JP2001350202A - Photographic printing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To more effectively utilize a photographic print. SOLUTION: The photographic printing device which prints recording paper 1 with a photographic image is provided with a print data memory section 7a which stores print data for propaganda and advertisement including the propaganda and advertisement, a data input section 8 for inputting the print data for the propaganda and advertisement to this print data storage section 7a and a print head which prints the recording paper 1 with the propaganda and advertisement in accordance with the print data for the propaganda and advertisement stored in the print data storage section 7a.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a photographic printing apparatus for printing photographic images on recording paper.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Such a photographic printing apparatus is an apparatus for producing a photographic print by printing a photographic image such as an image of a photographic film or an image taken by a digital camera on recording paper such as photographic paper. This photo print includes
Conventionally, in principle, only the above photographic image is printed,
As a print image of the photographic image, a so-called back print for additionally printing, for example, a frame number and various data used in producing the photographic print on the back of the photographic print was performed.

[0003]

Therefore, the use of photographic prints that can be grasped as a kind of information transmission medium has not been sufficient. The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and aims at more effective use of photographic prints.

[0004]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when a new advertisement request is received, new print data for an advertisement is input to the data input unit and a print data storage unit is provided. , The print head prints the advertisement on the recording paper on which the photographic image is printed based on the advertisement print data stored in the print data storage unit. As a result, the photographic print can be effectively used as an advertising medium, and the requester of the photographic print will also see the printed advertisement every time the photographic print is viewed. Because it is a thing that is hard to throw away easily because the photographic image is printed,
The efficiency of the advertisement can be improved, in other words, the cost required for the effect of the advertisement can be reduced.

[0005] Further, by providing the configuration described in claim 2, the print head combines the image based on the image data of the photographic image in which the print density is set for each pixel with the image based on the print data for the advertisement. Print. In other words, a print head that prints photographic images can print advertisements sufficiently,
The apparatus configuration can be simplified by performing printing of a photographic image and printing of an advertisement.

Further, with the configuration according to the third aspect of the present invention, the print arrangement setting means for setting the print arrangement state of the advertisement on the recording paper is provided by any one of a plurality of arrangement patterns set in advance. To set the print layout status. Therefore, the placement of the advertisement on the photographic print can be realized in various forms, and the photographic print device can be made more convenient.

Further, by providing the configuration according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the print fee calculating means for calculating the fee for producing the photographic prints comprises: The price is set lower than the production fee. In other words, in order to promote the use of advertising prints, it is conceivable to set the printing cost of photographic prints lower when printing an advertisement than when it is not. The fee calculation means can automatically calculate the fee for producing the photographic print, thereby making the photographic print device more convenient.

[0008] In addition, with the configuration according to the fifth aspect, the advertisement fee calculating means is configured to charge an advertisement fee to a requester of the advertisement based on information on the number of photographic prints printed with the advertisement. Is calculated. Therefore, it is possible to easily charge the request to the client of the advertisement, and the photographic printing apparatus can be made more convenient.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a photographic printing apparatus will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, a photographic printing apparatus IP includes a printer unit A for exposing and developing a photographic image or an advertisement print on a photographic paper 1 as a recording paper, and a scanner unit B for reading a frame image of a photographic film 4. It is composed of

(Structure of Printer Unit A) The printer unit A is provided with either one of two photographic paper magazines M for accommodating the photographic paper 1 in a roll shape, as schematically shown in FIGS. An exposure unit Ex for exposing a photographic image or the like to the drawn-out photographic paper 1, a development processing unit De for developing the photographic paper 1 exposed in the exposure unit Ex, and a photographic paper developed for the development processing unit De 1 is provided with a drying unit Dr. The exposure unit Ex includes an exposure head 23 as a print head that prints an image based on image data of a photographic image in which the print density is set for each pixel, a photographic paper transport roller 21, and the like. Exposure transport section C1 that transports photographic paper 1 via exposure position EP
And a sorting and transporting unit C2 for sorting the photographic paper 1 transported in a single row in the exposure and transporting unit C1 into a plurality of rows (for example, three rows) of transporting rows. A cutter 22 for cutting the long photographic paper 1 drawn from the photographic paper magazine M into a set print size is arranged near the transport start end.

The exposure head 23 is a DMD having a large number of micro mirrors, each of which is two-dimensionally arranged so as to be able to swing.
(Digital micromirror device) is adopted, and an exposure system of a so-called DMD method is adopted. An optical system is arranged so that the arrangement surface of each micromirror is formed on the photographic paper 1 and the arrangement surface of the micromirrors. The inclination of each micromirror is individually controlled so that the light applied to the micromirrors reaches the photographic paper 1 at the exposure position EP and does not. Then, the image is exposed on the photographic paper 1 by controlling the inclination of each micro mirror in accordance with data such as a photographic image to be printed. The exposure method of the exposure head 23 is not limited to the DMD method, but a so-called PLZT method in which PLZT elements are one-dimensionally arranged as an optical shutter, a CRT method in which a CRT image is formed on the photographic paper 1, or Various exposure types such as a liquid crystal shutter type can be selected.

Although not shown in detail in the developing section De, a plurality of processing tanks each filled with a plurality of types of processing liquids for developing the photographic paper 1 and a sorting and conveying section C2 are provided. A developing transport unit 24 that transports the photographic paper 1 over the plurality of processing tanks is provided. The drying section Dr is provided with a hot air fan or the like (not shown) to dry the photographic paper 1 being conveyed. The photographic paper 1 dried in the drying unit Dr is discharged onto a conveyor 2 as shown in FIG. 1 and further sorted by a sorter 3 for each order.

(Configuration of Scanner Unit B) The scanner unit B includes a film scanning unit S for reading a frame image of the photographic film 4 and converting the image into digital image data;
A control device 7 for executing predetermined image processing or the like on digital image data input from the film scanning unit S
A console 6 for inputting various instructions to the control device 7, a display 5 for displaying a simulated image and the like described later, and a magneto-optical disk drive or An input / output unit 8 such as a memory card reader is provided.

The film scanning unit S includes a film mask unit 13 containing a film transport roller 13a and the like, and a light source 10 for irradiating light to the photographic film 4 transported and moved in the film mask unit 13.
And a light control filter 11 for adjusting light emitted from the light source 10 to a predetermined color balance, and a mirror tunnel 12 for uniformly mixing light passing through the light control filter 11.
A photoelectric conversion unit 16 for photoelectrically converting an image of the photographic film 4; a lens 15 for forming an image of the photographic film 1 on a light receiving surface of the photoelectric conversion unit 16; And a reflection mirror 14 that is bent by 90 degrees.

The photoelectric conversion unit 16 includes a red CCD line sensor 16 corresponding to each of red, green, and blue.
r, green CCD line sensor 16g and blue CCD
Although not shown, a line sensor 16b is provided, and a red CCD line sensor 16r, a green CCD line sensor 16g, and a blue CCD line sensor 16b are further provided.
Is provided with a signal processing circuit for amplifying the A / D conversion signal and performing A / D conversion.

(Explanation of Operation of Photo Print Apparatus IP) The photo print apparatus IP has the above-described configuration,
For example, when making a print of photographic film 4,
When the photographic film 4 is inserted from the film insertion opening 30 of the film scanning unit S, the transport of the photographic film 4 is started by the film transport roller 13a, and the frame image of each frame of the photographic film 4 is read. The image information of the frame image is sent to the control device 7 as digital image data. On the other hand, when making a photographic print of an image recorded on a magneto-optical disk or an image stored on a memory card, the magneto-optical disk or memory card is loaded into the input / output unit 8 to control the digital image data. Input to the device 7.

When the control device 7 receives the frame image of the photographic film 4 as digital image data, the control device 7 prints the digital image data of each frame image to operate the exposure head 23 when the automatic print mode is set. Data is sequentially generated and sent to the printer unit A. In the printer unit A, the printing paper 1 pulled out from the printing paper magazine M is cut into a predetermined print size by the cutter 22, and then transported to the exposure position EP of the exposure head 23.
The exposure head 23 is operated in accordance with the print data sent from the scanner unit B to sequentially expose each frame image on the photographic paper 1. The photographic paper 1 that has been subjected to the exposure processing by the exposure head 23 is transported to the development processing unit De, where it is subjected to the development processing, passes through the drying processing in the drying unit Dr, and is discharged as a finished print.

When the pre-judge mode is set instead of the auto print mode, the frame image is printed on the photographic paper 1 based on the digital image data sent from the scanner unit A. The print image obtained in this case is simulated, and the simulated image is displayed on the display 5 so as to receive a correction instruction input such as a color correction from the console 6, and if there is a correction instruction input, the simulation is performed according to the correction instruction. The image is recalculated and displayed on the display 5 again. When the operator confirms the display and inputs that the image is good, the print data is generated and sent to the printer unit A in consideration of the correction instruction. The operation of the printer unit A that has received the print data is the same as that in the above-described auto print mode.

(Advertisement Advertisement Print) The photographic print device IP of the present embodiment is configured to be able to print an advertisement image in addition to the above-described photographic image print. This advertising image does not form a photographic print by itself, but forms one photographic print together with the frame image of the photographic film 4 and the image of the memory card. For this purpose, the control device 7 includes a print data storage unit 7 for storing print data for an advertisement including an advertisement.
a is provided. The advertisement print data stored in the print data storage unit 7a can be input from a magneto-optical disk or the like set in the input / output unit 8 by operating the operation console 6, or can be operated from the operation console 6. It is also possible to delete the stored advertisement print data. Therefore, the input / output unit 8 is provided with the print data storage unit 7a.
Functions as a data input unit for inputting print data for publicity and advertising.

In the photographic printing device IP of the present embodiment,
Make a photographic print containing the promotional image described above,
Alternatively, it is possible to select from the console 6 whether to make a photographic print of only a photographic image that does not include the advertisement image. When the mode for producing a photographic print including the advertisement image is selected, the control device 7 executes a process schematically shown in the flowchart of FIG. That is, first,
One of a plurality of advertisement print data stored in the print data storage unit 7a is selected (step # 1). The case where a plurality of pieces of advertisement print data is stored in the print data storage unit 7a is not limited to the case where there are a plurality of advertisement clients but also the design of the advertisement image even if there is only one advertisement client. There may be more than one. Further, when a plurality of advertisement print data are aggregated to constitute one advertisement design, for example, a plurality of characters indicating the name of the company of the advertiser are distributed to each advertisement print data to be produced. There is a case where a design is made such that one company name appears when photographic prints are arranged.

There are two modes for receiving an advertisement order: a mode in which a fee is charged according to the number of printed advertisements without any particular limitation; a mode in which a period for printing the advertisement (advertisement period) is specified; It is configured to be capable of various modes such as a mode for limiting costs incurred in a unit period (for example, one month) and a mode for designating the total number of photographic prints for printing advertisements. In the case where a plurality of advertisement designs exist for a single client, a method of allocating the use frequency can be designated. Information on the order of these advertisements is stored as setting information. Therefore, the print data storage unit 7
In order to select one print data for advertisement from a plurality of print data for advertisement stored in a, the client of the advertisement and the design of the advertisement for the client in consideration of the order form described above. Select by specifying

When the advertisement print data is selected in this manner, next, how to arrange the advertisement print of the advertisement print data on the photographic paper 1 is set (step # 2). ). There are a plurality of placement patterns for the advertisement, for example, as shown in FIG.
As shown in (a), the advertisement image CM is included in the photograph image.
Is embedded, and as shown in FIG.
There is a pattern to be arranged on the side of the photographic image, and which pattern to use is determined when receiving a request for an advertisement, and is stored as setting information.
Therefore, the control device 7 functions as print arrangement setting means PP for setting the state of the print arrangement of the advertisement on the photographic paper 1.

When the print data for the advertisement is selected and the arrangement pattern is set, according to the arrangement pattern,
The digital image data of the photographic image and the print data for the advertisement are image synthesized (step # 3). The data synthesized in this manner is sent to the printer unit A to produce a photographic print, as in the case of printing only a photographic image.

(Calculation of Photographic Print Production Fee) The photographic print with the advertisement produced as described above has a print production fee set lower than that of a normal photographic image only print. The charge calculation is executed by the pricing unit 9 connected to the control device 7. Each time the production of the photographic print for one order is completed, the control device 7 includes information for identifying the photographic print production requester,
Pricing information on the number of prints, information on whether or not the advertisement image has been printed, information on the requester of the advertisement if the advertisement image has been printed, and information on the arrangement pattern in which the advertisement was printed Transmit to unit 9.

The pricing unit 9 calculates a photographic print production fee from a preset print production unit price based on these pieces of information. As described above, this print production unit price is set such that the print production unit price of the photographic print on which the advertisement is printed is lower than the print production unit price of the photographic print on which the advertisement is not printed. Due to the difficulty of detaching the print part, the unit price of print production is different.
Specifically, the arrangement pattern of the advertisement is shown in FIG. 4A, and the print production unit price of the photographic print in which it is difficult to separate the print portion of the advertisement image is set as the arrangement pattern of FIG. The price is set lower than the unit cost of producing a photographic print in which the printed portion of the image is relatively easy to separate. Therefore, the pricing unit 9 functions as a print fee calculating means PM for calculating a fee for producing a photographic print. When the fee calculation is completed, the print production fee is printed out by a built-in printer in the form of a bill.

(Calculation of Advertisement Fee) The pricing unit 9 further calculates an advertisement fee to be charged to a client of the advertisement based on the information received from the control device 7.
This calculation is performed for each requester of the advertisement at regular intervals (for example, every week) from the number of prints of the photo prints on which the advertisement image is printed and the advertisement unit price per print, Printed out in the form of an invoice. Accordingly, the pricing unit 9 functions as an advertisement fee calculating means PC for calculating an advertisement fee for billing a requester of an advertisement. The above-mentioned advertisement unit price can be set differently depending on, for example, the arrangement pattern of the advertisement image. For example, the advertisement unit price of the arrangement pattern of FIG. You can set a higher price.

[Other Embodiments] Hereinafter, other embodiments of the present invention will be listed. In the above embodiment, the control device 7 combines the digital image data of the photographic image and the image data of the advertisement (advertisement print data) and integrates them as print data of one image. The exposure head 23 may be operated as separate print data.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where both the printing of the photographic image and the printing of the advertisement image are performed by the exposure head 23 is exemplified. However, these are printed by separate print heads. You may comprise.
In this case, a so-called back printer that prints on the back of a photographic print may be used as a print head that prints an advertisement image.

In the above-described embodiment, the exposure of the photographic image is performed by so-called digital exposure in which the exposure amount is set for each pixel by the exposure head 23 and the exposure is performed. 1 may be performed by so-called projection exposure. In the above-described embodiment, the case where the photograph printing device IP is provided with one printer unit A and one scanner unit B respectively is illustrated. However, a plurality of these units are provided to configure the photograph printing device IP, and each printer unit is constituted. The arrangement of the advertisement, the setting of the arrangement pattern, and the calculation of the charge may be performed in a unified manner for the photo print with the advertisement image printed in A.

In the above embodiment, a format for exposing the photographic paper 1 to form an image is adopted as a print format for recording paper. For example, an ink jet format or a sublimation type print format is adopted for a print head. Etc.
The specific configuration of the print head can be variously changed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a photographic printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of a photographic printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an example of producing a photographic print according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Recording paper 7a Print data storage part 8 Data input part 23 Print head PP Print arrangement setting means PC Advertising charge calculation means PM Print charge calculation means

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A photographic printing apparatus for printing a photographic image on a recording sheet, comprising: a print data storage section for storing advertisement print data including an advertisement; and the advertisement data in the print data storage section. And a print head that prints the advertisement on the recording paper based on the advertisement print data stored in the print data storage unit. 2. The print head is configured to print an image based on image data of the photographic image in which a print density is set for each pixel and an image based on the print data for advertisement. The photographic printing device according to claim 1. 3. A print arrangement setting means for setting a print arrangement state of the advertisement on the recording paper, wherein the print arrangement setting means selects any one of a plurality of arrangement patterns set in advance. 3. The photographic printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said printing arrangement state is set. 4. A print fee calculating means for calculating a fee for producing a photographic print, wherein the print fee calculating means reduces the fee for producing the photographic print on which the advertisement is printed by producing the photographic print on which the advertisement is not printed. The photographic printing device according to claim 1, wherein the photographic printing device is set at a price lower than a fee. 5. An advertisement fee calculating means for calculating an advertisement fee for billing a client of an advertisement based on information on the number of photographic prints printed with said advertisement. A photographic printing device according to any one of the preceding claims.