JP2003242240A - Public print system, public print service method, storage medium and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a public print system and service using digital watermark information padded in digital contents. <P>SOLUTION: The public print system and service have a data output processor provided with a means for generating output data, a means for extracting contents, a means for transferring the output data and the extracted contents as a printing job to a processor carrying out bill calculation of printing and a means for acquiring bill information from the processor carrying out the bill calculation and displaying it, and a fee settlement processor provided with a means for extracting information padded as a digital watermark from the extracted contents, a means for carrying out a predetermined discount in regard to a fee for printing the information including the digital contents on the basis of the padded information when the information matches a predetermined condition and a means for carrying out an actual fee settlement in consideration of the discount from discount information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a public print system for printing information including digital contents for a fee and a public print service method using the public print system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A printer is a typical output device for information including digital contents. A printer driver which is a data output control device for controlling the output will be described. It should be noted that the digital content referred to in the following description refers to a moving image, a still image, a sound, a computer program, computer data, and the like, and the information including the digital content includes data such as characters and graphics together with the digital content. Shall be pointed out.

Generally, a computer connecting a printer is equipped with a printer driver for controlling the printer. At the time of printing, the computer supplies image data including characters, graphics, natural images, etc. created by an application installed in the computer to the printer driver as print information. The printer driver generates print data that can be printed by the printer based on the supplied print information, and transfers the print data to the printer.

Specifically, in the printer driver, the print information passed from the application is analyzed, and the image data included in the print information is binarized by a predetermined method.
By expanding (rasterizing) the binarized data in a band memory, a processing method for creating print data, or analyzing print information passed from an application and converting image data included in the print information into multivalued data A printer that develops (rasterizes) in a band memory and creates print data while binarizing the expanded data in raster line units using a predetermined method, or by analyzing print information passed from an application The method of generating a printer control language (so-called PDL) that is understood by is executed.

As the binarization method, one of a method using a pattern dither and an error diffusion method is used. The method using pattern dither is a method capable of binarizing uniformly at high speed, and this method is suitable for binarizing characters, figures, and the like. On the other hand, the error diffusion method is a method capable of expressing subtle gradations and is suitable for binarizing a natural image or the like.

Next, the digital watermark will be described. Compared with conventional analog information, digital information is characterized in that it can be easily copied or tampered with without deterioration by a computer or the like, and can be easily transferred through a communication line. Due to such characteristics, digital information tends to be easily illegally copied and redistributed.
As a method for preventing this, there is a method of embedding a digital watermark. A digital watermark is information that is embedded in digital content and that cannot be perceived by humans.
The digital watermark cannot be perceived even if the digital content in which the digital watermark is embedded is reproduced by a normal method.

As a typical method of embedding a digital watermark, in the case of a digital image, there is a method of embedding a digital watermark by performing an operation on a data value of digital content corresponding to the hue, brightness, etc. of a pixel. A typical example of this method is to divide the digital content into blocks, and add a predetermined watermark pattern that is a combination of +1 and -1 for each block.
There is a method of arc company, US Pat. No. 5,636,292.

As another method of embedding a digital watermark, frequency conversion such as fast Fourier transform, discrete cosine transform, wavelet transform is performed on digital contents,
There is a method of embedding by performing inverse frequency conversion after adding watermark information to the frequency domain.

[0009] In the above method by the fast Fourier transform, the input content is spread by adding a PN sequence,
Divided into blocks. Fourier transform is applied to each block, and 1-bit watermark information is embedded in each block. The block in which the watermark information is embedded is subjected to inverse Fourier transform, and the same PN sequence as that at the beginning is added again to obtain the content in which the digital watermark is embedded. this is,
Onishi, Oka, Matsui Details on "PN image signature method".

The discrete cosine transform method is divided into blocks and discrete cosine transform is performed for each block.
After embedding 1-bit information in one block, inverse conversion is performed to generate a digital watermark embedded content. This is Nakamura, Ogawa, and Takashima, "Digital watermarking method in the frequency domain for digital image copyright protection," 1997.
, Cryptography and Information Security Symposium Proceedings,
Details on SCIS '97 -27A.

The method based on the wavelet transform is a method that does not require the input content to be divided into blocks. This is detailed in Ishizuka, Sakai, and Sakurai, "Experimental Consideration on Security and Reliability of Digital Watermarking Technology Using Wavelet Transform," 1997, Symposium on Cryptography and Information Security, SCIS '97 -26D.

Copyright information and user information are typical examples of information embedded as digital watermarks in digital contents by the above-described methods. By embedding the copyright information, the user can know that the digital content is copyrighted and who the copyright is.

By embedding the user information,
Various user services that utilize this information can be provided. However, in the conventional public print system or public print service method, the utilization of the information embedded in the digital watermark has not been sufficiently taken into consideration.

[0014]

As described in the above-mentioned conventional example, the conventional public print system or public print service method does not consider the use of information embedded in a digital watermark.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and facilitates promotion for users of public print services or public print service methods by utilizing information embedded in digital watermarks. The purpose is to do.

[0016]

In order to achieve the above object, in a data output control device in a public print system according to the present invention, an output that can be output by an output device provided in a shop from information including digital contents. A unit for generating data, a unit for extracting the digital content in which a digital watermark may be embedded, a unit for transferring the output data and the extracted digital content to a processing unit for calculating a charge for printing. Means and means for obtaining and displaying the billing information from the processing device for performing the billing calculation, and in the bill settlement processing device in the public print system according to the present invention, means for extracting embedded information from the extracted digital content. Based on the extracted embedded information, Provided are means for performing a predetermined discount on the charge for printing the information including the digital content when the specified conditions are met, and means for actually settingtle the charge by adding the discount from the discount information. .

In the output device of the public print system according to the present invention, the embedded data is acquired from the output data and the digital content generated by the data output control device, the billing calculation for performing the discount and the print processing,
Also, a means for performing the charge settlement processing together is provided.

Further, in the data output control device in the public print system according to the present invention, when performing the billing calculation accompanied by the discount from the embedded information of the digital contents, the discount amount is set to an upper limit, and when the upper limit is exceeded, the upper limit is shown. A means for discounting is provided.

Further, in the public print service method of the present invention, there is a possibility that a means for generating output data that can be output by an output device provided in a shop from information including digital contents and a digital watermark are embedded. Means for extracting the digital content, means for transferring the output data and the extracted digital content to a processing device for performing a billing calculation for printing, and obtaining and displaying billing information from the processing device for performing the billing calculation. A data output control method, means for extracting embedded information from the extracted digital content, and the digital content when the information matches a predetermined condition based on the extracted embedded information. A means for performing a predetermined discount on the charge for printing the information including the above discount. It is provided with a charge settlement processing method comprising means for performing the actual charge settlement by adding a discount from the information.

Further, the public print service method according to the present invention performs charge calculation for obtaining embedded information from output data and digital contents generated by the data output control device, discounting, printing processing, and fee settlement processing. Means to do together are provided.

Further, in the public print service method according to the present invention, when performing the billing calculation accompanied by the discount from the embedded information of the digital contents, an upper limit is set for the discount amount, and when the upper limit is exceeded, the discount amount indicating the upper limit is set. Is provided.

[0022]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a print control device (printer driver) as a data output control device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
And print data transmitted from the data output control device via the Internet, transfer the print data to a print server, which will be described later, and acquire the print data transmitted from the center server and the fee approval process. 1 shows a schematic configuration of an entire printing system configured by using a print server and a printing device (printer).

This public print system comprises the components described below. Reference numeral 10 is a customer (hereinafter referred to as user) who orders printing (printing), 11 is a computer terminal 11 for ordering printing, 20 is a network such as the Internet, 30 is a center server, 40 and 50 are shops, and 12 is a computer terminal 11. An application running on the computer 13, a printer driver operating on the computer terminal 11, a print data transfer unit 14 for transmitting print data generated by the printer driver to the center server 30, and a reference numeral 15 for information including digital contents for which a print order is desired. Yes, 31 is a billing information generation unit that analyzes the embedded information of the print data transmitted from the computer terminal and generates billing information including discount information, 32 is a fee settlement processing unit that pays the fee for printing, 33 is the print data transmitted from the computer terminal Digital watermark extraction unit for extracting digital watermark information from the map data, 41 is a print server for controlling printing of information including digital contents for which a print order has been placed, 42 is an operation unit for operating the print server, and 43 is the actual digital contents. Is a printer that prints. The print server 41, the operation unit 42, and the printer 43 are provided in the shop 40, and as shown in the shop 50, a plurality of shops having the same configuration as the shop 40 can exist.

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the computer terminal 11.
It is a more detailed representation. The computer terminal 11 reads information including digital content as shown in 15 from the outside and converts the image data generated by the application software 12 and the application software 12 having a function of processing the information into a print command of the printer 43. The printer driver 13 is provided.

The printer driver 13 extracts a digital content (bitmap data) in which information may be embedded from the information including the digital content generated by the application software 12, a bitmap data extraction unit 131. And a print data generation unit 133. The bitmap data and the print data generated in this way are sent to the print data transfer unit 14 and sent to the center server 30 via the network 20.

3 and 4 are flow charts showing the processing flow of the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 shows the flow of the entire processing from the start to the end of printing, and FIG. 4 shows the details of the print job generation processing on the computer terminal 11.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the structure of a print job generated by the printer driver 13. The print job generated by the printer driver includes billing information 503, which is information necessary for payment of print fees, print job attributes 502 including print instruction information 505, and actual print data 510.
And bitmap data 520 included in the print data
It is composed of

FIG. 6 shows an example of information including digital contents when the user 10 prints using this system. In the figure, 601 to 60 surrounded by an ellipse
6 is an example of digital contents extracted by a digital watermark extraction unit described later.

FIG. 7 shows a concrete example of the print job attribute 502 shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 shows an example of a user interface for confirming the charge of the print job displayed on the computer terminal to the user 10.

FIG. 9 shows the application software 12
An example of a user interface for selecting the printer driver 13 in this embodiment is shown more.

FIG. 10 shows an example of digital watermark attribute information generated by the digital watermark extraction unit 33 of the center server 30.

FIG. 11 shows information on the types of digital watermarks and the corresponding discount rates for printing charges. Information about the electronic watermark and the corresponding discount rate is built in the billing information generating unit 31 of the center server 30.

FIG. 12 shows the information necessary for calculating the billing information. Similar to the information about the discount rate shown in FIG. 11, these pieces of information are also stored in the billing information generating unit 31.

FIG. 13 is a specific example of the billing information generated by the billing information generating unit 31 of the center server 30.

The details of this embodiment will be described below step by step with reference to the flow charts of FIGS.

In FIG. 1, the user activates the application software 12 operating on the computer terminal 11, and the information 15 including the digital contents is provided on the computer terminal 11 such as FD (flexible disk), HD (hard disk), CD-. The application software 12 is read into the application software 12 from a web server or the like via a recording medium such as a ROM or a DVD or a network, and interactive processing for information processing, editing, and print ordering is performed. The print order by the user is displayed in the print dialog shown in FIG.
Start by selecting "Public Print Client" and clicking the "OK" button. By pressing the "OK" button,
The processing of step S301 (detailed processing is described in FIG. 4) starts, but the user makes a print order using the user interface displayed by the printer driver 13 that is opened by pressing the “Property (P) ...” button in FIG. 9 in advance. User information (Customer ID, credit card information, etc.) necessary for can be input (not shown). When the printing process of the application software 12 is started by pressing the "OK" button, the application sequentially performs the printing process based on the information including the digital content until the printing is completed via the print API provided by the OS. Go.

This processing will be described with reference to FIG. The printer driver 13 receives the print processing request of the application software 12 via the print API provided by the OS as described above, and advances the processing. First, GDI (Graphics Device Inter
A print command is acquired from the application software 12 via (face) (S401). Next, it is determined whether the acquired print command is a print end command (S40).
2). As a result of the determination, the process when the print end command is given will be described later. If it is not the print end command, it is determined whether or not the subsequently received command is a bitmap drawing command (S403). Whether or not it is a bitmap drawing command can be determined by determining whether or not the acquired print command is a command related to bitmap drawing. Specifically, BitBlt, SetDIBitsToDevice, StretchBl that the printer driver 13 prepares for GDI.
It is determined by calling the I / F for bitmap processing such as t and StretchDIBtis. For example, when the information as shown in FIG. 6 is ordered to be printed, the portion surrounded by an ellipse in the drawing is printed by the I / F for bitmap processing of the type described above. If the result of the determination is that it is not a bitmap drawing command, the print data corresponding to the received command is used as the print data generation unit 1 provided in the printer driver 13.
It is generated by 33 (S407), and the process returns to S401 again. If the result of determination is that it is a bitmap drawing command, the bitmap data acquired via GDI is saved as a bitmap data list (S404, 40).
6). After that, the print data generation unit 133 generates print data (S407), and the process returns to S401.
In this way, the processes of print data generation, digital watermark detection, and attribute information generation are repeated until the print end command is acquired. The bitmap data list created in S406 is not particularly shown, but may have a simple structure in which printed bitmap data is connected.

In the description of this embodiment, the print job attribute 502 shown in FIG. 5 is generated, although no particular process is mentioned. The generated print job attribute has a structure largely shown in FIG. 5, and an example of the print job attribute is shown in FIG. In the example shown in FIG. 7, the information generated during the printing process is represented by a shaded character string in the Tag field. For example, JOBID used to identify a print job until completion of printing, paper type (Media), paper size (Paper size), and duplex (Dup) of print instruction information 505.
lex), Finishing, Number of copies (Number of
Pages), number of pages printed (Impression Count), number of pages printed (Number of Pages), page layout (Page Layo
ut) each information.

If it is determined in S402 that the print end command is issued during the print processing, print job attribute generation processing is performed (S408). Here, billing information 503 is generated. Of the accounting information (Account Info) shown in FIG. 7,
Customer ID, credit card company to be charged (CARD ISSUER), credit card number (CREDI
T CARD No.), personal identification number (PIN No.) information, and
The print destination specified store information (Destination Store ID) is input by the user 10 from the user interface provided by the printer driver 13, which is not particularly shown in the present embodiment, and the print destination specified store information is stored in the external storage device provided in the computer terminal. Are stored as they are, and other information is encrypted and stored. In S408, these pieces of information are read from the external storage device to generate the information. Information other than the print destination designated store information is set in the encrypted state on the billing information 503 as well.
Information about print job retention period (Expiration Date
Time) is automatically generated so that it will be 0:00, 10 days after the request for printing. In the example shown in FIG. 7, the print request date is December 18, 2000, and the print job holding deadline is December 28, 2000, 0:00. Further, here, the bitmap data 520 is generated from the bitmap data list generated in S406. Then, the generated print job attribute 502 and the bitmap data 52
Include 0 in the print job as part of the print job. Then, the print job is transferred to the print data transfer unit 14. (S409)

The print job generation processing in the computer terminal of S301 described with reference to FIG. 4 is completed as described above, and the processing shifts to the print job transfer processing shown in FIG. 3 (S3).
02). Here, the print data transfer unit 14 transmits the print job to the center server 30 via the network 20, and at the same time, the print job is received by the center server 30. When the print job is received by the center server 30, first, the bitmap data 520 included in the print job is received by the digital watermark extraction unit of the center server.
Is searched, and the electronic watermark information included in the bitmap is extracted. Here, the digital watermarks detected in this embodiment are roughly classified into copyright information and user information as shown in FIG. The bitmap data 520 includes all bitmaps extracted by the six bitmap drawing commands shown in FIG. As a result of searching those bitmaps, as shown in FIG. 10, the digital watermark attribute information is included in the bitmaps of 601 and 602, and the content is 601 and the copyright information is “Copyright CANON INC. 2000. ", The user information is" Canon Logo ". In the 602, the copyright information is "Copyright CANON INC. 2000" and the user information is "ID = Canon IXY Digital". It should be noted that the ID in FIG. 10 is provided for the sake of convenience in explaining the present embodiment to clarify the relationship in the description with FIG. 6, and is not necessarily required in the actual processing. Further, the charge information generation unit 31 of the center server executes the charge calculation for the printing, and the print job is registered in the center server (S303). The billing information regarding the printing fee is shown in FIG. 13, and is associated with the print job by the JOBID and managed by the center server. Actual billing information (prior to discount: Gros
s Price, Discount: Discount, Invoice: Total Amount)
Is calculated and set by the following procedure.

First, the price before discount: Gross Price is Job Attributes Media, Paper Size, Duple of the print job.
x, Color, Finishing, Number of Copies, Impression
It is calculated from each set value of Count and the charging unit price table shown in FIG. Gross Price = {Paper Size * (Media + Duplex + Color) * Impression Count / 2 + Finishing} * Number of Copies = {10 * (1.0 + 1.5 + 4.0) * 20/2 + 50} * 1 = \ 750 discount Amount: Discount is the digital watermark attribute information (digital content attribute information) included in the print job shown in FIG.
And is calculated using the information indicating the discount rate of the printing fee shown in FIG. The discount application rule is that if there is a match between the user information in the digital watermark attribute information and the user information in the print charge discount table, the discount rate set in the matched user information in FIG. Applied. Also,
When a plurality of digital watermark attributes match the user information shown in FIG. 11, the discount rate to be applied is the sum thereof. In this embodiment, as a result of printing the information shown in FIG. 6, two pieces of digital watermark attribute information are generated as shown in FIG. User information of these two attribute information "Cano
Comparing "n Logo" and "Canon IXY Digital" with the user information shown in Fig. 11, the matching user information was found, and the discount rate for each was Canon Logo = 5%, Canon IXY
It turns out that Digital = 5%. Therefore, the discount rate is calculated as follows: Discount = Gross Price * (0.05 + 0.05) = 750 * 0.1
0 = \ 75 Billing amount: Total Amount is calculated as follows from the price before discount: Gross Price and discount amount: Discount calculated above. Total Amount = Gross Price-Discount = 750-75 =
\ 675

When the center server completes the billing calculation process, the billing information is transmitted from the center server 30 to the computer terminal 11 via the network 20, and at the same time, the billing information is received by the computer terminal 11. (S304). When the billing information is received at the computer terminal 11, as shown in FIG. 8, a dialog for requesting the user 10 to confirm the printing fee is displayed on a display device such as a CRT connected to the computer terminal 11 (S).
305). As shown in Figure 8, this dialog is OK.
There are two buttons, “Cancel” and “Cancel”, and the user 10 can select one of the buttons and press it to select a process. The determination as to which button has been pressed is performed at S306. If "Cancel" is selected, the print process is stopped and the print job registered in the center server 30 is deleted (S3).
20) The printing process is completed. On the other hand, when “OK” is selected, the print processing of the print job registered in the center server 30 is continued.

The center server 30 is operated by the operation unit 42 of the print server 41 installed in the shop 40.
The print request for the registered print job is sent to the center server 30.
The print job registered in the center server 30 is held until the storage period elapses and the period expires without receiving a print request. The determination process is repeated until either the storage period expires (S307) or the print request from the operation unit 42 of the user 10 is received (S308). When the storage period has passed and the deadline has passed, the print job stored on the center server 30 is deleted (S320), and the printing process is completed. When the print request from the user 10 is received, the center server 30 performs the print fee settlement process based on the billing information shown in FIGS. 7 and 15. In the case of the example shown in the present embodiment, the user's card number is xxxxxxxxxxxx for the card company ABC.
You will be charged 675 yen together with xxxx and PIN xxxx.
(S309) The billing transaction is immediately sent to the transaction server (not shown) of the card company ABC via the network 20. Then, the print job stored in the center server 30 is transferred to the print server 41 installed in the shop 40 (S31).
0), the print server that has received the print job transmits the print data 510 to the printer 43 to perform printing (S31).
1). In this way, the user 10 goes to the shop 40 designated when the print request is made by the computer terminal 11, and from the operation unit 42 of the print server 41 installed in the shop 40, the JOBID 200012180013015 shown in FIG.
By inputting, the requested printed matter is received from the printer 43.

According to another embodiment, as shown in FIG. 14, the computer terminal 11 is not provided with the center server 30.
The shop 40 may directly receive the print job via the network 20, and the print server 41 in the shop may be provided with the function of the center server 30 described in the above embodiment.

According to another embodiment, as shown in FIG. 15, a process of calculating the discount rate based on the information indicating the upper limit of the discount rate may be added to the charging calculation process S303 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 15, when the upper limit of the discount rate is 5%, the number of bitmaps to be discounted is 2 in the above embodiment.
There is a discount rate of 5% for each, and a total discount of 10% is set in the Discount Rate column shown in FIG. 16, but in the present embodiment, the upper limit discount rate is set to 5% in FIG. Therefore, 5% is set in the Discount Rate in the table as shown in FIG. Therefore, Gross Price and Discoun in FIG.
The amounts of t and Total Amount are also as shown in FIG. Canon Cano in the information showing the discount rate shown in FIG.
Although the bureau discount rate is 10%, the upper limit of the discount rate is set to 5% in FIG. 15, so the bit that has the user information of the Canon Canobureau digital watermark is included in the information requested by the user for printing. Printing fees are not discounted even if the map is included.

In the present invention, the information embedded in the digital content is used as the embedded information by the digital watermark, but in general, the tag information can be held in the image data or the like, and the information may be applied to the present invention. . Since the bitmap data 520 included in the print job has a large size, the bitmap data 520 may be included in the print job after being compressed in a format that can be expanded on the center server.

[Other Embodiments] Even when the present invention is applied to a system including a plurality of devices (for example, host computer, interface device, reader, printer, etc.), one device (for example, copying machine, facsimile device) ).

Further, the functions of the above-described embodiments are implemented by a computer in an apparatus or system connected to the various devices so that the various devices are operated to implement the functions of the above-described embodiments. What is implemented by supplying the program code of software for operating the above-mentioned various devices according to the program stored in the computer (CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus is also included in the scope of the present invention.

Further, in this case, the program code itself of the software realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the program code itself constitutes the present invention. As a transmission medium of the program code, a communication medium (a wired line such as an optical fiber or a wireless line) in a computer network (LAN, WAN such as the Internet, a wireless communication network, etc.) system for propagating and supplying the program information as a carrier wave. Etc.) can be used.

Further, means for supplying the program code to a computer, for example, a recording medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention. A flexible disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a non-volatile memory card, a ROM, or the like can be used as a recording medium for storing the program code.

Further, the computer executes the supplied program code so that not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also the OS (operating system) or the other in which the program code is operating in the computer. It goes without saying that the program code is also included in the embodiment of the present invention when the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized in cooperation with the application software of the above.

Further, after the supplied program code is stored in the memory provided in the function expansion board of the computer or the function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function expansion board or function expansion unit is instructed based on the instruction of the program code. It goes without saying that the present invention also includes a case where the CPU or the like included in the above-mentioned performs some or all of the actual processing and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

Further, it goes without saying that the computer may be a general personal computer as shown in FIG. FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of a general personal user terminal device.

In FIG. 17, reference numeral 1200 is a computer PC. The PC 1200 includes a CPU 1201,
ROM 1202 or hard disk (HD) 1211
The device control software stored in the HDD or supplied from the flexible disk drive (FD) 1212 is executed to collectively control each device connected to the system bus 1204.

The CPU 1201 and RO of the PC 1200
The function of each unit of the present embodiment is realized by the program stored in the M1202 or the hard disk (HD) 1211.

Reference numeral 1203 is a RAM, which functions as a main memory and a work area of the CPU 1201. A keyboard controller (KBC) 1205 is a keyboard (K
B) Control instruction input from 1209 or a device (not shown).

Reference numeral 1206 denotes a CRT controller (CRT
C) controls the display on the CRT display (CRT) 1210. 1207 is a disk controller (DK
In C), a boot program (startup program: a program for starting execution (operation) of hardware or software of a personal computer), a plurality of applications, edit files, user files, a hard disk (HD) 1211 for storing a network management program, and the like, and It controls access to the flexible disk (FD) 1212.

Reference numeral 1208 denotes a network interface card (NIC), which is a network printer, another network device, or another P device via the LAN 1220.
It exchanges bidirectional data with C.

It should be noted that the shapes and structures of the respective portions shown in the above-mentioned embodiments are merely examples of embodying the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention is thereby provided. It should not be construed as limiting. That is, the present invention can be implemented in various forms without departing from the spirit or the main features thereof.

[0062]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Use of public printing for users by creating a mechanism to generate discount information based on a digital watermark embedded in digital content and use that information to settle the print charge settlement process. As well as providing a means of promotion to increase the frequency, we can expect the synergistic effect of further increasing the frequency of use of public prints through the discount processing that links the public print system and application software that can embed digital watermarks. Become.

Further, if the billing calculation process is performed on the center server, the billing calculation method such as the setting of the discount rate may be changed only by changing the billing information generating unit of the center server. In addition, since the digital watermark attribute information is extracted by the center server, the digital watermark extraction unit on the center server can be made compatible with various digital watermark methods to support digital contents using those digital watermark methods. .

According to still another aspect of the present invention, since the print job is directly transmitted to the shop, the time required for issuing a print instruction from the operation unit can be saved because the time for receiving the print job from the center server can be saved. There is also an effect that it is possible.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, by setting an upper limit of the discount rate, an excessive discount occurs even when a print request is made for information including a bitmap having a plurality of electronic watermarks to be discounted, and printing is performed. There is an effect that it is possible to prevent lowering of charges.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a public print system in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a computer terminal that constitutes a part of the public print system in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a processing flow showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a processing flow showing a print job generation processing in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a print job generated by a printer driver according to the embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of information including digital contents according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the print job attributes shown in FIG. 5 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a user interface for confirming transmission of a print job according to the embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a method of selecting a printer driver from application software according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of attribute information generated by extraction of a digital watermark in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing information on the types of digital watermarks and the corresponding discount rates for printing charges according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing information necessary for calculating billing information according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of billing information according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a public print system in another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a case where an upper limit value of a discount rate is provided in another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of charging information shown in FIG. 13 in another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a configuration of a general computer.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 users 11 computer terminals 12 Application software 13 Printer driver 14 Print data transfer unit Information including 15 digital contents 20 networks 30 center server 40 shops 41 Print server 42 Operation part 43 Printer

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Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A means for generating output data that can be output by an output device provided in a shop from information including digital content, and a content in which information may be embedded as a digital watermark in the digital content. Means, a means for transferring the output data and the extracted contents as a print job to a processing device for performing a charging calculation for printing, and a means for acquiring and displaying the charging information from the processing device for performing the charging calculation. A data output control device provided, means for extracting information embedded as a digital watermark from the extracted content, and the digital content when the information matches a predetermined condition based on the embedded information. A means to perform a predetermined discount on the fee for printing the information included, and a discount from the above discount information. A public print system comprising: a charge settlement processing device including means for performing actual charge settlement in consideration of the situation. 2. A billing calculation for obtaining embedded information from the output data generated by the data output control device and the digital content to perform a discount, a printing process, and
The public print system according to claim 1, further comprising an output device that performs a charge settlement process together. 3. A process of performing a billing calculation including means for setting an upper limit to the discount amount and performing a discount amount indicating the upper limit when exceeding the upper limit when performing the billing calculation with the discount from the embedded information of the digital content. The public printing system according to claim 1, further comprising a device. 4. A step of generating output data that can be output by an output device provided in a shop from information including digital content, and extraction of content in which information may be embedded as a digital watermark in the digital content. A step of transferring the output data and the extracted content as a print job to a processing device that calculates a printing charge, and acquiring and displaying charging information from the processing device that performs the charging calculation. Extracting information embedded as a digital watermark from the extracted content, and printing information including the digital content when the information matches a predetermined condition based on the extracted embedded information The step of performing a predetermined discount on the charge for And a step of making an actual charge settlement by adding a discount from the public print service method. 5. A billing calculation for obtaining embedded information from the output data and the digital content and discounting the embedded information,
The public print service method according to claim 4, further comprising a step of performing both print processing and fee settlement processing. 6. When performing a billing calculation accompanied by a discount from the embedded information of the digital content, a step of setting a maximum limit on the discount amount and performing a billing calculation showing the upper limit when the upper limit is exceeded is included. The public print service method according to claim 4, which is characterized in that. 7. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute each unit in the public print system according to any one of claims 1 to 3 and each step in the public print service method according to any of claims 4 to 6. 8. A program for causing a computer to execute each unit in the public print system according to any one of claims 1 to 3 and each step in the public print service method according to any one of claims 4 to 6.