JP2011194786A - Image forming apparatus and image forming method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To carry out layout printing from photographs displayed on a screen without needing to separately perform troublesome setting.SOLUTION: A printing reservation is received during the reproduction of a slide show (S100). When the printing reservation is made in the middle of the reproduction of one photograph, the one photograph is received as a printing object to set one-face layout (S120). When the printing reservation is made in the middle of photograph switching effect processing for displaying, in one screen, a plurality of photographs including the reproduction completed photograph and photographs standing by for reproduction the next time onward, the plurality of photographs are received as the printing object to set multi-face layout (S130).

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that is connected to a storage unit that stores a plurality of images and that forms an image selected from the stored images on a medium.

  Conventionally, as this type of image forming apparatus, an apparatus that arranges and prints a plurality of photos according to a slide show display order based on setting data such as a slide display order for reproducing a plurality of photos as a slide show has been proposed. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1). In this apparatus, since the arrangement of the photos in the photo print is in the slide show display order, the user can grasp the contents of the slide show by looking at the photo prints.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-12015

  By the way, in slide show reproduction, there are various effects such as displaying one photo large on one screen or displaying a plurality of photos simultaneously on one screen. Now, in the case of an image forming apparatus with a display device, when trying to print photos that are being played back as a slide show on the display device, even if you try to print multiple photos that are simultaneously displayed on one screen due to effects, After playback, it is necessary to select a photo again and to set a layout for laying out a plurality of photos, which places a heavy burden on the user.

  The main object of the image forming apparatus of the present invention is to make it possible to lay out a plurality of images and form them on a medium by designating an image displayed on the screen, without having to make troublesome settings separately.

  The image forming apparatus of the present invention employs the following means in order to achieve the main object described above.

The image forming apparatus of the present invention includes:
An image forming apparatus connected to storage means for storing a plurality of images and forming an image selected from the stored images on a medium,
Display means for displaying an image on the screen;
Image forming means for forming an image on a medium;
An operation means that is operated by a user to receive various instructions;
When the display of the image is instructed via the operation unit, the display unit is controlled so that the plurality of stored images are displayed with the switching of the number of images displayed on one screen at a time. When an image formation instruction is received via the operation means while an image is displayed on the display means, and the image formation instruction is received, the image is displayed on one screen when the instruction is received. The image forming means sets a surface layout according to the number of displayed images, and forms an image displayed on one screen when the instruction is accepted with the set layout. And a control means for controlling the above.

  In the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, when an image display is instructed via the operation unit, a plurality of images stored with switching of the number of images displayed at a time on one screen are displayed. The display unit is controlled so that an image formation instruction is received via the operation unit while an image is displayed on the display unit. When the image formation instruction is received, the instruction is accepted when the instruction is received. Set the layout of the surface according to the number of images displayed on the screen, and control the image forming means so that the image displayed on one screen is formed on the medium when an instruction is accepted with the set layout To do. Accordingly, it is not necessary to make troublesome settings separately, and an image displayed on one screen can be formed on the medium by setting the layout of the surface according to the number of images.

  In such an image forming apparatus of the present invention, the control means stores the image by switching images by image switching effect processing for temporarily displaying a plurality of images including a standby image to be displayed next time on one screen. The display unit is controlled so that a plurality of images are sequentially displayed one by one, and when one image is displayed on one screen, an image formation is instructed via the operation unit. And controlling the image forming means so that the one image is formed on the medium with the set one-side layout, and image formation is instructed via the operation means during the image switching effect processing. In this case, a multi-plane layout corresponding to the number of images displayed on one screen by the image switching effect process is set and the set multi-view layout is set. The plurality of images with the plane layout may be assumed to be a means for controlling said image forming means to be formed on the medium. In this way, it is possible to automatically set an appropriate layout depending on whether one image is displayed on one screen and the image switching effect is being performed. In the image forming apparatus of the present invention of this aspect, the control unit controls the display unit so that at least one of the plurality of images is displayed on a single screen in a size different from the other as the image switching effect process, When image formation is instructed through the operation means during the image switching effect process, a large image among a plurality of images displayed on one screen is laid out with a frame larger than a small image. The image forming unit may be a unit that controls the image forming unit to be formed on the medium. In this way, it is possible to form a large image on the medium that is considered to be noticed by the user among a plurality of images.

  In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the control unit controls the display unit so that a preview screen is displayed according to the set layout, and after displaying the preview screen, the image has the set layout. The image forming means may be a means for controlling the image forming means to be formed in the following manner. In this way, the user can confirm the image formed on the medium. In the image forming apparatus according to the aspect of the present invention, the control unit receives a predetermined editing instruction via the operation unit while the preview screen is displayed, and when the editing instruction is given. Can be means for executing image editing and forming the edited image on the medium. In this way, the user can edit the image as necessary. In this case, the editing may include at least one of changing the number of layout planes, changing the layout pattern, and replacing an image.

The image forming method of the present invention comprises:
An operation unit that is operated by a user to receive various instructions, a display unit that displays an image on a screen, an image formation unit that forms an image on a medium, and is connected to a storage unit that stores a plurality of images. An image forming method for forming an image selected from among existing images on a medium,
When the display of the image is instructed via the operation unit, the display unit is controlled so that the plurality of stored images are displayed with the switching of the number of images displayed on one screen at a time. When an image formation instruction is received via the operation means while an image is displayed on the display means, and the image formation instruction is received, the image is displayed on one screen when the instruction is received. The image forming means sets a surface layout according to the number of displayed images, and forms an image displayed on one screen when the instruction is accepted with the set layout. The gist is to control this.

  In the image forming method of the present invention, when an image display is instructed via the operation means, a plurality of images stored with switching of the number of images displayed at one time on one screen are displayed. The display unit is controlled so that an image formation instruction is received via the operation unit while an image is displayed on the display unit. When the image formation instruction is received, the instruction is accepted when the instruction is received. Set the layout of the surface according to the number of images displayed on the screen, and control the image forming means so that the image displayed on one screen is formed on the medium when an instruction is accepted with the set layout To do. Accordingly, it is not necessary to make troublesome settings separately, and an image displayed on one screen can be formed on the medium by setting the layout of the surface according to the number of images.

FIG. 2 is an external perspective view illustrating an external appearance of a printer 20 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing functional blocks of the printer 20 of the present embodiment. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a top menu screen 70. Explanatory drawing which shows the mode of a slide show reproduction | regeneration. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a print processing routine during slide show reproduction. Explanatory drawing which shows a mode that print reservation is performed from a slide show reproduction | regeneration screen. Explanatory drawing which shows a mode that print reservation is performed from a slide show reproduction | regeneration screen. Explanatory drawing which shows a mode that print reservation is performed from a slide show reproduction | regeneration screen. Explanatory drawing which shows an example of the edit menu screen 74. FIG. Explanatory drawing which shows the mode of a layout surface number change. Explanatory drawing which shows the mode of a layout pattern change. Explanatory drawing which shows the mode of photograph replacement.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an external perspective view illustrating an external appearance of a printer 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating functional blocks of the printer 20 according to the present embodiment.

  The printer 20 of the present embodiment is configured as a photo printer that includes a printing mechanism 40 (see FIG. 2) and performs printing on L-size paper. As shown in FIG. A handle 22 for carrying the main body 21 is provided on the upper surface of the printer 21, an auto sheet feeder 23 for automatically feeding the set paper is provided on the rear surface of the main body 21, and a paper printed by the printing mechanism 40 is held on the front surface of the main body 21. A paper discharge tray 24 and a liquid crystal display (LCD) 25 for confirming settings at the time of photography and printing are provided, and a power button 26 for turning the power on and off is provided on the side of the main body 21. Further, an infrared communication port 28 (light receiving unit) is provided on the front surface of the main body 21 at a position adjacent to the paper discharge tray 24, and the remote control device 30 is operated with the light emitting unit 30a facing the infrared communication port 28. By doing so, the printer 20 can be remotely operated. The remote control device 30 includes a power button 31 for turning on / off the power as buttons for remotely operating the printer 20, and the printing is stopped when pressed during printing and the number of printed sheets when pressed on the photo selection screen. A stop / setting clear button 32 for canceling the selection of a photograph and a photo, a top menu button 33 for displaying a top menu screen, and a print number setting button for setting the number of prints (plus button and print for increasing the number of prints one by one) (A minus button for reducing the number of sheets one by one) 34, an up / down / left / right button 35 for selecting an item or setting value, an OK button 36 for determining an item or proceeding to the next screen, and a previous screen. A return button 37, a print button 38 for starting printing, a setting button 39 for displaying a setting screen, and the like are provided.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the printing mechanism 40 is driven by a carriage belt 43 that is looped in the left-right direction (main scanning direction) and reciprocates left and right along a guide 42. An ink cartridge 44 that supplies ink of each color such as magenta, yellow, and black; a print head 45 that applies pressure to each ink supplied from each ink cartridge 44 and discharges ink from the nozzle toward the paper S; A transport roller 46 that transports the paper S in the sub-scanning direction. The ink cartridge 44 is a so-called off-carriage type that is attached below the printing mechanism 40 and in which the ink cartridge 44 is not mounted on the carriage 41. Here, the print head 45 employs a method in which a voltage is applied to the piezoelectric element to deform the piezoelectric element and pressurize the ink. However, a voltage is applied to a heating resistor (for example, a heater) to heat the ink. A method of pressurizing the ink with the generated bubbles may be employed.

  The LCD 25 displays characters, figures, symbols, etc. under display control by the LCD controller 54. In the present embodiment, the LCD 25 is composed of pixels of 960 dots × 240 dots.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the printer 20 of the present embodiment has a main controller 60 that controls the entire printer, a printer ASIC 48 that controls the printing mechanism 40, and an infrared communication port 28. An infrared communication controller 52 that processes the input infrared signal as an operation signal, an LCD controller 54 that controls the display of the LCD 25, and a memory card controller that controls the writing and reading of data to and from the memory card MC inserted in the memory card slot 56 58, which are electrically connected to each other via a bus 59.

  The main controller 60 is configured as a microprocessor centered on the CPU 61. The ROM 62 stores various processing programs, various data, various tables, etc., and the RAM 63 temporarily stores data. Even with this, a flash memory 64 for holding data and an interface 65 (I / F) for inputting an operation signal from the power button 26 are provided. The main controller 60 inputs an image file or the like from the memory card MC inserted into the memory card slot 56, inputs an operation signal from the infrared communication controller 52, a detection signal from each part of the printing mechanism 40, or the like. . Further, the main controller 60 stores an edited image or the like in the memory card MC, or outputs a command signal to the printer ASIC 48 or a control signal to the LCD controller 54.

  In the printer 20 of the present embodiment configured as described above, when the top menu button 33 is pressed, the top menu screen is displayed to accept selection of various items. FIG. 3 shows an example of the top menu screen 70. On the top menu screen 70, in the present embodiment, as shown in the figure, a “slide show” for sequentially reproducing image data stored in the memory card MC or the flash memory 64 and a “photo print” for printing a photo. , "Various printing" for layout printing that prints photos in a multi-face layout, frame printing that prints frames with photos, and "data management" for backing up data in the memory card MC to the flash memory 64 There is an item. The user can select any of these items by pressing the up / down / left / right button 35 and pressing the OK button 36.

  When “Print Photo” is selected by the user on the top menu screen 70, the photo selection screen accepts the selection of a photo to be printed from among the photos stored in the memory card MC. The setting of the number of prints, the paper size, the paper type, and the border / date of the selected photo is received, and when each setting item is selected, a preview screen is displayed and the print button 38 is awaited. When the print button 38 is pressed, the selected photograph (compressed image file) is read and decompressed, the decompressed RGB data is resized and converted into CMYK data, and the halftone process is performed on the CMYK data after color conversion. By performing the binarization, print data is generated, and printing is executed by controlling the print mechanism 40 based on the generated print data.

  When “slide show” is selected by the user on the top menu screen 70, the image data stored in the memory card MC is read and decompressed, and the decompressed RGB data is output to the LCD controller 54, thereby sequentially displaying images on the LCD 25. Slide show playback is displayed. FIG. 4 shows a slide show reproduction. In the slide show reproduction, photographs are displayed on the LCD 25 one by one with switching by the photograph switching effect process, and in detail, as shown in the figure, one photograph is being reproduced (FIG. 4A ))), The photograph is gradually reduced (see FIGS. 4B and 4C). At this time, four photos to be reproduced from the next time are on standby. When the reduction of the previously reproduced photo is completed, the next reproduced photo is gradually enlarged (see FIGS. 4D and 4E) and finally enlarged to the full screen (FIG. 4D). )reference). The slide show reproduction is performed by repeating such processing. As described above, in the slide show reproduction, basically, one photo is displayed on the screen, but five photos are displayed on the screen during the photo switching effect process. In the present embodiment, the four photos that are waiting during the photo switching effect process are displayed larger as the photos are displayed earlier.

  In the printer 20 of this embodiment, when the plus button of the print number setting button 34 is pressed during slide show playback, a print reservation is accepted, and then the print button 38 is pressed or slide show playback is performed. After the completion, a preview screen of a photo for which a print reservation has been accepted is displayed, and when the print button 38 is pressed, the photo is printed.

  Next, the operation of the printer 20 of this embodiment configured as described above, particularly the operation when a print reservation is made during slide show reproduction will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a print processing routine during slide show reproduction. This routine is executed when slide show reproduction is started.

  When the slide show reproduction print processing routine is executed, the CPU 61 of the main controller 60 first accepts a print reservation (step S100). This process is a process of waiting for the plus button to be pressed because the print reservation is accepted by the plus button of the print number setting button 34 as described above. When the print reservation is accepted, it is determined whether or not the photo switching effect processing is in progress (step S110). If it is determined that the photo switching effect processing is not in progress, one image is displayed on the LCD 25. Is displayed as a print reservation for the one photo, the single-side layout is selected (step S120), and if it is determined that the photo switching effect processing is in progress, the image is reproduced on the LCD 25. Since five photos are displayed, including the photos that have been completed and the standby photos to be played back next time, the multi-screen layout is selected by accepting print reservations for the five photos (step S130). Then, when the slide show reproduction is completed or the print button 38 is pressed (step S140), a preview screen of the photo for which the print reservation has been accepted is displayed (step S150), and the start of printing is instructed (step S150). In step S180, a printing process is executed (step S190), and this routine is terminated. 6 to 8 show a state in which printing is reserved and printing is performed from the slide show reproduction screen. As shown in FIG. 6, when a print reservation is made while one photo is being played back as a slideshow, the one photo being played is set as a print target, and this one photo is set to 1 The preview screen 72 is displayed in the plane layout and the printing process is executed. On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, when a print reservation is made during the photo switching effect processing, the five photos being reproduced are set as print targets, and these five photos are displayed on the five sides. The preview screen 72 is displayed in the layout and the printing process is executed. In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, one of the five layout surfaces is formed with a larger frame than the other surfaces, and is displayed in the largest size among the five photos being played back. The assigned photos are assigned to the outline. That is, considering the photo switching effect processing of FIG. 4, when a print reservation is made at the timing of FIG. 4B or the timing of FIG. 4C, the photo A is assigned to a large frame, and FIG. When the print reservation is made at the timing shown in FIG. 4 or the timing shown in FIG. 4E, the photo B is assigned to the large frame.

  If editing is instructed before starting printing after the preview screen is displayed (step S160), the editing menu screen is displayed and menu selection is accepted (step S170). FIG. 9 shows an example of the edit menu screen 74. On the edit menu screen 74, as shown in the figure, three menus of “change layout number”, “change layout pattern”, and “photo replacement” are displayed. When the edit menu is selected, an edit process corresponding to the selected edit menu is executed (step S170), and the process returns to step S150.

  FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing how the number of layout planes is changed. To change the number of layout pages, the edit menu screen 74 is displayed by pressing the OK button 36 (see FIG. 10A) by moving the cursor 72a to "edit" with the up / down / left / right button 35 on the preview screen 72. 74, the cursor 74a is set to "change layout number" with the up / down / left / right button 35 and the OK button 36 is pressed (see FIG. 10B) to display the layout number change screen 76. Then, the cursor is moved to the desired number of faces by the up / down / left / right button 35 from among the changeable layout faces (1 face, 2 faces, 4 faces, and 5 faces in FIG. 10) displayed in the right column of the layout face number change screen 76. This is performed by setting 76a and pressing the OK button 36 (see FIGS. 10C and 10D).

  FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing how the layout pattern is changed. As shown in FIG. 11, the layout pattern is changed by setting the cursor 72 a to “edit” with the up / down / left / right button 35 on the preview screen 72 and pressing the OK button 36 (see FIG. 11A). Is displayed on the editing menu screen 74, and the cursor 74a is set to "change layout pattern" with the up / down / left / right button 35 and the OK button 36 is pressed (see FIG. 11B) to display the layout pattern change screen 78. Then, the cursor 78a is moved to the desired pattern by the up / down / left / right buttons 35 from among the changeable layout patterns (pattern 1, pattern 2 in FIG. 11) displayed in the right column of the layout pattern change screen 78, and the OK button 36 is pressed. This is done by pressing (see FIGS. 11 (c) and 11 (d)).

  FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing how a photograph is replaced. As shown in FIG. 12, the photograph is replaced by moving the cursor 72a to “edit” with the up / down / left / right button 35 on the preview screen 72 and pressing the OK button 36 (see FIG. 12A). In the editing menu screen 74, the photograph replacement screen 80 is displayed by pressing the OK button 36 (see FIG. 12B) with the cursor 74a being set to “photo replacement” with the up / down / left / right buttons 35. Then, by selecting the number assigned to the frame to be replaced out of the photo frames displayed on the photo replacement screen 80 with the up / down / left / right button 35 from the right column and pressing the OK button 36 (see FIG. 12C). A photo selection screen 82 for replacement is displayed, a photo to be replaced is selected from the photo selection screen 82 with the up / down / left / right buttons 35 and the OK button 36 is pressed (see FIG. 12D).

  Here, the correspondence between the components of the present embodiment and the components of the present invention will be clarified. The LCD 25 of this embodiment corresponds to the “display unit” of the present invention, the printing mechanism 40 and the printer ASIC 48 correspond to the “image forming unit”, and the remote control device 30 corresponds to the “operation unit”. The main controller 60 that executes the print processing routine during the slide show reproduction corresponds to a “control unit”.

  According to the printer 20 of the present embodiment described above, a print reservation is accepted during slide show reproduction, and when a print reservation is made while one photo is being reproduced, that one photo is accepted as a print target. A print reservation is made during the photo switching effect process in which multiple photos are displayed on a single screen, including photos that have been printed in a single-sided layout, and photos that have been played back and photos that are waiting to be played next time When this is done, the multiple photos are accepted as print targets and printed with a multi-sided layout, so the user does not need to make troublesome settings separately, and the multiple photos displayed on the screen can be selected according to the number of photos. Can be printed according to the layout setting. In addition, one side of the multi-face layout surface is formed with a larger frame than the other surface, and a larger image is assigned to the larger frame among the multiple photos during slide show playback. You can print a photo that you think is larger than other photos. Further, since the editing instruction is received and the editing process is executed while the preview screen 72 is displayed, it is possible to appropriately cope with the correction after the print reservation is made.

  In the above-described embodiment, during slide show playback, photos are displayed one by one during normal playback, and five photos are temporarily displayed on one screen including photos to be displayed next time during the photo switching effect. The number of photos displayed during the photo switching effect may be any number as long as it is different from the number of photos currently being played back.

  In the above-described embodiment, one of the multiple layout surfaces is formed with a larger frame than the other surface, and a photo displayed larger among a plurality of photos during slide show playback is assigned to the large frame. It is good also as what forms the size of all the layout surfaces equally.

  In the above-described embodiment, after the preview screen 72 is displayed, three edits of “change layout number”, “change layout pattern”, and “photo replacement” are accepted. A part or all of the above may be omitted.

  In the above-described embodiment, the image forming apparatus of the present invention is applied to the printer 20. However, the image forming apparatus is applied to a multi-function printer including a scanner capable of reading a document, or applied to a FAX apparatus having a FAX function. It is good also as what to do.

  It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it goes without saying that the present invention can be implemented in various modes as long as it belongs to the technical scope of the present invention.

  20 Printer, 21 Main body, 22 Handle, 23 Auto seed feeder, 24 Discharge tray, 25 Liquid crystal display, 26 Power button, 28 Infrared communication port, 30 Remote control device, 30a Light emitting unit, 31 Power button, 32 Stop / setting clear Button, 33 Top menu button, 34 Print number setting button, 35 Up / down / left / right button, 36 OK button, 37 Back button, 38 Print button, 39 Setting button, 40 Printing mechanism, 41 Carriage, 42 Guide, 43 Carriage belt, 44 Ink cartridge , 45 print head, 46 transport roller, 47 capping device, 48 printer ASIC, 52 infrared communication controller, 54 LCD controller, 56 memory card slot, 58 Memory Card Controller, 60 Main Controller, 61 CPU, 62 ROM, 63 RAM, 64 Flash Memory, 65 Interface (I / F), 70 Top Menu Screen, 72 Preview Screen, 72a Cursor, 74 Edit Menu Screen, 74a Cursor, 76 Layout Number of screen change screen, 76a cursor, 78 Layout pattern change screen, 78a cursor, 80 photo replacement screen, 80a cursor, 82 photo selection screen.

Claims (7)

An image forming apparatus connected to storage means for storing a plurality of images and forming an image selected from the stored images on a medium,
Display means for displaying an image on the screen;
Image forming means for forming an image on a medium;
An operation means that is operated by a user to receive various instructions;
When the display of the image is instructed via the operation unit, the display unit is controlled so that the plurality of stored images are displayed with the switching of the number of images displayed on one screen at a time. When an image formation instruction is received via the operation means while an image is displayed on the display means, and the image formation instruction is received, the image is displayed on one screen when the instruction is received. The image forming means sets a surface layout according to the number of displayed images, and forms an image displayed on one screen when the instruction is accepted with the set layout. And an image forming apparatus.   The control means sequentially stores the plurality of stored images one by one with image switching by image switching effect processing for temporarily displaying a plurality of images including standby images to be displayed next time on one screen. The display means is controlled so that it is displayed, and when one image is displayed on one screen and image formation is instructed via the operation means, the one-side layout is set and the set one-side layout is set. The image forming means is controlled so that the one image is formed on the medium, and when image formation is instructed via the operation means during the image switching effect process, the image switching effect process A multi-plane layout is set according to the number of images of a plurality of images displayed on one screen, and the plurality of images are displayed in front of the set multi-plane layout. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the means for controlling said image forming means to be formed on the medium.   The control means controls the display means so that at least one of the plurality of images is displayed on a single screen in a different size from the others as the image switching effect processing, and the operation means during the image switching effect processing. When the image formation is instructed via the image forming unit, the image forming unit is configured such that a large image among a plurality of images displayed on one screen is laid out with a frame larger than a small image and formed on the medium. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, which is means for controlling   The control means controls the display means so that a preview screen is displayed according to the set layout, and after the preview screen is displayed, the image forming means is configured to form an image on the medium with the set layout. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is a control unit.   The control means receives a predetermined editing instruction via the operation means while the preview screen is displayed. When the editing instruction is given, the control means executes editing of the image and after editing. 5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, which is means for forming an image on the medium.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the editing includes at least one of a change in the number of layout planes, a change in a layout pattern, and an image replacement. An operation unit that is operated by a user to receive various instructions, a display unit that displays an image on a screen, an image formation unit that forms an image on a medium, and is connected to a storage unit that stores a plurality of images. An image forming method for forming an image selected from among existing images on a medium,
When the display of the image is instructed via the operation unit, the display unit is controlled so that the plurality of stored images are displayed with the switching of the number of images displayed on one screen at a time. When an image formation instruction is received via the operation means while an image is displayed on the display means, and the image formation instruction is received, the image is displayed on one screen when the instruction is received. An image forming method comprising: controlling the image forming unit so that a displayed image is formed on the medium with a layout of a surface corresponding to the number of images displayed on the one screen.