JP2009211306A - Print system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem that the automatic collection of printing has not been considered when the customer is the same and a laboratory machine is different in a conventional printer though the change of a laboratory has been considered by viewing order from the customer or the state of the laboratory. <P>SOLUTION: A print system includes: an order reception terminal for receiving order information expressing the order content of respective printing images from a customer order terminal, and folder identification information expressing the theme of the images or events, etc., via a network; and a customer printing image collecting part for selecting one of a plurality of laboratory servers as the output destination of the printing images based on the folder identification information, and collecting the printing images outputted from the laboratory server based on the folder identification information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing system that prints image data in a laboratory using a network for orders from customers.

  It is known to request that a photographic image taken by a user be printed from a home personal computer in a laboratory using a network. As shown in Patent Document 1, it has been known to select a laboratory for printing image data from a plurality of laboratories. For example, it is known to select a lab that is not a crowded lab in view of the congestion of the lab, or to select the nearest lab from the address of the customer who orders.

Patent Document 1 discloses a service number for specifying service contents (printing, postcard creation, etc.), an image number of a photograph, a print size, the number of prints, a print quality (glossy or matte), and paper thickness. This shows that the lab is selected based on the information about the user such as the user's name, address, telephone number, etc.

JP 2001-290627 A

  If a photographic image is printed with a different printer in a photographic contest, etc., the quality of the photographic image may be different, and there is a risk that it will not be evaluated correctly. Also, in trips, circles, and festival event photos, if the type of printer to be printed is different, there may be a sense of discomfort when viewing the photos side by side even though they are the same event. In Patent Document 1, the reason for selecting a lab for printing a photo is that the processing number for specifying the service contents (printing, postcard creation, etc.), the image number of the photo, the print size, the number of prints, and the print surface Information about the user, such as quality (glossy, glossy), paper thickness, processing details of the photo, information specified for trimming, user name, address, phone number, etc. There was no such thing as choosing.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the order receiving unit receives order information representing the order contents of the print image and folder identification information representing the theme, event contents, etc. of the image via the network. From the terminal, based on the folder identification information, one of the lab servers is selected as an output destination of the print image, an order distribution unit that transfers the order information to the selected lab server, and from the lab server Another object of the present invention is to provide a printing system including a customer print image collecting unit that collects output print images based on the folder identification information.

  As described above, the printing system of the present invention is advantageous in that even when performing various types of printing, printing in one laboratory like the same theme and the same event can process the same print state of photographs. For example, when evaluating with a printed photograph as in a contest, if the lab is different, the state of the print will be different, so there is a possibility that an appropriate competition cannot be made. Furthermore, in the case of a contest, it is convenient because there is no omission because it can be sent in a batch even if it is gathered at the same output destination and sent to the contest organizer.

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

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of the printing system of the present invention.
From the customer ordering terminal indicated by 1A and 1B, to the order receiving terminal indicated by 4 of the lab apparatus indicated by 3 via the Internet indicated by 2 by Table 1, the order information, the title of the photograph, It is transmitted with folder identification information indicating an event or the like. Reference numeral 5 denotes a control unit that controls the operation of the lab apparatus. The order receiving terminal 3 transmits image information, order information, and folder identification information to the order distribution unit indicated by 7. The order distribution unit 6 is a lab server unit indicated by 7. The control unit 5 controls to select one of the plurality of lab servers 7A, 7B, and 7C based on the folder identification information, and distributes the image information. The sorted image information is printed in a lab in the lab server, and print images are collected by a print image collection unit indicated by 8 for each folder identification information.

Table 1 shows an order table for the customer ID 0001. The theme of the athletic meet theme is folder A, the theme of the school entertainment theme is folder B, and the theme of the excursion theme is folder C.
Table 1

Table 2 shows an order table of the customer ID 0002. Specify a folder as described above.
Table 2

表４

表５

Table 3 shows a state in which the images of the customer ID 0001 and the customer ID 0002 are distributed to each lab server. The lab server 7A prints in L size, the lab server 7B in cabinet size, and the lab server 7C prints in 2L size.
Table 3

Table 4

Table 5

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the contents of the control unit 5 of the first embodiment.
In step S1, a folder ID indicating the folder identification number, image information, and order information are received via the Internet. In step S2, a lab server is determined based on the folder ID. In step S3, image information and order information are transmitted to the laboratory server. In step S4, the image information is output. In step S5, prints are collected for each folder ID.

The block diagram of the 1st Example which shows embodiment of this invention The flowchart which shows the 1st Example which shows embodiment of this invention

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Customer order terminal 2 Internet 3 Lab equipment 4 Order receipt terminal 5 Control part 6 Folder ID detection part 7 Order distribution part 8 Lab server part 9 Print image collection part

Claims (1)

Based on the folder identification information, the order receiving terminal for receiving order information representing the order contents of the print image and the folder identification information representing the theme of the image, the event contents, etc. via the network by the customer order terminal. An order distribution unit that selects one of the servers as the output destination of the print image and transfers the order information to the selected lab server, and the print image output from the lab server based on the folder identification information A printing system comprising a customer print image concentrating unit for concentrating.

Images