JP2006244130A - Information processing apparatus, information processing method, storage medium and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem that, for example, when printing processing that prints a plurality of specified images as laying out N images on every sheet (N-up printing) must divide the print job into a plurality of times because the specified images are many, a printer, which performs N-up printing in print job units, may print images less than N images on the last sheet of each print job. <P>SOLUTION: An information processing apparatus that creates jobs for outputting desired image data from a plurality of image data recorded on a recording medium has a selection means for selecting a plurality of image data to be outputted, a specification means for specifying the number of images laid out in an image layout area as an output format, and a generation means for generating jobs recording information identifying the image data selected by the selection means. The generation means changes the number of image data identified by each single job according to the number specified by the specification means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus that creates a job for laying out and outputting a plurality of selected images.

  When printing with a conventional printing system, connect a printer to the host computer, start application software that can display and process documents, drawings, or images on the host computer, load the data you want to print, and print Set parameters, send data to the printer, and print. At this time, the user can freely specify various print parameters such as print quality paper size, number of copies, print range, print layout, and the like.

  Furthermore, in recent years, products have emerged that allow camera direct printing to be performed by setting a printing parameter on a photographing apparatus by directly connecting a photographing apparatus such as a digital camera to a printer without using a host computer. . In such camera direct printing, print parameters such as paper size, paper type, and layout can be designated. Also, a plurality of preselected images can be combined into a single print job and printed on the printer. Since a plurality of images can be specified in the print job, it is possible to print N images instead of one image on one sheet (hereinafter referred to as N-up printing). Called).

  However, in practice, it is difficult to specify an unlimited number of images in a single print job. For example, there is a problem in resources such as insufficient storage capacity on the camera side or printer side and processing of too large print job data. There may also be a problem with the specifications of the communication system. For this reason, when there are too many designated images, some print jobs are divided and executed multiple times.

A print order format called DPOF is known.
In this format, the number of image data that can be specified for any job is limited to 99 sheets. Of course, when one image is preon on one sheet, only 99 types of images can be designated at the maximum.
JP 2004-015234 A

  On the other hand, for example, in the case of N-up printing, when a print job is divided and executed as described above, the printer performs N-up printing in units of print jobs, so an image to be printed on the last sheet of each print job. There are cases where there are less than N. FIG. 6A shows an example in which, when 200 images are specified and printed, only a maximum of 100 pieces of image information can be put in a single job due to apparatus limitations. At this time, the print job is divided into two. As a result, there is a problem that a sheet on which N images are not printed occurs at the end of each divided print job.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, an information processing apparatus according to the present invention is an information processing apparatus that creates a job for outputting desired image data from a plurality of image data recorded on a recording medium. A selection means for selecting a plurality of image data, a designation means for designating the number of images to be laid out in the image arrangement area as an output form, and a job recording information for specifying the image data selected by the selection means And generating means for changing the number of image data specified by one job according to the number specified by the specifying means.

  According to the present invention, for example, when a print job is divided during N-up printing, the total number of images to be printed by the print job (number of images × number of printed images) is set to a multiple of N. It is possible to eliminate the occurrence of paper on which N images are not printed at the end of each print job. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent a job having a layout not intended by the user from being created, and to reduce wasteful consumption of consumables such as paper and ink due to misprinting.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In general, a printing apparatus has an interface for connecting to a personal computer, but in recent years, some printers have an interface for connecting to a digital camera. As such an interface, USB, IEEE 802.11b, or the like is used.

  FIG. 1 is an example of a printing system in which an image capturing apparatus 100 as an information processing apparatus for creating an output job and a printing apparatus 101 are connected by a connection cable 102. The image shooting apparatus 100 has a shooting mode for recording video and a playback mode for playing back the recorded video. In the shooting mode, when the shutter switch is pressed, the imaging unit 103 converts the output signal from the CCD into a digital signal by the A / D converter and stores it in the frame memory 104. After that, the image data recording unit 105 encodes the image signal data stored in the frame memory 104 into an appropriate format such as JPEG and records it as an image file on the recording medium 106. In the reproduction mode, the image data reading unit 107 reads the video recorded on the recording medium 106 and displays it on the operation panel 108. A digital camera or the like can be considered as the image capturing device. However, if an image has already been recorded on the recording medium 106, the present invention can be implemented even using a playback device such as a TV monitor that does not have a capturing function. It is. The same applies to a personal computer having a function for reproducing the recording medium 106.

  FIG. 2 is an example of the operation panel 108 of the image capturing apparatus 100. The display panel 201 is a display device (for example, a liquid crystal panel or the like) that can display image data stored in a frame memory and specific bitmap data. The image return button 202 and the image advance button 203 are used when selecting an image to be displayed on the display panel. The upper button 204 and the lower button 205 are mainly used when the cursor is moved when a plurality of selectable items are displayed on the display panel. To execute the item selected by the cursor, the setting button 206 is pressed. In addition, when the menu button 207 is pressed, functions that are currently available are displayed as a menu.

  First, print image designating means for selecting an image to be printed from recorded images will be described. When the image capturing apparatus 100 is switched to the playback mode, an image recorded on the display panel 201 is displayed. When a plurality of images are recorded, when the image advance button 203 and the image return button 202 are pressed, the next image or the previous image is displayed in order, and a desired image can be selected. It is also conceivable to simultaneously display a plurality of images on the display panel as an index screen. In this case, the cursor is moved to select a desired image.

  After selecting a desired image, it is added to the print designation image list. The print designation image list is composed of “image file name” and “number of prints”, and is used to print selected images all together when connected to the printing apparatus 101. FIG. 3A shows an example when the menu button 207 is pressed to display the function menu. When “print designation” is selected from the menu items and the setting button is pressed, a box for designating the number of prints shown in FIG. 3B is displayed. Enter the number of copies you want to print in this box. The input method differs depending on the operation button type. In the operation panel shown in FIG. 2, a method is conceivable in which the upper button 204 is used to print +1 and the lower button 205 is used to print -1. It is also conceivable to directly input numerical values by attaching numeric buttons to the operation panel. Thereafter, when the setting button 206 is pressed, the “image file name” of the selected image and the set “number of prints” are added to the print designation image list.

  The print designation image list can be stored in a recording medium in addition to being stored in the memory in the image capturing apparatus 100 main body. By storing in the recording medium, the print designation image list can be held even when the recording medium is removed. When the recording medium is attached again, the print designation image list is read from the recording medium. DPOF (Direct Print Order Format) is standardized as a format of the print designation image list. When a standard is used, DPOF information set by another device can be directly read and printing can be executed.

Although detailed explanation is omitted, information for specifying an image desired to be printed or an image desired to be output to an external apparatus is recorded in the DPOF job.
In the following embodiments, a job based on this DPOF will be described. However, a job for outputting to an external device and a job for printing are not limited to those based on this standard, but a single job. (Or a single file) may be used as long as the information specifies a plurality of images to be output.

  The layout designation information may be used not only for printing but also for display. That is, it may be information specifying how many images are to be arranged for one screen or one image display area.

  Next, a procedure for printing an image set in the print designation image list will be described. When the image capturing apparatus 100 is connected to the printing apparatus 101, the image capturing apparatus 100 transitions to the print mode. A screen indicating the transition to the print mode is displayed on the display panel 201.

  FIG. 4A is a display example of the printer connection screen at this time. When the menu button 207 is pressed, a menu shown in FIG. 4B is displayed. On the menu, “DPOF printing” is displayed for reading the DPOF information file recorded on the recording medium and printing the images specified in the DPOF format at once.

  FIG. 4C shows an example of a screen of the print parameter setting unit 109 displayed when “DPOF printing” is executed from the menu. Parameter items relating to printing are displayed on the print setting screen, and when the upper button 204 or the lower button 205 is pressed, the cursor C moves on the parameter item, and the parameter item can be selected. When the setting button 206 is pressed according to the parameter item for which the cursor is to be set, a parameter selection screen for selecting the value of the parameter item is displayed. For example, when the cursor C is placed on the layout button in FIG. 4C and the setting button 206 is pressed, the screen changes to FIG. Here, it is possible to specify how an image is arranged on one sheet. In FIG. 4D, when the up button 204 or the down button 205 is pressed, the cursor moves over the parameter value, and the image of the image to be laid out on the one sheet or one image arrangement area is displayed with or without a border. It is possible to select a parameter value such as 2 or 4 or 8 or 16 (not shown). When the setting button 206 is pressed according to the parameter value for which the cursor is to be set, the selected print parameter value is set and the screen returns to the print setting screen. After setting each print parameter to a desired value, when the cursor is set to “print” and the setting button 206 is pressed, printing is executed with the set print parameter.

  FIG. 5 shows a procedure of the print processing unit 110 that transmits print data to the printing apparatus 101. First, the number of prints corresponding to the image file name is extracted from the print designation image list (S501) and converted into image print information in accordance with the communication method with the printing apparatus 101 (S502). If the previous period image print information is added to the print job, the amount of data that can be processed by one print job exceeds the amount that can be added to the print job, and the process advances to step S504. If it can be added to the print job, the image print information is added to the print job (S505), the process returns to S501, and the addition to the print job is repeated.

  If the print parameter is N-up printing, the process advances to step S506 to adjust the number of prints in the print job to be a multiple of the N value of the N-up layout. If the print parameter is not N-up printing, the process advances to step S507, and the connection unit 111 transmits the print job to the printing apparatus 101.

If the remainder when dividing the total number of print images in the print job (number of print images x number of prints for each image) by N is m, the image print information is deleted from the back of the print job by m prints. I will do it. At this time, the i-th image (number of prints n _i) is tries to be removed only m _i Like, the print job i-th image is designated Like (n i _{-m i).} Further, since the i-th image remain m _i of prints, stores this value, starting from the next print job i-th image (print count m _i sheets). When the adjustment of the print job is completed, the connection unit 111 transmits to the printing apparatus 101 in step S507.

  The printing apparatus 101 analyzes the print job sent from the image capturing apparatus 100 and sequentially requests the image capturing apparatus 100 for the image data specified in the job. The image capturing apparatus 100 transmits the image data requested from the printing apparatus 101 to the printing apparatus 101, and the printing apparatus 101 prints the received image data. When all the images specified in the print job are printed, the printing apparatus 101 notifies the image capturing apparatus 100 that the print job is completed.

When the image capturing apparatus 100 receives a print job completion notification, the image capturing apparatus 100 determines whether there are any images to be printed remaining in the print designation image list. If the image to be printed remains in the list, the process returns to S501 to start creating the next print job. At this time, the next image information is extracted from the print designation image list. As described above, when containing the adjustment of the print job when N-up printing, the i-th image (print count m _i sheets). If all the images have been printed, the screen returns to the printer connection screen shown in FIG.

  An example of the final print result is shown in FIG. FIG. 6B shows a total of three print jobs including two print jobs having 96 image information and one print job having 8 image information when 200 images (one print each) are specified and printed. It is divided into pieces.

  Here, a case where 100 images can be designated for one job is described. In the description, 16 images are laid out on one sheet.

  As in the prior art, when 200 images are printed with two jobs, 96 or more portions of one job. That is, the 97th to 100th images are output without the 16 images embedded in one sheet.

  Since there are two such jobs, two sheets are printed with the margins remaining.

  On the other hand, according to the configuration described in the embodiment, it is assumed that the first and second jobs specify up to 16 × 4 = 96 sheets, and the remaining eight sheets are unavoidable. The output will not fit.

  However, it was possible to reduce the number of sheets to be output with the margins remaining on the sheet to one.

<Other embodiments>
As described above, the embodiment has been described in detail. However, the present invention can take an embodiment as a system, apparatus, method, program, storage medium, or the like, and specifically includes a plurality of devices. The present invention may be applied to a system that is configured, or may be applied to an apparatus that includes a single device.

  Note that the present invention supplies a software program (in the embodiment, a program corresponding to the flowchart shown in the figure) to each device directly or remotely, and the processing unit of the device performs the function of the above-described embodiment. This includes a case where the object is also achieved by reading and executing the supplied program code.

  Accordingly, since the functions of the present invention are implemented by computer, the program code installed in the computer also implements the present invention. In other words, the present invention includes a computer program itself for realizing the functional processing of the present invention.

  In that case, as long as it has the function of a program, it may be in the form of object code, a program executed by an interpreter, script data supplied to the OS, or the like.

  As a recording medium for supplying the program, for example, floppy (registered trademark) disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, MO, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card ROM, DVD (DVD-ROM, DVD-R) and the like.

  As another program supply method, a client computer browser is used to connect to an Internet homepage, and the computer program of the present invention itself or a compressed file including an automatic installation function is downloaded from the homepage to a recording medium such as a hard disk. Can also be supplied. It can also be realized by dividing the program code constituting the program of the present invention into a plurality of files and downloading each file from a different homepage. That is, a WWW server that allows a plurality of users to download a program file for realizing the functional processing of the present invention on a computer is also included in the present invention.

  In addition, the program of the present invention is encrypted, stored in a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, distributed to users, and key information for decryption is downloaded from a homepage via the Internet to users who have cleared predetermined conditions. It is also possible to execute the encrypted program by using the key information and install the program on a computer.

  In addition to the functions of the above-described embodiments being realized by the computer executing the read program, the OS running on the computer based on the instruction of the program is a part of the actual processing. Alternatively, the functions of the above-described embodiment can be realized by performing all of them and performing the processing.

  Furthermore, after the program read from the recording medium is written in a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function expansion board or The CPU or the like provided in the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

Printing system in which image photographing apparatus 100 and printing apparatus 101 are connected Example of operation panel of image capturing apparatus 100 Display example of print image designation means of image photographing apparatus 100 Display example of printer connection screen of image capturing apparatus 100 Procedure of print processing means 110 Example of print results when a print job is divided

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Image photographing device 101 Printing device 102 Connection cable 103 Imaging part of image photographing device 100 104 Frame memory of image photographing device 100 105 Image data recording part of image photographing device 100 Recording medium of image photographing device 100 107 of image photographing device 100 Image data reading unit 108 Operation panel of image capturing apparatus 100 109 Print parameter setting means of image capturing apparatus 100 Print processing means of image capturing apparatus 100 Connection means of image capturing apparatus 100 Example of operation panel of image capturing apparatus 100

Claims (9)

An information processing apparatus for creating a job for outputting desired image data from a plurality of image data recorded on a recording medium,
A selection means for selecting a plurality of image data to be output;
As an output form, designation means for designating the number of images to be laid out in the image arrangement area;
Generating means for generating a job recording information for specifying the image data selected by the selection means;
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the generation unit changes the number of image data specified by one job according to the number specified by the specifying unit.   When the number of image data selected by the selection unit exceeds the number of image data that can be specified by one job, the generation unit determines the number of the specific information to be recorded in one job. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information processing apparatus is a multiple of the number specified by the specifying means.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising print image designating means for designating an image to be printed.   4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising photographing means for photographing an image and recording it on a recording medium.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the job has a limit on the number of images that can be specified in one job.   6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the job is a job for printing. An information processing method for creating a job for outputting desired image data from a plurality of image data recorded on a recording medium,
A selection step of selecting a plurality of image data to be output;
As an output form, a designation step for designating the number of images to be laid out in the image arrangement area;
Generating a job recording information for specifying the image data selected by the selection means,
The information processing method characterized in that the generation step changes the number of image data specified by one job according to the number specified by the specifying means. A storage medium for storing a program for realizing, by a computer, an information processing method for creating a job for outputting desired image data from a plurality of image data recorded on a recording medium,
The information processing method includes:
A selection step of selecting a plurality of image data to be output;
As an output form, a designation step for designating the number of images to be laid out in the image arrangement area;
Generating a job recording information for specifying the image data selected by the selection means,
A storage medium for storing a program, wherein the generation step changes the number of image data specified by one job according to the number specified by the specifying means. A computer-realizable program for creating a job for outputting desired image data from a plurality of image data recorded on a recording medium,
A code for selecting multiple image data to be output;
As an output form, a code for specifying the number of images to be laid out in the image arrangement area,
This is a code for generating a job in which information for specifying selected image data is recorded, and the number of image data specified by one job depends on the number of images laid out in the image arrangement area A program characterized by comprising code for changing.

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