JP2003259259A - Digital print order reception device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To safely delete data in a memory card after copying data from the memory card to a delivery medium to receive an order. <P>SOLUTION: A reception machine is installed in a shop for receiving orders for digital prints. The reception machine receives an order for digital prints by copying photographed picture data in the memory card brought by an orderer to the delivery medium. The reception machine is provided with a discrimination means for discriminating whether the photographed picture data has been normally copied to the delivery medium or not. When the discrimination means discriminates that it has been normally copied, the photographed picture data in the memory card is deleted. <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 (first storage medium) 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. Since the images taken with a digital camera are digital data,
The camera user can also copy the data to 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 shop, the memory card of the orderer is kept and handed over to the printing company. The printing company collects the memory card from each DPE reception shop through the collection and distribution route that has been conventionally used for collecting and distributing the photographic film, and prints it. 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. In addition to the main function of copying photographed image data, it is also considered to add various functions to the digital print order receiving device.

[0008]

One of the additional functions
As one of them, there is a function of deleting the copied captured image data in the memory card after copying the captured image data to the delivery medium. By providing this function, the memory card can be returned to the orderer in a state in which its free space is increased. This makes it convenient for the orderer to use the memory card the next time he / she shoots, and improves the service quality.

However, in the process of deleting the photographed image data, the photographed image data may be mistakenly erased due to an erroneous operation of a store clerk or the like even though the copying is not normally completed, or the object is to be deleted. There is a risk of erasing even non-existing captured image data.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a digital print order receiving device which securely erases copied image data in a storage medium.

[0011]

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 apparatus that receives a print order by copying to a second storage medium different from the first storage medium, it is determined whether or not the image data has been normally copied to the second storage medium. A determining means is provided, and when the determining means determines that the image has been normally copied, at least the copied image data of the data in the first storage medium is deleted.

If the first storage medium contains order data representing order details in addition to the image data, the order data may be deleted together with the image data. Further, it is possible to provide a designating unit for designating beforehand whether or not to delete the data in the first storage medium after the copying is normally completed.

[0013]

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 32 MB to about 128 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 office 11, the printing company 18 causes the printer to read the order information file, and prints according to the order contents. Easy to process
And it can be done quickly and accurately.

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. 6) 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 51 and 52, 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. 6) 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. In addition, reception desk 2
A display panel such as an LCD may be provided in the main body, and an operation screen, a warning, etc. may be displayed on this display panel.

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 this order information file is written 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 monitor 69 has a memory card 1
If the data cannot be read from No. 3 or cannot be written to the delivery medium 26, an error message to that effect is displayed. If the data cannot be read,
You may also display a message that indicates the details of the error, such as "File is corrupted" or "File format not supported". Also, by reproducing and displaying the copied image file on the monitor 69, the clerk 22 can check whether the copying is completed normally.

The accepting machine 21 has a function of copying the data from the memory card 13 and then deleting the data in the memory card according to the designation. If this delete function is used, the memory card 13 will be returned with the free space increased, so the next time the orderer 12 uses the memory card 13, the photographed image data in the memory card 13 will be deleted. This is convenient because it eliminates the need to secure a storage area for newly captured data.

However, once the data is deleted, it is difficult to restore the data. Therefore, the data should be deleted safely so that the data will not be deleted by mistake. Therefore, the accepting machine 21 first writes the data on the delivery medium, and then checks the written data to determine whether or not the copying is normally completed. If the copy is not completed normally, a warning to that effect is given. This warning is issued, for example, by displaying a message on the monitor 69 or issuing a warning sound. A warning lamp may be provided on the main body of the reception machine 21 to light or blink it.

When the copying is completed normally, the data in the memory card 13 is deleted according to the contents designated in advance. In this way, since the data is deleted after it is determined that the copying is normally completed, the deletion process can be safely performed.

In this deletion designation, as the frames to be deleted,
For example, either "delete all frames" or "delete designated print frame" can be selected. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, a setting screen 76 for selecting these is displayed on the monitor 69. "Delete all frames" is a specification for deleting all the captured image files in the memory card 13, and "delete specified print frame" is, for example,
This is a designation to delete only the photographed image file for which printing is designated by the order information file. The store clerk 22 moves the cursor 77 on the screen using the general-purpose key 68 or the like and selects any of the above items.

Further, as the deletion target, in addition to the picked-up image file, an order information file may be designated to be deleted, or only the order information file may be left with the picked-up image file left. It may be possible to select whether or not to delete. When deleting the order information file together with the captured image file, the memory card 13 may be formatted (initialized) and the data may be erased. According to this, not only each file in the memory card 13 but also the folder is deleted.

Further, it may be possible to select whether to enable or disable the deletion function itself. In that case, for example, a setting screen 79 as shown in FIG.
Display on 9. On this setting screen 79, two items of "enable" and "disable" the delete function of the memory card 13 are displayed.

The store clerk 22 moves the cursor 77 with the general-purpose key 68 to select any item, as in the setting screen 76 described above. And to make the deletion process safer, even if the default setting is set to "Disable" and "Enable" is selected, after one copy and deletion of data is completed, , It is recommended that you restore the default settings again. This makes it possible to prevent the data from being accidentally deleted by forgetting to restore the settings when copying.

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. 6) 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. 6 is a block diagram of the reception machine 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. In addition, the system controller 86 determines whether the copy has been completed normally. The ROM 87 has a system controller 8
Various programs executed by 6 are written. The main memory 88 is used as a working memory when the system controller executes various programs. V
The RAM 89 is a display memory for displaying images and operation screens on the monitor 69.

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.

The clerk 22 has the memory card 1 after copying.
Ask the orderer 12 whether to delete the data of 3,
The deletion is designated according to the intention.

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, copying will start immediately. On the other hand,
If there is no order information file, the monitor 69 displays the captured images in the memory card 13 as an index.
The store clerk 22 manually specifies a frame to be printed on this screen. When the designation is completed, the copy button 67 is pressed again to start copying.

In copying, first, a photographed image file is read from the memory card 13 based on an order information file in the memory card 13 or manual designation of a frame to be printed. Then, the read data is written in the delivery medium 26. When the writing is completed, a file check of the written data is performed. If the copy is not completed successfully, a warning to that effect is given.

When the copy is completed normally and there is no deletion designation, the processing ends there. If there is a deletion designation, the photographed image file designated for deletion is deleted from the memory card 13, and the process ends.

When copying is completed, the memory card 13
Is returned to the orderer 12. If you specify to delete,
Since the free space of the memory card 13 is increasing, it is easy to use when shooting next time.

On the other hand, the delivery medium 26 is collected by the printing company 18 through the collection and delivery company 33. The printing company 18 sets the delivery medium 26 in the lab machine 36 and prints according to the order contents. After printing, 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, 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. Alternatively, an order information file editing function may be provided in the reception machine so that the designated frames can be deleted.

By using this editing function, it is possible to specify whether or not to delete the frame after copying, and to delete it,
For example, it is preferable to be able to specify a deleted frame such as whether to delete all the frames or only the specified frame. Furthermore, it is more preferable to allow various designations such as uploading image data to a server on a network such as the Internet or copying to another storage medium such as a CD-R medium together with copying to a delivery medium. .

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). In many cases, it is kept. It is considered that many orderers request digital print orders based on the photographed image data in the CD medium. Considering such a case, C
It is advisable to use a D medium or a ZIP (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.
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.

In addition, although an example of using a delivery medium to transfer data between the reception shop and the printing company has been described, 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.

In this way, if the reception shop and the printing company are connected by the communication network and detailed print 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.

[0059]

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. A determination unit that determines whether or not the image data has been normally copied to the second storage medium in a digital print order acceptance device that accepts a print order by copying to a second storage medium different from the storage medium. Is provided
If the determination unit determines that the copy has been normally performed, at least the copied image data of the data in the first storage medium is deleted, so that the copy is not normally completed. Regardless, it is possible to prevent the data from being accidentally deleted, so that the deletion process of the image data in the first storage medium can be safely performed.

[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 setting screen for designating a frame to be deleted.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a setting screen of a data deleting function in the memory card.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a reception machine.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a reception procedure.

[Explanation of symbols]

13 Memory card 21 Reception machine 26 Delivery media

Claims (3)

[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 the digital print order accepting device for accepting an order, a judging means for judging whether or not the image data is normally copied to the second storage medium is provided, and when it is judged by this judging means that the image data is normally copied, A digital print order receiving apparatus, wherein at least copied image data of the data in the first storage medium is deleted. 2. When the first storage medium contains order data indicating order details in addition to the image data, the order data is deleted together with the image data. Item 1. A digital print order receiving device according to item 1. 3. The digital device according to claim 1, further comprising a designating unit that predesignates whether to delete the data in the first storage medium after the copying is normally completed. Print order acceptance device.