JP2007050664A - Printing device and method of controlling the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer device which facilitates operations thereof by combining minimum key operations, and achieves layout edition in combination with image edition, even if the number of operational keys is limited and a display section has only a low display ability. <P>SOLUTION: The printing device is provided with a display section for displaying image data and information on printing setting. The display section is provided with a layout editing means for simultaneously displaying a selected image, and a layout preview display indicating a preview of a layout image to be printed, in a single image plane, and carrying out the layout edition by interlock with an operation of an operating section. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus that can be loaded with a storage medium storing image data captured by a digital camera, and that can read and print image data on the storage medium, and a control method therefor, and more particularly, to operate the printing apparatus. The present invention relates to a printing apparatus capable of editing a layout and a control method thereof.

  In recent years, with the widespread use of digital cameras, there is an increasing demand for printing out images taken with digital cameras at home. In general, in order to print out an image captured by a digital camera, a storage medium reader (hereinafter referred to as a memory card reader) is connected to a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a PC), and the image captured by the digital camera is recorded. A storage medium (hereinafter referred to as a memory card) is attached to a memory card reader, and image data is taken into the PC. Then, the PC and the printer are connected, and printing is performed using the printer.

  In order to efficiently perform the above series of operations, application software having abundant functions such as an image data management function of a memory card, various image editing functions, and an album creating function has been proposed. For example, as shown in Patent Document 1 below, a list of images stored in a memory card attached to a memory card reader is displayed, and the number of images to be printed out can be selected for each. Application software capable of printing has been proposed.

  The application software has various functions, and can perform trimming processing, favorite color setting, color cast correction, red-eye correction, and the like on the selected image. In addition, various layout arrangements are possible for each sheet of the printer, and layout editing can be performed using a display monitor with high resolution.

  On the other hand, even PC application software having such various functions may be difficult for a user unfamiliar with the operation of the PC, and actually cannot use the application software well. In some cases.

  Therefore, a direct printer has been proposed as a device for printing out images from a digital camera more easily. The purpose of the direct printer is to install a memory card that stores images on the main unit, display the images stored in the memory card on the display unit, and simply print out by pressing the print key. It is a devised printer. As described above, the basic function of the direct printer is to display the memory card image on the display unit one image at a time, or to print a list by assigning a unique image number to the memory card image. There is an index print function that prints by specifying the image number assigned to the image, and an all-image print function that prints all the images on the memory card. Designed after.

  However, even in such a direct printer, in order to increase added value such as differentiation for each product and improvement of convenience, image processing functions such as those realized in PC applications, layout editing functions, etc. There is a need to provide value-added functions with simple operations.

  In order to meet such demands, a direct printer that must consider cost balance uses a display unit that has a display size and display resolution much smaller than the display capability of a general display used in a PC or the like. Most of that.

  For the same reason, a pointing device such as a mouse or a keyboard for input cannot be provided as an input device, and the direct printer must be operated with only a minimum number of operation keys.

Therefore, in order to provide a comfortable layout editing function in a direct printer having strict resources such as display capability, memory size, and processing capability and having only limited operation keys, it has been proposed in, for example, Patent Document 1 described above. It is difficult to provide an equivalent function with comfort that can satisfy the user in terms of operability only by adapting the method as it is.
JP 2003-231323 A

  Therefore, like direct printers, the number of operation keys is limited, and even a display unit with low display capability can be easily operated by combining the minimum key operations, and layout editing can also be combined with image editing. There is a need for a printer device capable of performing the above.

  The present invention has been made paying attention to the above-mentioned problems, and a printing apparatus capable of realizing a layout editing function equivalent to an application using a PC, even for a direct printer having a low display capability, and a control method therefor The purpose is to provide.

  In order to solve such a problem, the present invention assumes that the printing apparatus is as shown in the following (1) and its control method is as shown in (2).

(1) A printing apparatus that reads out image data from a storage medium storing image data and prints the image data on a recording medium,
An operation unit including at least three types of keys, a selection key, a determination key, and a cancel key;
A display unit for displaying image data and print setting information,
Layout editing means for simultaneously displaying a selected image and a layout preview display showing a preview of a layout image to be printed on one screen on the display unit, and editing the layout in conjunction with the operation of the operation unit. A printing apparatus comprising:

(2) From an operation unit including at least three types of keys, an image selection key, a determination key, and a cancel key, a display unit for displaying image data and print setting information, and a storage medium storing image data, A method of controlling a printing apparatus that reads out the image data and prints it on a recording medium,
A display step of displaying an image stored in the storage medium on the display unit in response to an image selection operation by an image selection key;
A preview display step of displaying a preview of a layout image to be printed on the display unit;
Control of a printing apparatus, comprising: a layout editing step of simultaneously displaying the display in the display step and the display in the preview display step on one screen and operating the operation unit to edit the layout. Method.

  According to the present invention, at least a selection key for selecting an image, a determination key for determining an image, a cancel key for canceling the selection, and an image editing key are provided. However, a layout editing function equivalent to an application using a PC can be provided.

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a direct printer 1000 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Reference numeral 1001 denotes an operation panel for operating the direct printer 1000. By operating the operation panel 1001, the user can perform print settings, image editing such as trimming, selection of an image to be printed, maintenance of the direct printer 1000, and the like. Reference numeral 1002 denotes a display panel. The display panel 1002 uses a color liquid crystal LCD, and displays a print setting item, an image to be printed, an image display at the time of image editing, a maintenance item, and the like according to the operation of the operation panel 1001. Reference numeral 1003 denotes a memory card slot. A memory card storing images taken with a digital camera is inserted into the memory card slot 1003, so that images stored in the memory card are read and displayed when an image is selected.

  FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the operation panel 1001 of FIG. The operation panel 1001 mainly includes up / down / left / right cursor keys 2001 for moving the cursor position of an item displayed on the display screen of the display panel 1002, a determination key 2002 for determining a selection item, and cancellation of a determination item. And a cancel key 2003 for canceling printing and a trimming key 2004 for performing trimming processing on the selected image.

  FIG. 3 shows a screen display displayed on the display panel 1002 for layout editing. On the layout editing screen 3001, an image selection display 3002 for selecting an image to be subjected to layout insertion is displayed on the left side of the screen. In this screen, an image number display 3003 for displaying an image number assigned uniquely to the image stored in the memory card, and the number of images for displaying the number of images stored in the memory card. The current image position indicating the number of images in the display and the number of images is displayed (image number, image position display 3004). In the image selection display 3002, the user can browse and select images stored in the memory card by operating the left and right keys of the operation panel 1001 to forward and backward the images.

  On the right side of the layout editing screen 3001, a layout preview display 3005 for displaying a layout state corresponding to the layout to be printed is displayed. In the layout preview display 3005, the position of an image to be laid out next is displayed in a dark blue color, and an empty position that has not yet been laid out is displayed in blue. The layout preview display 3005 is displayed in a dark blue color on the layout preview display 3005 on the right side by pressing the enter key 2002 on the operation panel 1001 for the image displayed in the image selection display 3002. The image displayed in the image selection display 3002 is pasted and displayed at the layout pasting position (3005-a). Then, the position to be laid out next is changed to a dark blue color and displayed.

  In addition, an operation guide 3006 for displaying what operation the pressing of the determination key 2002 corresponds to is displayed as “Paste image”, and the determination key 2002 corresponds to the operation of pasting the image. Is displayed.

  FIG. 4 shows a screen display displayed on the display panel 1002 for performing trimming settings. By pressing a trimming key 2004 on the operation panel 1001, a transition is made to a trimming setting screen 4001, and trimming processing can be performed on the image displayed on the image selection display 3002.

  The trimming setting screen 4001 displays an image display 4002 to be trimmed, a trimming frame 4003 for determining a trimming range, and what operations are performed with the keys of the operation panel 1001. An operation guide 4004 is displayed.

  When performing trimming, the up / down / left / right cursor key 2001 on the operation panel 1001 is operated to move the trimming frame 4003 displayed on the image so that the desired range falls within the trimming frame. Thereafter, when the trimming position is determined, the trimming range is determined by pressing the enter key 2002, and the trimming setting screen 4001 is terminated. When changing the length and width of the trimming frame 4003, the trimming frame 4003 is rotated by pressing the trimming key 2004. When the processing is to be ended without setting the trimming frame 4003, the user can press the cancel key 2003 to cancel the trimming setting and end the trimming setting screen 4001.

  FIG. 5 shows a layout editing screen 5001 after trimming setting. When the trimming frame is determined by pressing the enter key 2002 on the trimming setting screen 4001, the set trimming frame is displayed on the image selection display 3002 (5002). The trimming frame displayed here displays the trimming frame in a different color from the trimming frame 4003 used in the trimming setting screen 4001 in order to avoid confusion with the trimming setting screen 4001.

  When the enter key 2002 is pressed while the trimming frame 5002 is displayed on the image of the image selection screen, the layout preview display 5003 reflects the image in the range indicated by the trimming frame and is currently displayed in a dark blue color. It is pasted and displayed at the layout pasting position. Then, the next layout position is changed to dark blue and displayed. In this state, by resetting the trimming range for the same image in the above procedure, a plurality of images with different trimming ranges can be pasted to the layout position even for the same image.

  When canceling the image pasted at the layout position, a cancel key 2003 is used. When the cancel key 2003 on the operation panel 1001 is pressed while the image is pasted at the layout position, the pasted state of the last pasted image is canceled and the position where the image was pasted is dark blue. Changed to

  By repeating the above procedure, when images are assigned to all layout positions, the operation content of the determination key 2002 is changed from image determination to print start.

  Also, as shown in FIG. 8, on the layout editing screen 8001 in a state where all of them are pasted, the operation guide indicating the operation of the operation keys is changed from “Paste an image” to “Start printing” (8002). ). Thereafter, by pressing the enter key 2002, printing can be started with the edited layout.

  Next, processing in the direct printer 1000 in layout editing will be described in detail.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart expressing the layout editing operation corresponding to the user's operation.

  First, in S601, when layout editing is executed by a user's operation, the information of the array storing the information of the pasted image corresponding to the layout position shown in FIG. 7 is cleared. In the array 7001 in FIG. 7, areas are secured by the number of layouts that can be laid out, and image information and trimming information corresponding to the layout insertion positions are held. Each information is updated at each step of layout editing. In addition, this array is referred to at the time of printing, and the corresponding image data is read according to the information stored in the array, and when trimming is set, the trimming process is performed according to the trimming information, and the layout preview display is performed. A corresponding layout printout can be obtained. In addition, an area 7002 that retains the same content as one element of the array 7001 that stores the layout information is secured as information for image selection display.

  Next, the layout insertion position is initialized to 0 (S6002). The layout pasting position becomes the reference position of the array 7001 as it is.

  Next, the user's key operation is accepted (S6003). At the time of layout editing, since the layout editing is performed using the “left / right key” of the cursor key 2001, the enter key 2002, and the cancel key 2003, the process branches according to the processing corresponding to these keys.

  When the “left / right key” is pressed in step S6003, the image selection display is changed (S6004). The image number display 3003, the image number display for displaying the number of images stored in the memory card, and the current image position 3004 indicating the number of images in the number of images are changed to change the image display. Note that when the “right key” is pressed, the images are forwarded, and when the “left key” is pressed, the images are reversely forwarded. This is to provide an intuitive and empirical user experience. When the image change is completed, the process returns to step S6003 to accept the user's key operation.

  When the enter key 2002 is pressed in step S6003, the current layout pasting position is confirmed (S6005).

  If the number of layout pasting positions is equal to or greater than the number of images that can be laid out, no more images can be laid out, so layout editing is confirmed and printing is started.

  If the layout insertion position is less than the number of layouts, the image displayed on the image selection display is pasted to the layout position (S6006). At this time, when the trimming process is performed on the image of the image selection display, the image is displayed on the layout preview display so that the trimming range is reflected.

  Next, the information is stored in the layout paste position of the layout edit information array for storing the layout edit information to be referred to at the time of printing (S6007).

  Since the layout editing information is stored, the layout insertion position is incremented by 1 to the next position (S6008).

  Next, in order to set an operation guide, it is determined whether or not the updated layout insertion position is less than the number of layouts (S6012).

  If the layout pasting position is less than the number of layouts in S6012, the layout position is empty and the image can be pasted continuously, so the operation guide display of the enter key 2002 is changed to “paste image” ( S6013).

  If the updated layout pasting position is greater than or equal to the number of layouts, the operation guide display of the enter key 2002 is changed to “start printing” because it cannot be pasted any more (S6014). After setting the guide, the blank position of the layout preview display and the color of the next pasting position are updated (S6015). After updating the color display of the preview display, the process returns to step S6003 again to accept the user's key operation.

  When the cancel key 2003 is pressed in step S6003, it is determined whether or not the current layout pasting position exceeds 0 (S6009).

  If the current layout position is 0 or less, it is determined that a cancel operation has been performed when no layout has been inserted, and the layout editing process is terminated.

  If the layout pasting position exceeds 0 in step S6009 for determining the layout pasting position, a process of canceling the image pasted in the layout position is performed. First, the information stored in the layout paste position of the layout edit information array is cleared (S6010).

  After clearing the information, the current pasting position is decremented by 1 to return to the previous position (S6011).

  After the layout pasting position is updated, the operation guide display on the layout editing screen and the layout pasting state are updated. Since this procedure is the same as the steps S6012 to S6015, the explanation will be given here. Omitted.

  The layout editing information is constructed by the above procedure, and a preview reflecting the trimming information can be displayed on the layout preview display screen.

  In this embodiment, an example is shown in which printing is started after images are always pasted to all layout positions. However, by separately providing a key corresponding to printing, printing is performed without pasting all images. It is also possible to extend the function to start, and when canceling all pasted images, an example was shown in the flow of canceling by repeatedly pressing the cancel key, but separately canceling all pasted states By providing a corresponding clear key, it is possible to expand the function of clearing all currently set pasted images.

  In this way, the basic layout editing function can be operated with the minimum number of necessary operation keys, so it can be easily functioned by providing additional keys according to the cost of direct printers and merchandise. It is clear that an extension of can be made.

Overview perspective view of a direct printer apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention FIG. 2 is an overview of an operation panel of a direct printer apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The figure which shows the example of a layout edit screen displayed on the display panel of the direct printer apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention The figure which shows the example of a trimming setting screen displayed on the display panel of the direct printer apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention The figure which shows the example of a layout edit screen at the time of the trimming setting displayed on the display panel of the direct printer apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention 6 is a flowchart showing an operation flow during layout editing of the direct printer according to the embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram showing a layout editing information array of a direct printer apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The figure which shows the example of a layout edit screen of the state in which all the images displayed on the display panel of the direct printer apparatus which concern on embodiment of this invention were pasted

Explanation of symbols

1000 Direct printer (printing device)
1001 Operation panel 1002 Display panel 1003 Memory card slot 2001 Cursor key 2002 Enter key 2003 Cancel key 2004 Trimming key 3001 Layout edit screen 3002 Image selection display 3003 Image number display 3004 Number of images and image position display 3005 Layout preview display 3005-a Layout preview display 3006 in the pasted state Operation guide 4001 when the layout can be pasted Trimming setting screen 4002 Trimming frame 4004 Trimming frame 4004 Trimming setting screen operation guide 5001 Layout editing screen 5002 with trimming setting Trimming frame 5003 with trimming settings Layout preview display 700 reflecting the trimming settings Operation guide state layout information storing array 7002 images selected display layout editing screen information storing states region 8001 pasted layout is complete 8002 pasting layout is complete

Claims (7)

A printing apparatus that reads out the image data from a storage medium storing image data and prints the image data on a recording medium,
An operation unit including at least three types of keys, a selection key, a determination key, and a cancel key;
A display unit for displaying image data and print setting information,
Layout editing means for simultaneously displaying a selected image and a layout preview display showing a preview of a layout image to be printed on one screen on the display unit, and editing the layout in conjunction with the operation of the operation unit. A printing apparatus comprising:   The layout preview display distinguishes the layout editing state of an image by displaying a display color indicating an image position to be inserted when an image is selected and a display color indicating that an image is not inserted in different display colors. The printing apparatus according to claim 1.   The operation unit includes an image editing key for editing an image, and pressing the image editing key makes a transition to an editing screen for editing an image displayed on the image selection display. The printing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2.   In the case where the image editing screen is changed by the image editing key and the editing of the image is confirmed on the image editing screen and then the determination key of the operation unit is pressed to determine the image at the layout position, the image editing screen 4. The printing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the edited content is displayed by reflecting it in the layout preview display.   5. The printing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the edited content edited by the image editing key includes at least an image trimming process.   When the target images edited by the image editing key are the same image, different editing settings are accepted at the time of layout editing, so that different editing contents are reflected on the same image and displayed on the layout preview display. The printing apparatus according to claim 4 or 5. The image data from an operation unit including at least three types of keys, an image selection key, a determination key, and a cancel key, a display unit for displaying image data and print setting information, and a storage medium storing the image data Is a control method of a printing apparatus for reading out and printing on a recording medium,
A display step of displaying an image stored in the storage medium on the display unit in response to an image selection operation by an image selection key;
A preview display step of displaying a preview of a layout image to be printed on the display unit,
Control of a printing apparatus, comprising: a layout editing step of simultaneously displaying the display in the display step and the display in the preview display step on one screen and operating the operation unit to edit the layout. Method.