JP2003067722A - Image information management method and system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image information management method and system that automatically classifies every category of shot image information into a group of units according to the category. SOLUTION: The image information management system includes a control part 1, an image information storage device 2, an input/output interface 3, an operation part 4 and a display part 5. The image information storage device 2 has a folder corresponding to a category. The control part 1 has a histogram creation processing function for creating a histogram of shot time information in shot image information stored in the folder, a grouping processing function for grouping the shot image information according to the created histogram, and a sub folder storage processing function for storing the grouped image information in sub folders created in correspondence with the groups.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image information management method and apparatus for storing and managing digital photographed image information by category.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Image information taken by a digital camera is
It is recorded and stored in each user's personal computer or the hard disk of a dedicated image storage device, or a large-capacity recording medium such as DVD, CD-ROM, etc. When hard printing is required, it is printed by a printer connected to the personal computer, etc. Or
They use a network or bring recording media into stores to request prints based on captured image information. In addition, when recording on a large-capacity storage medium such as a personal computer, as the number of captured images increases, the image information is divided into a plurality of groups (for example, “company”, “home”, “specific event”, and the like). ) Are managed separately.

As an example of managing photographed image information by classifying it into predetermined categories, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-34163 is known.
There is one described in Japanese Patent No. In this example, image information captured by a digital camera is associated with a predetermined category based on the operation of the digital camera, and the image information associated with the predetermined category is stored in a computer-used image storage device. In this case, the association of the categories is performed by storing the associated category information in the digital camera in advance and selecting the category information stored before or after the photography. However, manually selecting the category information for each image at the time of shooting is complicated, and there is a problem that the usability is poor. In addition, it is difficult to register all necessary categories in advance, and the image information stored for each category is constantly increasing. Therefore, depending on the category, the number of stored images becomes enormous. When using a print instruction or the like, it is not possible to easily select the required image information.

As another example of the management technology of photographed image information,
There is also proposed a digital camera that stores captured images in a folder created for each capturing date when recording the captured images on a recording medium (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-54041). However, if one folder is created for each shooting date, images in multiple categories may be stored in one folder, or shot images for multiple dates should be stored in one folder, such as a travel photo. Since it is stored in a plurality of folders every day, there is a problem that it takes a lot of time to search during reproduction.

In order to eliminate the above inconvenience,
It is necessary to classify and organize the image information stored on the display such as a computer and store it in an appropriate created folder or a newly created folder. Annoying for inexperienced users.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides an image information management method and system for automatically classifying photographed image information for each category into a group of units according to the category. To do.

[0007]

An image information management method of the present invention stores and manages digitally photographed image information by category, and the digitally photographed image information is stored in a folder provided for each category. An image storing step, a step of creating a histogram of shooting time information of the image information stored in each of the folders, a step of grouping the image information stored in each of the folders based on the created histogram, Storing the grouped image information in a subfolder provided in the folder corresponding to the group.

The image storing step in the image information management method of the present invention is to select the folder to be stored by a selection instruction from the outside, and the selection instruction is performed when the image information is stored. It is a thing.

The step of creating the histogram in the image information management method of the present invention uses information added to the captured image information as shooting time point information used for creating the histogram.

The step of creating the histogram in the image information management method of the present invention is to create a histogram at a histogram creation time interval set for each category.

In the sub-folder created by the image information management method of the present invention, a name associated with the shooting time information of the stored image information is automatically created and given. Also, this name can be changed. When the name is changed, the image information stored in the subfolder can be displayed.

The image information management system of the present invention stores and manages digitally photographed image information by category, and has an folder for each category, and an image information storage device for storing the digitally photographed image information, A histogram creation processing unit that creates a histogram of shooting time point information of image information stored in each of the folders, and a grouping processing unit that groups the image information stored in each of the folders based on the created histogram. A sub-folder storage processing unit that stores the grouped image information in a sub-folder provided in the folder corresponding to the group.

The image information storage device in the image information management system of the present invention stores the image information in a folder instructed to be selected from the outside, and the selection instruction is given when the image information is stored. It is done.

The histogram creation processing section in the image information management system of the present invention creates the histogram using the shooting time point information added to the shot image information.

The histogram creation processing section in the image information management system of the present invention creates the histogram at a histogram creation time interval set for each category.

In the image information management system of the present invention, the sub-folder storage processing unit creates a name related to shooting point information of the stored image information in the sub-folder when storing the grouped image information, It is to be given.

The image information management system of the present invention further comprises a name change processing unit for changing the name of the automatically created subfolder.

The name change processing unit in the image information management system of the present invention includes a display processing function of the image information stored in the subfolder to be renamed.

[0019]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing functional blocks of an embodiment of an image information management system of the present invention. The system of FIG. 1 includes a control unit 1, an image information storage device 2, an input / output interface 3, an operation unit 4, and a display unit 5. The input / output interface 3 is a unit for inputting digital photographed image information (see FIG. Not shown, for example, a connection cable, a recording medium reading device, etc.) is connected.

The control unit 1 controls the entire image information management system, and is mainly composed of a processor that operates according to a predetermined program. As will be described later, the control unit 1 has a histogram creation processing function of creating a histogram of shooting time point information of shot image information, a grouping processing function of grouping shot image information based on the created histogram, and a grouping processing function. In addition to having a sub-folder storage processing function of storing the captured image information in a sub-folder provided corresponding to the group, storage processing of captured image information input via the input / output interface 3, reading of stored captured image information, It also performs processing such as display processing. In addition, sub-folder name change processing is also performed if necessary. Information necessary for performing these processes is stored in a memory (not shown).

The image information storage device 2 can be composed of a hard disk device or a CD-R drive in which a CD-R is mounted, and stores the photographed image information input via the input / output interface 3. is there. As will be described later, the image information storage device 2 has a plurality of folders corresponding to the categories of captured image information, and each folder stores image information of the corresponding category.
Various methods can be adopted for associating the input image information with each folder. For example, at the time of input, it may be stored in the selected folder according to the user's instruction.
After storing in a common folder of the image information storage device 2,
The category information may be sequentially added and stored in the corresponding folders. Further, similarly to the conventional technique, the category information may be stored in advance in the image information, and may be automatically stored in the corresponding folder based on the stored category information.

The folder of the image information storage device 2 is prepared in advance according to the object to be photographed, the purpose of photographing, etc., and a typical one is prepared by default (for example, travel, family, children, grandchildren). , Pets, dishes, memos, etc.), and it is preferable that the user can add and delete as necessary. It is preferable that this folder has a name (folder name) that allows the categories of image information to be input to be roughly classified, and a number that does not impose a burden on category determination when inputting image information. In addition, folders can be further classified by creating subfolders in the folders.

The folder indicates a place (storage area) for storing grouped data or files, but it does not have to be a place for storing physical data or files. For example, the actual data and the actual file may be stored in another place on the storage medium, and may be grouped by storing pointers that logically associate them.

The input / output interface 3 is for inputting photographed image information, inputting operation signals, and outputting display information. The captured image information is input via a wired, wireless, or removable storage medium. That is, it is connected to a digital camera (not shown) or the like in a wired or wireless manner to control the transfer of image information, or a reading device of an image storage medium used in the digital camera is connected to control the reading. Or

The operation section 4 is provided for operating the image information storage system, and inputs an operation signal of the system in cooperation with the display of the display section 5 or alone. The display unit 5 displays the input image information or the searched image information, and also displays the information that supports the operation of the operation unit 4, such as the display of the operation menu information.

Next, the function of the controller 1 will be described in more detail while explaining the operation of the image information management system of FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic operation flow of the system of FIG.

When the photographed image information is input together with the category information (step 21), the control section 1 creates a histogram based on the category information of the photographed image information and the photographing time point information (step 22). Then, the input photographed image information is stored in the folder corresponding to the category information of the image information storage device 2 (step 23).

If the category is unknown at the time of inputting the photographed image information, it may be stored in a common folder or the like of the image information storage device 2, and then the user may sequentially add the category information and store it in the corresponding folder. Good. In that case, the histogram is also created prior to storage in the corresponding folder. If the captured image information that is input has category information, that category information is used. Further, as the photographing time point information, the one added to the photographed image information is used.

The creation of the histogram in step 22 is performed for each folder corresponding to the category, with respect to the shooting time information of the image information stored in the folder.
As an example, as shown in FIG. 3, information about the number of stored images for each shooting date is stored. FIG. 3 shows a travel folder as an example, and shows that, for example, 10 pieces of image information captured on June 16, 2001 are stored. In this example, the number of stored images is stored for each shooting date, but the histogram creation time interval can be set for each folder, that is, according to the category of image information to be stored. As the information regarding the creation time interval, it is preferable to store a value suitable for a grouping process described later in a storage unit (not shown) in the control unit 1 in advance. A value suitable for grouping processing described later is a value suitable for determining that a plurality of pieces of image information are related to each other, and many categories are “day”.
Although it is sufficient to create a histogram for each unit, when storing an image obtained by shooting a recipe of a dish or the like, it is necessary to form a different group for each dish, so a short time interval, for example, “hour”, “half hour” or Create in "1/4 hour" units.

After the processing of steps 21 to 23 is repeated for all the image information to be input (step 24), the necessity of sub-folder creation is confirmed in step 25, and the sub-folder is created if necessary. If the related image information is always stored in one input process,
Step 25 can be omitted.

When creating subfolders, in step 26, the image information stored for each folder is grouped. The grouping is a grouping of related images, and the image information included in one or a plurality of histogram creation units is set as one group on the basis of the category of the images stored in the folder. In the case of travel-related image information as shown in FIG. 3, since it is possible to determine that the image information of consecutive shooting days is the shooting image of the same travel,
It can be divided into three groups, A, B, and C. Then, the grouped image information is stored in different subfolders (step 27), and subfolder names are automatically created (step 2).
8). The subfolder name is created based on the shooting time information of the grouped image information. In the example of FIG. 3, if the year and month of the trip can be distinguished, it is sufficient for the time being.
The name will be something like "June 1st".

The grouping of image information and the subfolder name creation standard are preferably set for each folder (category). FIG. 4 shows an example of histograms, groups, and subfolder names of folders that store image information about grandchildren. In this example, the histogram is created for each "day", grouped for each month, and the subfolder name is created based on the age of the "grandchild" who is the shooting target. Therefore, the date of birth of the "grandchild" to be stored in the folder is input and stored in advance.

The image information contained in the automatically created subfolder is preferably displayed, confirmed and corrected. Since the display processing of the image information stored in the storage device and the moving processing of the stored file are well known, the description thereof will be omitted. The name of the automatically created subfolder is preferably modifiable. A known method can be adopted as the correction method, but it is preferable that the correction is performed after the confirmation processing of the image information included in the subfolder.

The system shown in FIG. 1 may be realized by using a general-purpose computer such as a personal computer, by using a server and a terminal device connected to a network, or by using a dedicated image information storage device. May be realized. When using the server and the terminal device, the control unit 1, the image information storage device 2, and the input / output interface 3 are provided in the server. Then, the operation unit and the display unit of the terminal device are used as the operation unit 4 and the display unit 5, and the operation unit 4 and the display unit 5 are connected to the input / output interface 3 via a network (not shown).

FIG. 5 shows an example of a system configuration when a dedicated image information storage device is used. The system of FIG. 5 includes a digital camera 100, an image information storage device 200, and an image display device 300. The digital camera 100 and the image information storage device 200 can send and receive information by wireless communication. 200 and image display device 30
0 is connected by a cable 400. In the system of FIG. 5, captured image information from the digital camera 100 is stored in the image information storage device 200.

The digital camera 100 has a well-known configuration, as shown in the schematic configuration of an example thereof, in a wireless communication between the acceleration sensor 115 for detecting the movement of the camera housing and the image information storage device 200. It is possible to add an operation signal including an operation signal based on the movement of the camera housing to the image information storage device 200 by adding the wireless communication unit 116. That is, the digital camera 100 plays at least part of the function of the operation unit 4.

The digital camera 100 includes a taking lens 10
1, a shutter / aperture 102, an imaging device 103, an auxiliary light emitting unit 120, and an imaging unit including a drive circuit 110,
A signal processing unit including an analog signal processing unit 104, an A / D conversion unit 105, a digital signal processing unit 106, an output memory 107, and a compression / expansion processing unit 108, an output unit including a media interface 111 and a display unit 113, and operation switches. An acceleration sensor 115 and a wireless communication unit 116 are added to a known configuration including an operation unit including a switch group 114 such as a power switch, a shutter button, and a menu switch, and a CPU 109 that controls the entire digital camera. A memory card 112, which is a removable recording medium in which captured image information is recorded, can be attached to the media interface 111.

The digital camera 100 includes a photographing lens 10
1, a shutter / aperture 102, an imaging device 103, an auxiliary light emitting unit 120, and an imaging unit including a drive circuit 110,
A signal processing unit including an analog signal processing unit 104, an A / D conversion unit 105, a digital signal processing unit 106, an output memory 107, and a compression / expansion processing unit 108, an output unit including a media interface 111 and a display unit 113, and operation switches. An acceleration sensor 115 and a wireless communication unit 116 are added to a known configuration including an operation unit including a switch group 114 such as a power switch, a shutter button, and a menu switch, and a CPU 109 that controls the entire digital camera. A memory card 112, which is a removable recording medium in which captured image information is recorded, can be attached to the media interface 111.

When the image recorded on the memory card 112 is to be displayed on the display unit 113, the image information read from the memory card 112 is expanded by the compression / expansion processing unit 108, written in the output memory 107, and displayed on the display unit 113. Send to.

These operations are performed by the CPU 1 operated by a predetermined program according to the state of the switch group 114.
It is performed under the control of 09. The memory for storing the program, the work memory, and the identification information storage unit for storing the second identification information described later are omitted in the drawing.

The acceleration sensor 115 detects the movement of the camera housing, and a predetermined number of acceleration sensors 115 are provided according to the direction to be detected. Then, the detection signal of the movement in the predetermined direction is a camera operation signal similar to the output of the switch group 114,
It is also used as an image transfer operation signal described later. The acceleration sensor itself is a well-known element, and the one used for a portable device such as a digital camera is also disclosed in JP-A-6-4208 and JP-A-2000-92389, so the description thereof will be omitted.

The wireless communication section 116 is used for the image information storage device 2.
Wireless communication with 00, Bluetooth
h, short-range wireless communication using IrDA infrared data communication or the like. As will be described later, the wireless communication unit 116 transfers the captured image information and transmits / receives a control signal related to storage of the captured image information to / from the image information storage device 200.

The digital camera 100 shown in FIG. 1 stores photographed image information in a removable recording medium such as the memory card 112, but it may be configured to store it in an internal memory (not shown).

The image information storage device 200 has a wireless communication unit 201, a hard disk device 202, a CD-R drive 203 for writing / reading a CD-R 204, and an image display device, as shown in the schematic configuration of one example in FIG. Display device interface 20 for outputting display information for 300
5. Control unit 2 for controlling the entire image information storage device 200
06, a scanner device 207, and a printing device 208.

The wireless communication section 201 is used for the digital camera 10.
Wireless communication with the wireless communication unit 116 of 0,
The short-range wireless communication of the same communication method as the wireless communication unit 116 is performed.

Hard disk drive 202 and CD-R2
The CD-R drive 203 in which 04 is mounted corresponds to the image information storage device 2 in FIG. 1, and the storage area has a plurality of folders corresponding to the categories of photographed image information. The image information of the corresponding category is stored in the user's instruction. It is optional whether the hard disk device 202 stores the image information or the CD-R 204. An example is a method of reusing the storage area of the hard disk device 202 by using the hard disk device 202 as an image storage unit and creating and storing copy information in the CD-R 204 when necessary. Alternatively, the hard disk device 202 may be used as a temporary buffer and a method of writing on the CD-R at any time may be adopted. In addition, CD-R204 and CD-R
The drive 203 is an example of a removable recording medium and its drive device, and a DVD-RAM and its drive may be used.

The display device interface 205 is an interface for outputting display information to the display device 300 corresponding to the display unit 5 in FIG. TV as display device 300
When a monitor is used, it outputs a video signal. In addition, in the system of FIG.
Although it is described that a separate device such as a V monitor is used,
It may be integrated with the image information storage device 200 by using a liquid crystal monitor or the like.

The scanner device 207 converts a print photograph into a digital image, and in order to store not only photographed image information from a digital camera but also a photograph print image including a silver halide photograph print as digital data. It is provided. The scanner device 207 is preferably configured to be removable. In that case, the image information when the photographic print is scanned in the separated state may be transferred to the image information storage device 200 by a cable or wirelessly, or may be stored in a memory (not shown) built in the scanner device 207. It may be transferred to the hard disk device 202 after being attached to the image information storage device 200.

The printing device 208 is the hard disk device 2
02 or the image information stored in the CD-R 204 is printed. The scanner device 207 and the printing device 208 are not necessarily essential and can be omitted.

The control unit 206 controls the image information storage device 200.
It controls the whole, and is mainly composed of a processor that operates according to a predetermined program. Control unit 206
Is a folder for storing image information, a transfer and storage of image information from the digital camera 100 or the scanner device 207, and a printing device 208 according to a control signal received from the digital camera 100 via the wireless communication unit 201.
Selects the image information to be printed and controls the printing device 208. These controls are performed according to the display of the image display device 300, and necessary display image information is displayed by the control device 206 on the display device interface 2.
It is sent to the image display device 300 via 05. In addition, the control unit 206 creates a histogram creation process for creating a histogram of shooting time point information of the shot image information, a grouping process for grouping the shot image information based on the created histogram, and the grouped image information. A subfolder storage process of storing in a subfolder provided corresponding to the group is also performed.

The control signal from the digital camera 100 is
The control signal includes not only an operation of the switch group 114 of the digital camera 100 but also a control signal by the motion detection of the digital camera 100 by the acceleration sensor 115. These control signals form part of the output signals of the operation unit 4 in FIG.

FIG. 8 shows a schematic flow of the operation at the time of transferring the image information. When storing image information captured by the digital camera 100 in the image information storage device 200, the image information storage device 200 and the image display device 300 are connected by a cable 400, and the image information storage device 200 and the image display device 300 are powered on. After that, in step 501, the digital camera 100 is set to the image information transfer mode. This mode setting is performed by operating one of the switches in the switch group 114.

When the image transfer mode is set, the digital camera 100 transmits the mode setting information indicating that the image transfer mode has been set to the image information storage device 200 via the wireless communication section 116 (step 502). Wireless communication unit 2
Upon receiving the mode setting information via 01, the image information storage device 200 outputs the folder selection screen information via the display device interface 205 in order to select the folder for storing the transferred image information (step 50).
3). An example of the folder selection screen is shown in FIG. For the folder provided in the hard disk device 202 or the CD-R 204, it is preferable to select information prepared in advance according to the needs of the user and display it on one or more screens. The example of FIG. 9 shows that six folders are prepared, and the number of images indicated by the numbers above the folder icons is already stored in each folder. Also, the folder selected by the cursor 601 is shown.

In the following description, the digital camera 10 will be described.
0 to use the wireless communication units 116 and 201 to transmit information to the image information storage device 200, and to use the display device interface 205 to transmit display screen information from the image information storage device 200 to the image display device 300. Is the same as step 502 and step 503, and the description thereof is omitted.

After the folder selection screen is displayed in step 503, the image information to be transferred and the folder to be stored are selected. When selecting the one to be transferred from the image information stored in the memory card 112, the selected image is displayed on the display unit 113 by operating one of the switches in the switch group 114 (step 504). When the image to be transferred is selected, the thumbnail image information of the image is transferred to the image information storage device 200 (step 505).

Upon receiving the thumbnail image information, the image information storage device 200 outputs screen information for displaying the thumbnail image 702 corresponding to the selected folder to the image display device 300, as shown in FIG. 5
06). When changing the folder to be stored, the digital camera 100 is moved to select the folder (step 507).

The movement of the digital camera 100 is detected by the acceleration sensor 116 and transmitted to the image information storage device 200 as folder movement information (step 50).
8). When the image information storage device 200 receives the folder movement information, it outputs the screen information in which the position of the thumbnail image 702 is moved together with the folder selection cursor 701 (step 509), so that the user can select the selected folder and the transfer image. Will be surely confirmed.

Note that it is not always necessary to transfer and display the thumbnail image information, and only the moving display of the cursor may be performed. Further, when displaying the thumbnail image, the cursor display may be omitted.

After selecting the image information to be transferred and the folder to be stored, the digital camera 100 is moved to give an instruction to transfer the image information (step 510). In that case, the movement uses a different type of movement from the folder selection.

In step 510, when the image information transfer instruction is issued, the selected image information is transferred to the image information storage device 20.
0 (step 511) and stored in the selected folder (step 512). At that time, the thumbnail image 702 is output to the image display device 300 as the screen information which moves into the pocket and disappears (step 513).

By repeating the above operation, the image information of the digital camera 100 is stored in each selected folder. Then, by a control signal from the digital camera 100 (whether the camera is moved or a specific switch (not shown)) or an operation unit (not shown) provided in the image information storage device 200,
Start creating subfolders.

The operation of storing the image information of the digital camera 100 in the image information storage device 200 has been described above. However, when storing the image information acquired by the scanner device 207, the same movement of the digital camera 100 is performed. Folder selection and storage instructions can be performed. That is, when digital image information is acquired by the scanner device 207, a folder selection screen is displayed and the digital camera 1
Folder selection and storage instruction may be performed by moving 00. Since the image information acquired by the scanner device 207 does not include the image capturing time information, the user can input the image capturing time information at the time of acquisition, so that the image information can be stored in the subfolder in the same manner.

[0063]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the photographed image information for each category can be automatically classified into a group of units according to the category.
In particular, it is more effective when applied to a dedicated image information storage device used by a user such as a senior user who is not accustomed to using a personal computer.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing functional blocks of an embodiment of an image information management system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic operation flow of the system of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a histogram and creation of a subfolder.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating another example of a histogram and creation of a subfolder.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a specific example of an image information management system of the present invention.

6 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an example of the digital camera of FIG.

7 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an example of the image information storage device of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a schematic flow of an operation at the time of transferring image information in the system of FIG.

9 is a diagram showing an example of a folder selection screen of the system of FIG.

10 is a diagram showing another example of the folder selection screen of the system of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Control unit 2 ... Image information storage device 3 ... I / O interface 4 ... Operation part 5 ... Display 100: Digital camera 101 ... Shooting lens 102 ... Shutter / Aperture 103 ... Imaging device 104 ... Analog signal processing unit 105 ... A / D converter 106 ... Digital signal processing unit 107 ... Output memory 108 ... Compression / decompression processing unit 109 ... CPU 110 ... Driving circuit 111 ... Media interface 112 ... Memory card 113 ... Display section 114: Switch group 115 ... Acceleration sensor 116 ... Wireless communication unit 200 ... Image information storage device 201 ... Wireless communication unit 202 ... Hard disk device 203 ... CD-R drive 204 ... CD-R 205 ... Display device interface 206 ... Control unit 207 ... Scanner device 208 ... Printing device

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) // H04N 5/225 H04N 5/225 FF term (reference) 5B050 AA09 BA10 BA15 CA07 DA01 DA10 EA08 FA02 FA13 FA19 GA08 5B075 ND08 NK46 NR03 NR12 NS10 PQ02 5B082 AA13 EA01 5C022 AA13 AB40 AC01 5C052 AA12 AA17 AC08 DD02 EE02 EE03

Claims (16)

[Claims] 1. An image information management method for storing and managing digitally photographed image information for each category, comprising an image storing step of storing the digitally photographed image information in a folder provided for each category, and storing in each of the folders. Creating a histogram of shooting time point information of the image information, grouping the image information stored in each of the folders based on the created histogram, the grouped image information in the folder Storing in a subfolder provided corresponding to the group in the image information management method. 2. The image information management method according to claim 1, wherein the selection of the folder to be stored in the image storage step is based on a selection instruction from the outside. 3. The image information management method according to claim 2, wherein the selection instruction is given when the image information is stored. 4. The image information management method according to claim 1, wherein the shooting time point information used for creating the histogram in the step of creating the histogram is added to the shot image information. Image information management method that is a thing. 5. The image information management method according to claim 1, wherein the histogram creation time interval in the step of creating the histogram is set for each of the categories. Management method. 6. The image information management method according to claim 1, wherein a name associated with shooting time information of the stored image information is automatically created in the sub-folder, Image information management method to be given. 7. The image information management method according to claim 6, further comprising a name change step of changing the name of the automatically created subfolder. 8. The image information management method according to claim 7, wherein the name changing step includes a display process of the image information stored in the subfolder. 9. An image information management system for storing and managing digitally photographed image information by category, comprising: an image information storage device for storing the digitally photographed image information, the folder having each category, and each of the folders. A histogram creation processing unit that creates a histogram of the shooting time information of the stored image information, a grouping processing unit that groups the image information stored in each of the folders based on the created histogram, and the grouping An image information management system having a subfolder storage processing unit that stores the obtained image information in a subfolder provided in the folder corresponding to the group. 10. The image information management system according to claim 9, wherein the image information storage device stores the image information in a folder instructed to be selected from the outside. 11. The image information management system according to claim 10, wherein the selection instruction is given when the image information is stored. 12. The image information management system according to claim 9, wherein the histogram creation processing unit creates the histogram by using shooting time point information added to the shot image information. An image information management system that does. 13. The image information management system according to claim 9, wherein the histogram creation processing unit creates the histogram at a histogram creation time interval set for each category. Image information management system. 14. The image information management system according to claim 9, wherein the sub-folder storage processing unit stores the grouped image information in the sub-folder. An image information management system for creating and giving a name related to image information at the time of shooting of image information. 15. The image information management system according to claim 14, further comprising a name change processing unit that changes the name of the automatically created subfolder. 16. The image information management system according to claim 15, wherein the name change processing unit includes a display processing function of image information stored in a subfolder to be renamed.