JP2007181964A - Digital camera, printer, and recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate utilizing of printed image data by immediately and readily transmitting the printed image data to an external memory device. <P>SOLUTION: A printer dock 12 is coupled to a digital camera 10 and an external recorder 14. The printer dock 12 reads a thumbnail image from the digital camera 10, selects an image to be printed from the read thumbnail image, and then issues a print command. The image data of which the print command is issued, is read from the digital camera 10, processing of printing the read image data is carried out, and then the printed image data are automatically transmitted to the external recorder 14. When there are not the image data relating to the issued command in the digital camera 10, the image data are read from the external recorder 14. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a digital camera, a printer, and a recording apparatus connected to each other, and more particularly to processing associated with printing.

  Conventionally, a technique has been proposed in which image data obtained by photographing with a digital camera is transmitted to an external server device or library instead of inside the digital camera, and image data is acquired from the server device or library as necessary. Yes.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-151620 describes storing an image of a camera in an image library and transmitting image data from the image library to the image reproduction device in response to a request from the image reproduction device.

  Patent Document 2 below describes that image data is automatically transmitted from a camera to an external device.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 describes that photo print conditions are stored in a database and reprint processing is executed at the photo processing base using the photo print conditions.

  Patent Document 4 below describes storing thumbnail images and transmission destination information when transmitting from a camera to a database, selecting an image using the thumbnail image, and receiving image data from the database. Has been.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-153129 JP-A-11-136612 JP 2000-305194 A JP 2002-209131 A

  However, when a user who has taken an image with a digital camera prints the image with a printer or the like, the user may want to register the printed image data in an external server device, database, or library together with the printing conditions. In each case, it is necessary to operate the digital camera each time to access an external server device or the like, specify the printed image data, and transmit the image data, which makes the user troublesome.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus that can quickly and easily transmit printed image data to an external storage device, thereby facilitating use of the printed image data. There is to do.

  The present invention relates to a printer connected to a digital camera and an external recording apparatus, a print command for image data, an image data reading means for reading the commanded image data from the digital camera, and a printing process for the read image data. The image processing apparatus includes: a print processing unit; and an image transmission unit that transmits the printed image data to the external recording device.

  The present invention also provides a printer connected to a digital camera and an external recording device, wherein a display means, a thumbnail reading means for reading a thumbnail image from the digital camera, and the read thumbnail image are displayed on the display means. Thumbnail display means that can be selected by the user, print command means for selecting a print target image from the thumbnail images and issuing a print command, and image data reading means for reading the print commanded image data from the digital camera; The image processing apparatus includes: a print processing unit that prints the read image data; and an image transmission unit that transmits the printed image data to the external recording apparatus.

  In one embodiment of the present invention, the image data reading means reads print correction data and print history data of the image data in addition to the commanded image data, and the print processing means reads the print correction data. The image data is printed with reference, and the print history data is updated after printing.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a digital camera, a recording unit that records image data, a unit that transmits a print command and recorded image data to the printer, and after printing by the printer, Means for transmitting printed image data to the printer for transmission to an external recording apparatus upon request.

  In the present invention, when an image obtained by a digital camera is printed by a printer, the printed image data is transmitted from the printer to the external recording device, so that the image data that has been printed efficiently can be saved while saving the user's trouble. Can be recorded. In addition, since the printed image data is deleted from the digital camera, the memory capacity of the digital camera can be secured. Even when printed image data is required, in the present invention, the printed image data is recorded and stored in an external recording device, so that the user can arbitrarily use it. In addition, by recording the print correction data together with the printed image data in the external recording device, even when reprinting is performed, it is possible to print under the same conditions by referring to the print correction data, or to consider new print correction data. Can be printed under various conditions.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows a system configuration diagram in the present embodiment. A digital camera 10, a printer (printer dock) 12, and an external recording device 14 are connected via a communication line.

  The digital camera 10 includes an optical system such as a lens, a shutter, and a diaphragm, a solid-state imaging device such as a CCD and a CMOS, an imaging unit 10a having a signal processing circuit for processing an image signal, image data obtained by the imaging unit 10a, and various menus. A display unit 10b such as an LCD for displaying image data, a storage unit 10c such as a flash memory for storing image data obtained by the imaging unit 10a, and a communication unit 10d for transmitting and receiving various commands and data via the communication line with the printer dock 12. Is provided.

  The printer dock 12 displays a printing mechanism unit 12a for printing image data, a button mechanism unit 12b including various buttons such as a print button, a transmission button, a browse button, a delete button, and a selection button, a thumbnail image, various menus, and an operation state. A display unit 12c such as an LCD, a recording unit 12d such as a flash memory for storing the ID of a user to be printed, and a communication unit 12f that transmits and receives various commands and data to and from the external recording device 14 via a communication line.

  The external recording device (server device, database, or library) 14 includes recording units 14a, 14b, 14c,... That record files for each ID, and a communication unit 14d that transmits and receives data to and from the printer 12. The ID recording units 14a, 14b,... Record various data of printed images for each user ID. In the figure, the file structure of the ID3 recording unit 14c is illustrated. The recording unit 14c includes an image A file 14c1, an image B file 14c2, and an image C file 14c3. The image A file 14 c 1 is composed of a captured image file 16, a print correction file 18, and a history information file 20. The captured image file 16 is a file for recording image data of a captured image, and is recorded in the Exif format. The print correction file 18 is a file that records data such as color correction instructed to the printer 12 when the user prints a captured image. The history information file 20 is a file that records the history of printing date and time, ID of the printer 12 used for printing, the number of printed sheets, and the like. Details of each file will be described later. Each file 16, 18, 20 is also recorded in the recording unit 10 c of the digital camera 10.

  In such a system configuration, the digital camera 10 is connected to the printer dock 12 and the user operates the digital camera 10 to instruct the printer dock 12 to print desired image data, or the user operates the printer dock 12. When the printer dock 12 is instructed to print the desired image data by operating, the printer dock 12 prints the corresponding image data in accordance with the print instruction, and transmits the printed image data to the external recording device 14. The external recording device 14 records the printed image data and the accompanying data (print correction data and history information data) transmitted from the printer dock 12 in the recording unit 14a and the like. Hereinafter, the processing of this embodiment will be described separately for a case where a printing instruction is given by operating the digital camera 10 and a case where a printing instruction is given by operating the printer dock 12.

<When printing instructions are given by operating the digital camera 10>
FIG. 2 shows a process flowchart of the printer dock 12. First, the digital camera 10 is connected to the printer dock 12 via a wired or wireless communication line (S101), and ID verification of the digital camera 10 and instruction file reading are executed (S102). Thereafter, when the user depresses the print button of the digital camera 10 (S103), the print / transmission instruction file transmitted from the digital camera 10 is analyzed and executed (S104).

  FIG. 3 shows the file structure of the print / transmission instruction file 15. The print / transmission instruction file 15 has items of “image file name”, “presence / absence of image body”, “print instruction and number of prints”, and “transmission instruction”. In the figure, for example, image A is defined as “image file name”, no image is present as “presence / absence of image body”, printing is performed as “print instruction and number of prints”, and transmission is defined as “transmission instruction”. “Presence / absence of image main body” means that only the thumbnail of the image data is recorded without recording the main body of the image data for reducing the capacity of the recording unit 10c of the digital camera 10. A technique for transmitting (uploading) image data obtained by the imaging unit 10a of the digital camera 10 to the external recording device 14 and leaving only thumbnail images in the digital camera 10 is known, and is disclosed in, for example, Patent Document 4 described above. ing. When the “presence / absence of image main body” is not present, it does not exist in the digital camera 10 but exists in the external recording device 14. The “transmission instruction” means that the printed image data is automatically transmitted to the external recording apparatus (sent automatically to the external recording apparatus after printing without a separate instruction from the user). The printer dock 12 identifies the image file to be printed by analyzing the print / transmission instruction file 15, identifies whether or not the identified image data body exists in the digital camera 10, and further the image data Recognizes whether or not to automatically transmit after printing.

  Returning to FIG. 2, after analyzing the print / transmission instruction file, it is determined whether or not the print / transmission instruction file has a print instruction (S105). If there is a print instruction, it is further determined whether or not an image main body exists in the digital camera 10 (S106). As described above, when there is no “presence / absence of image main body”, since only the thumbnail image exists in the digital camera 10, the printer dock 12 receives the main body of image data, that is, the captured image from the external recording device 14 via the communication unit 12f. The file 16 is read (S107). Further, the printer dock 12 reads not only the captured image file 16 but also the print correction file 18 and the history information file 20 from the external recording device 14 at the same time. This is because the captured image file 16 is necessary for image data to be printed, the print correction data is necessary for color correction at the time of printing, and the history information is necessary for updating the history information after printing. . After reading the necessary file from the external recording device 14, the printing mechanism unit 12a of the printer dock 12 executes the printing process of the image data instructed in the printing / transmission instruction file by the instructed number (S108). After printing the image data, the history information file 20 is updated (S109).

  On the other hand, if it is determined in S106 that the digital camera 10 has an image main body, the captured image file 16 of the image instructed by the print / transmission instruction file recorded in the recording unit 10c of the digital camera 10, print correction The file 18 and the history information file 20 are read (S110), and the printing process is executed similarly to S108 (S111). After printing the image data, the history information file 20 is updated, and the image body portion, the print correction file 18 and the history information file 20 of the captured image file 16 recorded in the recording unit 10c of the digital camera 10 are updated. Delete (S112). That is, the printer dock 12 determines that it is not necessary to hold the image data in the digital camera 10 after printing the image data existing in the digital camera 10, and takes a captured image file to the digital camera 10. 16, an instruction to delete the image main body portion, the print correction file 18, and the history information file 20 is transmitted. In response to the deletion command from the printer dock 12, the digital camera 10 deletes these files from the recording unit 10c to ensure a memory capacity. The reason for deleting the main image portion of the photographed image file 16 and leaving the thumbnail image is that the user may search or view the image based on the thumbnail image by operating the digital camera 10 after printing. Is. After executing the update process, the printer dock 12 further determines whether or not the automatic transmission mode is set (S113). When the “transmission instruction” in the print / transmission instruction file is “transmission”, it is determined that the automatic transmission mode is set, and the process proceeds to the transmission process. If it is determined in S105 that it is not a print instruction and it is determined that it is a transmission instruction (S114), the process similarly proceeds to the transmission process.

In the transmission process, first, it is confirmed whether or not the printed image data is already recorded (registered) in the external recording device 14 (S115). This confirmation is performed by searching the recording unit 14a of the external recording device by the file name or ID of the printed image data. Of course, if the digital camera 10 has an image body in S106, the image data does not yet exist in the external recording device 14, and if the digital camera 10 does not have an image body, the image data already exists in the external recording device 14. Therefore, it is possible to confirm duplication using this fact.
If the printed image data already exists in the external recording device 14, the printed image data is not transmitted to the external recording device 14 even in the automatic transmission mode. When the printed image data does not exist in the external recording device 14, the printer dock 12 reads the captured image file 16, the print correction file 18 and the history information file 20 of the image data printed from the digital camera 10, and via the communication unit 12f. Transmit (upload) to the external recording device 14. Further, after these files are automatically transmitted to the external recording device 14, an instruction to delete the image main body portion, the print correction file 18, and the history information file 20 in the captured image file 16 is transmitted to the digital camera 10. In response to the deletion command from the printer dock 12, the digital camera 10 deletes these files from the recording unit 10c to ensure a memory capacity (S116). After analyzing and executing all commands instructed in the print / transmission instruction file, the printer dock 12 terminates the processing (terminated after execution in S104).

  FIG. 4 shows the structures of the photographed image file 16, the print correction file 18, and the history information file recorded in the recording unit 10c of the digital camera 10 or the recording unit 14a of the external recording device 14. FIG. 4A shows the captured image file 16, which is an Exif file format. It has Exif header data, thumbnail image data, and image body data. After the image data is printed, the Exif header data and the thumbnail image data remain in the captured image file 16 recorded in the digital camera 10, and the image main body data is deleted. FIG. 4B shows a print correction file 18 having correction data when color correction is performed during printing according to the user's preference. FIG. 4C shows a history information file 20, which includes a unique information portion and a print history portion. In the unique information section, registrant ID, registration date, shooting date / time, keyword (for image search), and correction of color data are recorded. In the print history section, date / time, user ID, printer ID are recorded. Each data of the number of printed sheets is recorded. Whether or not the color data can be corrected specifies whether or not the contents of the print correction file 18 can be rewritten with new correction data when printing is performed with different color corrections instead of printing according to the print correction file 18. It is data. When there are a plurality of printing users and the color correction of one user A and the color correction of another user B are different from each other, if the user B arbitrarily rewrites the color correction data of the user A, then the user This is to prevent a situation where printing cannot be performed when A wants to print again based on the original color correction data. When the color data can be corrected, it is rewritten to the color correction data newly set by the user B, but may be rewritten to data that takes the color correction data of the user A into consideration. For example, an average value of the color correction data of user A and the color correction data of user B is calculated and used as new color correction data.

<When printing instructions are given by operating the printer dock 12>
FIG. 5 shows a process flowchart of the printer dock 12. First, the user depresses a browse button which is one of the buttons constituting the button mechanism unit 12b (S201), and selects a device connected to the printer dock 12 by wire or wirelessly (S202). For example, the user selects the digital camera 10. The printer dock 12 executes connection processing such as ID collation with the selected device (S203), and requests the digital camera 10 to transmit a thumbnail image. Also, the presence / absence of image main body data is confirmed (S204). When a thumbnail image is transmitted from the digital camera 10, it is read and displayed on the display unit 12c to allow the user to browse and select an image to be printed. The user visually recognizes the thumbnail image and selects a print image, sets the number of prints and color correction (S205), and presses any of the print button, send button, and delete button.

  When the user presses the print button (S206a), the printer dock 12 reads the captured image file 16, the print correction file 18, and the history information file 20 recorded in the recording unit 10c of the digital camera 10 (S207a). When only the thumbnail image exists in the digital camera 10 and the image main body data does not exist, the external recording device 14 is accessed to read the image data main body, the print correction file 18 and the history information file 20 from the external recording device 14. Then, print processing is executed using the read file (S208a), and the history information file 20 is updated (S209a). If the color correction data set in S205 does not match the read data in the print correction file 18, the color correction data set in S205 is preferentially printed. Whether or not to update the print correction file 18 with the color correction data set in S205 is determined according to whether or not the color data in the history information file 20 can be corrected as described above. The above processing is performed for all images selected by the user (S210a).

  When the user presses the send button (S206b), it is confirmed whether or not the printed image data is already registered in the external recording device 14 (S207b). This confirmation process is the same as S115 in FIG. If not yet registered in the external recording device 14, the captured image file 16, the print correction file 18, and the history information file 20 are read from the digital camera 10 and transmitted to the external recording device 14. In addition, the digital camera 10 is instructed to delete the image main body data, the print correction file 18, and the history information file 20 of the captured image file 16 (S208b). The above processing is performed for all the images selected by the user (S209b).

  When the user presses the delete button (S206c), the printer dock 12 issues a delete command to the digital camera 10 to delete the captured image file 16, the print correction file 18, and the history information file 20 of the selected image. Do. If these files do not exist in the digital camera 10, the printer dock 12 instructs the external recording device 14 to delete the photographed image file 16, print correction file 18, and history information file 20 of the selected image. The delete command for the external recording device 14 includes a thumbnail image. Even when there is no image body data or the like in the digital camera 10, there is a thumbnail image. When the external recording device 14 is instructed to delete the captured image file 16, the print correction file 18, and the history information file 20, the digital camera 10 is instructed to delete a thumbnail image (S207c). As a result, the target image data is deleted from both the digital camera 10 and the external recording device 14. The above processing is performed for all the images selected by the user (S208c).

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to this, Other aspects are also possible within the range of the technical idea.

  For example, a moving image, not a still image (still image), may be taken by the imaging unit 10a of the digital camera 10 and recorded in the recording unit 10c, and an arbitrary scene in the moving image may be cut out and supplied to the printer dock 12. That is, the image data in the present embodiment includes image data in a moving image. Further, a plurality of image data recorded in the recording unit 10c of the digital camera 10 may be connected to each other by the printer dock 12 and printed as a single panoramic image. The printer dock 12 is connected in this way. The printed panoramic image data can be transmitted to the external recording device 14.

It is a system configuration figure of an embodiment. 6 is a flowchart of processing of a printer dock when a print instruction is issued from the camera side. It is an explanatory diagram of a print / transmission instruction file. It is explanatory drawing of a picked-up image file, a print correction file, and a history information file. 10 is a flowchart of processing of a printer dock when a print instruction is issued from the printer dock.

Explanation of symbols

  10 digital camera, 12 printer dock, 14 external recording device, 16 photographed image file, 18 print correction file, 20 history information file.

Claims (11)

In a printer connected to a digital camera and an external recording device,
Image data printing command and image data reading means for reading the commanded image data from the digital camera;
A print processing means for printing the read image data;
Image transmitting means for transmitting the printed image data to the external recording device;
A printer comprising: The printer according to claim 1.
The printer according to claim 1, wherein the image data reading means reads from the external recording device when the commanded image data does not exist in the digital camera. The printer according to claim 1.
A printer comprising deletion command means for issuing a deletion command of printed image data to the digital camera after completion of the printing. In a printer connected to a digital camera and an external recording device,
Display means;
Thumbnail reading means for reading thumbnail images from the digital camera;
Thumbnail display means for displaying the read thumbnail image on the display means and allowing the user to select the thumbnail image;
Print command means for selecting a print target image from the thumbnail images and issuing a print command;
Image data reading means for reading the print commanded image data from the digital camera;
A print processing means for printing the read image data;
Image transmitting means for transmitting the printed image data to the external recording device;
A printer comprising: The printer according to claim 4.
The printer according to claim 1, wherein the image data reading means reads from the external recording device when the commanded image data does not exist in the digital camera. The printer according to claim 4.
A printer comprising deletion command means for issuing a deletion command of printed image data to the digital camera after completion of the printing. The printer according to any one of claims 2 and 5,
The image data reading means reads print correction data and print history data of the image data in addition to the commanded image data,
The printer, wherein the print processing unit prints the image data with reference to the print correction data, and updates the print history data after printing. The printer according to any one of claims 3 and 6,
The printer according to claim 1, wherein the deletion instruction means instructs the digital camera to delete main data of the printed image data and leave a thumbnail. Recording means for recording image data;
Means for transmitting a print command and recorded image data to the printer;
Means for transmitting printed image data to the printer for transmission to an external recording device in response to a request from the printer after printing by the printer;
A digital camera comprising: The digital camera according to claim 9, wherein
A digital camera comprising: means for deleting the printed image data from the recording means in response to a request from the printer after printing by the printer. In a recording device connected to a printer,
A recording unit for recording image data of an image printed by a printer, color correction data at the time of printing, and print history data;
Means for transmitting the image data, the color correction data, and the print history data to the printer in response to a request from the printer;
A recording apparatus comprising:

Images