JP2011035653A - Photograph processing system, and photograph processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a photograph processing system and a photograph processing method, for maintaining good operability in imaging and preventing depletion of a built-in battery during maintenance. <P>SOLUTION: A digital camera of a photograph processing system includes: a determination means for determining whether an output voltage of external power source that supplies power to the digital camera is normal or not, and a control means which causes the digital camera to operate in live view mode in which the light received by an imaging element is reduced and displayed as it is when the determination means decides the output voltage of external power source is normal, while setting finder mode that allows the light incident on an optical unit to be confirmed through a finder when the determination means decides the output voltage of external power source is abnormal. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a photographic processing system and a photographic processing method, and more particularly to an integrated photographic processing system and a photographic processing method in which a digital camera and a printing apparatus are connected to an information processing apparatus.

  Photography and printing devices, which are integrated photo processing systems installed in game centers and the like, are widely used. Photographs are taken and combined with a desired template to create a seal-type paper in a desired printing style. It has gained popularity with its service form that prints multiple photos. These integrated photography / printing apparatuses include a digital camera, an information processing apparatus, and a printing apparatus, and an image captured by the digital camera is output from the printing apparatus in combination with a template in the information processing apparatus.

  At that time, it is also possible to change the setting of the digital camera from the information processing apparatus side, and in Patent Document 1, the digital camera and the PC are configured to be communicable, and the digital camera side becomes the master in the first shooting mode. There has been disclosed an imaging system capable of appropriately switching between the first imaging mode on the PC side as a master and easily setting advanced imaging conditions to perform imaging with good operability.

JP 2004-215042 A

  However, according to the prior art described in Patent Document 1, there is a problem that it is difficult to confirm an image actually captured by a camera. In other words, in conventional integrated photography and printing devices, the digital camera lens is aimed at the user, the subject, and the image taken after shooting is displayed on the display for the first time. I couldn't press it at the right time.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and provides a photographing / printing system capable of accurately confirming the actual angle of view and the arrangement of the subject before photographing, as well as a digital at the time of external power supply failure or maintenance. It is an object of the present invention to provide a photo processing system capable of suppressing power consumption of a camera and suppressing consumption of a built-in battery, and a control method thereof.

In order to solve the above problems, the photo processing system of the present invention provides:
An information processing apparatus is configured to be communicable with a digital camera and a printing apparatus, and is a photo processing system for taking and printing a photo,
The digital camera
Determining means for determining whether an output voltage of an external power supply for supplying power to the digital camera is normal;
When the determination means determines that the output voltage of the external power supply is normal, the digital camera is operated in a live view mode in which the light received by the image sensor can be reduced and displayed, and the determination means Control means for turning off the live view mode when it is determined that the output voltage of the external power supply is abnormal.

In order to solve the above problems, in the photographic processing system of the present invention, preferably, the determination unit determines an output voltage of the external power source when the digital camera is activated,
The digital camera
Further comprising status transmission means for transmitting status information that is a determination result at the time of activation of the digital camera of the determination means to the information processing apparatus;
The information processing apparatus is any one of a second shooting screen including a template switching unit that switches a template to be combined with a shot image without displaying a preview display with the first shooting screen in accordance with the received status information. The display control means for displaying one screen is provided.

In order to solve the above problems, in the photographic processing system of the present invention, preferably, the determination unit determines an output voltage of the external power supply other than when the digital camera is activated,
The status transmission means transmits the status information to the information processing apparatus when the output voltage of the external power supply changes normally from an abnormality.

In order to solve the above problems, a control method for a photo processing system according to the present invention is a control method for a photo processing system in which an information processing apparatus is configured to be communicable with a digital camera and a printing apparatus, and takes and prints a photo. There,
The digital camera
A determination step of determining whether or not an output voltage of an external power supply that supplies power to the digital camera is normal;
When it is determined in the determination step that the output voltage of the external power supply is normal, the digital camera is operated in a live view mode in which the light received by the imaging device can be reduced and displayed as it is, And a control step of turning off the live view mode when it is determined that the output voltage of the external power supply is abnormal.

  According to the first aspect of the invention, it is possible to efficiently shoot while confirming the angle of view actually taken in the integrated photography / printing system, and to prevent the consumption of the built-in battery of the digital camera during maintenance. can do.

According to the invention of claim 2, in addition to the effect of the invention of claim 1,
There is an effect that it is possible to easily determine that there is an abnormality in the output voltage of the external power supply.

It is a figure which shows the system configuration | structure of the photograph processing system in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions of the information processing apparatus 101 in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the function structure of the digital camera 100 in embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the whole process of the integrated photography and printing apparatus which is the photography processing system in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the flowchart which shows the detailed process of imaging | photography and the printing process (1) of step S445 of FIG. 4 in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the flowchart which shows the detailed process of the imaging | photography and printing process (2) of step S446 of FIG. 4 in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the initial screen in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the template selection screen in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the imaging | photography screen in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the print setting screen in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the initial state of the imaging | photography screen at the time of the finder mode in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the initial state of the imaging | photography screen at the time of the finder mode in embodiment of this invention. 1 is a perspective view showing an external appearance of an integrated photography / printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a photo processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, it is roughly divided into an information input device (hereinafter referred to as a digital camera) 100 such as a digital camera, an information processing device 101, and a printing device 112. The information processing apparatus 101 normally uses a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a PC) or a so-called workstation, and includes a CPU 21 (arithmetic processing unit) shown in FIG. 2, a RAM 22 as a primary storage device, and a ROM 23 as a read-only memory. , NIC 24 as a network interface card, VGA 25 as a video graphic adapter for connecting to a display device (display), keyboard 65 and mouse 27 as operation devices for inputting data and commands, and hard disk as a secondary storage device A drive 28 and a DVD drive 29 for reading and writing a CD-ROM or DVD storing programs and data are connected via a bus 20 which is a path for data and instructions. A display is connected to the VGA 25.

  The digital camera 100 includes an optical unit 105 including a lens, an image sensor (for example, CMOS or CCD), a drive circuit, a digital signal processing circuit (DSP) 104 that processes image data captured by the optical unit 105, and the entire digital camera. Arithmetic unit (CPU) 103 for controlling the control, main storage unit (RAM) 106 such as DRAM used as a program area and work area, a nonvolatile built-in for storing a part of digital camera setting information and digital camera control program Secondary storage device 107 such as a flash memory, operation unit 108 such as a push button, a display unit 109 such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) for displaying a live view image, a reduced image of a captured image, and camera setting information, a digital camera Read-only memory (RO ) 110, a compact flash (registered trademark) memory card, and the like, and a removable card and a memory card 111 for storing management information relating to the shot image, a communication control device 102 for controlling connection with the PC and image transmission / reception Is done.

  The printing device 112 is a so-called photo printer and typically uses an ink jet type printer, but a small color laser printer or electrostatic printer may also be used. The printable size may be any size as long as it can print a color photograph of L size to 2L size or cabinet size.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration of the information processing apparatus 101. In FIG. 2, the CPU 21, RAM 22, ROM 23, NIC 24, video graphic adapter VGA 25, keyboard 26, mouse 27, hard disk 28, and DVD drive 29 are respectively connected to the system bus 20. Are connected to each other. The system bus 20 means, for example, a PCI bus, an AGP bus, a memory bus, and the like. Further, in FIG. 2, a connection chip between each bus, a keyboard interface, and an input / output interface such as a so-called SCSI or ATAPI are omitted.

  The CPU 21 performs various operations such as four arithmetic operations and comparison operations, and hardware control based on the operation system program and the application programs such as the mailer and content distribution / reception side programs described above. The RAM 22 stores an operating system program, an application program, and the like read from a storage medium such as a DVD-ROM or a CD attached to the hard disk 28 or the DVD drive 29, and these are executed under the control of the CPU 21. The

  The ROM 23 stores a so-called BIOS for managing input / output to / from a hard disk or the like in cooperation with the operating system. The network interface card NIC 24 communicates with the outside via a network in cooperation with an operating system communication program controlled by the CPU 21. The video graphic adapter VGA 25 generates an image signal to be output to the display device, and the keyboard 26 and the mouse 27 are used for inputting an instruction to the information processing device. The input contents from the keyboard 26 are stored in the keyboard buffer of the RAM 22, and the input contents from the mouse (button type and operation, coordinates at which the operation was performed) are stored in the RAM 22 as mouse events, and these input contents are stored in the operating system. To the application program.

  The hard disk 28 of the information processing apparatus 101 has an operating system, the above-described application program (the program for executing the processes of the flowcharts of FIGS. 4 and 5 and the screens of FIGS. 7 to 11), various databases, and various masters. Remember the file. The DVD drive 29 is used for installing a storage medium such as a DVD-ROM, CD-R, or CD-R / W and installing an application program on the hard disk 28. Needless to say, a CD-R, CD-R / W drive, MO drive, DVD + -R drive, Blu-ray drive, or the like may be used instead of the DVD drive.

  Next, FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the digital camera 100. First, the connection determination unit 301 determines the output voltage of the built-in battery and the output voltage on the output side of the AC adapter that is an external power supply of the digital camera 100 and inputs a commercial power supply and outputs a DC voltage for the digital camera 100. If the output voltage on the output side of the AC adapter exceeds a predetermined voltage, the power supplied from the AC adapter is used as an external power source. If the output voltage on the output side of the AC adapter is less than the predetermined voltage, The power supplied from the built-in battery is used as the power source. The activation control unit 302 includes a self-check at activation and an activation mode at activation according to the determination result of the connection determination unit 301 (a live view mode in which light received by the image sensor can be displayed with a reduced number of pixels with the same layout) And a function for controlling a mode in which the light entering the optical unit is activated in any one of the finder modes in which the light incident on the optical unit can be confirmed through the finder.

  The display control unit 303 performs display control according to the startup mode at startup controlled by the startup control unit 302. The shooting control unit 304 controls shooting using setting information (various parameters during shooting) stored in the setting storage unit 306. The setting control unit 305 controls addition / change / deletion of setting information in the setting storage unit 306 (stored as a control program in the ROM 110). An image processing unit 306 is an image processing program for changing to a predetermined format such as a captured RAW image JPEG, and is stored in a flash memory (not shown) for the DSP 104. The setting storage unit 307 stores various shooting settings (shooting parameters) of the digital camera 100 and corresponds to the secondary storage unit 107. The image storage unit 308 stores an image photographed by the digital camera 100 and processed by the image processing unit 306, and corresponds to the memory card 111.

  Next, FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the integrated photography / printing apparatus 60 of the present invention. The body of the integrated photography / printing apparatus 60 includes a liquid crystal display 61, a memory card reader 62, and a digital A camera 63 (lens portion faces the front), a currency storage device 64 for inserting currency such as banknotes and coins, an operation unit 65 (keyboard and push button), and an output unit 66 of the printing device 112 are provided. The liquid crystal display unit 61 is connected to the display adapter VGA 25 (FIG. 2) of the information processing apparatus 101 via a display cable. The memory card reader 62, the money storage device 64, and the operation unit 65 are connected to the information processing device 101, respectively. The digital camera 63 is tilted upward by an appropriate angle (about 30 degrees), so that the upper body of the subject (up to 3 to 4 people) can be seen while the keyboard 65 etc. is not seen. A strobe (not shown) is built in the side of the camera 63, and a mouse (not shown) is near the keyboard 65. It is also possible to write an image taken by the digital camera 63 by inserting a memory card into the memory card reader 62.

  Next, FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the overall processing of the integrated photography / printing apparatus which is the photographic processing system of the present invention in the embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 4, steps S420 to S431 are processes executed under the control of the CPU 103 of the digital camera 100, and steps 440 to 446 are processes executed under the control of the CPU 21 of the information processing apparatus 101.

  First, in step S420, the digital camera 100 reads and executes a self-diagnosis program (hardware check program) from the ROM 110 after the main body of the integrated photography / printing apparatus 60 is turned on. When a problem is detected by the self-diagnosis program, an error message is displayed on the display unit 109 and the error message is transmitted to the information processing apparatus 101, and the process is terminated. If the self-diagnosis program ends without any problem, the process proceeds to step S421.

  In step S421, the CPU 103 of the digital camera 100 determines whether the output voltage of the AC adapter is equal to or higher than a predetermined value (for example, the predetermined value is DC 5.8V when the power supply voltage of the digital camera 100 main body is DC 6V). The determination result is stored in the work area, and the process proceeds to step S422. In step S422, the digital camera 100 branches the process according to the determination result of step S421. If the output voltage of the AC adapter is greater than or equal to a predetermined value with reference to the work area of RAM 106, it is determined that the AC adapter is in the on state, and the process proceeds to step S423. On the other hand, if the output voltage of the AC adapter is less than the predetermined value, it is determined that the AC adapter is off, and the process proceeds to step S425.

  In step S423, the CPU 103 of the digital camera 100 switches the display unit 109 to the live view mode, receives light incident through the lens by the image sensor (CMOS or CCD), converts it into an electrical signal, and amplifies it in step S424. The live view image is displayed on the liquid crystal screen (liquid crystal display unit 61) via the VGA 25, and the CPU 103 advances the process to step S426.

  On the other hand, in step S425, the CPU 103 of the digital camera 100 switches the display unit 109 to the finder mode, and the process proceeds to step S426. This is because if the live view mode is maintained while the AC adapter is off, the internal battery is consumed quickly, and the liquid crystal screen (liquid crystal display unit 61) of the information processing apparatus 101 is displayed in FIG. A screen as shown will be displayed. The CPU 103 advances the process to step S426.

  In step S426, the CPU 103 of the digital camera 100 transmits status information indicating whether the digital camera 100 is currently in the live view mode or the viewfinder mode to the information processing apparatus 101, and the process proceeds to step S427.

  Here, the description on the digital camera 100 side is temporarily interrupted, and the processing on the information processing apparatus 101 side will be described. First, in step 440, the information processing apparatus 101 reads out and executes a self-diagnosis program (hardware check program) from the ROM 23 after the main body of the integrated photography / printing apparatus 60 is turned on. If a problem is detected by the self-diagnosis program, an error message is displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 61 via the VGA 25, and the process is terminated. If the self-diagnosis program ends without any problem, the process proceeds to step S441. In step S441, the CPU 21 of the information processing apparatus 101 displays the initial screen illustrated in FIG. 7, and the process proceeds to step S422.

  In step S442, the CPU 21 of the information processing apparatus 101 waits for reception of status information from the digital camera 100. When the status information is received, the received status information is stored in the work area of the RAM 22, and the process proceeds to step S443. In step S443, the CPU 21 of the information processing apparatus 101 determines whether or not money has been inserted into the money storage device 64. If it is determined that money has been inserted, the process proceeds to step S444, and the other currency has not been inserted. If so, the process returns to step S442.

  In step S444, the CPU 21 of the information processing apparatus 101 determines whether or not the status information stored in the work area of the RAM 22 indicates the live view mode, and branches the process. If it means that the mode is the live view mode, the process proceeds to step S445. If the mode is not the live view mode (in the finder mode), the process proceeds to step S446. In step S445, the CPU 21 of the information processing apparatus 101 performs shooting and printing processing in the live view mode (shooting / printing processing (1)), and then returns the processing to step S442. Details of the photographing / printing process (1) in step S445 will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In step S446, the CPU 21 of the information processing apparatus 101 performs shooting and printing processing (shooting / printing processing (2)) in the finder mode, and then returns the processing to step S442. Details of the photographing / printing process (2) in step S446 will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  Next, the remaining processing on the digital camera 100 side will be described. As described above, after transmitting the status information in step S426, the CPU 103 of the digital camera 100 advances the process to step S427. In step S427, the CPU 103 of the digital camera 100 enters a reception waiting state for a control signal from the information processing apparatus 101, and advances the process to step S428 at regular time intervals (for example, every 0.1 second).

  In step S428, the CPU 103 of the digital camera 100 determines whether control information (for example, shooting setting information such as a change in the focal length on the digital camera 100 side or shooting control information such as a shutter press) has been received from the information processing apparatus 101. If a control signal is received, the process proceeds to step S429. In step S429, the CPU 103 of the digital camera 100 performs an operation according to the received control signal (for example, zooming to the tele side, zooming to the wide side, etc.) and returns the process to step S427. On the other hand, if the control signal is not received, the process proceeds to step S430.

  In step S430, the CPU 103 of the digital camera 100 reads the determination result in step S421 stored in the work area of the RAM 106, determines whether the output voltage of the AC adapter is equal to or higher than a predetermined value, and turns the AC adapter off to on. Or whether it has changed from on to off, and the process proceeds to step S431. In step S431, if the CPU 103 of the digital camera 100 determines in step S430 that it has changed from off to on or has changed from on to off, the CPU 103 stores the fact that it has changed from on to off in the work area of the RAM 106, and performs processing. Proceed to step S422. If it is determined that the AC adapter is on or off, the process returns to step S427. With this configuration, a change in the output voltage of the AC adapter other than at the time of startup is appropriately determined, and status information corresponding to the change is transmitted to the information processing apparatus 101, and a screen display corresponding to the information is displayed on the information processing apparatus 101 side. Control can be performed.

  This is the end of the description of FIG. According to the process of FIG. 4, since the live view mode and the viewfinder mode are switched by appropriately determining whether the AC adapter of the digital camera 100 is on or off, if the AC adapter is off at the time of a power failure or maintenance, etc. When switched to finder mode and turned on, live view mode is entered, so that the user can efficiently take photos that are intended and intended by the user without using the internal battery. Can do.

  Next, details of the photographing / printing process (1) in step S445 of FIG. 4 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In the flowchart of FIG. 5, steps S540 to 555 are processes executed under the control of the CPU 21 of the information processing apparatus 101, and steps S520 to S524 are processes executed under the control of the CPU 103 of the digital camera 100. . The processing in the flowchart of FIG. 5 is based on the premise that the digital camera 100 is operating in the live view mode.

  First, in step S520, the CPU 103 of the digital camera 100 transmits a live view image to the information processing apparatus 101. In step S540, the CPU 21 of the information processing apparatus 101 receives a live view image (a real-time image based on the light currently received by the image sensor of the optical unit 105), displays it on the liquid crystal display unit 61, and performs processing. Proceed to step 541.

  In step S541, the CPU 21 of the information processing apparatus 101 refers to the work area of the RAM 22 and performs operation determination. Specifically, the presence / absence of the operation and the content of the operation are determined from the event indicating that a predetermined position such as each button of the liquid crystal display unit is touched and the presence / absence of the keyboard buffer and the mouse event (mouse vent such as pressing each button on the screen). The determined result is stored in the work area of the RAM 22, and the process proceeds to step S542. However, if the operation content is an instruction to change the screen, the screen is changed according to the operation content, and then the process proceeds to step 542. For example, when the “next screen” button 71 is pressed by the input of the mouse 27 or touched on the liquid crystal display unit 61 (hereinafter, these buttons are operated) on the initial screen of FIG. 7, the screen changes to the template selection screen of FIG. 8. To do. When the “next screen” button 82 is operated on the template selection shooting screen of FIG. 8, the screen shifts to the shooting screen of FIG. When the “next screen” button 98 is operated on the shooting screen of FIG. 9, the screen shifts to the print setting screen of FIG. Similarly, when the “Previous screen” button (97 in FIG. 9 or 1006 in FIG. 10) is operated on each screen, the screen displayed immediately before, for example, the screens in FIGS. 9 to 8 or FIGS. Transition to the screen of 9.

  In step S542, the CPU 21 of the information processing apparatus 101 determines whether or not a shooting setting operation has been performed. The shooting setting operation is an operation for performing settings at the time of shooting. For example, when the shooting screen of FIG. 9 is displayed when the angle of view (wide / telephoto) is adjusted, the “up” button 95 or “ This means that the “wide” button 96 is operated, or the “cancel” button 94 is operated on the shooting screen of FIG. If it is determined that there has been a shooting setting operation, the process proceeds to step S543. In step S543, the shooting setting operation determined in step S542 is stored in the work area of the RAM 22, and the process proceeds to step S544.

  In step S544, the CPU 21 of the information processing apparatus 101 refers to the work area of the RAM 22 and determines whether the shooting setting operation is a setting operation on the digital camera 100 side or a setting operation on the information processing apparatus 101 side. If it is determined that the setting operation is on the digital camera 100 side, the process proceeds to step S545. If it is determined that the setting operation is on the information processing apparatus 101 side, the process proceeds to step S546.

  In step S545, the CPU 21 of the information processing apparatus 101 transmits the setting information to the digital camera 100, and the process proceeds to step S546. Specifically, as a kind of digital camera control information that the digital camera 100 moves to the telephoto side (the side that increases the focal length) when the “up” button is operated on the shooting screen of FIG. 9. When the “wide” button is operated, the setting information as a kind of control information of the digital camera indicating that the digital camera 100 moves to the wide side (side to shorten the focal length) when the “wide” button is operated. Sent. The CPU 103 of the digital camera 100 receives the setting information in step S521, and advances the processing to step S522. In step S522, the CPU 103 of the digital camera 100 stores the setting information in the setting storage unit 307, and executes a corresponding control operation (operation to change the focal length to wide or tele) by the setting control unit 305.

  The description returns to the information processing apparatus 101 side. In step S546, the CPU 21 of the information processing apparatus 101 refers to the work area of the RAM 22 and determines whether or not a shooting operation has been performed. The shooting operation is an operation for performing shooting itself, for example, an operation of pressing the “shoot” button 93 in the upper right of the screen (or touching the button of the liquid crystal display unit 61) on the shooting screen of FIG. If it is determined that there is a shooting operation, the process proceeds to step S547. If it is determined that there is no shooting operation, the process proceeds to step S549.

  In step S547, the CPU 21 of the information processing apparatus 101 transmits shooting control information corresponding to the shooting operation (for example, information instructing to press the shutter) to the digital camera 100, and then the process proceeds to step S548. On the other hand, the CPU 103 of the digital camera 100 receives the shooting control information in step S523, passes the shooting control information to the shooting control unit 304 via the communication control unit 102, and proceeds to step S524. In step S524, the CPU 103 of the digital camera 100 The CPU 103 executes processing (shooting processing) according to the shooting control information. When shooting is finished, the output from the image pickup device of the optical unit 105 is processed by the DSP 104, and the processed image data is stored in the memory card 111 (image storage unit 308). The image data is transmitted to the information processing apparatus 101.

  In step S548, the CPU 21 of the information processing apparatus 101 receives the image data from the digital camera 100, stores it in the work area of the RAM 22, and synthesizes the image data with the template selected on the screen of FIG. 8 (step S551 described later). 9 is displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 61, and then the image management file stored in the hard disk 28 (the image file name is used as a key item, the reception date and time, and the presence / absence of printing) are displayed. A print flag that is turned on when a certain image is printed, and is turned on when shooting of a specific image is canceled (when the “Cancel” button is pressed on the shooting screen of FIG. 9). After adding one record of management information of image data received this time to the index file that stores each item of the deletion flag) The process proceeds to step S550. On the other hand, in step S549 when there is no shooting operation, the CPU 21 of the information processing apparatus 101 displays the live view image on the liquid crystal display unit 61 on the screen of FIG. 9 and advances the processing to step S550.

  In step S550, the CPU 21 of the information processing apparatus 101 refers to the work area of the RAM 22 and determines whether or not a print setting operation has been performed. The print setting operation is an operation for performing settings relating to printing. For example, a selection operation of touching any of the templates 83 to 86 on the template selection screen of FIG. 8 or a print style 1002 to 100 of the print setting screen of FIG. A selection operation of touching any one of 1005 is meant. If it is determined that these print setting operations have been performed, the process proceeds to step S551. If it is determined that there has not been a print setting operation, the process proceeds to step S552.

  In step S551, the CPU 21 of the information processing apparatus 101 stores the contents of the print setting operation in the work area of the RAM 22, and the process proceeds to step S552.

  In step S552, the CPU 21 of the information processing apparatus 101 refers to the work area of the RAM 22 and determines whether or not a printing operation has been performed. The print operation means an operation for instructing the start of printing. For example, when the “print start” button 1007 is pressed on the print setting screen in FIG. 10, processing is performed when it is determined that there is a print operation. In step S553, if it is determined that there is no printing operation, the process proceeds to step S555.

  In step S553, the CPU 21 of the information processing apparatus 101 reads the print setting stored in step S551, executes the printing process in cooperation with the printing apparatus 112, and when the printing process ends normally, the charging process ( A process of subtracting the amount of money (for example, 100 yen per sheet) from the amount of inserted money is executed, and the process proceeds to step S554. In step S554, the CPU 21 of the information processing apparatus 101 updates the print flag of the record of the corresponding image file name in the image management file to ON, and the process proceeds to step 555.

  In step S555, the CPU 21 of the information processing apparatus 101 refers to the work area of the RAM 22 and determines whether or not an end operation has been performed. The end operation is an operation for instructing the end of the process, and means, for example, a case where the “end” button is pressed on the print setting screen of FIG. If it is determined that there has been an end operation, a message “Do you want to store the captured image on the memory card?”, A Yes button and a No button are displayed in a dialog (not shown), and the No button is operated Deletes the photographed image data stored in the digital camera 100 and the information processing apparatus 101, and then finishes the process after returning the balance and inserts it into the memory card reader 62 when the Yes button is operated. After recording the captured image data on the memory card, the image data stored in the digital camera 100 and the information processing apparatus 101 is erased, and after the balance is returned, the process is terminated. If it is determined that there is no end operation, the process returns to step S541. This is the end of the description of FIG.

  Next, details of the photographing / printing process (2) in step S446 in FIG. 4 will be described using the flowchart in FIG. 6 with a focus on differences from the flowchart in FIG. In the flowchart of FIG. 6, steps S641 to S656 are processes executed under the control of the CPU 21 of the information processing apparatus 101, and steps S621 to S624 are processes executed under the control of the CPU 103 of the digital camera 100. . The processing in the flowchart of FIG. 6 is based on the premise that the digital camera 100 is operating in the finder mode.

  Steps S641 to S648 in FIG. 6 are executed in the same manner as steps S541 to S548 in FIG. However, even in these steps, the processing is different between FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 for the following three points. First, when the screen transition operation is performed in step S641 and the next screen button 82 in FIG. 8 is operated, the live view screen in FIG. 9 is displayed in FIG. Since the viewfinder mode is shown in FIG. 6, the preview image on the first shooting screen of FIG. 9 is not displayed, and the template and preview selected on the screen of FIG. 11 which is the second shooting screen are not displayed. A message is displayed indicating that the captured image will be displayed a few seconds after shooting. Next, if it is determined in step S646 that there has been no shooting operation, the process proceeds to step S651, which is different from FIG. Finally, in step S648, processing similar to that in step S548 is executed. However, the screen for displaying the captured image is partially different from FIG. 9 as shown in FIG. Specifically, a “next template and composition” button 1207 is displayed. Processing when this button is operated will be described later. 12 is different from FIG. 5 in that the process proceeds to step S649 after the screen of FIG. 12 is displayed in step S648.

  Next, steps S621 to S624 in FIG. 6 are executed in the same manner as steps S521 to S524 in FIG.

  In step S649, the CPU 21 of the information processing apparatus 101 refers to the work area of the RAM 22 to determine whether the “next template and composition” button 1207 has been operated on the screen of FIG. The process proceeds to step S650, and if it is determined that no operation has been performed, the process proceeds to step S651. In step S650, the CPU 21 of the information processing apparatus 101 switches to the template next to the templates 83 to 86 selected on the screen of FIG. 8 (template switching) and synthesizes the image data received from the digital camera 100 to display the liquid crystal display unit. 61 (screen of FIG. 12), and the process proceeds to step S651. With this configuration, unlike the live view mode, an appropriate combination of a template and a captured image can be easily selected even in the finder mode in which the positional relationship between the template and the person to be photographed cannot be confirmed in real time.

  Next, steps S651 to S656 in FIG. 6 are executed in the same manner as steps S550 to S555 in FIG. This is the end of the description of FIG.

[Other Examples]
The functions shown in the flowcharts of FIGS. 4 to 6 and the screens of FIGS. 7 to 12 in the present embodiment may be performed by the host computer by a program installed from the outside. In this case, the present invention is applied even when an information group including a program is supplied to the output device from a recording medium such as a CD-ROM, a flash memory, or an FD, or from an external recording medium via a network. Is.

  As described above, a recording medium in which a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments is recorded is supplied to the system or apparatus, and the computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus is stored in the recording medium. It goes without saying that the object of the present invention can also be achieved by reading and executing the program code.

  In this case, the program code itself read from the recording medium realizes the novel function of the present invention, and the recording medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

  As a recording medium for supplying the program code, for example, a flexible disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD-R, DVD-ROM, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM, EEPROM, A silicon disk or the like can be used.

  Further, by executing the program code read by the computer, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also an OS (operating system) or the like running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. It goes without saying that a case where the function of the above-described embodiment is realized by performing part or all of the actual processing and the processing is included.

  Furthermore, after the program code read from the recording medium is written in a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted in the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function expansion is performed based on the instruction of the program code. It goes without saying that the case where the CPU or the like provided in the board or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

  Further, the present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices or an apparatus composed of a single device. Needless to say, the present invention can be applied to a case where the present invention is achieved by supplying a program to a system or apparatus. In this case, by reading a recording medium storing a program represented by software for achieving the present invention into the system or apparatus, the system or apparatus can enjoy the effects of the present invention.

  Furthermore, by downloading and reading out a program represented by software for achieving the present invention from a server, database, etc. on a network using a communication program, the system or apparatus can enjoy the effects of the present invention. It becomes.

20 Bus 21 CPU
22 RAM
23 ROM
24 NIC
25 VGA
26 Keyboard (KB)
27 Mouse 28 Hard Disk (HDD)
29 DVD drive 100 digital camera 101 information processing apparatus 102 communication control unit 103 CPU
104 DSP
105 Optical unit 106 Main storage unit 107 Secondary storage unit 108 Operation unit 109 Display unit 110 ROM
111 Memory Card 112 Printing Device

Claims (4)

An information processing apparatus is configured to be communicable with a digital camera and a printing apparatus, and is a photo processing system for taking and printing a photo,
The digital camera
Determining means for determining whether an output voltage of an external power supply for supplying power to the digital camera is normal;
When the determination means determines that the output voltage of the external power supply is normal, the digital camera is operated in a live view mode in which the light received by the image sensor can be reduced and displayed, and the determination means A photographic processing system comprising: control means for turning off the live view mode when it is determined that the output voltage of the external power supply is abnormal. The determination means determines an output voltage of the external power source when the digital camera is activated,
The digital camera
Further comprising status transmission means for transmitting status information that is a determination result at the time of activation of the digital camera of the determination means to the information processing apparatus;
The information processing apparatus is any one of a second shooting screen including a template switching unit that switches a template to be combined with a shot image without displaying a preview display with the first shooting screen in accordance with the received status information. 2. The photo processing system according to claim 1, further comprising display control means for displaying one screen. The determination means determines an output voltage of the external power supply other than when the digital camera is activated,
The photographic processing system according to claim 2, wherein the status transmission unit transmits the status information to the information processing apparatus when it is determined that the output voltage of the external power source has changed normally from an abnormality. An information processing apparatus is configured to be communicable with a digital camera and a printing apparatus, and is a method for controlling a photo processing system for taking and printing a photo,
The digital camera
A determination step of determining whether or not an output voltage of an external power supply that supplies power to the digital camera is normal;
When it is determined that the output voltage of the external power supply is normal in the determination step, the digital camera is operated in a live view mode in which the light received by the image sensor can be displayed as it is. And a control step of turning off the live view mode when it is determined that the output voltage is abnormal.

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