file in the memory card 13 to the transfer medium 26, and
The free space of the delivery medium 26 is checked. Then, when the amount of data that has to be copied is larger than the free space, for example, a warning screen 76 as shown in FIG. 4 is displayed on the monitor 69 to notify the clerk 22 of that fact.

The warning screen 76 displays a message notifying that the free space of the delivery medium 26 is insufficient for the amount of data to be copied. In this way, since the work of checking the amount of data to be copied and the free space of the delivery medium 26 is automatically performed, the work load on the store clerk 22 at the time of reception is reduced.

The warning screen 76 also includes a selection screen 77 for selecting a copy method, in addition to the message indicating that the free space is insufficient. Selection screen 77
For example, two copy methods of “copy to another delivery medium having a large free space” and “copy divided into a plurality of delivery media” are displayed.

When each copy method is selected with the cursor 78, the processing corresponding to each copy method is executed. For example,
When "copy to another delivery medium having a large amount of free space" is selected, the instruction "Set another delivery medium" is displayed on the monitor 69 immediately. Then, when another transfer medium 26 having a large free space is set, copying is started.

If "divide into a plurality of delivery media and copy" is selected, the monitor 6 is copied after the free space of the delivery medium 26 that is currently set is copied.
9 "Please set another delivery media"
Is displayed. When another delivery medium is set according to this instruction, copying of the remaining data is resumed.

When the data of one order is divided and copied to a plurality of delivery media 26, the data is copied to each delivery medium 26 in such a manner that the divided data can be identified.

For example, when a photographed image file of one order is divided, the corresponding order information file is also divided, and the divided order information files are written in each delivery medium 26 together with the photographed image file.
The divided order information file includes identification information indicating that the captured image file of one order is divided. The identification information includes the total number of divided delivery media and information indicating what number of the delivery media is. Based on this identification information, the lab machine 36 determines that the captured image file for one order is divided.

In this way, even if one captured image file is divided into a plurality of transfer media 26, it is possible to easily confirm that the divided image files are divided, so that the efficiency of print processing is improved. It does not decrease significantly.

As a copying method, in addition to the above two methods, there is a method of compressing and copying a photographed image file. In this example, the captured image data is compressed (JPEG)
Since it was recorded in, the effect of this method is not so great. However, when the captured image data is recorded in a non-compressed format, a high compression effect can be expected.

The video output terminal 7 is provided on the rear surface of the reception machine 21.
In addition to 0, a printer port 81 (see FIG. 5) for connecting a small ink jet printer, a thermal printer or the like to the accepting device 21 is provided. If the printer port 81 is used, not only captured images but also order information can be output to the printer. As a result, the received order information can be printed out and given to the orderer 12 as a copy.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the receiver 21.
The system controller 86 is composed of a CPU and the like, and executes various programs according to instructions from the operation panel 63 to control each unit in the apparatus. Various programs executed by the system controller 86 are written in the ROM 87. The main memory 88 is used as a working memory when the system controller executes various programs. The VRAM 89 is the monitor 69.
It is a display memory for displaying images and operation screens.

The image processing section 91 performs various image processes such as a process of generating an index image based on a plurality of photographed image files in the memory card 13 and the delivery medium 26. Each drive 51, 52, 61 is connected to a system controller 86, and the controller 86
Controlled by.

The operation of the above configuration will be described below with reference to FIG.
It will be described according to the flowchart shown in FIG. The clerk 22 is
When receiving the order request for the digital print, the memory card 13 received from the orderer 12 is set in one of the first and second slots 46 and 47 according to the type, and the delivery medium 26 is set in the reception machine 21. The third
Set it in the slot 48.

When the copy button 67 is pressed, the reception machine 21
Reads the data in the memory card 13 and checks whether there is an order information file. If there is an order information file, based on that order information file,
Check the amount of data in the captured image file to be copied immediately. On the other hand, if there is no order information file, the monitor 6
The captured images in the memory card 13 are displayed as an index in 9. The store clerk 22 manually specifies a frame to be printed on this screen. After the designation is completed, copy button 67 again
When is pressed, the data amount of the captured image file to be copied is checked based on the designation.

When the amount of data to be copied is smaller than the free space of the delivery medium 26, copying is immediately started. When the amount of data to be copied is larger than that of the delivery medium 26, the warning screen 76 is displayed.
When the copy method is selected by the store clerk 22, the data is copied from the memory card 13 to the delivery medium 26 according to the copy method.

When copying is completed, the memory card 13
Is returned to the orderer 12. On the other hand, the delivery medium 26 is collected by the print trader 18 through the collection and delivery trader 33. The printing company 18 sets the delivery medium 26 in the lab machine 36 and prints according to the order contents. Even if the data of one order is divided into a plurality of delivery media 26, since the identification information indicating that the data is divided is recorded in each delivery medium 26, the printing operation is efficient. Is done in a regular manner.

When the print processing is completed, the photographic print 38 and the delivery medium 26 are delivered to the reception shop 11, and the photographic print 38 is delivered to the orderer 12.

In the above embodiment, an example in which a warning, a selection screen, and other various screens are displayed on the monitor has been described, but a display panel may be provided in the main body of the reception machine and displayed on the display panel. The warning may be given by turning on a lamp such as an LED or by voice.

Although a copy method selection screen is displayed after the warning so that the copy method can be manually selected, one of the copy methods should be set in advance and the selection screen should be displayed after the warning. Instead, the set copy method may be automatically selected and executed. Furthermore, the selection method (manual selection or automatic selection) of these copying methods may be selectable.

If the memory card has an order information file, the print processing is performed according to the order information file. However, when ordering, a frame to be printed is newly added or designated. An order information file editing function may be provided in the reception machine so that the completed frames can be deleted.

Further, as the slot for the memory card, a PC card type and a smart media (registered trademark) type memory card slot is explained as an example, but other types of memory card slots may be provided. . The type of dedicated slot, the number of dedicated slots, and the like are determined in consideration of the prevalence of memory cards.

Although a memory card is taken as an example of the first storage medium, the orderer records the photographed image from the memory card on a medium having a relatively large capacity such as a CD (Compact Disk) medium. Often kept. It is considered that many orderers request digital print orders based on such photographed image data in the CD. In consideration of such cases, CD and ZI
It is advisable to use a P (registered trademark) disk as the first storage medium so that images can be captured from these media.

In this case, a CD drive or the like may be built in the main body of the reception machine, but if it is built in, the size of the main body becomes large. Therefore, the reception machine has a USB standard or IEEE139.
It is advisable to provide a communication interface compatible with the four standards and connect an external drive to this communication interface to capture an image. Further, the captured image data may be loaded from a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone with a camera. In these cases, the communication interface serves as the image capturing means, and when capturing the image from the mobile terminal, the memory in the terminal serves as the first storage medium.

Further, although an example of using a delivery medium is used for passing data between the reception shop and the printing company, the reception machine and the lab machine are connected via a communication network such as the Internet. Data may be transferred via this communication network. In this case, the reception machine needs a communication interface for connecting to the communication network.

As described above, if the reception shop and the printing company are connected by the communication network and detailed printing conditions can be specified in the order information file, the order information file transmitted from the reception shop can be used. It is also possible to execute print processing online.

Further, although the photographed image data has been described as an example, image data other than the photographed image may be used. Further, as the second storage medium, the delivery medium for transferring the image data from the receiving store to the printing company has been described as an example, but the second storage medium is not limited to the delivery medium. For example, some accepting stores have digital photo printers. In such a case, acceptance is performed by copying from the orderer's first storage medium to the second storage medium,
This second storage medium is set directly in the digital photo printer.

Depending on the specifications of the digital camera,
The memory card may record an automatic playback file for playing an image on a TV or an automatic transmission file for sending an image. It is preferable that such files that are not directly related to printing be prevented from being copied to the second storage medium.

[0058]

As described in detail above, the digital print order receiving apparatus of the present invention captures image data from the first storage medium in which the image data is stored, and the captured image data is stored in the first storage medium. In a digital print order receiving device that receives a print order by copying to a second storage medium different from the storage medium, the free space of the second storage medium and the copy must be made before starting the copying. Check the amount of image data that must be saved, and if the free space is low,
Since the warning means for warning that the free space is insufficient is provided, the print work can be made efficient without complicating the order receiving work.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a flow from ordering to delivery of a digital print service.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a folder structure in a memory card.

FIG. 3 is an external view of a reception machine.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a warning screen.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a reception machine.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a reception procedure.

[Explanation of symbols]

13 Memory card 21 Reception machine 26 Delivery media

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Hiroshi Murakami             798 Miyadai, Kaisei-cho, Ashigarakami-gun, Kanagawa Prefecture             Shishi Film Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 5B082 AA13 CA01 CA08 CA20                 5C052 AA17 AB02 CC01 DD02 GA02                       GB01 GE08 GF00

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. Printing of image data by loading the image data from a first storage medium storing the image data and copying the loaded image data to a second storage medium different from the first storage medium. In a digital print order receiving device that receives an order, before starting the copying, checks the free space of the second storage medium and the amount of image data to be copied, and if the free space is small, Is a digital print order receiving device, which is provided with warning means for warning that the free space is insufficient. 2. A printout is performed by importing image data from a first storage medium in which image data is stored, and copying the captured image data to a second storage medium different from the first storage medium. When the digital print order receiving device that receives an order checks the free space of one second storage medium and the amount of image data that must be copied before starting copying, and if the free space is low In the above, the image data is divided and copied to a plurality of second storage media, and the data to be written in each second storage medium is recorded in a state in which it can be identified that they are divided data. A digital print order receiving device characterized by the following.