JP2006139505A - Print-ordering program and device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a print-ordering program which can efficiently place an order for prints, and a device therefor. <P>SOLUTION: When a memory card is set in the memory card reader of a print-ordering device, a print-ordering program starts up, and a media image display area, on which images in the memory card are displayed, and an ordered image display area of minimum size are displayed on the screen of a display. When a budget is inputted, a possible print sheet count is computed, the frame size of the ordered image display area is computed based on the print sheet count, and then the ordered image display area corresponding to the print sheet count is displayed. When an image, the print of which one wants to order, is dragged and dropped from the media image display area to the ordered image display area, the image immediately after it is dropped is displayed with its magnification of 1.5 times. When an image-selecting operation is finished, left-click is made on an order button. Image data and print information are transmitted to a photoprinter, and the printing of the image is executed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a print order program used when a print order is designated from a large number of images used in a computer and stored in a storage medium such as a memory card, and a print ordering apparatus that executes the print order program.

  When a customer sets a storage medium such as a memory card or CD-R, a digital image receiving apparatus that displays an image read from the storage medium on a display and transfers the ordered image to a printing apparatus to perform printing is known. (For example, Patent Document 1). This accepting apparatus has a print order program installed on a hard disk of a personal computer.

  The images in the storage medium are displayed as thumbnails in the image display area of the display connected to the receiving device, and the customer designates the number of prints in the number display area provided at the lower part of each image while viewing this. In the lower part of the image display area, print size information, total number of prints, total amount of money required for printing, etc. are displayed. After confirming these, the customer inputs customer information such as name. When the OK button is pressed, the order information and the image information are stored on the hard disk of the reception device, and a receipt is issued.

When the customer presents the receipt to the DP store, the person in charge of the order information and image information stored in the accepting device through an operation from the photo printing device is based on the information printed on the receipt via the communication network. Based on this information, the photographic printing apparatus prints.
JP 2003-75930 A

  The print ordering program used in the digital image receiving apparatus as described above displays on the display a mixture of images that have been designated for printing and images that are not so. In order to confirm, it is necessary to confirm all images again. This confirmation work is not much trouble when the number of images stored in the memory card is, for example, about 30 to 40, but the number of images is increased in the recent 256 MB to 1 GB memory card having a large capacity. Since it can be 200 or more, it is necessary to scroll over several pages, which is very troublesome. In addition, there are cases where it is not noticed even if images with similar patterns on different pages are specified redundantly. In such a case, useless prints are ordered. Furthermore, if the budget is exceeded, the number of prints once designated will be reduced, but all images must be checked again in order to perform this examination, which takes a lot of trouble.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a print ordering program and apparatus that can efficiently order prints.

  The print order program of the present invention is a print order program that reads out image data from a storage medium, displays the image on a display screen connected to a computer, and designates an image for ordering a print. A medium image display process for displaying thumbnails of images on a storage medium in a medium image display area on a screen, and an order image display area provided in parallel with the medium image display area for a print order selected from the medium image display area The computer is caused to execute an order image display process for displaying thumbnail images of these images as thumbnails.

  In addition, by inputting a budget amount into the computer, an arithmetic process for calculating the printable number of sheets according to the budget amount, and an order for changing the size of the order image display area according to the printable number of sheets. The image display area size adjustment processing is executed by a computer.

  Further, by inputting the amount of the budget into the computer, a calculation process for calculating the printable number of sheets according to the amount of the budget, and the order image display area, the actual order area for placing the actual order image to be actually ordered And a provisional order area in which candidate images that may be ordered are temporarily placed, and a boundary line changing process for changing the boundary line according to the number of printable sheets is executed by a computer. Further, the present invention is characterized by causing a computer to execute a printable sheet number display process for displaying the printable sheet number on a display screen.

  The selection of the print order image is performed by dragging and dropping an image displayed in the medium image display area into the order image display area. The display order of the images displayed in the medium image display area and the order image display area can be changed in each area. Further, the image displayed in the medium image display area can be freely deleted.

  Further, when the print order image selected from the medium image display area is displayed in the order image display area, image correction is performed on the image. The image correction is red-eye correction. In addition, when a print order image selected from the medium image display area is displayed in the order image display area, face extraction is performed on the image, and center trimming centering on the face is performed. To do.

  The print ordering apparatus of the present invention comprises a computer that executes the print ordering program and a display connected thereto.

  According to the print order program and apparatus of the present invention, since the medium image display area and the order image display area are displayed side by side on the same screen, the ordered images can be listed, and duplicate orders of similar images can be prevented. . It is also easy to cancel an order. As a result, print ordering can be performed efficiently.

  In addition, since the number of printable sheets corresponding to the budget is displayed and the size of the order image display area is changed accordingly, it is possible to intuitively grasp how many orders can be placed until the budget is used up, making it easy and reliable. It can be paid within the budget.

  Further, instead of changing the size of the order image display area, the order image display area may be divided into an actual order area and a temporary order area, and this boundary line may be changed according to the number of printable sheets. In this way, the image in the actual order area can be easily compared with the image in the order candidate area, and the image actually ordered can be easily examined and determined.

  In addition, since the print order image is selected by dragging and dropping the image displayed in the medium image display area into the order image display area, the image can be selected intuitively.

  In addition, since the display order of the images displayed in the medium image display area and the order image display area can be freely changed in each area, for example, an image having a higher order priority is arranged above the order image display area. As a result, the order image can be easily determined within the budget. Further, for example, if groups are grouped for each theme in at least the order image display area, it is easy to place an order so that the number of orders is equalized for each group.

  In addition, since the image displayed in the medium image display area can be deleted, deleting the images that do not need to be printed in advance reduces the number of options and makes it easier to select an image.

  Further, when an image for ordering print is displayed in the order image display area, image correction is performed on the image, so that the finished image can be confirmed, and the print can be ordered more easily. Further, as the image correction, it is preferable to adopt red-eye correction which is generally most desired for correction.

  Also, if face extraction is performed on the image displayed in the order image display area and center trimming is performed with the face at the center, it is possible to more easily determine whether the order image is good or not, and order prints efficiently. be able to.

  The print ordering apparatus according to the present invention is installed in a store of a print company that provides a digital print service. As shown in FIG. 1, the print ordering apparatus 10 includes a CPU 11, a RAM 12, an operation unit 13 including a mouse and a keyboard, a storage device (for example, a hard disk drive) 14, a memory card reader 15, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) slot 16, and A computer 18 including a multi-drive 17 and the like, and a display 19 using a liquid crystal panel for displaying an operation screen or an image connected thereto, are connected via a data bus 20.

  The CPU 11 controls each unit of the print ordering apparatus 10 in accordance with an operation instruction from the operation unit 13. In addition to the print order program according to the first embodiment of the present invention being installed, the storage device 14 stores and stores an order history file and the like. For example, a photographic printer 21 is connected to the print ordering apparatus 10, and an image file that has received a print order is transferred online to the photographic printer 21 such as Pictography (trademark).

  The memory card reader 12 of the print ordering apparatus 10 has slots corresponding to various memory cards such as xD-Picture Card (trademark) and SmartMedia (trademark), for example. Bring the memory card 22 in which the data is stored and insert it into the slot of the card reader 12 corresponding to this. Alternatively, a USB memory may be used instead of the memory card 22 and inserted into the USB slot 16. Further, a CD-R, DVD-R or the like on which image data is written may be set in the multi-drive 17.

  When the memory card 22 is inserted into the slot of the memory card reader 15, the display 19 is turned on and a screen 24 as shown in FIG. 2 is displayed. A media image display area 26 is displayed on the substantially left half of the screen 24, and an order image display area 27 is displayed on the upper right side. Further, a budget display area 28, an orderable number display area 29, an order button 30, a cancel button 31, and a trash box 32 are arranged on the lower right side. Reference numeral 33 denotes a mouse cursor.

  In the media image display area 26, images in the memory card 22 are displayed as thumbnails. In addition, an image number such as DSC0001 is displayed below each image. Further, a well-known scroll bar 26a is provided in the vertical direction at the right end of the media image display area 26, and by operating this, an image in the media image display area 26 is scrolled in the vertical direction so as to be stored in the memory card 22. All images can be displayed.

  In the initial state immediately after the screen 24 is displayed, the order image display area 27 is displayed, for example, with a minimum frame size for four images. The frame size is changed according to the budget amount when the budget amount is input to the budget display area 28. For example, when a budget amount of 500 yen is entered in the budget display area 28, in this embodiment, the print unit price is 30 yen / L size and the print fixing fee is 200 yen. (500-200) / 30 to 10 sheets. As a result, as shown in FIG. 3, “10” characters are displayed in the orderable number display area 29 and the order image display area 27 has a frame size for displaying 10 images.

  As shown in FIG. 4, when an image 34 to be ordered for printing is dragged and dropped from the media image display area 26 to the order image display area 27, the image 34 is copied and displayed in the order image display area 27. At this time, a print size display area 35 and a print number display area 36 are added below the image number of the image 34. Further, the image immediately after being dropped in the order image display area 27 is enlarged and displayed, for example, about 1.5 times so that the pattern can be easily confirmed. The enlarged image becomes a thumbnail image of a normal size when another image is dragged and dropped. That is, only the image immediately after being dragged and dropped is always enlarged and displayed.

  The print size display area 35 displays the L size by default, but the print size display area 35 has a pull-down menu, and when this is left-clicked, a 2L size or the like can be selected. In the print number display area 36, the number of prints is displayed as one by default, but the number of prints can be set to an arbitrary number by left-clicking the upper and lower buttons at the right end.

  Each time the print size is changed from L size to 2L size or the number of prints is changed to 2 or more, the number displayed in the order quantity display area 29 becomes smaller and the frame size of the order image display area 27 becomes smaller. Is reduced from the default size. For example, if the price of 2L size is 40 yen / sheet, each image number DSC0001, 7, 8 is L size one image, image number DSC0014 image is 2L size, 3 images, image number DSC0016 image is Since the L size is one, 30 yen × 4 + 40 yen × 3 + 200 yen = 440 yen, and the remaining amount is 60 yen. Therefore, since the remaining number of sheets that can be ordered is two in L size printing, the characters “2” are displayed in the orderable sheet number display area 29 and the frame size of the order image display area 27 is seven images. Reduced to minutes.

  When the remaining two images are dragged and dropped from the media image display area 26 to the order image display area 27, the characters “0” are displayed in the order quantity display area 29, and no more can be ordered. Further, if an attempt is made to drag and drop the next image from the media image display area 26 to the order image display area 27, the image is returned to the media image display area 26 in an animated form, and it can be visually understood that further ordering is not possible. It is displayed easily. Also, from this state, for example, if the image in the order quantity display area 29 is changed to 2L size or the number of prints of each image is increased, the change is rejected. Of course, if the amount of the budget is increased, the number of prints can be increased or the print size can be changed.

  Further, when the amount of the budget is large and the number of images that can be ordered is large, the size of each image in the order image display area 27 is further reduced as compared with a normal thumbnail image. In this case, a scroll bar may be displayed to scroll the order image display area 27.

  When it is desired to cancel the order of the image once dropped in the order image display area 27, the image in the order image display area 27 is dragged and dropped back to the media image display area 26 or dragged and dropped to the trash box 32. Then, it can be removed from the order image display area 27. Of the images in the media image display area 26, for example, an image that has failed due to camera shake or the like and is clearly unnecessary is dragged and dropped into the trash bin 32, and the image data is transferred to the media. Erase from the image display area 26. This reduces the number of options in the media image display area 26 and facilitates ordering. Note that when the image in the media image display area 26 is dragged and dropped into the trash box 32, the image data may be deleted from the memory card 22.

  When a desired image can be selected within the budget, the order button 30 displayed as “to order” is left-clicked. As a result, the image data corresponding to the image in the order image display area 27 is read from the memory card 22 and transferred to the photo printer 21. If the user wishes to cancel the order for reasons such as replacing the memory card, the user clicks the cancel button 31 with a left click.

  Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. The customer inserts the brought memory card 22 into the slot of the memory card reader 15 of the print ordering apparatus 10 (st1). After the print order program is started (st2), a screen 24 as shown in FIG. 2 is displayed on the display 19 (st3).

  On the screen 24, a media image display area 26 is displayed. In this frame, images in the memory card 22 are displayed as thumbnails, and an order image display area 27 of the minimum size is displayed. Then, a message “Please enter a budget” is displayed large in the center of the screen 24 (st4).

  Since the caret-type cursor blinks after the ¥ mark in the budget display area 28, when the customer operates the keyboard to enter the budget amount, the budget amount is input after the ¥ mark in the budget display area 28. (St5). As a result, the message “Please enter the budget” disappears (st6), the orderable quantity is calculated, and the orderable quantity is displayed in the orderable quantity display area 29 (st7). In this embodiment, since the budget amount is 500 yen, the print unit price is 30 yen / L size, and the print fixing fee is 200 yen, the number of orderable sheets is 10, and this number is the number of orderable sheets. It is displayed in the display area 29. Subsequently, the frame size of the order image display area 27 is calculated (st8), and as shown in FIG. 3, the order image display area 27 is displayed with the frame size (st9).

  As shown in FIG. 4, the customer moves the mouse cursor 33 from the media image display area 26 to the image 34 to be printed, and drags and drops the image 34 from the media image display area 26 to the order image display area 27. The image immediately after being dropped in the order image display area 27 is enlarged and displayed by a factor of 1.5, so that the image can be easily confirmed. Further, a print size display area 35 and a print number display area 36 are added below the image number.

  The image in the media image display area 26 is displayed as it is without being deleted by drag and drop. In order to cancel the order, the image in the order image display area 27 is dragged and dropped into the media image display area 26 or dragged and dropped into the trash box 32.

  If the default setting of L size and one sheet at a time remains, the image can be filled in the full frame of the order image display area 27 displayed on the screen 24. However, the number of prints for each image can be changed. (St10) When the print size is changed (st11), the orderable quantity is recalculated each time, the number in the orderable quantity display area 29 is changed, and an order is made according to the calculated orderable quantity. The frame size of the image display area 27 is changed.

  Further, when an image is to be ordered exceeding the budget, drag and drop to the order image display area 27 is rejected and the image is returned to the media image display area 26. Absent. When it is desired to order an image exceeding the budget, the amount of the budget displayed in the budget display area 28 is changed using the keyboard.

  When it is desired to replace the images, an unnecessary image in the order image display area 27 is returned to the media image display area 26 to create an empty area, and another image is displayed again from the media image display area 26 in the order image display. Drag and drop to area 27.

  As described above, the ordered images are displayed in a list in the order image display area 27, so that it is possible to immediately notice when trying to order images with similar patterns, and such mistakes can be prevented. Further, when selecting an image for canceling an order, the examination work can be easily performed.

  In addition, since the display order of the images in the order image display area 27 can be changed, if priority is placed in order from the upper part of the order image display area 27 in order of the degree of order preference, the budget will be exceeded. At that time, you can easily select an image to stop ordering. Further, if the images in the order image display area 27 are grouped and arranged, the number of sheets for each group can be easily grasped. For example, it is convenient when placing an order so that the number of printed sheets is equal for each place visited on a trip. It is.

  Also, if there is an image that appears to have clearly failed due to camera shake or the like in the media image display area 26, this image is dragged and dropped into the trash box 32. As a result, the failed image is deleted from the media image display area 26 and at the same time, the corresponding image data is deleted from the memory card 22. By removing the failed image from the selection target, the order image can be selected more easily.

  When the image selection operation is completed (st12), the cursor 33 is set to the order button 30 and the mouse is left-clicked (st13) or the execution key on the keyboard is pressed. As a result, the image data of the image displayed in the order image display area 27 is read from the memory card 22 and transferred to the photo printer 21, and the print information of the print size and the number of prints set for each image is also obtained. Is transferred to the photo printer 21 (st14). The photo printer 21 prints each image according to the print information, and the output print photo is handed to the customer.

  If the user wants to stop the print order before he left-clicks the order button 30, or if he wants to order another memory card image, the user clicks the cancel button 31 (st15). As a result, a warning message “Are you sure you want to cancel the order?” Is displayed on the screen 24 as shown in FIG. 6 (st16).

  Also, when neither the order button 30 nor the cancel button 31 is left-clicked and a predetermined time, for example, 3 minutes elapses without any image selection operation (st17), the same as when the cancel button 31 is left-clicked. Then, a warning message “Are you sure you want to cancel the order?” Is displayed on the screen 24 (st16).

  Left-clicking on the “Yes” button 38 disposed below the warning message “Are you sure you want to cancel the order?” Returns to the initial state before the memory card 22 is set. If the “No” button 39 is left-clicked, the state returns to a state where a budget can be input and an order image can be selected.

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the first embodiment, the frame size of the order image display area is reduced / enlarged according to the number of orderable sheets. However, in the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. The order image display area 42 is divided into an actual order area 43 where an image for actually placing an order is placed and a provisional order area 44 where an order candidate image is temporarily placed, and this boundary line is defined as a budget line 45. Display with dashed lines. Then, the position and shape of the budget line 45 are changed so that the actual order area 43 has a size corresponding to the orderable number of sheets. The budget line 45 only needs to be clearly distinguishable from a frame line or the like, and is not limited to a broken line. For example, the budget line 45 may be a one-dot chain line or a solid line having a color different from the color of the frame line.

  Since the actual order area 43 and the temporary order area 44 are adjacent to each other, it is possible to easily compare the images of both. For this reason, an image wondering whether or not to place an order is temporarily placed in the provisional order area 44, and the candidate image and the image in the actual order area 43 are compared until satisfactory, and an image to be actually ordered is determined. Can do. Since the frame size of the order image display area 42 is constant, if the number of images is large and does not fit in the order image display area 42, a vertical scroll bar is provided at the right end or the size of each image is reduced. .

  Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the present embodiment, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 8, the well-known red-eye correction is automatically performed on the image immediately after dragging and dropping (st19) from the media image display area 26 to the order image display area 27 ( st20). Steps common to the first embodiment are given the same step numbers as those in the flowchart shown in FIG.

  The red-eye correction is performed, for example, by a method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-233929. First, after detecting a face area from an image (face extraction processing), characteristic areas such as eyes, eyebrows, and mouth included in the face area are detected. Next, a black region such as a black eye portion and a white region such as a white eye portion are detected from the luminance information of the image, and red regions such as red eyes and lips are detected from the saturation information, and the color of each region is determined. Then, the red-eye removal process is performed after the red-eye area is comprehensively specified in consideration of the shape and the like.

  Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, a known face extraction process is performed on each image dropped in the order image display area 27, and an image is displayed by performing center trimming about the face. This facilitates confirmation of the contents of the order image. Note that thumbnail display is performed without performing center trimming on a landscape image in which no person is present on the screen, or on a group photo in which a plurality of persons are reflected.

  In the embodiment described above, the media image display area and the order image display area are each enclosed by a rectangular frame. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and as shown in FIG. The media image display area 51 and the order image display area 52 are located on the left side, and a gap 53 is provided between them to distinguish the media image display area 51 and the order image display area 52 from each other. (5th Embodiment).

  In the above embodiment, the remaining orderable number is displayed in the orderable number display area, and the number in the orderable number display area is changed whenever the designated print size or number of prints changes. However, the orderable number of sheets immediately after the budget amount is first input may be left unchanged.

  In the above embodiment, screen operations such as dragging and dropping an image are performed by using a mouse. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a known touch panel type liquid crystal display, for example, is used as the display. The operation may be performed with a finger. The screen operation may be performed by key operation. The display is not limited to a liquid crystal display, and may be a CRT or the like.

  In the above embodiment, the image data is read into the print ordering apparatus using a memory card, USB memory, CD-R, DVD-R, or other media. However, the digital camera is connected to the print ordering apparatus with a USB code. You may connect. Also, when an image is dragged and dropped from the media image display area to the order image display area, the image displayed in the media image display area is not deleted (duplicated), but is deleted (moved). Good. Note that the deletion in this case deletes only the image displayed in the media image display area and does not delete the image data in the memory card.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration example of a print ordering apparatus according to the present invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the screen immediately after setting a memory card. It is explanatory drawing which shows the screen immediately after inputting a budget. It is explanatory drawing which shows a mode that an image is dragged and dropped from a media image display area to an order image display area. It is a flowchart which shows the sequence of 1st Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of the warning display corresponding to step 16 of the flowchart shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the screen of 2nd Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the sequence of 3rd Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the screen of 4th Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the screen of 5th Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

10 Print Ordering Device 11 CPU
14 Storage device 15 Memory card reader 16 USB slot 17 Multi-drive 18 Computer 19 Display 21 Photo printer 22 Memory card 24 Screen 26, 51 Media image display area 27, 42, 52 Order image display area 28 Budget display area 29 Order quantity display Area 34 Image 43 Actual order area 44 Temporary order area 45 Budget line

Claims (11)

In a print order program that reads out image data from a storage medium, displays an image on a display screen connected to a computer, and selects an image for print order from the image.
A medium image display process for displaying thumbnail images of images on a storage medium in a medium image display area on a display screen using the image data;
An order image display process for displaying thumbnail images of images for print order selected from the medium image display area in an order image display area provided in parallel with the medium image display area;
A print ordering program that causes a computer to execute. A calculation process for calculating the number of printable sheets according to the amount of the budget by inputting the amount of the budget to the computer;
Order image display area size adjustment processing for changing the size of the order image display area according to the number of printable sheets;
The print order program according to claim 1, further comprising: A calculation process for calculating the number of printable sheets according to the amount of the budget by inputting the amount of the budget to the computer;
The order image display area is divided into an actual order area in which an actual order image to be actually ordered is placed and a provisional order area in which a candidate image that may be ordered is placed temporarily, and this boundary line is set according to the number of printable sheets. Change the boundary line
The print order program according to claim 1, further comprising:   4. The print ordering program according to claim 2, further comprising: causing a computer to execute a printable number display process for displaying the printable number on a display screen.   5. The print order program according to claim 1, wherein the print order image is selected by dragging and dropping an image displayed in the medium image display area into the order image display area. .   6. The print order program according to claim 1, wherein the display order of the images displayed in the medium image display area and the order image display area can be changed in each area.   7. The print order program according to claim 1, wherein the image displayed in the medium image display area can be freely deleted.   8. The print order according to claim 1, wherein when the print order image selected from the medium image display area is displayed in the order image display area, image correction is performed on the image. program.   9. The print order program according to claim 8, wherein the image correction is red-eye correction.   5. When a print order image selected from the medium image display area is displayed in the order image display area, face extraction is performed on the image, and center trimming centering on the face is performed. Item 10. A print ordering program according to any one of Items 1 to 9. 11. A print ordering apparatus comprising: a computer that executes the print ordering program according to claim 1; and a display connected to the computer.

Images