JPH09214868A - Photograph print preparing method and photograph printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prepare a photograph print (album print) with which only the required photographs can be arranged in prescribed layout and handling is facilitated because it is one sheet of prints. SOLUTION: Image data 3 for the plural frames of photograph are stored in a storage medium 5 while making it correspond to frame identification information 4 for each frame, and a print 7 given the frame identification information 4 for each frame is prepared from these image data 3. Based on this print 7, a desired frame is selected and selected frame instruction information 9 composed of the frame identification information 4 given to that selected frame is prepared. While utilizing the frame identification information, the image data 3 of the frame instructed by the selected frame identification information 9 are retrieved from the storage medium 5 and provided, and the provided image data of the frame is constituted as the image of prescribed layout and recorded in an image recording medium as an album print image 20.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a photographic print, and more specifically, a photographic print in which only the photos necessary for one print are arranged in a desired layout (hereinafter, referred to as "print").
Album print) and a photo printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, the number of photographs, especially photographs for recording a child's growth record, increases without knowing it, and it is very troublesome to organize them to create an album. Not only that, but there are often problems with the storage of several thick albums. Therefore, an increasing number of people are using the index print as shown in FIG. 3 in which all the frames on the film are arranged in the order of shooting on one print instead of the album.

[0003]

However, the conventional index print is originally used for rearranging photographs and searching for frames when reordering, and one index is printed on one print.
All the pictures in the film of the book are simply arranged in the same orientation (portrait or landscape) in the order in which they were taken.
So, for example, a failure photo that could not be duplicated,
Need to collect only the necessary photos except for giving them to others to make one print, or to arrange the necessary photos in any order to make one print, or a normal print Like the album
It is not possible to meet the needs of arranging only the photos necessary for the theme such as "the eldest son's athletic meet" in any order from among the many films.

In other words, the conventional digital photographic printer and the printing method using the printer are based on a structure and a concept in which only the structure of the film is taken into consideration, and it is not possible to create a print according to the customer's request. It was

In view of the above problems, the present invention incorporates a customer's instruction into the print processing of photographs so that only the necessary photographs can be arranged, and further those photographs can be arranged in a desired layout and the like. An object of the present invention is to provide a method and a printer for creating an album print that is easy to handle because it is a single print.

[0006]

According to the photographic print creating method of the present invention, image data of a plurality of frames of a photograph are stored in a storage medium in association with frame identification information for each frame.
The frame identification information is reproduced as a visible image provided for each frame, a desired frame is selected from the plurality of frames based on the visible image, and the frame identification information provided to the visible image of the selected frame Album print order information including selected frame instruction information, and image data of the frame instructed by the selected frame instruction information is selected from the image data of the plurality of frames stored in the storage medium. The image data obtained by searching using the frame identification information associated with the image data is configured as an image having a predetermined layout, and the configured image is recorded on the image recording medium. Is recorded as an album print image.

The term "photograph" as used herein includes a photograph taken by a normal camera for recording an image on a film and a photograph taken by a digital camera for storing an image in a memory. Therefore, the image data is the image data obtained from the reading of the film by the film scanner,
In addition to image data obtained by reading a photographic print with a reflective original scanner, image data stored in a memory such as a digital camera is also meant. That is, the photographing means or the image digitizing means for acquiring the image data is not particularly limited.

A storage medium for storing image data is
It may be an auxiliary storage device such as a hard disk built in or connected to the photo printer, or a removable medium such as a large-capacity floppy disk delivered to the customer together with the print.

The frame identification information is information for identifying a desired frame from a plurality of frames stored as image data. It is desirable that the frame identification information be information that allows the target frame to be identified from among the frames of a plurality of photographs taken by a plurality of films in the storage medium. Furthermore, the visible image with frame identification information added to each frame is used by the customer to indicate the required frame,
For example, the frame identification information may be added to the conventional simultaneous printing or index printing.

The album print order information is an instruction from a customer to a photo shop, and the selected frame instruction information included in this information is a frame selected from a plurality of visible image frames, that is, an album print. It indicates the frames you want to include in.

Further, the photographic print making method of the present invention is
The album print order information includes placement instruction information of each frame instructed by the selected frame instruction information,
It is characterized in that an album print having a layout based on the layout instruction information is created. Here, the placement instruction information indicates at which position on one album print the frame should be placed.

Further, the photographic print making method of the present invention is
The album print order information further includes vertical and horizontal composition instruction information of each frame instructed by the selected frame instruction information, and an album print having a layout based on the vertical and horizontal composition instruction information is created. Here, the vertical / horizontal composition instruction information is for instructing the orientation when arranging each frame on the album print by vertical or horizontal or angle.

Further, the photographic print making method of the present invention is
The album print order information further includes classification instruction information for classifying a plurality of pieces of frame identification information included in the selected frame instruction information into a plurality of sets, and records as the album print image based on the classification instruction information. It is characterized in that each group is performed on a separate image recording medium.

The image recording medium for recording the album print image may be not only a so-called photographic print but also a medium such as a large capacity floppy disk.

Next, the photographic printer of the present invention is a printer for producing an album print based on the above-mentioned photographic print producing method, and stores image data of a plurality of frames of a photograph in association with the frame identification information for each frame. A storage medium, album print order information input means for inputting album print order information including selected frame instruction information consisting of the frame identification information corresponding to a desired frame selected from the frames, and the storage medium The image data of the frame designated by the selected frame designation information input by the album print order information input means is associated with the image data from the image data of the plurality of frames stored in Search means for searching using the frame identification information and image data searched by the search means , Characterized by comprising the image configuration means for configuring an image of a predetermined layout, and recording means for recording the image composed by the image composition unit in the image recording medium as the album print image.

The composition of the image by the image composition means can be performed by composing the retrieved image data according to the instructed layout on the frame memory.

[0017]

According to the photographic print creating method of the present invention, a desired frame is selected from the image data of a plurality of frames of a photo stored in the storage medium, based on the selected frame instruction information included in the album print order information. It is possible to create an album print in which only the frames desired by the customer are arranged in one print by retrieving the image data of 1) and reproducing it on one print as an image of a predetermined layout.

Further, the photographic print making method of the present invention is
By including the layout instruction information of each frame instructed by the selected frame instruction information in the album print order information, it is possible to create an album print in which each frame is arranged in one print as desired by the customer. .

Further, the photographic print making method of the present invention is
By including vertical and horizontal composition information of each frame designated by the selected frame designation information in the album print order information, each frame can be arranged in a direction desired by the customer.

Further, the photographic print making method of the present invention is
The album print order information further includes classification instruction information for classifying a plurality of pieces of frame identification information included in the selected frame instruction information into a plurality of sets, thereby creating a plurality of different album prints classified as desired by the customer. can do.

Further, the photographic printer of the present invention is provided with the storage medium, the searching means for performing the above-mentioned processing, the image constructing means, and the recording means, so that a desired photograph selected by the customer for one print can be obtained. You can create album prints that include only.

As described above, the present invention responds to the actual customer needs, for example, of arranging only the necessary photographs for each theme in a desired order from among a number of films and using the prints as an album. . Further, the use of the album print is not necessarily limited to the album, and the field of use thereof is wide.

[0023]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A photographic print producing method and a photographic printer according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of a photographic print creating method according to the present invention. Here, the flow of processing until an album print is created will be roughly divided into two stages.

First, one step is a preconditioning process for obtaining the data and information necessary for creating an album print, which is indicated by a solid arrow in FIG. First, the developed photographic film 1 having a plurality of frames is read by the film scanner 2 and digitized to obtain image data of a plurality of frames. However, since it is sufficient to handle each frame of a photograph as image data, the image data may be used as it is when the image is already digitized, such as when the image is taken by a digital camera.

Next, the image data 3 of a plurality of frames obtained as described above are stored in the storage medium 5 in association with the frame identification information 4 for each frame, and by the digital printer 6,
A print (print in which the image data 3 is visualized) 7 to which the frame identification information 4 is added is created.

Examples of the storage medium 5 include an auxiliary storage device such as a hard disk built in or connected to the digital photo printer system, or a removable medium delivered to the customer together with the print.
Further, the frame identification information 4 is such that the image in the storage medium 5 can be specified only by the frame identification information 4 by, for example, combining a number for identifying the film and a number indicating the frame number of the film. Any form will do as long as it is available. As a result, it becomes possible to retrieve and retrieve the target frame from the storage medium.

At this time, the frame identification information 4 is provided so that the customer can specify the frame to be searched.
It is the print 7 that is a visible image provided with. this is,
For example, not only the conventional simultaneous print or index print to which the frame identification information is added, but also a form in which an image is displayed on the display screen together with the frame identification information 4 so that the customer can select it may be used.

The next step following the above process is a process for actually creating an album print using the data and information obtained by the above process, which will be described along the dotted arrow in FIG. The customer to whom the print 7 is provided is based on the frame identification information 4 attached to the print 7,
The album print order information 8 is created. The album print order information 8 indicates the selected frame instruction information 9 including the frame identification information of the frame to be included in the album print selected from the prints 7, and the position of the album print where the selected frame should be arranged. A plurality of pieces of arrangement instruction information 10, a plurality of vertical / horizontal composition instruction information 11 for instructing whether the photographs are vertically or horizontally arranged, and a plurality of pieces of frame identification information 4 included in the selected frame instruction information 9 are arranged. It is composed of classification instruction information 12 for classifying into groups.

The selected frame instruction information 9 is a set of selected frames selected using the frame identification information 4 attached to the print 7. For example, the frame identification information 4 starts from 001, and
If the serial number is 02,003, then 001, 003, 01
Designated as a set of numbers such as 1, 019 ".

The placement instruction information 10 indicates an arbitrary position, for example,
It may be specified by the (X, Y) coordinates, but in consideration of the convenience of the customer, it is desirable to format the position where the frame can be arranged in advance and use it to instruct. For example, this may be a layout in which the photographs are simply arranged like the index print, and the pictures may be designated by numbers in the order of arrangement.
Alternatively, if it is difficult to match a predetermined format, such as photographs of different sizes or panoramic photographs, etc., place an instruction using a pointing device or the like while displaying the album print image on the display screen. A form of performing it is also possible.

The vertical / horizontal composition instruction information 11 may take any form as long as it is an instruction form in which either vertical or horizontal can be selected. Further, if requested by the customer, the photographs may be arranged diagonally by designating an angle or the like.

When it is desired to classify photos into album prints for each theme, for example, the classification instruction information 12 is taken by taking a picture of an athletic meet in which two children participate in one film, but wants to create the albums separately. In any case, any form may be used as long as it can instruct each of the frame identification information 4 included in the selected frame instruction information 9 to which category each belongs. In the present embodiment, the album print order information 8 includes the above-mentioned instruction information 9, 10, 11 and 12,
In the end, the album print order information 8 has the instruction information groups 13 including the selected frame instruction information 9, the placement instruction information 10 and the vertical / horizontal composition information 11 for the number of sets classified by the classification instruction information 12.

In order to create an album print based on the album print order information 8 created by the customer as described above, the image data 3 of the frame designated by the selected frame designation information 9 is first stored in the storage medium 5. The frame identification information 4 is searched for and read out, and then an image laid out based on the image data is constructed based on the layout instruction information 10 and the vertical / horizontal composition information 11, and the image is constructed. That is, the album print image 20 is printed by the digital printer 6 and the album print 21
Create

Here, when the album print order information 8 includes the classification instruction information 12, each of the classifications (each instruction information) in which the search, the image composition, and the print process are classified by the classification instruction information 12. This is performed for each group 13), and a plurality of different album prints 21 are created from one album print order information as shown in FIG.

It should be noted that the constructed image is separately stored in the storage medium 5,
Alternatively, by storing it in another storage medium, when it is necessary to reprint the album print, it is possible to print quickly without inputting the album print order information 8 again. In such a case,
Recording the album print image 20 does not necessarily mean printing, but means recording on a storage medium or the like.

Next, the structure of a photographic printer for producing an album print by the above-mentioned photographic print producing method will be described with reference to FIG. The photographic printer of the present invention includes a storage medium 5 for storing image data 3 of a plurality of frames of a photograph in association with frame identification information 4 for each frame and the selected frame instruction information 9
Of the image data 3 stored in the storage medium 5, album print order information input means 18 for inputting album print order information 8 including layout instruction information 10, vertical and horizontal composition information 11, and classification instruction information 12. From the image data 3 of the selected frame designated by the selected frame designation information 9 input by the album print order input means 18
Using the frame identification information 4 associated with the image data, and the image data searched by the searching unit 14 by the album print order input unit 18. Classification instruction information 12
For each classification instructed by, the image composition means 15 configured as an image of the layout instructed by the layout instruction information 10 and the vertical / horizontal composition information 11 which are also input by the album print order input means, and the image being configured are temporarily The frame memory 17 for temporarily storing the image and the image formed by the image forming means 15 are recorded as an album print image 20 on the image recording medium 19 and the album print 21 is recorded.
And recording means 16 for creating.

The album print order input means 18 is
Anything that can input the album print order information 8 into the photographic printer may be used, and for example, a dedicated interface that can be easily input by a button operation or the like may be provided as hardware, or a mark sheet may be input. Further, it may be software that allows interactive input on a personal computer and its screen. The album print order information may be input directly by the customer or by a dedicated operator.

The search means 14 obtains the selected frame instruction information 9 from the album print order information obtained by the album print order input means 18 and searches the storage medium 5 on the basis of the selected frame instruction information 9 to find the desired image. obtain. The search method may be any method as long as it is practically fast. If the input album print order information 8 includes the classification instruction information 12, a search may be performed for each classification, or a classification may be performed after obtaining all necessary image data. You may go.

Here, the image data obtained by the retrieval means 14 is passed to the image construction means 15 in the order in which they are obtained. That is, the processing by the image forming means 15 is performed by the searching means 14
It is performed in parallel with the search processing by. The image composing means 15 obtains the layout instruction information 10, the vertical / horizontal composition instruction information 11 and the classification instruction information 12 corresponding to the passed image data from the album print order information 8, and based on this, the frame memory.
Build the image on top of 17. The number of frame memories 17 is not limited to one, and a plurality of frame memories may be used when creating a plurality of different album prints.

When the search by the search means 14 is completed and all the image data has been constructed on the frame memory 17, the image construction means 17 informs the recording means 16 of the completion of the construction, and the recording means 16 causes the frame memory 17 to complete. The above image is recorded on the recording medium 19. When the recording medium 19 is a print, the recording means 16 may be considered as a digital printer or the like, but as described in the explanation of the above method, the recording medium for recording the album print image 20 is not necessarily limited to the print.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of a photographic print making method according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a photographic printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a conventional index print.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Photo Film 2 Film Scanner 3 Image Data 4 Frame Identification Information 5 Storage Medium 6 Digital Printer 7 Photo Print 8 Album Print Order Information 9 Selected Frame Instruction Information 10 Arrangement Instruction Information 11 Vertical and Horizontal Composition Instruction Information 12 Classification Instruction Information 13 Instruction Information Group 14 Searching means 15 Image constructing means 16 Recording means 17 Frame memory 18 Album print order information input means 19 Recording medium 20 Album print image 21 Album print

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. Image data of a plurality of frames of a photograph are stored in a storage medium in association with frame identification information for each frame, and are reproduced as a visible image to which the frame identification information is added for each frame. A desired frame is selected from the plurality of frames based on the above, and album print order information including selected frame instruction information including the frame identification information added to the visible image of the selected frame is created, The image data of the frame designated by the designation information is searched from the image data of the plurality of frames stored in the storage medium by using the frame identification information associated with the image data. Then, the image data of the frame obtained by the search is configured as an image of a predetermined layout, and the configured image is printed on an image recording medium as an album print image. Photo print making method characterized by recording as a. 2. The album print order information comprises:
2. The photographic print creating method according to claim 1, further comprising layout instruction information of each frame instructed by the selected frame instruction information, wherein the predetermined layout is a layout based on the layout instruction information. 3. The album print order information comprises:
3. The vertical / horizontal composition instruction information of each frame instructed by the selected frame instruction information is further included, and the predetermined layout is a layout based on the vertical / horizontal composition instruction information.
How to make the described photo print. 4. The album print order information comprises:
It further includes classification instruction information for classifying the plurality of pieces of frame identification information included in the selected frame instruction information into a plurality of sets, and records the album print image as a separate image for each group based on the classification instruction information. The method for producing a photographic print according to claim 1, wherein the method is performed on a recording medium. 5. A storage medium for storing image data of a plurality of frames of a photograph in association with frame identification information for each frame, and a selection including the frame identification information corresponding to a desired frame selected from the frames. Album print order information input means for inputting album print order information including frame instruction information, and the album print order information input means from the image data of the plurality of frames stored in the storage medium. Search means for searching image data of a frame designated by the selected frame designation information using the frame identification information associated with the image data; and image data searched by the search means. An image forming unit configured as an image of a predetermined layout, and the image formed by the image forming unit is an image recording medium. Photographic printer, characterized by comprising a recording means for recording as an album print images. 6. The photographic printer according to claim 5, further comprising a frame memory for temporarily storing the image being constructed when the image constructing unit constructs the image.