JP2006185224A - Electronic album generation device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable even a user being poor at handling a personal computer to easily generate an electronic album in a short time and to easily find out a generated album image. <P>SOLUTION: Images of a photograph Pb, a title card Pa, a handwritten card Pc, a card Ps for search, etc, placed on a photograph mount 11 are read by a read part 13, and an album image resulting from combining material images of the photograph Pb etc. can be generated while displaying the material images on a liquid crystal display part 14. Bar codes B<SB>S1</SB>to B<SB>Sn</SB>showing individual information are added to the card Ps for search, and the card Ps for search (bar codes B<SB>S1</SB>to B<SB>Sn</SB>) is read and individual information of the card for search is preserved in association with the album image when the album image is generated. After album images are generated, a desired album image can be easily found out from many album images by reading the card Ps for search. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic album creating apparatus, in particular, a new apparatus that reads image information of a photo or handwritten card, freely edits / creates an electronic album based on the image information of the photo or card, and searches for the created album image Concerning the configuration of

Conventionally, there are albums in which photos taken in various scenes are pasted on paper mounts. Recently, with the spread of IT devices such as personal computers, digital cameras, and scanners, digital photos are stored on personal computers. Is stored electronically, and an electronic album is created with dedicated software or the like. According to such an electronic album, it is possible to view and enjoy images in which memories such as travel and events are expressed without deterioration in image quality.
Japanese Patent No. 3122900 JP 2004-201051 A

  However, when creating an electronic album with an IT device such as a personal computer or a scanner, it is necessary to acquire knowledge of the IT device such as a personal computer or dedicated album creation software, which is time consuming and troublesome. If you are not good at handling personal computers, you may not be interested in creating electronic albums.

  In addition, in the case of albums to be pasted on a mount or electronic albums created on a personal computer or the like, if the number of photos or albums becomes large, it becomes difficult to organize and it takes time to find the images you want to watch. is there.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and its purpose is to create an electronic album easily and in a short time even when handling a personal computer is not good or when there is no time to acquire knowledge of a personal computer or the like. It is also possible to provide an electronic album creating apparatus that can easily search for created album images.

  In order to achieve the above object, an electronic album creating apparatus according to claim 1 is a photo stand (reading stand) on which various cards including photographs and handwritten cards (characters, marks, illustrations, pictures, etc. handwritten) are placed. ), An image reading unit (for example, a photographing unit using a CCD) for electronically reading a photograph and a card placed on the photo stand as a material image, and a material image read by the image reading unit are displayed. A display unit for displaying an album image composed of a combination of the material images, and one of the various cards described above, to which search card individual information (identification information) is added and a keyword for album image search is described A search card, an information reading unit for reading the individual search card information, and a record for storing the created album image in association with the individual search card information. While controlling the editing and creation of the album image while displaying the medium and the material image on the display unit, the image is stored in the storage medium based on the individual card information for retrieval read by the information reading unit. And a control unit that executes a search for album images.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, individual information (identification information) is given to a title card provided as one of the various cards, and the title described in the title card is assigned to the title card by the title card individual information. The album image is recognized as a title of each individual album image, and the album image is stored in association with the title card individual information.

  When the search card individual information and title card individual information are optical identification codes (barcode, two-dimensional code, etc.), the image reading unit is used as a reading unit for the individual information, and is read here. A detection circuit for detecting the optical identification code is provided. In addition, the search card individual information and the title card individual information can be given by an IC tag or the like which is an electrical identification means. In this case, a wireless ID reader or the like is used as the information reader.

  According to the above configuration, when creating an electronic album, the photo, title card, and handwritten card placed on the photo stand are read as electronic images by the image reading unit, and these electronic images are stored in the internal storage unit. At the same time, it is displayed on the display unit. In this display section, a material screen (screen area) for displaying material images of photos and cards and an album screen (screen area) for displaying album images are set. The material image selected from this material screen is displayed. An electronic album image can be freely created by pasting in an arbitrary arrangement in the album screen.

  Further, the search card is provided with an optical identification code or an electrical identification means and has a search keyword entry field (blank field). The search card entry field is associated with an album image. For example, any keyword such as “mountain”, “sea”, “Mr. A (name)”, “Mr. B (name)” can be described. The barcode (individual information) of this search card is read when creating an album image in order to efficiently search for the created series (one set) of album images later with an arbitrary keyword.

  Further, when adopting the configuration of claim 2, an optical identification code or an electrical identification means is provided, and a title card having a title column (blank column) is provided. Individual information of the title card Is recognized, the title image written on the title card is automatically pasted as the title of the album image, and a series of created album images are stored in association with the individual title information. This title card is also a kind of the search card.

  And when browsing an electronic album, by placing this title card on the photo stand and recognizing the individual information, it is possible to instantly search and display the album image of the title, By placing the information on the photo stand and recognizing the individual information, the album image group searched with the keyword of this card is found. For example, if the keyword is a mountain, all the album images including an image taken at the mountain are extracted, and if the keyword is Mr. A, all the album images including an image taken by A are extracted and displayed on the display. Is displayed.

  According to the electronic album creating apparatus of the present invention, an electronic album can be created easily and in a short time even when the handling of a personal computer is not good or when there is no time to acquire knowledge of a personal computer or the like. It is possible to easily find an album image to be viewed from among the album images.

  1 to 5 show the configuration of an electronic album creating apparatus according to the embodiment. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, this apparatus includes a title card Pa, a photo Pb, a handwritten card Pc, A photo stand (horizontal part of the main body) 11 that is a flat surface for placing the search card Ps and the like, and an operation unit that can be inserted and removed from the side of the photo stand 11 (stored inside when not in use). 12, a reading unit (image reading unit) 13 having an objective lens and a CCD which is a solid-state imaging device, and a liquid crystal display unit 14 including a liquid crystal display. The reading unit 13 includes an objective lens 13a and a CCD 13b, which is a solid-state imaging device, and can read an image within the reading range K on the photo stand 11 by digital photographing (or digital scanning) from an oblique direction. An illumination unit 16 is provided in order to perform well with a constant light illuminance. Although the reading unit 13 of the embodiment reads the photograph Pb and the like from an oblique direction, the reading unit 13 may be arranged right above the photo stand 11 to read the photograph Pb and the like from directly above.

As shown in FIG. 3A, the operation unit 12 includes an up / down / left / right movement key 12a, an input key 12b, an end key 12c, a peeling key (or cancel key) 12d, and a pasting key (or confirmation key) 12e. These keys 12a to 12e are used for editing operations. Then, as shown in FIG. 4, a control unit (such as a microcomputer) is provided inside the photo stand 11 in order to execute operation control for editing based on the operation of the operation unit 12 and display control on the liquid crystal display unit 14. 18 together is provided, the bar code detection unit 19 for detecting a bar code _B a1 _{.about.B an,} and _B S1 _{.about.B SN} are assigned to the title card Pa and search card Ps read by the reading unit 13, photo Image editing process for forming an album image with the title image Ia and material images Ib and Ic pasted as an internal storage medium for storing Pb, material images Ib and Ic of the handwritten card Pc, etc. and album images Part 21 is arranged.

As shown in FIG. 2, the bar code B _S1 .about.B _SN and keyword entry field (blank column) of a and a plurality of search card P _S are prepared in which a, description of the search card P _S In the column, keywords such as “mountain, sea, overseas, golf, tennis, fishing, Mr. A, Mr. B ...” arbitrarily extracted by the creator in relation to the album image are described (written by handwriting or printing) ) These search cards Ps include barcodes B _S1 , B _S2 , B _S3 , B _S4 , B _S5 , B _S6 , B _S7 as individual information (identification information) of each card including a search card. , B _S8 , B _S9 ... B _Sn (other optical identification codes or the like may be used). These bar codes B _{S1 to} B _Sn are detected by the bar code detection unit 19 by placing the search card Ps on the photo stand 11 and reading it by the reading unit 13. That is, individual information as a search card is determined by scanning the barcodes B _{S1 to} B _Sn in the horizontal direction to determine numerical information and the like. The search card individual information is stored in association with the album image (and title card individual information described later).

The bar codes B _{S1 to} B _Sn are always attached to a predetermined position of the card to limit the detection area, and the title card Pa and the search card Ps are always positioned at a certain position, The detection becomes easy. The search card Ps has numbers 1, 2, 3,..., For example, beside the bar codes B _{S1 to} B _Sn , and the same bar code is assigned the same number. Thus, the creator can discriminate between different barcodes.

Furthermore, each title card Pa and loaded loaded with the photo stand 11, the bar code B _a1 .about.B _an, is attached as the individual information (identification information) of each card containing information that is the title cards. That is, as the title card Pa, a card having a bar code B _{a1 to} B _{an at} the lower part and the like (blank field) at the upper part is prepared. Write or print. As a result, this card is automatically recognized as the title card Pa, and this title card Pa is used as management information for identifying individual album images.

  As shown in FIG. 5A, the liquid crystal display unit 14 is provided with a small menu screen (screen region) 14A, material screen (screen region) 14B, and album screen (screen region) 14C. That is, on the menu screen 14A, as shown in the enlarged view of FIG. 5B, for example, “image reading” for image reading, “album editing” for album image editing, and edited album “Save to DVD (only DVD is shown here)” for saving an image to a recording medium (recording medium) such as a DVD, “Reading an image material stored on a DVD (recording medium)” Menus such as “DVD read”, “save from DVD” for reading an album image stored on a DVD (recording medium) and saving it to the hard disk 20 and “album browse” for browsing an electronic album are displayed. Each of these menus can be selected.

  When the “album edit” menu is selected, as shown in FIG. 5A, the image Ib of the read photo Pb and the image Ic of the handwritten card Pc are displayed on the right side of the liquid crystal display unit 14. A material screen (screen area) 14B is displayed, and an album screen (screen area) 14C for displaying an album image to be edited is displayed / set on the left side.

  Further, in the embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, a DVD drive unit (read / write unit) 23a and a media drive unit 23b of other recording media (memory) are provided on the front side of the photo stand (main body horizontal unit) 11. And a microphone 24M for inputting voice and a speaker 24S for outputting voice are provided. That is, audio information can be recorded on the electronic album at the same time as the album is created, and the sound can be output when browsing the album.

The embodiment is configured as described above, and after selecting “image reading” from the menu of FIG. 5B, a title card Pa “Travel in Hokkaido”, for example, is placed on the photo stand 11, as shown in FIG. 6A. When the input key 12b is pressed, the image Ia of the title card Pa is read together with the barcode B _a1 . The barcode B _a1 is detected by the barcode detection unit 19 to identify individual title card information (including a tight card), and this title card individual information is stored as album image management information. The Further, the title image Ia from which the barcode B _a1 of the title card Pa is removed is stored in the hard disk 20.

Next, as shown in FIG. 6B, when the search card Ps for “Mr. A” (or a plurality of cards Ps if there are a plurality of related keywords) is placed on the photo stand 11 and the input key 12b is pressed. , The barcode B _S7 is read, and the search card individual information (including that it is a search card) of the search card Ps is specified by the barcode B _S7 . The album image and the title card individual information are stored in association with each other. Thereafter, as shown in FIGS. 6C and 6D, a photograph Pb, a handwritten card Pc, a print card, or the like is sequentially placed on the photo stand 11, and the necessary keys Pb and handwritten card are obtained by operating the input keys 12b. Reading of Pc or the like is performed. In this photo Pb and handwritten card Pc, since there is no barcode at a predetermined position, the image as it is is read as a material image. These material images are stored in the hard disk 20 and all of them are displayed on the material screen 14B in FIG. During the image reading operation, only the material screen 14B may be displayed in a large area other than the menu screen 14A.

  Next, when “album edit” is selected from the menu of FIG. 5B, the state shown in FIG. 5A is entered, and the album screen 14C can be edited (album edit can be performed in the above “image reading”). The title image Ia of “Hokkaido Travel” saved by reading the title card Pa is automatically displayed at a predetermined position in the album screen 14C. Here, when the image Ic such as “Two are friends” of the picture Pb or the handwritten card Pb is selected with the up / down / left / right movement key 12a from the material screen 14B and the paste key 12e is pressed, the images are sequentially displayed in the album. It is displayed in the screen 14C. At this time, if the peel key 12d is used, the pasted image can be peeled (removed) from the album screen 14C. A decorative frame image or the like can be added to the photographic image Ib.

  In pasting and editing a material image in such an album screen 14C, an approximate arrangement area of a title image Ia, a photographic image Ib, and a handwritten image Ic is set in advance, and the corresponding images are pasted in order (that You may adjust the position slightly with the up / down / left / right movement key 12a), or move it to any place with the up / down / left / right movement key 12a without setting such an arrangement area. It may be.

  Then, by pressing the end key 12c of the operation unit 12, the album image to which the material image (Ib, Ic) is pasted is stored in the hard disk 20 together with the title card individual information, and the album editing is ended. In the above example, the title card Pa, the search card Ps, the photo Pb, the handwritten card Pc, and the like are sequentially read and stored. However, as shown in FIG. It is also possible to store them as individual material images by automatically detecting their photo edges and card edges after reading them all.

  Furthermore, by selecting “DVD read” from the menu of FIG. 5B, an image read from the DVD inserted into the DVD drive unit 23a described above can be used as a material image (the media drive unit 23b). Is used, for example, the image information on the recording medium is read from the “image reading” menu), and if “Save to DVD” is selected in the menu, the completed album image can be saved on the DVD. If “Save from DVD” is selected, an album image completed by another device or the like can be stored in the hard disk 20 of the device.

Further, in the apparatus, the stored album image can be viewed on the display unit 14 by selecting “album browsing” from the menu of FIG. In this album browsing, the title card Pa of the title to be viewed is placed on the photo stand 11 and read to extract the album image stored in the title card individual information of the barcode B _a1 and to the liquid crystal display unit 14. Is displayed. By looking at the liquid crystal display unit 14 and turning the image by operating the up / down / left / right movement key 12a of the operation unit 12, for example, all the album images stored in the selected title card Pa can be viewed.

In such an album browsing, the search card Ps on which keywords such as “mountain”, “sea”, “golf”, “tennis”, “Mr. A”, “Mr. B”, etc. in FIG. You can use it to find the album image you want to see. For example, loaded by to read the bar code B _s7 in the photo stand 11 searches card Ps of "A's", all albums images associated with the bar code B _s7 is extracted is retrieved, above The album image including Mr. A including the album image of the title “Hokkaido Travel” is displayed. When there are a plurality of album images, for example, the reduced images of the first page may be displayed as a list, or only the title image Ia may be displayed as a list, and an image selected from these may be displayed.

  Thus, if the search card Ps for the keyword “mountain” is used, the album image related to the mountain is used, and if the search card Ps for the keyword “golf” is used, the album image related to golf is desired to be viewed. Images can be easily retrieved and retrieved. Further, the search card Ps can be used in the same way for “Save to DVD” and “Album Edit” in the menu of FIG. 5B. That is, in the embodiment, by selecting “album edit” after creation, the album image can be re-edited. In this case, the search card Ps can be used.

In the above embodiment, as the individual information of the search card Ps and the title card Pa, barcode _B S1 _{.about.B Sn,} was used B a1 _{.about.B an,,} the place of the two-dimensional code (identification pattern) other such An optical identification code may be attached. Further, as another method for identifying the individual information of the search card Ps and the title card Pa, an IC tag (IC chip) as an electrical identification element may be used. When this IC tag is used, as shown in FIG. 4, a wireless ID reader (or wireless communication reader / writer) 26 is provided inside the photo stand (main body horizontal portion) 11 or the like.

1 is a perspective view showing an overall configuration of an electronic album creating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the card | curd for search used with the electronic album production apparatus of an Example. The structure of the apparatus of an Example is shown, A figure (A) is a top view, A figure (B) is the side view which showed the inside. It is a block diagram which shows the whole structure containing the circuit part of the apparatus of an Example. It is the figure (A) which shows the structure of the menu screen, material screen, and album screen which are set with the liquid crystal display part of the apparatus of an Example, and the enlarged view [A figure (B)] of a menu screen. It is a figure which shows the reading procedure of the various cards at the time of the image reading of an Example, and the operation | movement of album editing.

Explanation of symbols

11 ... Photo stand, 12 ... Operation part,
13 ... Reading unit, 14 ... Liquid crystal display unit,
16 ... lighting unit, 18 ... control unit,
19 ... Barcode detector, 20 ... Hard disk,
21 ... Image editing processing unit, 23a ... DVD drive unit,
23b ... Media drive unit,
B _{S1 to} B _Sn , B _{a1 to} B _an ... Bar code,
Pa ... Title card, Pb ... Photo,
Pc: handwritten card, Ps: search card.

Claims (4)

A photo stand on which various cards including photographs and handwritten cards are placed;
An image reading unit for electronically reading a photograph and a card placed on the photo stand as a material image;
A display unit that displays the material image read by the image reading unit and displays an album image composed of a combination of the material images;
One of the various cards, a search card to which search card individual information is given and a keyword for album image search is described;
An information reading unit for reading the individual card information for search;
A storage medium for storing the created album image in association with the search card individual information;
While controlling the editing and creation of the album image while displaying the material image on the display unit, the album image stored in the storage medium is controlled based on the individual card information for retrieval read by the information reading unit. An electronic album creation apparatus comprising: a control unit that executes search.   Individual information is given to the title card provided as one of the various cards, and the title described on the title card is recognized as the title of each album image in the electronic album by the title card individual information. 2. The electronic album creating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an album image is stored in association with the title card individual information.   3. The electronic album creating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the search card individual information and the title card individual information are provided by an optical identification code.   3. The electronic album creation according to claim 1, wherein the search card individual information and the title card individual information are assigned by an electric identification element, and the electric identification element is identified by wireless communication means. apparatus.

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