JP2003140865A - Online print order system, server system, online print order processing method and photograph processing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an online print order system capable of performing surely personal authentication when receiving an online print order and handing a photographic print over the counter, and thereby heightening reliability from the viewpoint of security. SOLUTION: This order system has a server system 2 for receiving a print order from a client 3, to which image data are uploaded from the client 3, and a photograph processing system 1 to which the image data are downloaded from the server system 2, for producing the photographic print relative to the print order. The order system is configured so that, when print processing is finished, a bar code for personal authentication is transmitted to a customer's cellular phone 5 by the server system 2, and that, when the customer comes to the store, the personal authentication is performed by the bar code displayed on a display screen of a cellular phone 5.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an online print ordering system, a server system, an online print order processing method, and a photo processing system that can receive an order for photographic prints from a customer via online such as the Internet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When receiving an order for photographic prints from a customer, the customer usually visits a photographic shop directly to order simultaneous prints, reprint prints and the like. The photo shop hands over a voucher to the customer who visits it. After the printing process is completed, the customer visits the photo shop and presents the voucher received at the time of ordering. As a result, it is possible to confirm that the person who ordered the product is the person who ordered it, and the finished photographic print can be handed over to the customer.

[0003]

On the other hand, a system for receiving an order for photographic prints online is known. For example, it is a system that uses a website existing on the Internet. The customer can place an order via the website without directly visiting the photo shop. After the print process is completed, the customer directly visits the photo shop to receive the photo print.

However, in the case of an online order, since there is no voucher to be given to the customer who directly visits the store, whether or not the person who came to pick up the photographic print is the person who actually made the order. Is difficult to see. To authenticate yourself, the customer writes down the order number displayed on the website and informs the order number at the store. The order confirmation screen displayed on the website is printed on the customer's printer. Let me
A method such as bringing it to the store may be considered.

However, from the customer's point of view, it is troublesome to print down the order confirmation screen or the order confirmation screen, which is not a preferable method. Also, the order number may be long for security and data management. Then, it is difficult to remember the order number, and it is troublesome to write it down in a memo. From the above, at present, even if the order number is not presented, the photographic prints are handed to the customer as the ordered customer only by the offer of the orderer's name. Therefore, if another person uses the pseudonym to enter the name, there is a possibility that he or she may hand over the photographic print by mistake.

[0006] The present invention has been made in view of the above situation, and its problem is that in the case of receiving an online print order and handing a photographic print at a store, the personal authentication can be surely performed and the security can be improved. It is to provide an online print ordering system that can increase reliability.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an online print ordering system according to the present invention receives a print order from a client and uploads image data from the client, and a server system in which the image data is uploaded from the server system. A photo processing system that downloads data and creates a photo print for a print order, and when the print process is completed, the server system sends identification information for personal authentication to the customer's mobile terminal, and the customer It is characterized in that the personal authentication is performed by the identification information displayed on the display screen of the mobile terminal when the user visits the store.

The operation and effect of the system with this configuration are as follows.
It is as follows. First, from the client (customer),
Upload the image data for the image to be printed on the server system. The file format of the image data may be an appropriate format. A photo processing system provided in a photo shop or the like can confirm that a print order has been placed by accessing the server system, and download the image data uploaded as described above. A photographic print is created using the downloaded image data. A publicly known creating method may be used for creating the photographic print.

When the printing process is completed, the server system transmits the identification information for personal authentication to the portable terminal of the customer. This identification information may be generated by the photo processing system or the server system. When it is generated by the photo processing system, it may be transmitted to the server system, and when it is generated by the server system, it may be transferred to the photo processing system.

The identification information transmitted from the server system can be displayed on the display screen of the customer's mobile terminal. When the customer comes to the store to receive the photo print, the customer presents the identification information displayed on the display screen to the person in the store. Personal identification can be performed by this identification information.

Since the portable terminal is usually used by an individual, it is preferable in terms of security to perform personal authentication. Further, since the identification information is sent from the server system to the mobile terminal, the customer does not have to take the trouble to obtain the identification information. The customer need only show the identification information received when visiting the store. As a result, it is possible to provide an online print ordering system that can reliably perform personal authentication and enhance reliability in security when receiving a print order online and handing over a photo print at a store. .

The server system used in the online print ordering system according to the present invention includes an image data storage unit that receives a print order from a client and stores image data related to the print order uploaded from the client, and a photo processing system. In response to a download request from the image data transmission unit for transmitting the image data to the photo processing system, and when the print processing is completed, the identification information for personal authentication is transmitted to the mobile terminal of the customer. An identification information transmission unit is provided.

The server system with this configuration stores the image data uploaded from the client in the image data storage section. The photo processing system will access this server system and in response to the download request,
Send the image data to the photo processing system. When the print processing is completed in the photo processing system, the identification information for personal authentication is transmitted to the mobile terminal of the customer. This identification information may be generated by the photo processing system or the server system.

The identification information transmitted from the server system can be displayed on the display screen of the customer's mobile terminal. Thereby, personal authentication can be performed.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the identification information is preferably a bar code. The barcode is
It is more difficult to forge than text information. Therefore, it can be said that the barcode is identification information preferable in terms of security.

As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the mobile terminal is a mobile phone, and the identification information is transmitted by electronic mail.

Mobile phones (including PHS) are the most popular mobile terminals. Also, it is premised that the mobile phone is used by an individual, not by a family member or the like. Therefore, by transmitting the identification information to the mobile phone by e-mail, the personal authentication can be performed with high reliability.

The photo processing system used in the online print ordering system according to the present invention stores the downloaded image data and a transmission / reception unit for downloading the image data related to the print order uploaded from the client to the server system. An image data storage device and an identification information creation unit that creates identification information for personal authentication when printing is completed are configured, and the transmission / reception unit is configured to send the identification information to the server system. Moreover, the identification information is transmitted to the customer's mobile terminal by the server system, and when the customer visits the store, the identification information displayed on the display screen of the mobile terminal is used to perform personal authentication. It is characterized by being configured.

The photo processing system having this configuration downloads image data from the server system and stores it in the image data storage device. Based on this image data,
Perform print processing to create photo prints. When the printing process is completed, identification information for personal authentication is created. This identification information is transmitted from the photo processing system to the server system, and further transmitted from the server system to the customer's mobile terminal. The identification information transmitted from the server system can be displayed on the display screen of the mobile terminal of the customer. As a result, it is possible to perform personal authentication when the customer visits the store.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the identification information is a bar code so that the identification information can be made difficult to forge and the reliability can be improved.

As another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a print creating unit for creating a photographic print based on the image data is provided, and the print creating unit prints the bar code.

According to this configuration, it is possible to perform authentication and verification by using the bar code displayed on the customer's mobile terminal and the bar code displayed on the print.

As still another preferred embodiment of the present invention,
An example is one in which the barcode is printed on an index print.

By printing the bar code together with the index print, it is not necessary to make unnecessary prints.

[0024]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A preferred embodiment of an online print ordering system according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a schematic configuration of an online print ordering system.

<Schematic Configuration of System> This online print ordering system is mainly composed of the photo processing system 1,
It is composed of a server system 2 and a client system 3, and is connected by a network such as the Internet. The network is not limited to the Internet, but may be a closed network other than the Internet, and is not limited to wired or wireless.

The photographic processing system 1 is composed of a printer processor 10 and the like, and produces photographic prints based on image data. The image data can be acquired by downloading from the server system 2, but can also be acquired by scanning a photographic film.

The server system 2 is composed of one or a plurality of server devices 20. Server device 20
Provides a website (homepage) for receiving an online print order via the Internet. Upon receiving the order, the image data is uploaded to the server device 20 and stored in the hard disk. Further, when the print processing is completed, the server device 20 sends an electronic mail including a barcode (corresponding to identification information) to the customer's mobile phone 5 (corresponding to a mobile terminal. The mobile phone also includes PHS). Send.

The client system 3 is a personal computer 30.
Is configured as the core. A customer who wants to place an online print order uses his or her personal computer 30 to access the server device 20 and upload the image data. As the image data, for example, image data taken by the digital camera 4 can be used.

<Functional Block Diagram of System> Next, FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the photo processing system 1, the server system 2 and the like which constitute the online print ordering system.
Will be described.

The printer processor 10 includes a transmission / reception unit 11 for communicating with the server system 2, an image data storage device 12 for storing image data to be printed, and an image for the image data, if necessary. It has an image processing unit 13 that performs processing and an exposure engine 14 that prints and exposes an image on paper, which is a photographic photosensitive material. The identification information generation unit 15 generates a barcode when receiving a print order. One barcode is generated for each order. Order information storage unit 16
When receiving a print order, stores the order information (order number, orderer name, order contents, etc.). The generated barcode is also linked to the order information and stored.

The image data storage device 12 is composed of hardware such as a hard disk and a memory. The image processing unit 13 includes software that performs image processing, a conversion table, and the like. The exposure engine 14 prints an image on the paper, which is a photographic photosensitive material, by scanning the paper with exposure light. The exposure engine 14 may be a digital exposure engine of an appropriate system such as a laser engine, a CRT engine, a PLZT engine, or the like. The identification information generation unit 15 is configured by software or the like that automatically generates identification information. The order information storage unit 16 is composed of hardware such as a hard disk and a memory.

The server device 20 includes a transmission / reception unit 21 for transmitting / receiving various data to / from the client system 3 and the mobile phone 5. In addition, in the HTML storage unit 22,
A large number of HTML files are stored in order to provide a home page (Web page) to the client system 3 that has accessed the server device 20. The image data storage unit 23 temporarily stores the image data uploaded from the personal computer 30 for print processing. This image data is transferred to the photo processing system 1 in response to a download request from the photo processing system 1. Upon receiving the print processing end signal and the barcode signal for personal authentication from the printer processor 10, the email creating unit 24 sends an email containing the barcode to the mobile phone 5.

<Processing Procedure of Print Ordering System> Next, a procedure when a customer places a print order online will be described. To use this system, you need to register as a member. The procedure for member registration will be briefly described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, the customer accesses the server system 2 and browses a Web page for making a print order. Then, the member registration screen (not shown) linked to this page is displayed on the monitor screen of the personal computer 30 (# 1).

The customer inputs a predetermined item while looking at this display screen (# 2). Items include address, name,
Age, gender, home phone number, occupation, personal computer email address, mobile phone email address (hereinafter referred to as mobile address), etc. Among the items, the address, name, and mobile address are indispensable items.

When the input is completed, the confirmation button on the screen is clicked with the mouse. As a result, the confirmation screen is displayed on the screen of the personal computer 30 (# 3). The customer looks at this confirmation screen and confirms whether or not there is an error in the input item. If there is an error, return to step # 2 and try again.

If it is OK, the send button is clicked (# 5). As a result, the confirmed information is sent to the server system 2, and the input data is registered in the member database as member data. Further, the server system 2 issues an ID and a password (# 6). This ID
And the password will be sent to the customer's computer email address. This completes the membership registration procedure.

Next, the procedure when the customer places a print order online will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, the customer's personal computer 30 accesses the server system 2 to display a print order screen (photograph shop home page) (# 10). The customer inputs the ID and password acquired in advance (# 1
1). Next, the image data relating to the print order is uploaded from the personal computer 30 to the server system 2 (#
12). The file format of the image data is JPE.
An appropriate file format such as G or bitmap can be adopted.

Next, order information is input (# 13). The order information is information such as how many images are to be printed in what print size. When the input information is confirmed, it is stored in the image data storage unit 23 together with the image data.

Next, the procedure for performing the printing process will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. As a method of knowing that there is an online print order, there is a method of notifying the photo processing system 1 from the server system 2 online, the photo processing system 1 periodically or at an appropriate timing.
There is a method of accessing to, but either method may be adopted.

First, the photo processing system 1 accesses the server system 2 (# 20). In this access as well, an ID and password may be required in some cases. Next, the image data is downloaded and the order information is also acquired (# 21). The downloaded image data is once stored in the image data storage device 12 (# 2
2). Further, when the order is received, a bar code is generated for orderer authentication (# 23). The generated barcode is
It is stored in the order information storage unit 16 together with the order information.

The image data is subjected to image processing as required so that an appropriate color and density can be obtained (# 24). Since the contents of this image processing are publicly known, description thereof will be omitted. next,
The print process is executed according to the contents of the order information (# 25). In this print processing, index prints are also created in addition to normal photo prints. When the print creation is completed, the finished photo print is discharged to the outside of the printer processor (# 26).

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of creating an index print. The barcode 6 is printed on the lower right of the index print. This bar code is used for personal authentication when an orderer who is a customer comes to the store, but can also be used as a POS (point of sale) system. The barcode information and the information shown in FIG. 7 correspond to each other. FIG. 7 shows the order number, the name of the orderer, the order contents, and the like. These information are stored in the order information storage unit 16
Remembered in.

When the print creation is completed, it is necessary for the photo processing system 1 to notify the server system 2 to that effect. Therefore, the print end signal and the bar code signal are transmitted to the server system 2 (# 27). In response to this, the server system 2 creates an electronic mail including the barcode and transmits the electronic mail to the mobile address of the orderer's mobile phone (# 28).

FIG. 8 shows an example of the contents of this electronic mail. By receiving this mail, it is possible to notify that the print processing has been completed. The email also includes an image of the generated barcode.

Next, the configurations of the personal authentication system and the POS system will be described with reference to FIG. When the customer comes to the store to receive the completed photographic print, the customer displays the barcode on the display screen of the mobile phone 5 and presents it to the person in the store.
At the photo shop, the bar code reader 7 is used to read the bar code shown on the display screen. Order information corresponding to the read bar code is displayed on the display screen of the personal computer 8 provided in the photo shop. The display content is as shown in FIG. 7.

The order information can also be confirmed by reading the bar code 6 printed on the index print with the bar code reader 7. Also,
A POS system can be constructed by using a barcode. The personal computer 8 is a photo processing system 1
Form part of the. In this case, the order information storage unit 16 shown in FIG. 2 is set in the personal computer 8. The printer processor and the personal computer 8 are connected by a communication cable. However, according to the present invention, the setting place of the order information storage unit 16 is not limited to a specific place.

As described above, by using the bar code displayed on the mobile phone, it is possible to ensure personal authentication. In other words, the person who presented the barcode at the store
It is possible to confirm that the customer is a legitimate orderer, and the photo shop can hand over the photo prints without worry. The bar code is image data, and unlike text data, it is difficult for ordinary people to read the content and forge it. As a result, it is possible to prevent impersonation by anyone other than the person himself. In addition, the customer does not need to remember the order number or print the order screen on the printer, which saves time and effort.

<Other Embodiments> As the identification information, text data other than the bar code may be used. Also, the barcode may be a two-dimensional barcode instead of a one-dimensional barcode.

The printer processor constituting the photo processing system may have various structures. Further, it goes without saying that a structure capable of processing image data obtained from a photographic film or other recording medium may be added.

The server system 2 may be composed of a plurality of server devices having distributed functions. For example, We
It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which the functions are distributed to a Web server that provides page b, a file server that stores image files, a database server that stores member information, etc., to reduce the load on each server.

The bar code can be generated by the server system instead of the photo processing system. For example, when an online print order is placed by a customer,
A bar code is automatically generated inside the server device, and when accessed by the photo processing system 1, the bar code signal is transmitted together with the image data. In such a case, the order information storage unit 16 of FIG. 2 can be set in the server device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an online print ordering system.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a functional block configuration of an online print ordering system.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing a procedure for member registration.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a procedure for making a print order online.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a procedure for performing print processing.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of creating an index print.

FIG. 7: Display example of POS system

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the contents of an email.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the configuration of a POS system.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Photo processing system 2 server system 3 client system 5 mobile phones 6 barcode 10 printer processor 12 Image data storage device 15 Identification information generation unit 16 Order information storage 20 server equipment 23 Image data storage 24 E-mail writing department 30 personal computers

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Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A server system which receives a print order from a client and uploads image data from the client, a photographic processing system which downloads the image data from the server system and creates a photographic print according to the print order, and a print. When the processing is completed, the server system transmits identification information for personal authentication to the customer's mobile terminal, and when the customer visits the store, the personal authentication is performed by the identification information displayed on the display screen of the mobile terminal. An online print ordering system characterized by being configured to perform. 2. A server system used in the online print ordering system according to claim 1, wherein the image data storage unit receives a print order from a client and stores image data related to the print order uploaded from the client. And an image data transmission unit for transmitting the image data to the photo processing system in response to a download request from the photo processing system, and a personal authentication for the mobile terminal of the customer when the print processing is completed. A server system comprising: an identification information transmission unit that transmits identification information. 3. The server system according to claim 2, wherein the identification information is a bar code. 4. The server system according to claim 2, wherein the mobile terminal is a mobile phone and transmits the identification information by electronic mail. 5. An online print order processing method executed by a server system used in the online print order system according to claim 1, wherein the print order is received from a client and the print order is uploaded from the client. Storing the image data, transmitting the image data to the photo processing system in response to a download request from the photo processing system, and sending the image data to the customer's mobile terminal when the print processing is completed. And a step of transmitting identification information for authentication, the online print order processing method. 6. The photo processing system used in the online print ordering system according to claim 1, wherein the transmitting / receiving unit downloads the image data relating to the print order uploaded from the client to the server system, and the downloaded data. An image data storage device that stores image data, and an identification information creation unit that creates identification information for personal authentication when print processing is completed are provided, and the transmission / reception unit sends the identification information to the server system. In addition, the identification information is transmitted to the mobile terminal of the customer by the server system, and when the customer visits the store, the identification information displayed on the display screen of the mobile terminal is used to identify the person. A photo processing system characterized by being configured to perform authentication. 7. The photo processing system according to claim 6, wherein the identification information is a bar code. 8. The photographic processing system according to claim 7, further comprising a print creating unit that creates a photographic print based on the image data, and the print creating unit prints the barcode. 9. The photo processing system according to claim 8, wherein the bar code is printed on an index print.