JP7119573B2 - Image management device and image sales system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an image management device and an image sales system.

An image sales service is provided that sells printed photographs (bromides) of artists, athletes, and the like. For example, a service provider installs a self-printing machine in which photographed image data is registered in a store. The customer operates the self-printing machine, selects an image he/she wants to purchase from the sales image list, and inserts money. A self-printing machine uses a built-in printer to print an image selected by a customer on paper to produce a photograph.

A service provider may also create a website for selling photographs. A customer accesses a website using a terminal such as a smartphone or a PC, and selects an image that the customer wants to purchase from a list of images for sale. The customer enters his/her home address, etc., makes a credit card payment, and completes the print order. Data of the selected image is transferred to the factory, and a printer installed in the factory prints the image on paper to produce a photograph. The produced photograph is delivered to the customer's home.

A digital camera that photographs a subject normally generates a photographed image with an aspect ratio of 3:2, 4:3, 16:9, or the like. On the other hand, the L size, which is generally used as a paper for printing images, has an aspect ratio of about 5:3.5. If the photographed image and the paper have different aspect ratios, the upper and lower sides and the left and right sides of the image will not be printed, as shown in the shaded areas in FIGS. 9A and 9B. As a result, a difference may occur between the photographed image and the printed photograph.

In addition, since the cutting position of the paper is different for each printer, even if the photographed image is the same, the printed photograph may differ depending on the printer model.

Conventional image sales services such as those described above use a variety of printers, including printers built into self-printing machines and printers installed in factories. , the finish of the photo could not be confirmed. As a result, logos and signatures that are necessary for service providers may be cut off during printing. In addition, there have been cases where customers have dissatisfied that what was shown on the screen at the time of image selection was cut off in the printed photograph.

JP-A-2002-236771

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an image management apparatus and an image sales system that enable confirmation of image finish before print output.

The image management apparatus according to the present invention includes a storage unit for storing printer information in which an output-guaranteed area size in which print output by the printer is guaranteed for each paper size is registered, and sales image data, and referring to the printer information. a calculation unit for calculating the position of the guaranteed output area in the sales image based on the guaranteed output area size of the paper size specified by the external terminal; and the position of the guaranteed output area in the sales image calculated by the calculation unit. a screen transmission unit that creates a finish confirmation screen indicating a position and transmits the finish confirmation screen to the external terminal.

In the image management apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention, the guaranteed output area size is registered for each printer model and each paper size in the printer information.

The image management apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention further includes an image receiving section that receives data of the sales image from the external terminal.

The image management apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention further includes an order reception unit that receives a print order for the sales image from the external terminal.

In the image management apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention, an instruction to enlarge or reduce the sales image is received via the finish confirmation screen.

In the image management device according to one aspect of the present invention, it is possible to set whether or not to perform enlargement processing of the sales image.

In the image management apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention, the guaranteed output area size is based on a paper size and a margin size when the printer cuts the paper.

In the image management apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention, the portion of the sales image outside the output guaranteed area is shaded on the finish confirmation screen.

An image sales system according to an aspect of the present invention includes an image management apparatus of the present invention, a printer communicably connected to the image management apparatus, and an output guarantee area size in which print output is guaranteed by the printer. and a registered image printing device, wherein the image management device transmits the sales image to the image printing device, and the image printing device displays a list screen of the received sales images, and from the list screen For the selected sales image, the position of the output assurance area is calculated based on the output assurance area size, and a finish confirmation screen showing the calculated position of the output assurance area in the sales image is created and displayed.

An image sales system according to one aspect of the present invention includes an image management device having a storage unit for storing sales image data, a printer connected communicably to the image management device, and a printer, wherein printout is performed by the printer. and an image printing device having printer information in which a guaranteed guaranteed output area size is registered, wherein the image management device transmits the sales image to the image printing device, and the image printing device receives the sales image. Displaying a list screen of images, calculating the position of the guaranteed output area for the sales image selected from the list screen based on the guaranteed output area size, and showing the calculated position of the guaranteed output area in the sales image. A confirmation screen is created and displayed.

According to the present invention, it is possible to check the finish of an image before printing out.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image sales system according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. (a) to (c) are diagrams showing portions that are not printed, and (d) is a diagram showing an example of an output guaranteed area. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of printer information; It is a figure which shows the example of a finish confirmation screen. (a) and (b) are diagrams showing an example of a finish confirmation screen. 3 is a functional block diagram of an image management device; FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram of an image printing device; FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an image printing device; FIG. 4(a) and 4(b) are diagrams showing an example of a non-printed portion of a photographed image. FIG. (a) to (c) are diagrams showing examples of cutting positions.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image sales system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The image sales system includes an image manager 1 and an image print device 2 . An image copyright holder uses the registration terminal 3 to register image data to be sold in the image management apparatus 1 .

The image management device 1 transmits the registered image data to the image printing device 2 . The image printing device 2 is a self-printing machine containing a printer, and upon receiving image data from the image management device 1, displays a list screen of sales images on a touch panel or the like. The customer selects an image he/she wants to purchase from the list screen and inputs the fee into the image printing device 2. - 特許庁The image printing device 2 prints the selected image on paper and outputs a printed matter (photograph) P1.

The image management apparatus 1 also provides a website for selling photographs. A customer accesses a website using a user terminal 4 such as a smartphone or a PC, and browses a sales image list screen. The customer selects the image he/she wants to purchase from the list screen, enters his/her home address, and pays the fee by credit card settlement or the like. The image management device 1 transfers the selected image data to the factory 5 . A printer installed in the factory 5 prints the transferred image on paper to produce a print (photograph) P2. The printed matter P2 is delivered to the customer's home.

The images that are registered in the image management apparatus 1 and sold are, for example, images of athletes, musicians, idols, etc. taken by a professional photographer with a digital camera. A digital camera normally produces a captured image with an aspect ratio of 3:2, 4:3, 16:9, or the like. On the other hand, the L size, which is generally used as a paper for printing images, has an aspect ratio of about 5:3.5. When a photographed image with an aspect ratio of 4:3 is printed on L size paper, the top and bottom of the image are not printed as shown in FIG. 9(a). When a photographed image with an aspect ratio of 16:9 is printed on L size paper, the left and right sides of the image are not printed as shown in FIG. 9B.

Also, when performing borderless printing (photographs with no margins where the image is printed up to the edge of the paper), consider the trimming misalignment, print larger than the finished size, trim to the specified size, and print at the edge of the paper. I try not to have white borders. The bleed off portion outside the finished size is also called "bleed". In the photographed image, the added part is cut off and finished.

FIG. 10(a) shows an example in which the top, bottom, left, and right sides are cut substantially evenly by the cutting lines L1 to L4. The shaded area is an extra bleed that is cut off and does not appear in the finished product. As shown in FIG. 10(a), the cutting positions may be substantially even in the vertical and horizontal directions, or may be displaced in the vertical and horizontal directions. FIG. 10(b) shows the case where the cutting position is shifted to the lower right and FIG. 10(c) shows the case where the cutting position is shifted to the upper left.

In this way, part of the photographed image is not printed on the paper due to the difference in the aspect ratio between the photographed image and the paper, and the additional printing. In the present embodiment, the guaranteed output area, which is an area of the captured image that is reliably printed on the paper, is set in consideration of the difference in the aspect ratio between the captured image and the paper and the addition of margins.

FIG. 2(a) shows a portion (shaded portion) that is not printed on L-size paper when a photographed image with an aspect ratio of 4:3 is printed on the paper. FIG. 2(b) shows the bleed when the cutting position is shifted to the lower right at maximum. FIG. 2(c) shows bleed when the cutting position is shifted to the upper left. After considering these, the area within the dashed line shown in FIG. The guaranteed output area G is an area that does not cover all the shaded areas in FIGS. 2(a) to 2(c).

The size of the guaranteed output area G varies depending on the paper size and printer model. The image management apparatus 1 holds printer information in which the guaranteed output area size for each printer model is registered, as shown in FIG. In the printer information shown in FIG. 3, "output size" is the paper size, and has the same value regardless of the printer model. The "print area size" is the print size including margins, and has different values depending on the printer model. The "guaranteed output area size" is calculated from the output size and the print area size.

For example, the L size of printer B has an output size of 89×127 and a print area size of 95×133. The unit of numerical value is mm. In the case of even trimming in the vertical and horizontal directions, the width of the bleed is 3 mm. The width of the bleed is 6 mm when the cutting position is displaced to the maximum. The guaranteed output area size is 83×121, which is obtained by removing the width of 6 mm in the vertical and horizontal directions from the print area size.

After the registration terminal 3 registers the image in the image management apparatus 1, for example, when the registration terminal 3 requests confirmation of the L-size finish by the printer accommodated in the image printing apparatus 2, the image management apparatus 1 displays the image shown in FIG. Create and display a finish confirmation screen. The image management device 1 extracts the output assurance area size corresponding to the L version of the model of the printer accommodated in the image printing device 2 from the printer information, and calculates the position of the output assurance area in the registered image. . On the finish confirmation screen, the portion outside the guaranteed output area of the registered image is shaded.

A paper size change button 40 can be used to change the paper size and confirm the finish. When the paper size is changed, the image management apparatus 1 extracts the guaranteed output area size corresponding to the paper size from the printer information, calculates the guaranteed output area, and prints the registered image outside the guaranteed output area. is shaded.

By operating the enlargement/reduction slide bar 42, the image can be enlarged or reduced in FIGS.

A shaded area is an area that may not be printed on the printed matter when printed out. For example, copyright holders and administrators check to see if the required logos and signatures are included in the guaranteed output area. If it is included in the guaranteed output area, even if the cutting position is misaligned, the logo or signature can be prevented from being cut during printing. If part of the logo or signature overlaps the shaded area, it can be reduced slightly to fit within the guaranteed output area. Alternatively, the image may be enlarged and moved up, down, left, or right to fit within the guaranteed output area. When the image is scaled, the scaled image becomes the sales image.

This finishing confirmation screen is provided not only to the registration terminal 3 but also to the user terminal 4 . For example, after the customer operates the user terminal 4 and selects an image he/she wants to purchase, he or she makes a request to confirm the finishing of the L size. The image management device 1 extracts the output guarantee area size corresponding to the L version of the model of the printer installed in the factory 5 from the printer information, and calculates the position of the output guarantee area in the selected image. On the finish confirmation screen, the portion of the image selected by the customer outside the guaranteed output area is shaded.

The customer confirms whether the subject important to him/herself is included in the guaranteed output area. If it is included in the guaranteed output area, even if the cutting position is misaligned, the subject can be prevented from being cut during printing. If part of the subject overlaps the shaded area, it can be reduced slightly to fit within the guaranteed output area. Also, it is possible to enlarge the important subject so that most of the guaranteed output area is displayed. When the image is scaled, the scaled image is printed out.

Further, the image printing device 2 has printer information as shown in FIG. 3 for the printer housed therein, and creates and displays a finish confirmation screen. For example, after the customer selects an image he/she wants to purchase from a list screen of images for sale, the customer makes a request to confirm the finishing of the L size. The image printing device 2 calculates the position of the output assurance area in the selected image from the output assurance area size corresponding to the L version of the model of the printer in its own device. On the finish confirmation screen, the portion of the image selected by the customer outside the guaranteed output area is shaded.

In this way, by displaying the output guarantee area according to the printer model, the copyright holder, administrator, and customer can confirm in advance whether important subjects will be cut off during printing.

Next, the image manager 1 will be described. As shown in FIG. 6, the image management apparatus 1 is a computer having a storage unit 10 including a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), a nonvolatile memory, a hard disk device, etc. stores an image sales program, printer information, and the like. Although one image printing device 2 is shown in FIG. 1, the image printing device 2 can communicate with a plurality of image printing devices 2 installed at various locations.

By executing the image sales program by the CPU (central processing unit) of the image management apparatus 1, as shown in FIG. The function of the transmitter 15 is realized.

The image receiving unit 11 receives image data to be sold from the registration terminal 3 and stores the data in the storage unit 10 .

Upon receiving a finish confirmation request from the registration terminal 3 or the user terminal 4, the guaranteed output area calculation unit 12 extracts the guaranteed output area size for the designated printer and paper size, The position (area) of the guaranteed output area in the image selected by the user terminal 4 or the image selected by the user terminal 4 is calculated. For example, the area of the guaranteed output area size is calculated based on the center of the confirmation target image.

The screen transmission unit 13 creates a finishing confirmation screen and transmits it to the registration terminal 3 or the user terminal 4 . The finish confirmation screen displays an image to be confirmed, and the part outside the position of the guaranteed output area calculated by the guaranteed output area calculation unit 12 is shaded in the image to be confirmed.

The screen transmission unit 13 also transmits an order screen including a list of sales images to the user terminal 4 .

The order receiving unit 14 receives a print order from the user terminal 4 and stores the order information in the storage unit 10 . The order information includes information identifying the selected image, number of prints, customer name, delivery address, and the like.

The transmission unit 15 transmits the image registered in the registration terminal 3 to the image printing device 2 . In addition, the transmission unit 15 transmits images ordered for printing from the user terminal 4 to the factory 5 .

Next, the image printing device 2 will be explained. FIG. 7 is a block diagram of the image printing device 2, and FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the image printing device 2. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 7, the image printing device 2 includes a first touch panel 20A, a second touch panel 20B, a data input section 21, a billing section 22, a printer 23, a CPU (central processing section) 24, and a disk device (storage section) 25. , a main memory 26 and a communication unit 27 .

As shown in FIG. 8, the first touch panel 20A is provided on the top plate 2A of the housing H, and the second touch panel 20B is provided on the top of the housing H. As shown in FIG. The screens of the top plate 2A and the first touch panel 20A are slightly inclined so that the front side is lower and the back side is higher so that input operations to the first touch panel 20A can be easily performed. The display screen of the second touch panel 20B stands substantially vertically.

The first touch panel 20A and the second touch panel 20B display information including images and receive input of various instructions from the user. The first touch panel 20A and/or the second touch panel 20B displays a sales image list screen and a finish confirmation screen.

The data input unit 21 receives input of image data by reading image data from a storage medium storing image data captured by a digital camera or the like. The data input unit 21 has a data reader compatible with various storage media. Further, the data input unit 21 can receive input of image data from a mobile terminal through infrared communication or wireless communication. As shown in FIG. 8, the data input unit 21 is provided in the upper part of the housing H, specifically between the top plate 2A of the housing H and the second touch panel 20B. The data input unit 21 is also provided when the image printing apparatus 2 prints images brought by the customer, and may be omitted when only images distributed from the image management apparatus 2 are sold.

As shown in FIG. 8, the billing unit 22 has a coin slot 22A, a banknote slot 22B, and a change return slot 22C provided on the front side of the housing H. The inserted money is identified and counted, and the change is discharged from the change return opening 22C.

The printer 23 is a high-resolution color printer such as a dye-sublimation type or an ink-jet type, and prints and outputs image data based on the contents of the order. The printer 23 is accommodated in the housing H. As shown in FIG. A plurality of printers 23 may be installed. As shown in FIG. 8, a transparent opening/closing door D is provided on the front side of the housing H so that it can be opened and closed. A stacking unit (not shown) is provided on the back side of the opening/closing door D for stacking printed materials printed out by the printer 23. When the opening/closing door D is opened, the printed materials stacked in the stacking unit can be taken out. It's like

The disk device 25 (storage unit) stores the control program and sales images received from the image management apparatus 1 via the communication unit 27 . The disk device 25 also stores printer information of the printer 23 . The disk device 25 is, for example, a hard disk drive.

The CPU 24 functions as a control unit that controls the first touch panel 20A, the second touch panel 20B, the billing unit 22, the printer 23, etc. by loading the control program in the disk device 25 into the main memory 26 and executing the control program. do.

The control unit creates a sales image list screen and displays it on the first touch panel 20A. The list screen is provided with print number increase/decrease buttons for each image. By pressing this button, the number of prints of each image can be designated and a print order can be entered.

In addition, the list screen is provided with finish confirmation buttons for each image. When the finish confirmation button is pressed and the paper size is selected, the control unit refers to the printer information to create a finish confirmation screen and displays it on the first touch panel 20A (or the second touch panel 20B). On the finish confirmation screen, the customer can enlarge or reduce the image.

When the print order is completed, the control unit displays the billing amount based on the details of the order from the customer on the first touch panel 20A. When the customer inserts money, the billing unit 22 counts the amount of money inserted, dispenses change, prints a receipt, and the like.

The control unit causes the printer 23 to print the image data based on the order.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, for each printer model such as the printer 23 of the image printing device 2 and the printer installed in the factory 5, the finish is confirmed before print output, and the desired subject is displayed in the output assurance area. You can check if it contains In addition, the image can be enlarged or reduced while viewing the guaranteed output area. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the desired subject from being cut off during print processing.

Enlarging the image on the finish confirmation screen cuts off part of the sales image, which may infringe the copyright (right of adaptation) or moral right of the author (right of integrity). For this reason, the administrator may be allowed to set whether or not enlargement processing is permitted at the time of image registration.

In the above-described embodiment, the image printing device 2 displays the finish confirmation screen not only for the sales image distributed from the image management device 1, but also for the image input via the data input unit 21 from the storage medium brought by the customer. can be created and presented to the customer.

If a plurality of printers of different models are installed in the factory 5, it is preferable to check the finish of each printer. The image management apparatus 1 creates a finish confirmation screen for each model. For example, if four printers of models I, II, III, and IV are installed in the factory 5, the image management apparatus 1 displays four finishing confirmation screens corresponding to the models I, II, III, and IV, respectively. create. The registration terminal 3 and the user terminal 4 display four finish confirmation screens while switching them in order. Alternatively, a printer model selection button may be provided to display a finish confirmation screen for the printer model selected by the administrator or customer.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments as they are, and can be embodied by modifying constituent elements without departing from the scope of the present invention at the implementation stage. Further, various inventions can be formed by appropriate combinations of the plurality of constituent elements disclosed in the above embodiments. For example, some components may be omitted from all components shown in the embodiments. Furthermore, components across different embodiments may be combined as appropriate.

1 image management device 2 image printing device 3 registration terminal 4 user terminal

Claims (9)

a storage unit for storing printer information in which an output-guaranteed area size in which print output by the printer is guaranteed for each paper size is registered, and sales image data;
a calculation unit that refers to the printer information and calculates the position of the guaranteed output area in the sales image based on the guaranteed output area size of the paper size specified by the external terminal;
a screen transmission unit that creates a finish confirmation screen indicating the position of the output guaranteed area in the sales image calculated by the calculation unit and transmits the finish confirmation screen to the external terminal;
An image management device comprising: 2. The image management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the printer information includes the guaranteed output area size registered for each printer model and paper size. 3. The image management apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an image reception unit that receives data of the sales image from the external terminal. 3. The image management apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an order reception unit that receives a print order for the sales image from the external terminal. 5. The image management apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein an instruction to enlarge or reduce the sales image is received via the finish confirmation screen. 6. The image management apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5 , wherein the guaranteed output area size is based on a paper size and a marginal size when the printer cuts the paper. 7. The image management apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6 , wherein a portion of the sales image outside the output guaranteed area is displayed in a shaded manner on the finish confirmation screen. an image management device according to any one of claims 1 to 7 ;
an image printing device communicably connected to the image management device, incorporating a printer, and registering an output guarantee area size for guaranteeing print output by the printer;
with
The image management device transmits the sales image to the image printing device,
The image printing device displays a list screen of the received sales images, calculates the position of the guaranteed output area for the sales image selected from the list screen based on the size of the guaranteed output area, and An image sales system characterized by creating and displaying a finish confirmation screen indicating the position of an output assurance area in an image. an image management device having a storage unit for storing sales image data;
an image printing device communicatively connected to the image management device, incorporating a printer, and having printer information in which an output guarantee area size for which print output is guaranteed by the printer is registered;
with
The image management device transmits the sales image to the image printing device,
The image printing device displays a list screen of the received sales images, calculates the position of the guaranteed output area for the sales image selected from the list screen based on the size of the guaranteed output area, and An image sales system characterized by creating and displaying a finish confirmation screen indicating the position of an output assurance area in an image.

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