JP2003316898A - Print order acceptance device, print order acceptance program, and digital image print system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a print order acceptance device capable of being introduced to a number of acceptance stores at a low cost and easily operated. <P>SOLUTION: This acceptance device is constituted by operating a prescribed program in a general computer (personal computer, etc.). When a medium 50 is inserted to an input-side drive 12, 14, or 16, the image data stored in the medium 50 is automatically read and transmitted to a server 3. A thumbnail image and an image browsing program are written in an output-side medium 52. A customer can perform an additional print order by starting the image browsing program in its own personal computer 5 and selecting a desired image. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for receiving a print order of a digital image taken by a digital camera or the like, and is particularly configured by using a general-purpose computer such as a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a personal computer). It also relates to a device as described above.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, image-related digital devices such as digital cameras and color printers have been rapidly improved in performance and price. Such technological advances are
For example, an environment for creating a high-quality photograph by color-printing an image taken by a digital camera with a printer can be realized even by an individual. As a result, so-called DPE stores have been hit hard by the sales of conventional print services such as developing and reprinting silver halide photographs.

Therefore, by using a commercial printing machine (so-called digital lab) for printing digital images in a DPE store, extremely high quality photographs that cannot be easily achieved in a personal printing environment are provided. The services they provide are also becoming popular. By the way, in a so-called print chain store, a plurality of reception stores for receiving orders are set up under the jurisdiction of one DPE store that has a printing machine, and the media received at each reception store are brought together to the DPE store. A system is adopted in which the images recorded on the medium are printed and the resulting photographs are sent back to each reception store. Here, the reception shop is not limited to a shop that specializes in photographic prints, and in many cases, a shop of another type of business such as a convenience store becomes the reception shop. When applying such a conventional system to a digital image print service, the recording medium brought in by the customer is temporarily stored at the reception shop, and the customer cannot use his or her recording medium until the printing is completed. .

Unlike silver halide photography, digital images have
It has the feature that it can be delivered via a data communication network such as the Internet. Focusing on this, the image data recorded on the medium received at the reception store is transmitted to the server of the DPE store via the data communication network, and D
Various systems have been proposed in which the image is printed by a printing machine of a PE store (for example, JP-A-11-125).
"Digital print order receiving device" described in Japanese Patent No. 867, "Print order receiving device" described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-94910, etc.).

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In the network compatible digital image printing system as described above,
It is desired that the print order receiving device installed in the reception shop satisfy the following conditions. First, the device must be installable at low cost in order to be installed in many reception shops. Further, considering that there is a receptionist who is not accustomed to handling a machine such as a computer, it is necessary that anyone can easily operate the device. Also, the device needs to be able to complete the required processing in a short time so that the customer who visits the store does not have to wait.

[0006]

The present invention, which has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, is constituted by operating a predetermined program on a computer communicably connected to a predetermined server by a data communication network. In the print order receiving apparatus according to the present invention, the plurality of recording medium driving devices built in or connected to the computer are automatically recognized, and at least one recording medium driving device capable of writing data on the recording medium is recognized as the output side driving device. A drive device recognition unit that recognizes at least one of the other recording medium drive devices as an input side drive device, a medium detection unit that detects insertion of a recording medium into the input side drive device, and the medium An image transmission unit that transmits the image stored in the recording medium detected by the detection unit to the server, and the output side drive A print order receiving apparatus, comprising: a recording medium inserted into a storage unit; and a medium writing unit that writes image identification information of the image and a browsing program for browsing the image stored in the server. I will provide a.

Further, according to the present invention, a computer automatically recognizes a plurality of recording medium driving devices built in or connected to the computer and outputs at least one recording medium driving device capable of writing data to the recording medium. Side driving device, a procedure for recognizing at least one recording medium driving device among other recording medium driving devices as an input side driving device, a procedure for detecting insertion of a recording medium into the input side driving device, the medium The procedure of transmitting the image stored in the recording medium detected by the detection unit to the server, and the image identification information of the image stored in the server in the recording medium inserted in the output side driving device. And a procedure for writing a browsing program for browsing the captured image, and a print order receiving program for executing the procedure.

Further, the present invention is constituted by operating a predetermined program on a server having a data storage unit for storing image data, and a computer communicably connected to the server through a data communication network. At least one recording medium capable of automatically recognizing a plurality of recording medium driving devices built in or connected to the computer and writing data to the recording medium. A drive device recognition unit that recognizes a drive device as an output drive device and at least one recording medium drive device among other recording medium drive devices as an input drive device, and inserts a recording medium into the input drive device. A medium detection unit for detecting the image, and an image stored in the recording medium detected by the medium detection unit for the server. And an image transmitting unit for transmitting the image to the recording medium inserted in the output side driving device, and medium writing in which image identification information of the image and a browsing program for browsing the image stored in the server are written. And a digital image printing system.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION According to the present invention, since the print order receiving apparatus is configured by software by operating a predetermined program on a general-purpose computer such as a personal computer, it does not cost much. A reception device can be installed in a plurality of reception shops.

Further, according to the present invention, the above program automatically recognizes what kind of recording medium driving device (so-called drive) is built in or connected to the computer, and writes data to the recording medium. At least one possible drive is recognized as an output drive and at least one of the other drives is recognized as an input drive. A rule for deciding whether to recognize each recording medium driving device as an input side or an output side driving device is set in advance in consideration of the content of the service to be provided.
For example, when a CD-ROM is finally created and provided to customers, a CD-R built in or connected to the computer is used.
At least one of the / RW drives is preferentially recognized as the output side drive device. All other recording medium drive units may be regarded as input side drive units, or all drive units for read-only recording medium may be regarded as input side drive units, and other units may be input. The operator may be allowed to determine which one of the output side and the output side to set. In this way, by partially or completely automating the setting of the recording medium driving device, the burden on the operator is reduced.

Further, in the present invention, since the insertion of the recording medium into the input side driving device is automatically detected, it is not necessary for the operator to manually specify which input side driving device the recording medium is inserted into. This reduces the burden on the operator.

According to the present invention, the image stored in the recording medium inserted in the input side driving device is transmitted to a predetermined server, and the image of the image is recorded in the recording medium inserted in the output side driving device. The identification information and a browsing program for browsing the image stored in the server are written. The image identification information is information for uniquely identifying each image data, and the server side manages the image data using this image identification information. The viewing program allows the customer to view images stored on the server on his computer and place additional print orders online. By doing so, it is possible to easily send a print order online to the server and print an image with high quality on the server side. Here, since it is not necessary to store the image data itself in the output side recording medium (CD-R / RW, etc.), for example, C of a business card size is used.
Even a recording medium having a relatively small capacity such as D-R (capacity of about 50 MB) can be used as an output recording medium. If the amount of data to be written in the recording medium is reduced in this way, the time required for the processing is shortened, so that the customer does not have to wait a long time for the reception processing.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a digital image printing system which is an embodiment of the present invention. In the system of FIG. 1, the accepting device 1 is configured by operating a predetermined program on a commercially available personal computer in which a driving device (hereinafter referred to as a drive) for various recording media is built in or connected. The acceptance apparatus 1 is connected to a print order management server 3 (hereinafter referred to as a management server 3) via a data communication network 2 such as the Internet or a LAN. The management server 3 is installed in a DPE store having a printing machine 4 (digital lab) for creating a photo from a digital image, and the reception device 1 is installed in each reception store in the area controlled by the DPE store. ing. Note that FIG.
Although only one reception device 1 is illustrated in the above, the reception device 1 is actually installed in each of a plurality of reception stores. Further, the printing machine 4 is not specially configured for the present invention, and existing ones can be used.

The reception device 1 reads an image from the recording medium 50 in which the image taken by the customer is stored, and the management server 3
The program and information for sending the image to the user and viewing the images stored in the storage device 6 of the management server 3 later or ordering the print of the image online.
-Write to ROM 52. Hereinafter, the configuration and operation of the reception device 1 will be described in detail.

A predetermined print order acceptance program (hereinafter referred to as an acceptance program) on the personal computer for the acceptance device 1
Is operated, various software function units as shown in FIG. 1 are configured. Of these, the management unit 10 is a central unit that controls the operation of the entire apparatus. At the same time when the reception program is activated, the management unit 10 checks the type of drive built in or connected to the personal computer, recognizes some drives as input side drives, and recognizes other drives as output side drives. In the example of FIG. 1, a CD-ROM drive 1
2. The magneto-optical disk drive (MO drive) 14 and the card reader 16 are recognized as the input side drive, and C
The D-R / RW 18 is recognized as the output side drive. The card reader 16 is a device for reading and writing data from and to various card-type recording media (CompactFlash (trademark), SmartMedia (trademark), Memory Stick (trademark), etc.).

The operation of the accepting device 1 will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. First, the procedure from reading an image from a recording medium to creating a CD-ROM will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

(Reading Image from Medium) During operation of the acceptance program, the medium reading section 20 constantly monitors whether or not the medium 50 is inserted in each drive on the input side (step S10). When the medium 50 is detected by any of the drives, the medium reading unit 20 causes the detected medium 50 to be detected.
The recorded content of is verified (step S12), and if the image file is stored, the image data is read from the image file (step S14) and passed to the management unit 10.

(Confirmation and conversion of image format) The management unit 10
It is checked whether the read image is an image in a format compatible with the reception program (step S16), and if it is an image in an incompatible format, the operator is notified that the file is incompatible. The message is displayed on the display unit 22 (step S17). On the other hand, when the image is in a compatible format, the management unit 10 checks whether or not the image is in a predetermined format (for example, JPEG format) that can be processed by the printing machine 4 (step S18), and in the predetermined format. If so, the image is stored in the data temporary storage unit 24 (step S20). On the other hand, when the image is not in the predetermined format, the management unit 10 converts the image into the predetermined format by the image format conversion unit 26 (step S19), and stores the obtained image in the data temporary storage unit 24 (step S19). S2
0). The processing from step S14 to step S20 is executed for all the images recorded on the medium 50 (that is, the determination result of step S22 is “N”).
The process is repeated until it becomes "o").

(Display of List of Images) When all the images that can be supported are stored in the data temporary storage unit 24, the management unit 10 displays a list of the stored images on the display unit 22 in the thumbnail format (step S24. List display). The screen is not shown). On this screen, the customer visually confirms whether the displayed image is the image he / she wants to print, and then performs a predetermined operation using the user input unit 28 (mouse, keyboard, etc.) to display the content. Is notified to the management unit 10 (step S26). Here, as an example, it is assumed that the operator presses an “OK” button or a “cancel” button on the screen to notify the management unit 10 of whether or not the display content is valid. When the desired image is not displayed on the list screen, the operator presses the “Cancel” button, removes the medium 50 from the drive, and inserts another medium 50 storing the desired image into the drive. As a result, the processes in and after step S12 are automatically executed again.

(Input of Customer Information) On the other hand, when a desired image is displayed on the list display screen, the operator gives "O".
Press the "K" button. In response to this button operation, the management unit 10 displays a customer information input screen (not shown) for inputting customer information on the display unit 22 (step S2).
7). The customer information includes general information such as name, address and telephone number. If the customer information is already registered in the customer database 64 of the management server 3, the customer ID may be entered on the customer information input screen to omit the input of other information.

(Image transmission to server) When the operator inputs predetermined information on the customer information input screen and executes a transmission operation, the management unit 10 causes the communication unit 30 to store the image data stored in the data temporary storage unit 24. Is transmitted to the management server 3 together with the customer information (step S28). The management server 3 stores the received customer information in the customer database 64,
The image data is stored in the image storage unit 66, respectively. In the image storage unit 66, each image data is stored in a form associated with the image identification information. The image identification information is, for example, a combination of the ID of the reception store, the reception date and time, the customer name (or customer ID), and the serial number uniquely assigned to each received image.

(Creation of CD-ROM) Further, the management unit 10
The media writing unit 32 causes the CD-R / RW drive 18
The thumbnail image, the image identification information, the image browsing program, etc. are written in the medium 52 (here, a CD-R) inserted in the. The CD-ROM 52 thus created corresponds to a negative of a conventional silver halide photograph.

(Reception of Print Order) Next, the procedure for ordering the print of an image will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The print order can be made in the reception device 1 immediately after the CD-ROM 52 is created, or the customer can place an order online from another personal computer using the CD-ROM 52 later. Here, CD-ROM
The procedure for placing an order immediately after the creation of is explained.

After creating the CD-ROM, the management unit 10 displays an image list screen as indicated by reference numeral 60 in FIG. 4 on the display unit 22.
(Step S40). On this screen, a list of images previously transmitted to the management server 3 is displayed in thumbnail format. Immediately below each thumbnail image, an “enlarge” button 602, a “number of sheets” drop-down list 604, and a “size” drop-down list 606 are arranged. The two drop-down lists are used to specify the number and size of print orders. When the "Enlarge" button 602 under any image is pressed, the management unit 10 reads the image from the data temporary storage unit 24 and displays it in the center of the screen of the display unit 22 in the size to be actually printed ( Reference numeral 62 in FIG. 4). The number of sheets and size can be specified on this screen as well. Further, by using the "next image" button and the "previous image" button on the same screen, the images can be browsed one after another as enlarged images. As described above, the number of ordered images and the size of the image to be printed are designated (step S42). The lower part 608 of the list screen 60
Displays the order quantity and the print price.

After the order number and size have been specified, the order details are confirmed on the image list screen 60 (step S4).
4) Press the "send order" button 610. Upon receiving this operation, the management unit 10 orders data (image identification information,
The number of prints and size of each image) is transmitted to the management server 3 (step S46). The management server 3 stores the received order data in the order database 68. Further, the management unit 10 prints the order acceptance slip (with thumbnail image) using the printer 34. On the other hand, in the DPE store, the person in charge prints an image by the printing machine 4 according to the order contents. The completed photo is sent to the order receptionist's reception shop by a predetermined method.

As described above, the receiving apparatus 1 of this embodiment detects the CD-R from the detection of the medium 50 inserted in the drive.
The work up to the creation of the OM 52 is performed automatically as much as possible. The operator performs operations related to confirmation of screen display ("O
It is only necessary to perform a simple operation such as pressing the "K" button or the "Cancel" button and inputting customer information. Therefore, even an operator unfamiliar with the operation of the personal computer can easily perform the work of the operator. It is also possible for the customer himself to perform the work of the operator.

FIG. 5 shows an application example of the digital image printing system of FIG. In this system, the digital camera 54 and the medium 50 for rental are always provided at the reception shop, so that even a customer who does not have a digital camera or a recording medium can easily take a digital image and have it printed. The digital camera can be rented for a fee or for free. Of course, it goes without saying that even a customer who owns his or her own digital camera or recording medium can order prints of images using this system. The procedure for a customer to order an image print online with this system will be described below.

Such a system is particularly effective in places where many photographs are taken, such as tourist spots, event venues, wedding halls and the like. Explaining an application example in a tourist area, first, a tourist visits a reception shop in the tourist area and borrows a digital camera. As for the recording medium, the one (or the number) having a capacity according to the tourist's request is rented. Regardless of whether the loan is for a fee or for free, the identity will be checked and in some cases, the deposit will be received. The reception device may be provided with a program or database for managing rental of such a digital camera.
Tourists who rent digital cameras take a number of pictures at tourist sites.

After the sightseeing in the area is completed, the tourist visits the previous reception store and returns the digital camera. Alternatively, when the borrowed recording medium is full, it is possible to visit the reception shop and exchange the recorded recording medium with a new recording medium. At the reception shop, the recording medium is taken out from the returned digital camera, and the recording medium is inserted into the medium reading unit 20 of the reception device 1. Such operation may be performed by a store clerk or may be performed by a tourist himself. At the reception shop, since the print order reception program is running on the reception apparatus 1 from the start of business, the insertion of the recording medium is immediately detected by the medium reading unit 20, and the following series of processing is started. It

First, the image recorded on the medium 50 is transmitted to the management server 3 by the accepting device 1 and the CD-ROM 5 is sent.
Create 2. The procedure up to this point is as described above. Since the created CD-ROM 52 corresponds to a negative of silver halide photography, it is naturally possible for tourists to take it home. After returning home, tourists (hereinafter referred to as customers) can use this CD-ROM 5
When 2 is inserted into the CD-ROM drive of the personal computer 5, the image browsing program written in the CD-ROM 52 is automatically activated if the automatic activation of the CD-ROM drive is enabled. When the automatic start of the CD-ROM drive is disabled, the customer may manually start the program by a predetermined operation.

The screen that first appears after the program is started is almost the same as the thumbnail image list screen 60 of FIG.
It is also possible to call the enlargement screen 62 by pressing the “enlargement” button. However, in this embodiment, the image data displayed on the enlarged screen 62 is not recorded in the CD-ROM 52 (the thumbnail image is written in the CD-ROM 52). Therefore, enlarged screen 6
When displaying 2, the image browsing program requests the management server 3 for necessary image data. Upon receiving this request, the management server 3 reads the requested image data from the image storage unit 66 and sends it to the image browsing program. In this way, the customer browses the images stored in the management server 3 and specifies the number of prints and the size of the desired image by the procedure as described above. After specifying the number of prints and the size, click the "Send order" button. In response to this operation, the image browsing program transmits order data (image identification information, the number of ordered images and the size of each image) to the management server 3. Upon receiving this order data, the management server 3 stores the order data in the order database 68. Then, the person in charge of the DPE store prints an image by the printing machine 4 according to the order contents, and sends the completed photograph to the order receiving store by a predetermined method.

In order to prevent unauthorized access to the management server 3 when an online order is placed by a general customer, the customer is given a user ID and a customer ID at an appropriate time from the start of the image browsing program to the first access to the management server 3. It is preferable to enter the password. The information required for user authentication is, for example, the customer database 64 when registering a customer.
Save it in advance.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above in detail, it goes without saying that the above embodiments are merely examples, and that various other embodiments can be considered within the spirit and scope of the present invention. . For example, the configurations of the input side drive and the output side drive shown in FIG. 1 are merely examples, and the present invention can be implemented by using other types of recording medium drives.

Further, in the above embodiment, if the communication procedure between the image browsing program and the server is based on HTTP and the information to be transferred is described in HTML, the image saved in the server can be read by an external browser. You can also browse at. In this case, the image browsing program uses the WWW for image browsing of the predetermined URL in the external browser.
All you have to do is open the page.

Images can be printed by a printing machine in various forms such as postcards, business cards and albums, as well as in the same form as conventional silver halide photographs. Further, the server and the image browsing program can be provided with a function of constructing a customer's own WEB site by using the image stored in the server.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a digital image print system that is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 CD-R from reading an image from a recording medium
The flowchart which shows the procedure until creation of OM.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a procedure for ordering an image print.

FIG. 4 is an example of an image list screen.

5 is an application example of the digital image printing system of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Print order acceptance device 2 ... Data communication network 3 ... server 4 ... Printing machine 50 ... Recording medium (input side) 52 ... Recording medium (output side)

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Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A print order receiving apparatus configured by operating a predetermined program on a computer communicatively connected to a predetermined server by a data communication network, comprising a plurality of records built in or connected to the computer. The medium driving device is automatically recognized, at least one recording medium driving device capable of writing data to the recording medium is recognized as an output side driving device, and at least one recording medium driving device among other recording medium driving devices is recognized. A drive device recognition unit that recognizes as an input side drive device, a medium detection unit that detects insertion of a recording medium into the input side drive device, and an image stored in the recording medium detected by the medium detection unit to the server. The image identification information of the image is recorded on the image transmitting unit for transmitting and the recording medium inserted in the output side driving device. A print order receiving apparatus, comprising: a medium writing unit that writes a browsing program for browsing an image stored in the server. 2. At least one recording medium driving device capable of automatically recognizing a plurality of recording medium driving devices built in or connected to the computer and writing data to the recording medium, as an output side driving device. A procedure of recognizing and recognizing at least one recording medium driving apparatus among other recording medium driving apparatuses as an input side driving apparatus, a procedure of detecting insertion of a recording medium into the input side driving apparatus, and detection by the medium detecting unit A procedure for transmitting the image stored in the recorded recording medium to the server, and the image identification information of the image in the recording medium inserted in the output side driving device and the image stored in the server. A print order reception program that executes a browsing program for writing and a writing procedure. 3. A print order configured by operating a predetermined program on a server having a data storage unit for storing image data, and a computer communicably connected to the server through a data communication network. The print order receiving device includes a receiving device, and the print order receiving device automatically recognizes a plurality of recording medium driving devices built in or connected to the computer and outputs at least one recording medium driving device capable of writing data to the recording medium. Side drive device, a drive device recognition unit that recognizes at least one recording medium drive device among other recording medium drive devices as an input side drive device, a medium that detects insertion of a recording medium into the input side drive device A detection unit, an image transmitted to the server, the image stored in the recording medium detected by the medium detection unit An image transmitting unit, and a medium writing unit that writes image identification information of the image and a browsing program for browsing the image stored in the server in a recording medium inserted in the output side driving device. A digital image printing system comprising: 4. The digital image print system according to claim 3, wherein the store in which the print order acceptance device is installed is provided with a photographing device for rental. 5. The digital image printing system according to claim 4, wherein the print order receiving device is provided with a management unit of the renting photographing device.