KR20030086550A - The way and service of printing digital images in website - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A method and service for printing a digital image registered in an Internet bulletin board is provided to receive a printing service without joining to an additional printing site or downloading/uploading an image when a registered digital image is printed. CONSTITUTION: In the case that a web board site(1) having a registered a digital image for receiving a printing service is separated from a printing site(2) server for an actual printing operation and delivering operation, a user connects to the web board site(1) and searches a necessary image(11). The user selects an image to be printed(12) and temporarily stores corresponding information(13). In the case that a plurality of serviceable printing sites are registered, the user selects one printing site(15). The user creates and processes order information including destination information(16). The user converts image information of a binary or URL form, created order information, and meta data adapted to a transmission standard and transmits the information and data to the printing site(2). The printing site(2) interprets received information(20) and checks a validity(21). If destination related information does not exist in the received information, destination related information is prepared again(22). The user executes an electronic payment for a printing charge(23). Purchase related information is stored in a storage, and the information is printed and delivered(25,26). A control right is transferred to the web board site(1) and purchase information is stored in a storage of the web board site(1) by referring the received purchase related meta data(18).

Description

Method and service for printing digital images registered on the Internet bulletin board {The way and service of printing digital images in website}

The present invention is a method of printing a digital image registered in a separate web board, an image gallery, a blog, a web library, and the like (hereinafter, collectively referred to as a web bulletin board) separated from a print site, You can subscribe to a separate print site or skip the download and upload of images and receive a print service.

In order to receive the print service of the image registered in the web bulletin board, storing the image on the screen on your PC, accessing the print site, uploading the stored image, inputting purchase information such as the number of prints, Entering the shipping information has to go through the steps, the user has to select the appropriate print site to find a separate subscription was a hassle.

Due to the spread of digital cameras and the activation of various web communities, image materials registered on web bulletin boards are increasing rapidly.However, the cumbersome procedures described above may cause users to not know or give up printing services themselves. Service providers will not be able to take advantage of the many scattered images as an active revenue target.

As a countermeasure, the print site itself establishes a community based on the web bulletin board and provides the user's image registration and self-printing service, but the web bulletin boards of individual and group homepages and large portal community sites are scattered everywhere. It is difficult to compare with the potential demand of the absolute majority of the images registered.

In addition, when several people apply for the same image to a print site in one place, such as a group photo, the print site leads to a waste of storage capacity due to a large amount of duplicated image storage.

In order to solve the problems described above, the present invention omits the steps of storing an image on a PC, accessing a printing site, and uploading the stored image, and the user searches for the image on the web bulletin board. By sending a binary or uniform resource locator directly to the print site, checking and correcting the shipping information, and sending image information to the URL, the storage capacity on the print site side can be greatly reduced. It is organized in such a way.

Depending on the web bulletin board setting or the right to view the image, the binary or URL of the image is determined and the purchase related information such as the number of prints for each image specified by the user is transmitted to the print site. If the image is binary transfer, FTP (file transfer protocol), HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol), email transfer standard SMTP (simple mail transfer protocol), and self-defined protocol are used. The URL is transmitted as a text string, and the print site administrator who receives it can access the URL or receive the binary through the management software.

Shipping address and order related information can be filled out at both the web bulletin board and print site, and the shipping information is automatically extracted based on the registered member information if the user logs in to either site. can do.

1 is a process of selecting and printing a digital image according to the present invention.

Figure 2 is a method of obtaining shipping information in the present invention

3 is a method for delivering image and purchase related information in the present invention

4 is a method applying the process of FIG.

(Symbol description for main parts of drawing)

1: site that provides web bulletin board service

10: Steps for the user to access and log in to the web bulletin board site

11: Steps to Retrieve an Image from a Web Bulletin

12: Steps to Select Images You Want to Print

13: Step to temporarily save selected image information

14: determining the addition of another image

15: Steps to Select a Print Site

16: Steps to extract shipping information from web bulletin board site

17: Steps to send selected image and order information to print site

18: Steps to Store Purchase Information on Web Bulletin Sites

2: digital photo printing and shipping site

20: Receiving image and order information from a web bulletin board site

21: Validation step of received information

22: step of generating shipping information in the print site

23: Steps to Pay a Print Fee

24: recording the purchase information on the server

25: Print the ordered image

26: step of delivering the printed picture to the user

100: determining whether to log in

101: step of extracting the registered shipping information

102: step of entering new shipping information

103: step of modifying the order information

104: Confirmation of order and shipping information

110: detailed view of the image and order information transmitter 17

111: configuration of information to be sent

112: processing the information to be transmitted into a form that can be transmitted

120: network transmission step

130: detailed view of the image and order information receiving unit 20

131: interpreting the received information

132: structure of the received information analyzed

a27: Step of temporarily storing the selected image information on the print site side

In the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, a web site service providing a web bulletin board service and a site 1 on which print target images are registered, and a print service site 2 that outputs images received by a user on paper and deliver them physically are provided. A method of digital image printing service considering a user's convenience and expansion of printing service business will be described based on a situation in which the user is not located in the same server or has a different subject of operation.

The user 10 who visits a community site or other homepage providing a web bulletin board (1) searches for various registered contents (11) and selects an image to be printed (12). Each selected image is temporarily stored at the server side (13), which acts as a shopping cart in a general internet shopping mall, so that the temporary storage step is skipped and moved directly to the delivery information processor 16, or By selecting another additional image, multiple accumulations are possible.

In step 12, in which a user selects an image, selection is an implicit generic term for various ways of implementing this. In detail, there is a method of clicking a check box or putting it in a shopping cart by using a function of Dynamic HTML, which is a mixture of pure HTML or scripting language, and an ActiveX control or a Java servlet inserted in the page. It includes a check method through an embedded application and an implementation of a drag and drop room of an image object.

Thereafter, if there are no more images to select (14) at the user's judgment, in selecting a print service site (15), if there are a plurality of registered print sites, one of them is selected, and if it is one, it is designated as a default value Omitting (15) goes through the delivery information processing step (16).

The delivery information processing 16 may be performed at either or both of the web bulletin board site 1 and the print site 2, and as configured in FIG. By determining (100), in the case of a registered user, the member information is read and automatically filled in the delivery address information form (101), or otherwise, the user manually enters the method (102). In addition, the user changes order information such as removing unnecessary images or adjusting the quantity to be printed (103), and finally confirms and requests a print order (104). If the delivery information processing process 16 as described above is carried out at the site (1) serving the web bulletin board, the print site side (2) includes the corresponding information when the order information transmission (17), the print site ( By completing the electronic payment 23 step without omitting the delivery information processing process 22 in 2), all order processing processes from the user's point of view are finished.

The order information transmission step 17 of FIG. 1 is a step of generating order information including the information of the image selected by the user and the delivery address information configured in the delivery information processing step 16 and delivering it to the print site side 2.

The image and order information transmitter 110 of FIG. 3 describes the order information transmission step 17 in detail. Among the transmission target information 111 generated by the user's operation on the web bulletin board site 1, the image information is composed of a URL indicating the file itself or its location in binary form, and the order information includes the number of prints for each image selected. Please include the necessary information to purchase. If there is no delivery information processing step 16 from the web bulletin board site 1, the related delivery address information is not configured. In addition to the user's selection or input, it is possible to attach meta data such as server status or information necessary for communication between sites, and information such as the domain name of the web bulletin board server 1 or the page to be moved after the purchase ends. This corresponds. The transmission target information configured as described above is converted to a format of a network transmission protocol (112), and is transmitted after accessing the print site side (2) receiver using a designated protocol. At this time, if the image is transmitted in binary format, FTP, HTTP, SMTP, or its own protocol is used.If only URL is transmitted, the simple GET / POST type HTTP method is used, which simplifies the transmission process. On the receiving print site side 2, the ultimate effect of reducing the capacity consumption of the storage device can be obtained. The image and order information receiver 130 interprets the order related information transmitted from the above 131 and arranges it in the original configuration 132, and then transfers it to the validation step 21 of FIG. 1.

In FIG. 1, upon receiving the information transmitted by the web bulletin board site side 1 configured by the above method from the print site side 2 (20), it is determined whether there is an abnormality of a printable image file with reference to the received image information. In order to determine whether there is an abnormality of the order information and other metadata, a validity checking step 21 is performed. Errors found at this stage are notified to the user and include the usual error handling procedures that prevent further progress or return to the previous stage. When the validity of the order information is verified, the delivery information processing step 22 at the print site side 2 is performed, and the processing follows the processing in FIG. 2 described above. At this time, if the delivery address related information is included in the order information sent from the web bulletin board site side (1), this shipping information processing step 22 can be omitted, and all the order related information simply checks the contents displayed on the screen. Can be replaced with

Next, the user electronically pays or deposits 23 the printing service fee calculated based on the received order information in the method specified by the current printing site 2, and if the normal payment is completed, the server stores the purchase related information. The device records 24, attaches metadata such as payment amount and result code, and transfers the control right to the previously used web board site 1. After that, the print site side 2 performs the actual print operation with reference to the recorded purchase information and the order information (25), and delivers the printed image photograph (26) to the user according to a normal delivery procedure.

After the print service application is completed, the web bulletin board (1), which has transferred the control right, may refer to the received purchase-related metadata and, if necessary, may use it after recording 18 in its own storage device.

In implementing the print service method as described above, the web bulletin board side (1) application prints the image selected by the user (12), the step of temporarily storing the selected image (13), and prints the selected image and order related information. The function characterized by the step 17 of transmitting to the site side 2 should be added, and if the user is authorized to select a plurality of print sites 2, the step 15 of selecting one of them can be selected. And, if there is a need to configure the order and delivery related information in advance, the function to perform the delivery information processing 16 should be included. In addition, the print site-side application (2) stores the received image information in a binary form in its own server (20) and then validates it with the attached order and delivery information (21). If modification is required, it should be equipped with a feature characterized by processing the relevant information (22).

Fig. 4 shows a subject performing temporary storage of selected image information in the same method of delivering a digital image registered in a web bulletin board 1, which is an object of the present invention, to a print site 2 having different subjects. 2), the application of the process described in FIG. 1 is shown.

The image selected by the user 12 in FIG. 4 immediately starts transmission 17 to print site 2 as a URL in binary or text format, the detailed method being followed by the steps of FIG. ), The shipping address information is omitted. The print site 2 receiving the received information 20 temporarily stores the information in its storage device (a27), and continuously accumulates and stores the selected image information until a user decides to purchase it. When the user finishes the selection of the additional image and determines the purchase decision (14), the user's shipping information (16) is extracted or inputted according to the needs of the web bulletin board site side (1) and transmitted to the print site (2). (17) The print site side 2 having received the purchase decision and the delivery address information 20 receives the same step from the step of completing the validation 21 by referring to the image data previously stored (a27). Will proceed.

As described above, the application method of FIG. 4 omits the process of managing the selected image and the order information from the viewpoint of the web bulletin board site 1, and gives the print site side 2 the weight of the order and delivery information processing step. Has

In implementing the print service of the application type as shown in FIG. 4, the web bulletin board side 1 application has a main difference from the step of FIG. 1 in that the selected image is immediately transmitted to the receiving unit of the print site side 2. The site side (2) application temporarily stores the received image information (a27), and when the user's purchase confirmation and the attached shipping information is received, including the image file temporarily stored (a27) validation check 21 The function to be implemented is the main difference from the step of FIG.

As described above, in the present invention, in printing a digital image registered in a web bulletin board that is being used everywhere, a user inputs a step of downloading an image, accessing a print site, uploading a corresponding image, and shipping address information. The effect of applying for the print service directly from the web bulletin board site where the original image is located without omitting the step of performing the above step, and the photo print site increases the demand due to the simplification of the above-described procedure, Secure large-scale sales opportunities. In addition, since the images requested by the user do not need to be recorded in the storage site storage device, the burden on equipment investment is reduced.

Claims (4)

If the server of the web bulletin board site (1) where the digital image to receive print service is registered and the server of the print site (2) that performs actual printing and delivery are physically separated or the subject of operation is different, the web bulletin board site ( In receiving print services for the image registered in 1), A user accesses a web bulletin board site (10), searches for a required image (11), selects an image to print (12), and temporarily stores the information (13), and a plurality of serviceable print sites are registered. In the case of selecting one of the steps (15), the step of generating and processing the order information including the shipping information (16), and converts the image information in the binary or URL form, the generated order information and metadata in accordance with the transmission specifications Sending (17) to the print site side; The print site 2 analyzes the received information (20), validates the information (21), does not have the delivery-related information in the received information, or rewrites it as necessary (22), and the user Electronic payment of the print fee (23), the purchase related information is stored in the storage device (24), prints 25 and delivery (26), the purchase received while taking over control over the web bulletin board site (1) And (18) storing purchase information in a storage device of a web bulletin board site by referring to related metadata. The method of claim 1, wherein the method of implementing a digital image printing service having the same result as above is applied. In FIG. 4, the image 12 information selected by the user is immediately transmitted to the print site 2 in the form of a binary or URL (17), and the received image information is accumulated and temporarily stored (a27). If the decision is made, a method and service for printing a digital image using the step (21) of validating with reference to the temporarily stored (a27) image information as a main difference. 12. The method of claim 1, wherein the step 12 of selecting an image to print is as follows: A list of selected images, including a check method using HTML and Dynamic HTML or a shopping cart in a normal shopping mall, a check method in an embedded application such as an ActiveX or Java servlet, or a drag and drop of an image object. To create and save a temporary. The method of claim 1 and 2 wherein the step of transmitting 17 and receiving the image and order information data 20 comprises: The web bulletin board site side 1 processes the image selected by the user and the order related information 111 in a form suitable for network transmission (112), and transmits it to the print site side (2) to interpret it in its original form (131). In this process, the selected image is composed of a URL in the form of a binary form or a text indicating location information, and meta information such as status information and host name of the server on the web board side 1 together with the order related information. Method of sending to the print site (2) side, including.