JP4284615B2 - Album print creation method and apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an album print creation technique for forming a photographed image and character information on a recording medium using a template having a photographed image frame and / or a character frame.

When creating an album on an image forming device such as a photo printing device, the operator has conventionally performed manual operations on the editing screen, such as inputting a comment on the cover, back cover, and each photographed image, and adjusting the character size. It was.
As an album print creation technique in an image forming apparatus, there is an apparatus that automatically pastes a photographed image into a photographed image frame of a template while adjusting the size, and automatically pastes character information into a predetermined column of the template ( For example, see Patent Document 1). The character information here is input by the operator for each captured image and stored in association with the captured image.

JP 2001-256290 A

  However, the apparatus of Patent Document 1 has a problem in that input mistakes are likely to occur because the operator inputs character information for each captured image while checking on the editing screen. In particular, the greater the number of captured images, the greater the amount of work for the operator, the longer it takes to create the album print, and the higher the incidence of input errors.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to reduce the operator's work related to album print creation, reduce input errors, etc., and create album data that can create print data in a shorter time. It is in providing creation technology.

In order to achieve this object, the feature configuration of the album print creation method according to the present invention is an album print creation method in which a template having a photographed image frame and a character frame is used to form a photographed image and character information on a recording medium. Te, a template selecting step of selecting the template, the captured image input step of inputting the captured image, correlation and photographed image setting step for associating the captured image in the captured image frame, the character information on the photographing field image A character information input step for inputting the character information file recorded in the above; a character information setting step for associating the character information with the character frame based on the character information file; and a print image formed on each recording medium. Pre-created by combining the photographed image and the character information with a template In point composed of a preparative image producing step.

  That is, according to the above-described characteristic configuration, the character information file can be input by the character information file, so that the character information file usable by the album creation requester in the image forming apparatus can be created. In this case, it is not necessary for the operator to input character information while confirming on an image forming apparatus such as a photographic printing apparatus, so that it is possible to effectively prevent an error in inputting character information and reduce the amount of work for the operator. And you can create an album in a short time. In addition, when the character information file is created by the operator, the character information to be input to the album can be input at a time, so that the load on the operator can be reduced and the input time can be shortened.

Another feature of the album print creating method according to the present invention for achieving this object is that the character information file is created based on an image formation order file having the photographed image and its attribute data. It has a creation step.
For example, when printing a photographed image from a digital camera or a mobile phone, a DPOF (Digital Print Order Format) file is used to record the photographed image to be printed and the specified information such as the frame and number of sheets to be printed from the photographed image. The Therefore, the amount of work of the operator can be reduced by adopting a configuration in which a character information file is automatically created from an image formation order file such as a DPOF file as described above. This makes it possible to reduce input errors more effectively and create an album in a short time.

The present invention also covers a program for causing a computer to execute the above-described album print creation method and a medium on which the program is recorded. Such an album print creation program includes a template for selecting the template. input and selection function, a photographing image input function of inputting the captured image, and the captured image setting function associating the captured image in the captured image frame, text information file recorded in association with the character information on the photographing field image A character information input function, a character information setting function for associating the character information with the character frame based on the character information file, and a print image to be formed on each recording medium. It has a print image creation function to create by combining information Naturally, such an album print creation program can also obtain all the effects of the above-described album print creation method. It is also preferable to add the function according to the dependent claim described in the album print creation method to the album print creation program.

In the present invention, an album print creation apparatus that implements the above-described album print creation method is also subject to rights, and such an album print creation apparatus inputs a template selection unit that selects the template and the photographed image. a captured image input unit which, with the captured photographed image setting unit associating an image on the captured image frame, the character information input unit character information inputting character information file recorded in association with the photographing field image, the character Based on the information file, a character information setting unit that associates the character information with the character frame, and a print image formed on the recording medium by combining the photographed image and the character information with the template And an image creation unit. Naturally, such an album print creation apparatus can also obtain all the effects of the above-described album print creation method. It is also preferable to add a configuration according to the dependent claim described in the album print creation method to the album print creation apparatus.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of embodiments using the drawings.

Hereinafter, a first embodiment of an album print creation technique according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is an external view showing a photographic printing apparatus adopting an album print creation technique according to the present invention. This photographic printing apparatus is a printing station as a photographic printer that performs exposure processing and development processing on photographic paper P. 1B and an operation station 1A that processes a captured image taken from an image input medium such as a developed photographic film 2a or a digital camera memory card 2b and generates / transfers print data to be used in the print station 1B. It is configured.

  This photo printing apparatus is also called a digital minilab, and as can be understood from FIG. The back print unit 13 prints print processing information such as color correction information and frame number on the back side of the photographic paper P, and the print exposure unit 14 cuts the print paper P into the size. A photographed image is exposed on the surface of the photographic paper P, and the exposed photographic paper P is sent to a processing tank unit 15 having a plurality of development processing tanks for development processing. After drying, the photographic paper P, that is, the photographic prints P, sent to the sorter 17 from the transverse feed conveyor 16 at the upper part of the apparatus is collected in a plurality of trays of the sorter 17 in a state of being sorted in order units (see FIG. 1). ).

  A photographic paper transport mechanism 18 is laid to transport the photographic paper P at a transport speed in accordance with various processes for the photographic paper P described above. The photographic paper transport mechanism 18 is composed of a plurality of nipping and transporting roller pairs including a chucker type photographic paper transport unit 18a disposed before and after the print exposure unit 14 in the photographic paper transport direction.

  The print exposure unit 14 applies R (red), G (green), and B (blue) to the printing paper P conveyed in the sub-scanning direction based on print data from the operation station 1A along the main scanning direction. A line exposure head for irradiating laser beams of the three primary colors (1) is provided. The processing tank unit 15 includes a color developing tank 15a for storing a color developing processing liquid, a bleach-fixing tank 15b for storing a bleach-fixing processing liquid, and a stabilizing tank 15c for storing a stable processing liquid.

  At the upper position of the desk-like console of the operation station 1A, there is disposed a film scanner 20 capable of acquiring a photographed image from a photographed image frame of the photographic film 2a with a resolution exceeding 2000 dpi, and is attached to a digital camera or the like. A media reader 21 that acquires captured images from various semiconductor memories, CD-Rs, and the like used as the captured image recording medium 2b is incorporated in a general-purpose personal computer that functions as the controller 3 of the photographic printing apparatus. The general-purpose personal computer is also connected with a monitor 23 for displaying various information, and a keyboard 24 and a mouse 25 as operation input devices used as operation input units used for various settings and adjustments.

  The controller 3 of this photographic printing apparatus has a functional unit for performing various operations of the photographic printing apparatus using hardware and / or software, with the CPU as a core member, as shown in FIG. The function unit particularly related to the present invention includes an image input unit 31 that takes a photographed image read by the film scanner 20 or the media reader 21 and performs pre-processing necessary for the next processing, various windows, and various types. Creation of a graphic operation screen including operation buttons and the like, and construction of a graphic user interface (hereinafter abbreviated as GUI) for generating a control command from a user operation input (via the keyboard 24, mouse 25, etc.) through such a graphic operation screen GUI unit 33 and control frames sent from GUI unit 33 A print management unit 32 that performs image processing on a captured image transferred from the image input unit 31 to the memory 30 in order to generate desired print data based on an operation command input directly from the keyboard or the keyboard 24, etc. A video control unit 35 that generates a video signal for causing the monitor 23 to display graphic data sent from the GUI unit 33, or a simulated image as a print source image or an expected finished print image during pre-judge printing work such as correction. A print data generation unit 36 that generates print data suitable for the print exposure unit 14 installed in the print station 1B based on the processed captured image that has been subjected to image processing, and a raw capture according to customer requirements. Write images and processed shots that have been processed to CD-R Etc. formatter 37 for formatting the like to form for.

  When the photographic image recording medium is the film 2a, the image input unit 31 separately sends the scan data for the pre-scan mode and the main scan mode to the memory 30, and performs preprocessing according to each purpose. When the captured image recording medium is the memory card 2b, when the captured image includes thumbnails (low resolution data), the captured image main data (high data) is used for the purpose of displaying a list on the monitor 23. The thumbnail image is sent to the memory 30 separately from the resolution data. If a thumbnail is not included, a reduced image is created from this data and sent to the memory 30 as a thumbnail.

  The print management unit 32 includes a print order processing unit 60 that manages the print size, the number of prints, and the like, an image processing unit 70 that performs various types of image processing on the captured image developed in the memory 30, and an album print creation technique according to the present invention. The adopted album creating means 80 and means for realizing a photo retouching function such as density correction and resolution conversion are included. The album creating means 80 is implemented in the print management unit 32 as a program.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the album creating unit 80 includes a template selection unit 81, a captured image input unit 82, a captured image setting unit 83, a character information input unit 84, a character information setting unit 85, and a print image creation unit 86. Yes. The template selection unit 81 here includes a template storage unit 81a in which the template 42 is stored. The template selection unit 81 is a processing unit that performs a template selection step of selecting the template 42, the captured image input unit 82 is a processing unit that performs a captured image input step of inputting a captured image, and the captured image setting unit 83 is , A processing unit that performs a captured image setting step for associating a captured image with the captured image frame 43, and a character information input unit 84 inputs a character information file in which character information is recorded in association with the captured image or the character frame 44. The information input step is a processing unit, and the character information setting unit 85 is a processing unit that performs a character information setting step for associating character information with the character frame 44 based on the character information file. Create print images to be formed on each recording medium by combining the captured image and text information with the template 42 A processing unit for performing printing image creating step that.

  Next, the album creation processing procedure of the album creating means 80 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. First, a photographed image, specifically digital image data of the photographed image, is captured through the film scanner 20 and the media reader 21. The photographed image here is developed in the memory 30 in EXIF (Exchangeable Image File Format) format together with attribute data as tag information in the TIFF format with digital image data in JPEG format or the like. Further, in the present embodiment, a DPOF (Digital Print Order Format) file that records designation information such as a frame to be printed and the number of sheets to be printed is used as an image formation order file. Subsequently, the character information file obtained from the user is taken into the memory 30 through the media reader 21 or the like.

  The template selection unit 81 selects a template 42 to be used for creating an album by input from the keyboard 24 or the mouse 25 (# 100). The template 42 has a photographed image frame 43 and / or a character frame 44, and includes a cover part, a back cover part, and a main body part. Furthermore, the template selection unit 81 of the present embodiment is configured to be able to edit the template 42, and the template 42 stored in the template storage unit 81a can be corrected. Here, FIG. 6 shows an example of a template creation screen, where the comment insertion position can be adjusted, and the comment format such as the character size and color can be set. The template 42 used for album creation is selected from the template 42 edited in this way and the template 42 stored in the template storage unit 81a.

  The captured image input unit 82 receives a captured image for creating an album from the memory 30 based on the input from the GUI unit 33 and outputs it to the captured image setting unit 83 (# 200). Specifically, for example, when stored as a DPOF file, digital image data such as JPEG format is acquired.

  The captured image setting unit 83 associates the captured image acquired by the captured image input unit 82 with the captured image frame 43 of the template 42 selected by the template selection unit 81 (# 300). Specifically, the photographed image is associated with the album page number and the photographed image frame 43.

  The character information input unit 84 acquires a character information file in which character information is recorded in association with the captured image or the character frame 44 from the memory 30 (# 400). Here, FIG. 7 shows an example of a character information file. In the character information file a, character information, that is, a comment is set for the file name of the photographed image printed on the cover portion, the back cover portion, and the main body portion.

  The character information setting unit 85 associates the character information with the character frame 44 of the template 42 based on the character information file acquired by the character information input unit 84 (# 500). Here, the character information file b in FIG. 7 is obtained by converting the character information file a in the character information setting unit 85, and the comment associated with the file name of the photographed image is changed to the page number of the album and the photographed image frame. 43.

  The print image creation unit 86 synthesizes the photographed image and the character information with the template 42 selected by the template selection unit 81 (# 600). Here, FIG. 8 shows an example of the print image creation screen 40. In the print image creation screen 40, a print image display area 41 for displaying a print image obtained by combining a photographed image and character information on the template 42, a thumbnail display area 45 for displaying a thumbnail of the photographed image, and edit contents are determined. A confirmation button 46 is constructed. As shown in FIG. 8, the print image creation unit 86 displays a print image obtained by combining the captured image with the captured image frame 43 for each page based on the setting by the captured image setting unit 83, and based on the character information file. Thus, the character information is inserted into the associated character frame 44. Further, the print image creation screen 40 is configured to allow addition / deletion of pages and editing of character information. In a preferred embodiment, when a page is added / deleted or character information is edited, the character information file is rewritten based on the edited content.

  When the editing is completed and the confirm button 46 is selected, the print image creation unit 86 creates album data based on the print image creation screen 40 and outputs it to the photo printing apparatus. In addition, it is also a preferable embodiment to write to a storage medium such as a CD-R (Compact Disc-Recordable) or a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk).

A second embodiment of the album print creation technique according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
In the first embodiment, the character information input unit 84 acquires the character information file created by the user. However, in the present embodiment, the album creating unit 80 converts the character information file into the captured image and its attribute. And a character information file creation unit 87 that is created based on an image formation order file having data.

  In step # 400, the character information file creation unit 87 extracts a comment from the attribute data of the DPOF file and creates a character information file. In the DPOF file, as the attribute data, the file name of the photographed image, the number of prints, a comment, and the like are recorded in association with each other. The file name and comment of the photographed image are extracted from the attribute data, and FIG. The character information file a shown is created. The character information input unit 84 acquires character information from the character information file creation unit 87. By configuring in this way, it is possible to reduce the amount of work of an operator for creating a character information file, prevent an input error, and create an album in a short period of time.

  Furthermore, the character information file creation unit 87 of the present embodiment is configured to allow the operator to edit character information. FIG. 10 shows an example of a character information file creation screen, in which a comment can be input corresponding to the file name or character frame 44 of the photographed image. With the configuration including such a character information file creation screen, creation of the character information file is facilitated, and the load on the operator can be reduced.

FIG. 1 is an external view of a photographic printing apparatus equipped with an image processing unit that employs an album print creation technique according to the present invention. Schematic diagram showing the configuration of the print station of the photo printing device Functional block diagram explaining the functional elements built in the controller of the photo printing device Schematic diagram showing the configuration of album creating means employing album print creating technology according to the present invention The flowchart which shows the album creation processing procedure by the album creation means Schematic diagram showing an example of a template creation screen Schematic diagram showing an example of a character information file Schematic diagram showing an example of a print image creation screen Schematic diagram showing the configuration of album creating means employing album print creating technology according to the present invention Schematic diagram showing an example of a character information file creation screen

Explanation of symbols

80 Album creation means 81 Template selection unit 82 Captured image input unit 83 Captured image setting unit 84 Character information input unit 85 Character information setting unit 86 Print image creation unit 87 Character information file creation unit

Claims (4)

An album print creation method for forming a photographed image and character information on a recording medium using a template having a photographed image frame and a character frame ,
A template selection step of selecting the template;
A captured image input step for inputting the captured image;
A captured image setting step for associating the captured image with the captured image frame;
A character information input step of character information inputting character information file recorded in association with the photographing field image,
A character information setting step for associating the character information with the character frame based on the character information file;
An album print creation method comprising: a print image creation step of creating a print image formed on each recording medium by combining the photographed image and the character information with the template.   The album print creation method according to claim 1, further comprising a character information file creation step of creating the character information file based on an image formation order file having the photographed image and attribute data thereof. An album print creation program for forming a photographed image and character information on a recording medium using a template having a photographed image frame and a character frame ,
A template selection function for selecting the template;
A captured image input function for inputting the captured image;
A captured image setting function for associating the captured image with the captured image frame;
A text information input function character information inputting character information file recorded in association with the photographing field image,
A character information setting function for associating the character information with the character frame based on the character information file;
An album print creation program for causing a computer to execute a print image creation function for creating a print image formed on each recording medium by combining the photographed image and the character information with the template. An album print creation apparatus that forms a photographed image and character information on a recording medium using a template having a photographed image frame and a character frame ,
A template selection unit for selecting the template;
A captured image input unit for inputting the captured image;
A captured image setting unit that associates the captured image with the captured image frame;
A character information input unit character information inputting character information file recorded in association with the photographing field image,
A character information setting unit that associates the character information with the character frame based on the character information file;
An album print creating apparatus comprising: a print image creating unit that creates a print image formed on each recording medium by combining the photographed image and the character information with the template.

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