JP2002169663A - Pubric relations system of printing-goods in virtual store - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system capable of keeping printed quality of contents at the level desired by a contents providing origin and also capable of advertising necessary goods to users. SOLUTION: In the system, a print mall 1 is constructed on a home page available for browsing by users 4. When it is detected that the users 4 have selected the contents desired to be printed in the mall 1, advertisement information of goods, which is used to keep the printed quality of the selected contents at the level desired by the contents providing origin (2, 3), is searched to be published in the mall 1 together selected contents. As necessary, a sample which keeps the quality is published in the mall 1 together the advertisement information.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is to maintain the quality of digital contents after printing in a virtual store that provides a service of providing digital contents printable on a network or a printing agency service, etc., to the quality desired by the contents provider. The present invention relates to a system for performing advertisement of goods used for the purpose. The term "article" used herein refers to, for example, a printing device such as a printer, an optional component such as a memory card, a supply such as printing paper or ink, other printing supplies, a frame, a panel, and the like.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION With the development of printing technology, in recent years, printers capable of printing at a resolution as high as that of a photograph have appeared on the market. The print size can be adjusted from a postcard size to a large size such as A2, A1, A0, B1, and B0. Print media,
Various types of paper, such as plain paper and special paper, as well as cloth and resin, are prepared, and an environment in which various forms of printed matter can be printed by a printer according to the application has been prepared.

One of the advantages of using a printer for a printing machine is that the labor and cost for printing a so-called single item are relatively small. It is possible to freely edit the expression content and layout of the printing afterwards, and it is possible to print an arbitrary number of items at any time with a unique design when printing a large number of prints of the same kind such as a hot summer visit and a New Year's card Also,
One of the advantages of using a printer is that.

[0004] However, for a general user, it is difficult to arrange a plurality of printers and print media according to applications.
The burden is heavy and not realistic. In addition, if the printer is used frequently at certain times, such as New Year's card printing, but the printer is not used much at other times, supply supplies such as ink become unusable, resulting in uneconomical results. It will be.

On the other hand, there are many who create image contents such as photographs and illustrations. Such image contents are usually published in the form of a publication such as a photo book or an illustration book, and many similar contents are printed and sold. Sometimes posters and publications printed with movie scenes have commercial value. However, such publications and the like are usually only seen by users who consciously search for them. In addition, when making a publication, the contents to be published are carefully selected in consideration of sales and the like, so that the content creator is not of a nature that can easily announce his or her own work. In many cases, the size of a publication or the like is fixed, and a situation that is not always attractive to a user occurs.

[0006] Recently, it has been often practiced to construct a virtual shop on a wide area network such as the Internet to provide various services. There is a knowledge that the above-mentioned problem can be solved by using such a network technology and a virtual store construction technology. In other words, by making the image content printable by a printer and selling it as a product through a virtual store, it is possible to provide an environment for the creator to easily present the image content to more users. Become like However, if you print image content with a printer, depending on the printer and supply products,
The quality after printing, for example, the type of printing paper, the size of the printing area, the resolution, the color tone, the printing quality, etc. are not necessarily the same as those intended by the creator or seller of the image content (hereinafter “provider”). This may not be the case. Even a user cannot know what printer or the like is necessary to obtain print quality that correctly reflects the intention of the provider. In order to be able to handle more image contents continuously in the virtual store, it is necessary to solve such a problem.

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of such a background, and a problem thereof is that when providing content using a virtual store, the quality of the content after printing is intended by the provider. Another object of the present invention is to provide a mechanism capable of presenting information of an article to be maintained to a user to a user.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a posting means for displaying one or a plurality of printable digital contents in a virtual store that can be viewed by a consumer, Means for detecting that the user has selected digital content to be printed, and an article (printing apparatus) used to maintain the quality of the selected digital content after printing at the quality desired by the provider of the digital content. Means for searching for advertisement information of optional parts, supply parts, other parts used for printing, amount, etc.), and the advertisement information obtained by the search is posted in the virtual store together with the selected digital contents. An advertisement system is provided. The “quality after printing” refers to the type of printing paper, the size of the printing area, the quality such as resolution, hue, and color tone, and the presence or absence of options such as panels and frames. The virtual store converts the digital content into print data for obtaining the quality after printing, and provides the data to the consumer. By doing so, it is possible to satisfy the requirements of the content provider and to increase the degree of attention to articles for maintaining quality.

[0009] The apparatus further comprises means for searching for a sample maintaining the quality after printing, searching for the sample of the selected digital content, and displaying the obtained sample together with the advertisement information in the virtual store. You may comprise so that it may be. According to this configuration, the content of the advertisement information relating to the degree of the quality and the product that realizes the quality is presented to the customer more specifically by the sample,
Furthermore, since what kind of article is required to obtain such quality is clearly indicated, the effect of advertisement for the article can be enhanced.

[0010] means for searching for a printing institution capable of printing and / or a value-added service of the digital content according to the quality after printing, and searching for the printing institution for the selected digital content; The information of the printing institution obtained in this way may be configured to be posted at the virtual store together with the advertisement information. In this way, even if the consumer does not have the goods,
It is possible to easily obtain a print medium of required content, and it is possible to eliminate waste of supply articles, thereby making it possible for consumers to be convenient.

From the viewpoint of facilitating the acquisition of advertisement information,
An advertisement system is provided comprising information holding means for receiving the information of the article from the provider and linking the received information to the digital content provided by the provider and holding the information, and the consumer selects the digital content. When the information is detected, the information holding means searches for information linked to the digital content. In order to make it possible to use information existing in an external system as information relating to the article, the advertisement information is converted into a network of an area (area of the external system) in which introduction information of the article and / or an order form for the article are posted. It can also be an address.

The present invention also includes a step of displaying one or a plurality of printable digital contents in a virtual store that can be viewed by a consumer, and detecting that the consumer has selected digital content desired to be printed in the virtual store. To do,
Searching for advertisement information of an article used to maintain the quality of the selected digital content after printing at the quality desired by the provider of the digital content; and selecting the advertisement information obtained by the search. And posting the digital content together with the digital content in the virtual store, wherein the posting of the advertisement information of the article is linked with the posting of the digital content.

The present invention further provides a process for constructing a virtual store in an area that can be browsed by a consumer through a network, a process for posting one or more printable digital contents to the virtual store, Detecting that the digital content to be printed is selected, and searching for advertisement information of an article used to maintain the quality of the selected digital content after printing at the quality desired by the provider of the digital content. The present invention provides a computer-readable recording medium in which a program for causing a computer to execute a process of displaying advertisement information obtained by a process and a search together with the selected digital content in the virtual store is recorded.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an advertisement system using a virtual shopping street constructed on the Internet web will be described. A place for opening a plurality of virtual stores is formed in the virtual store town. Each virtual shop provides a service relating to printing of high-quality image content to an end user (hereinafter simply referred to as a “user”) as a consumer. In this embodiment, the services provided by the virtual store include a service of distributing printable image contents to a person having a printer, a service of receiving a printing agency and a delivery of a printed medium, a printer, a supply, and a panel. , Advertising services for goods such as amount. Hereinafter, the virtual mall in the present embodiment is referred to as a “print mall”. Further, in this specification, of the services provided in the print mall 1, the image content distribution service, the print agency reception service, and the print medium delivery reception service are treated as “products” for convenience, and Providing a service may be referred to as “sale”, and receiving a service and receiving a service from a user may be referred to as “purchase” of a product.

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing the operation of a print mall according to an embodiment of the present invention. The print mall 1 provides each of the content vendors 2 (image content providers, company A, company B, and company C in the illustrated example) with a place for opening the above-mentioned virtual store, and also maintains and stores the virtual store. It supports the operation and also promotes the advertisement of goods to maintain the quality after printing at the quality desired by the content provider. Each of the content vendors 2 has an information processing terminal connected to the print mall 1, and the information processing terminal is online or offline (such as a magneto-optical disk) via the information processing terminal of the content holder 3. Recording media storage, etc.)
(A1-A3, B1, B2, C
1, C2) is held. The content vendor 2 publishes this image content in its own virtual store in the print mall 1 as appropriate, and when the posted image content or printed medium is sold to the user 4,
Receive the appropriate goods from Print Mall 1.

An information processing terminal of the output center 5 is connected to the print mall 1. The output center 5 is a printing institution equipped with articles obtained from the merchandise vendor 7, for example, a plurality of types of printers including a high-quality printer for large format printing, supplies, panels, foreheads, and the like. Provide printing services and value-added services.
The information processing terminal of the output center 5 includes a delivery center 6.
Is connected to the distribution center 6 and the user 4 of the print medium after printing (including options) is
Can be arranged for delivery. The user 4 can arbitrarily designate the delivery destination and delivery conditions of the print medium at the time of member registration or use of the store.

The merchandise vendor 7 is an organization that sells printers, supplies, panels, amounts, and the like to the output center 5 and users, and has an information processing terminal connected to the print mall 1. In the information processing terminal, a home page is displayed in which both or one of the introduction information of the article being handled and the order form of the article is displayed. This website has an Internet address (URL)
Is assigned, and the user 4 can access at any time.

The user 4 becomes a member by registering his / her personal information and information for settlement, and can purchase goods in the print mall 1 through his / her own information processing terminal. At the time of product purchase, a search is made from a plurality of virtual stores in the print mall 1 as to whether or not the desired image content is available. If there is the desired image content, a payment is made and the order is placed. Each time a product is purchased at the virtual store, points are given to the user 4 and the points are accumulated. At this point, a product can be purchased in the print mall 1.

There are two types of orders from the user 4 to the print mall 1 (virtual store). In one mode, the user 4 downloads image content to his or her information processing terminal and prints it using his or her own printer. In this case, the order is made for the image content, and the charging is also performed in units of the image content. In another mode, the user 4 requests the output center 5 to apply for options such as image content printing, panel attachment, and framed printing, and receives a print medium via the delivery center 6. In the latter case, it is possible to designate various value-added services, for example, printing in a poster type, printing in a calendar type, framed, and the like. Become. The charge is an amount according to the cost of such a service.

The image contents sold at the virtual store are:
The content vendor 2 can select an arbitrary one and update it at an arbitrary time. At this time, the user can specify the desired quality (including print quality) after printing. However, whether or not the image content can be posted in the store is to be evaluated at a certain level on the print mall 1 side.

<Print Mall> Next, a configuration example of the print mall 1 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the print mall 1 according to the present embodiment includes a member management server 11, an authoring server 12, a search processing server 13,
It comprises an order processing server 14, a settlement processing server 15, a print management server 16, a store management server 17, a content management server 18, and a content DB (DB is abbreviated as a database, hereinafter the same), and these are connected to the Internet N1 via the intranet N2. Connected. Internet N
Reference numeral 1 denotes an information processing terminal operated by the user 4, an information processing terminal of the output center 5, an information processing terminal of the distribution center 6, an information processing terminal of the merchandise vendor 7, and an external settlement institution used by the user 4 and the content vendor. A system (credit institution system, bank system, etc.) and other content servers are connected.

Each server 11-18 and content DB1
Reference numeral 9 denotes that a processor (CPU) of a server body, which is an example of a general-purpose computer system, reads and executes a program recorded on a fixed disk, a portable disk, or another computer-readable recording medium. Is realized by: In this example, a distributed processing mode in which a plurality of servers 11 to 18 and the content DB 19 are linked will be described. However, it goes without saying that a mode in which the functions of some or all servers and the content DB 19 are integrated can be adopted. .

(Member Management Server) Member Management Server 11
Manages the user 4 as a member. As shown in FIG. 3, the user 4 management unit 111 accepts the member registration by the user 4 and sends registration information to a request source as necessary. , A purchase history file 113 for recording the purchase history of the product by the user 4, and a point file 114 for storing the above points. When the user 4 uses a prepaid money system in which the user fee is paid in advance, a prepaid system is provided in the member management server 11, and the prepaid money is managed for each user 4. By the member registration, the user 4 can purchase a product or have the print medium delivered to the registered destination.

(Authoring Server) The authoring server 12 assists in accepting the upload of image content from the content vendor 2 and evaluates whether the accepted image content can be posted in a store. Also, it manages copyright-related data for the image content and data representing the quality after printing.
For this purpose, as shown in FIG.
1. It has functional blocks of an initial registration unit 122, an evaluation processing unit 123, a content ID management unit 124, an image management unit 125, and a content-related data management unit 126.

The data receiving unit 121 includes basic data (copyright data and the like) of the uploaded image content, data such as printers and inks recommended for use in printing, and the form and size of the frame when framed, if possible. And other data for specifying the quality after printing, input of a search keyword, a genre, a price, and the like are received through data input means such as a keyboard. The initial registration unit 122 generates an image content initial registration screen to be presented to the content vendor 2. The content vendor 2 inputs necessary data to the authoring server 12 through the initial registration screen. The evaluation processing unit 123 evaluates, for each image content, whether a predetermined evaluation criterion, for example, resolution, color tone, or the like, reaches a predetermined print quality criterion, whether posting in a virtual store does not violate public order and morals, and the like.
The image content that reaches the evaluation criterion is output to an image processing unit that performs thumbnails, image compression (such as JPEG), and the like. The content ID management unit 124 manages the image content by assigning identification information (content ID) when the image content is received from the image processing unit, for example. Content management data management unit 126
Is an image content file ID for storing image content, a file type for identifying a file type, an image size ID for identifying an image size,
The storage destination of the layout at the time of printing is received via the data receiving unit 121, and is registered in the content DB 19 together with the image content and its file size. When the registration processing of the uploaded image content is completed, information indicating "image upload completed" is presented to the uploader (usually, the content vendor 2).

(Search Processing Server) Search Processing Server 13
Is designed to enable the user 4 to search for the image contents desired by the user among the image contents sold in the virtual store, and to include means for detecting which image content the user 4 has selected. The search process is executed by the user 4 in units of some small functions, and each makes an inquiry to the content DB 19 or another server based on the received search conditions. The search result is displayed with a predetermined number of thumbnails. The user 4 confirms the content of the image by previewing the thumbnail of the favorite image content from the search result. In the preview display, detailed contents of the image content and detailed information on purchase are displayed.

FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of the search processing server 13. The search processing server 13 includes a keyword search processing unit 131 for performing a search based on a keyword set for each image, and a genre for performing a hierarchical search from a genre (painting / photo / illustration ...) set for each image. A search processing unit 132, a use search processing unit 133 that performs a search from use flags (calendar / postcard / framed,...) Set for each image, and a store search processing unit 134 that performs a search from stores that provide images. , A power search search processing unit 135 that performs a simultaneous search for all items (keyword / genre / image price / ...) that are considered necessary in the search based on information associated with the image, a store genre defined in advance in the store Store genre search processing unit 13 that performs hierarchical search by name
6. In-store keyword search processing unit 137 that searches for in-store images based on keywords set in image units, stores that performs hierarchical search on in-store images from genres set in image units In-store genre search processing unit 138, in-store use search processing unit 13 that searches for in-store images from use flags set in image units
9. It has a search engine SP and a keep list processing unit KL.

As shown in FIG. 6, the keep list processing section KL performs a process of temporarily saving (adding / deleting) an image which the user 4 liked in the image search to the keep list. The keep list is a list constructed on the non-volatile memory, and the one selected last time is stored at the next login. If the previously selected item is a so-called limited-time item, it is stored in this keep list until the time limit expires. In this point, it is different from the "shopping cart" prepared in normal online shopping.

(Order Processing Server) Order Processing Server 14
Comprises means for specifying a point in time at which an order from user 4 has been received, means for clocking at least the date and time effective at each virtual store, and means for holding information on the user 4 who has placed the order. The date and time received and the elapsed time from that date are specified. Then, the information is transmitted to the processing server 15 as order data together with the order content.
The date and time effective at the virtual store is usually the same as the date and time in the real world, but the print mall 1 may determine its own date and time.

(Payment Processing Server) Payment Processing Server 15
Performs processing related to charging, billing, and collection of the product sold by each virtual store to the user 4, and payment to the content vendor 2 that operates the virtual store. FIG.
It is a functional block diagram of this settlement processing server 15. The payment processing server 15 determines a charging amount based on order data received from the order processing server 14 or the like.
51, a billing processing unit 152 that performs billing processing for the user 4 who placed the order when the billing amount is determined, and an amount collected for the content vendor when the billing amount is collected from the user 4. Has a collection processing unit 154 that pays for goods corresponding to.

When the user 4 has paid the prepaid money to the prepaid system, the billing processing unit 153 performs a process of subtracting the corresponding fee from the prepaid DB 153 which records the situation, and notifies the user 4 of the fact. Collection processing unit 154
Periodically reads necessary information from the payment institution DB 155 that manages information on the payment institution system (including the address of the payment institution system and information on whether or not a fee has been received from the user 4), and reads the information for each virtual store or content. Aggregate the payment amount for each vendor, and pay the aggregated amount.

In order to know the detailed information on the order data, the billing processing unit 151 stores the member management server 11, the search processing server 13, the print processing server 16,
The necessary information is exchanged with the store management server 17. The charging unit 151 includes a charging unit price table T1 that defines a charging unit price for the provided service, and various adjustment amount tables T2 to T6 for increasing or decreasing the charging unit price. The price presented to the user 4 at each virtual store is an amount obtained by adjusting the charging unit price by various adjustment amounts.

Basically, the charging unit price table T1 contains the unit price of the content determined by the content vendor 2 that operates each virtual shop based on the request of the content holder 3, and the paper size of the sheet commonly defined in the print mall 1. The unit price for each type and size, and the option price such as the frame are recorded. The unit price of the content is referred to when printing is performed by the printer of the user 4. The unit price for each type and size of paper is referred to for cost calculation when the output center 5 performs printing substitution, and usually includes the content unit price. Note that unit prices for paper and foreclosure can also be determined for each virtual store.

In the adjustment amount table T2, the adjustment amount using the date and time at the time of order from each user 4 and the elapsed time therefrom as parameters is recorded in an updatable manner. For example, when the charging process for re-ordering the same content by the same user within a certain period from the time of order is stopped, if the order is made at a certain time (seasonal year such as New Year's card), the display unit price is 10%.
%, A fixed amount regardless of how many sheets are printed during a predetermined period, or a fixed amount regardless of how many sheets are printed until a specific date and time, the first arrival X ( (X is a natural number other than 0). This is used when a fixed amount is printed regardless of how many sheets are printed. The adjustment amount table T3 is
For example, the contents of profit distribution between the manager of the print mall 1 and the virtual store, the output center 5, and the delivery center 6 when printing is performed at the output center are recorded. FIG.
It is a figure showing an example of this adjustment amount table T3. As shown in the figure, the fee structure is complicatedly adjusted, but the user 4 can see only two types of price systems, the content price and the delivery fee. The adjustment amount table T4 has the same property as T3. 10 and 1
1 shows an example of the contents of the adjustment amount table T4.
In the illustrated example, two variations of the fee system in the case of a set with a framed frame are shown. In the adjustment amount table T5, adjustment amounts according to the circumstances of each virtual store are recorded in an updatable manner. In the adjustment amount table T5, the adjustment amount according to the circumstances of the entire print mall 1 is renewably recorded. The circumstances of the virtual store include, for example, of the above-described contents recorded in the adjustment amount table T2, the circumstances uniquely determined by the operator of the virtual store and the circumstances of the entire print mall 1 include the adjustment amount table T2. In addition to the above, there are situations such as bargain sale, where all services are reduced by 10%, free image corners are provided only for a certain period of time, and special plans for billing are performed throughout the mall.

(Print Processing Server) Print Processing Server 16
Performs instructions for enabling printing of image content ordered by the user 4 (including value-added services such as framed), management of processing status, management of delivery slips, and the like.

FIG. 8 is a functional block diagram of the print processing server 16, which includes a print instruction management unit 161 and a work management DB.
162. The print instruction management unit 161 issues a print instruction to the information processing terminal of the output center 5 or the information processing terminal of the user 4 based on instruction data received from input means such as a keyboard or data input from the order processing server 14 or the like. It outputs and controls the recording of data in the work management DB 162 and its reading. When outputting a print instruction to the information processing terminal of the user 4, the image content is converted into print data having a predetermined data structure. The print data is data prepared in advance for each image content, and has a data structure in which the content provider considers the printer model, print paper, and ink designated to obtain the print quality desired by the content provider. is there. The model of the printer is not necessarily limited to only one model, but is preferably specified in such a manner that this model, otherwise, this model can be substituted.

The conversion into such a data structure is performed through the Internet N1, and therefore it is necessary to maintain security. In some cases, the print quality of image contents is not maintained at a certain level or more depending on the printer model. This is because it is necessary to avoid such a situation, and that there is a case where a content provider specifies a print mode. From the viewpoint of further enhancing security, the print instruction and the print data are encapsulated in a cryptographic manner, and only the user 4 who has completed the payment process prints once (or a plurality of sheets within the period) using the key. You may be able to. From the viewpoint of protecting the copyright of the image content, the copyright information may be clarified by inserting an invisible code into the image content.

In the work management DB 162, data having the contents shown in FIG. That is, the order date, order number, customer name, image ID, image title, image printing (print size), type of amount, presence / absence of delivery slip printing, and completion of work are recorded. The work status of services related to printing can be grasped by displaying data recorded in the work management DB 162 on a display (not shown).

(Store Management Server) Store Management Server 17
Provides various functions in the print mall 1 so that the content vendor 2 can open and operate a virtual store. As shown in FIG. An operator management unit 171 that registers information of the vendor 3 in the operator information DB 172, a template HTML file 174 storing a template for creating a store page, and an arbitrary template read from the template HTML file 174. And a store page edit receiving unit 173 for receiving the customization of the store and recording the customized template in the store page DB 175.
Store page using user 4 in template 175
And a store page display control unit 176 for displaying the information on the display of the information processing terminal.

The store management server 17 also stores information indicating the upload status of image contents and the quality of each image content after printing for each virtual store, and the user 4 accesses the image contents. An access management unit 178 that manages the situation, a performance management unit 179 that manages the sales performance of each virtual store based on data processed by the payment processing server 15, and a virtual store based on a request from the advertisement requester server. An advertisement information management unit 180 for displaying advertisement information of articles, and analysis of standard information such as a transaction history and an access log of image content in a mall to generate standard marketing information and the like, which are displayed on a display, a printer, or the like. And a fixed-form information analysis unit 181 that outputs the fixed form information generated in each virtual shop to the fixed form information. To generate such marketing information, and the like,
And an atypical information analysis unit 182 that outputs this to an output unit.

In the template HTML file 174, a template having a low customization level and a template having a high customization level are prepared.
In the former, the page structure and layout are fixed, and a page for a virtual store can be created simply by inputting simple characters and symbols (logo, shop introduction, etc.) and embedding the image content to be provided. Things. The latter allows the operator to freely determine the page configuration and layout. In any case, the virtual shop can be opened simply by uploading the created one to an area accessible by the user 4.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a virtual shop page created in this way. In a predetermined area of the page, a virtual shop name, a list of selectable search functions, and thumbnails of image contents that can be provided are introduced. The information to be introduced is information managed by the store operation management unit 177. The HTML pages are hierarchical. For example, when the user 4 wants to preview a desired image content, the user clicks a thumbnail of the image content with a pointing device of his / her own information processing terminal.
Thereby, the preview screen (page) as shown in FIG.
Is displayed on the display of the information processing terminal. FIG. 12 is an enlarged view of a thumbnail, an image name, a store name, a memo for image introduction, and an article for maintaining the quality of the image content after printing at the quality desired by the content holder 3 or the content vendor 2. Introduces printer models, printing paper quality, and options.

The information on the quality and the information on the goods corresponding thereto are inputted when the content vendor 2 uploads the image content, and is managed by the store operation management section 177. If necessary, the authoring server 12 supports the management. As shown in FIG. 12, a printer,
In each field of printing paper and options, a "Details" button for introducing the contents in detail is formed, and when the user 4 selects a desired article or option, and further wants to know their detailed contents Clicks the "Details" button in that field with a pointing device. The detailed contents include advertisement information on each field.

FIGS. 13 to 16 show examples of page screens when a printer is selected as an article and its "Details" button is clicked. The information posted on this page screen may be held in advance in the print mall 1 (store operation management section 177 or advertisement information management section 180),
It is preferable to use one already existing on the Internet N1. In this case, the corresponding URL (Internet address) is held in the print mall 1, and
The entity can be read from the corresponding site on the Internet N1 at any time. In the examples of FIGS. 13 to 16, in addition to the printer, detailed contents of the printing paper are also shown. In addition, as shown in the lower part of FIG. 16, an introduction of options of the printer itself is also introduced. If necessary, an order form for each article may be prepared, and the order form may be presented at the request of the user 4 to prompt input of order data.

The user 4 can see the information in these page screens and know the quality of the image content desired by the provider after printing. It also recognizes that if the printer and printing papers that are introduced are in their own hand, they can obtain a print medium simply by purchasing image content. Can easily determine whether to purchase the printer anew or to request the output center 5 for a printing substitute.

FIG. 17 shows an example of a page screen when the user selects “framed” as an option on the screen of FIG. 12 and clicks the “detail” button. As shown in the figure, an image of a finished product when framed after printing is introduced.

After confirming the above information on the article, the user determines whether or not to order the image content through the page screen as shown in FIG. In the example of FIG. 18, a printing form (whether to print with a hand-held printer, request a print agent from an output center, perform calendar printing, perform poster printing, or frame, etc.) is presented. In the print mode area, the payment processing server 1
The billing amount determined in 5 is displayed. When the user 4 selects a print mode through such a preview screen, order data is generated.

<Operation Mode> Next, an operation mode of the print molding 1 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. First, with reference to FIG. 19, a procedure until the user 4 searches for and selects a desired image content will be described. The user 4 accesses the TOP page of the print mall 1 by inputting a URL from an information processing terminal connected to the Internet (P101).
A search area for narrowing down desired image contents is formed on the TOP page. When searching by store category (movie store / animation store / ...) or by store keyword (store name), the corresponding store list screen is displayed on the display of the information processing terminal of the user 4. Is performed (P102). It should be noted that a service of printing any number of sheets for a predetermined amount of time (possible free of charge) for a predetermined period from the time of ordering, and a service of printing any number of sheets of a predetermined amount of money (possible free of charge) until a specific date and time If a service is set such that the number of sheets to be printed can be a predetermined amount (there is a free case) up to the first X names, it is necessary to add whether the service is for the entire mall or in an individual virtual store. Display on the store list screen.

When the user 4 finds a virtual store that handles the target image content, the user selects the virtual store from the store list screen, and the TOP page of the store is displayed (P104). The store's TOP page is, for example,
It is like one. When the user 4 searches by image category, a subcategory list of the lower layer is displayed (P103), and when a specific subcategory is selected, a thumbnail of the image content is displayed (P10).
5). When the user 4 searches using the image keyword, the thumbnail is immediately displayed. The user 4 can search for the application (poster print / calendar print / ...) from the TOP page. In any case, the thumbnail is displayed as in the case of the image keyword search (P10).
6, P107, only images that can be used as posters are displayed for poster printing, and only images that can be used as calendars are displayed for calendar printing. Thereafter, when the user 4 wants to preview, a preview screen on which an enlarged image of a thumbnail, recommended printing supplies (such as a printer), a price, and the like are displayed is displayed (P108). The preview screen is, for example, as shown in FIG.

When the image content desired by the user 4 is specified through the preview screen, the procedure shown in FIG.
The advertisement information is displayed on the display of the information processing terminal of the user 4. First, it searches for advertisement information of an article that can maintain the quality of the image content after printing (step S101: Yes, S102). When the advertisement information on the article is present and it is detected that the corresponding “detail” button is selected by the user 4, the content is displayed on the display of the user 4 as shown in FIGS. S105: Yes, S10
6). The ad information displayed includes an "order form"
When the user 4 requests the order form to purchase an article, an article order support process is executed (Step S107: Yes, S108). If there is no advertisement information in step S103, a default message is output (step S110). If the default message is output, if there is no detail display request in step S105, or if there is no order form request in step S107, support for image content order processing is provided (step S109).

Returning to FIG. 19, if there is a keep list already specified for the user 4, the keep list is displayed (P109). When ordering image contents from the preview screen, or ordering from the keep list being displayed, the member is authenticated (P11
0) If NG, the process proceeds to the member registration process. If authenticated (OK), add to keep list (P1
11).

Next, a procedure for performing a layout process for printing will be described with reference to FIG. This layout processing is started when necessary, for example, when the user 4 adds a comment to a specific area of the image content. In this process, the image editor can be started from the displayed keep list, preview screen, and other pages on which thumbnails are displayed (P201). The image editor may be prepared on the virtual shop side and automatically started, or may be prepared on the information processing terminal side of the user 4 and manually started by the user 4. The image content corresponding to the thumbnail is taken into the image editor (P202), and after selecting one desired image, the printing paper, the number of the image, the output location of the image content or the printer model are selected (P203).

When requesting a print proxy to the output center 5, one of the print / simple layout image settings is selected as it is (P204), and it is determined whether or not to purchase the image content. On the other hand, when printing with the printer of the user 4, one of print / simple layout setting / free layout setting is selected as it is (P20).
5, P206), after performing test printing (P207),
Decide whether to purchase the image content. In either case, membership is required to purchase. If the member is not registered at that time, the process proceeds to the member registration process (in the case of NG), and if the authentication is OK, the process proceeds to the settlement method selection process. If the user has already logged in, the member authentication is bypassed.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing an outline of the procedure of the settlement method selection process. If the result of membership authentication is NG,
The user 4 registers as a member (P209) and confirms the registered contents (P210). If the authentication is OK and the user 4 selects the form of printing with the printer at hand, the payment amount is determined by the settlement processing server 15. When the user 4 requests the output center 5 to perform a printing agency and selects an option (framed or the like) (P3
01), the billing amount is determined in consideration of the option. Thereafter, the user 4 selects a payment method for settlement. When requesting the output center 5 for the printing agency, the payment means can select any of credit, bank transfer, advance payment, cash on delivery, and receipt / payment of the printing medium by the convenience store (P303). When the payment means is selected, an order confirmation notification is immediately sent.
More specifically, a message such as “OK” is displayed on the display of the information processing terminal of the user 4.

When the user 4 selects printing with the printer at hand, the payment means is either credit or prepaid (P305). When the payment means is selected, a print instruction screen, for example, a message "Please print" is displayed on the display of the information processing terminal of the user 4 (P307). When the user 4 starts printing based on this display, a print screen is displayed on the display and print data is output to the printer. In this way, the user 4 can obtain a print medium on which desired image content is printed through the handheld printer.

As described above, in the print mall 1 of the present embodiment, a store area and various functions for opening and operating a store are provided to a person who desires to open a virtual store (the content vendor 2 or the like). , As a part of the work related to the operation of the virtual store, in particular, posting and evaluation of image content, determination of billing amount, billing and collection, so that the opening of the virtual store can be promoted. become.

Further, since the quality after printing is maintained at the quality desired by the content provider, the quality assurance of the service in the entire mall can be ensured, which is attractive to both the content provider and the user. It can be an embodiment, and this also makes it possible to promote the opening of a virtual store.

For the manufacture and seller of the article, the actual use form of the article is indicated by the content provider,
In addition, since the image content is introduced in a print scene of the image content desired by the user, the advertising effect can be enhanced.

Thus, taking advantage of the advantage of a printer that does not depend on a printing machine, the content holder 3 can be used alone or through the content vendor 2 to obtain the desired print quality, print mode, and The user 4 can be given an opportunity to announce or sell, and give the user 4 a highly original large format calendar or poster or framed work that is not available from the general market. It can give you a chance to obtain it easily. The user 4 also has the advantage of being able to obtain a print medium on which high-quality printing has been performed, without having to own a high-end printer or supplies.

In this embodiment, as services handled in the virtual store, a service for directly delivering image content to the user 4 and a service for printing the image content through the output center 5 are described as examples. However, the same description as in the present embodiment is applicable to the case where another form of service in which the quality after printing is a problem is handled.

[0061]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, when content is provided, information on an article for maintaining the quality after printing of the content at the quality intended by the provider is provided. Can be presented to the user, giving the content provider an opportunity to guarantee the quality of the content, giving the article provider an opportunity to advertise to the consumer, This gives the user the opportunity to obtain a high quality print medium with high originality.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a concept of an operation mode of a print mall to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is an overall configuration diagram of a print mall according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of a member management server according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of the authoring server according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of a search processing server according to the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing processing contents of a keep list processing unit.

FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram of a settlement processing server according to the embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a functional block diagram of a print processing server according to the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of contents of a work management DB provided in the print processing server.

FIG. 10 is a functional block diagram of a store management server according to the embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a layout example of a top page of a virtual store.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a preview screen.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example (detailed contents) of advertisement information.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example (detailed contents) of advertisement information.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example (detailed contents) of advertisement information.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example (detailed contents) of advertisement information.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of a preview screen when ordering image content.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of a preview screen when ordering image content.

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the print mall according to the present embodiment (until image content is selected).

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing a processing procedure by an advertisement information management unit provided in the store management server.

FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating an operation form of a print mall according to the present embodiment (layout processing);

FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the print mall according to the present embodiment (from settlement method to printing).

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Print mall 2 Content vendor which operates virtual store 3 Content holder which produces content 4 User who purchases content 5 Output center which performs printing agency 6 Delivery center which distributes print media 7 Product vendor which handles goods such as amount 11 Member management server 12 Authoring server 13 Search processing server 14 Order processing server 15 Payment processing server 16 Print processing server 17 Store management server 18 Content management server 19 Content DB EB Electronic bulletin board

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G06F 17/60 504 G06F 17/60 504 // G06F 13/00 547 13/00 547V

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A posting means for posting one or a plurality of printable digital contents to a virtual shop where a consumer can view the information, and a detecting means for detecting that the consumer has selected digital contents to be printed in the virtual shop. And means for searching for advertisement information of an article used to maintain the quality of the selected digital content after printing at the quality desired by the provider of the digital content, and the advertisement information obtained by the search. Is configured to be posted in the virtual store together with the selected digital content, wherein the advertisement system by the virtual store. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the virtual shop converts individual digital contents into print data for obtaining the quality of the print and provides the converted data to consumers. 1. The advertising system according to 1. 3. The virtual shop further comprises means for searching for a sample maintaining the quality after printing, and searching for the sample of the selected digital content, and obtaining the sample together with the advertisement information in the virtual store. The advertisement system according to claim 1, wherein the advertisement system is configured to be posted. 4. A printer for searching for a printing institution capable of printing and / or a value-added service of the digital content according to the quality after printing, and searching for the printing institution for the selected digital content. The advertisement system according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein information of the printing institution obtained thereby is posted on the virtual store together with the advertisement information. 5. An article information holding means for receiving information on the article from the provider, linking the received information with digital content provided by the provider, and holding the article information, wherein the consumer selects the digital content. The advertisement system according to claim 1, wherein, when detecting the fact, the article information holding unit is configured to search for information linked to the digital content. 6. The advertisement according to claim 1, wherein the advertisement information is a network address of an area in which introduction information of the article and / or an order form for the article are displayed. system. 7. Posting one or more printable digital contents in a virtual store where the consumer can browse, detecting that the consumer has selected digital contents that the user wants to print in the virtual store; Searching for advertisement information of an article used to maintain the quality of the selected digital content after printing at the quality desired by the provider of the digital content; and selecting the advertisement information obtained by the search. Posting at the virtual store together with the digital content, wherein the posting of the advertisement information of the article is linked to the posting of the digital content. 8. A process for constructing a virtual store in an area that can be browsed by a consumer through a network; a process for posting one or a plurality of printable digital contents to the virtual store; A process of detecting that the content has been selected; a process of searching for advertisement information of an article used to maintain the quality of the selected digital content after printing at a quality desired by the provider of the digital content; A computer-readable recording medium in which a program for causing a computer to execute the process of posting the obtained advertisement information together with the selected digital content in the virtual store is recorded.