JP2007334482A - Photograph album preparation system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system for inexpensively preparing a funeral photograph album without making it necessary to dispatch any dedicated cameraman. <P>SOLUTION: A photographic image acquisition device 5 installed in a ceremonial hall acquires photographic image data from a photographic print or first storage medium provided by a funeral participant or a second storage medium accessory to a camera installed in the ceremonial hall, and transmits the photographic image data through a communication line 6 to a photograph album preparation device 7 installed in a photo studio. The photograph album preparation device 7 compiles the received photographic image data, and prepares the sample of a photograph album or a formal photograph album. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a photo album creation system, and more particularly to a photo album creation system suitable for creating a funeral photo album.

  Generally, at various events and events held with a large number of participants, a commemorative photo is taken to record the scene and atmosphere of the place. In such a commemorative photo, it has been a common method so far to send a dedicated photographer from a photo studio (lab) to a venue or the like (for example, see Patent Documents 1 and 2).

  On the other hand, when creating a photo album related to a funeral, a photo print provided by a family member such as a bereaved family or a friend, or a card memory built in a DSC (digital still camera) is temporarily provided to the photo studio. After that, photo albums are created through image editing and trimming processes, and later delivered to the bereaved family and attendants.

However, the photographs and image data provided by the bereaved family and friends are related to the remains and do not represent the scene of the funeral itself. Also, in the case of funerals, due to the nature of the matter, bereaved families and attendees cannot afford to take photos during the funeral. Therefore, in many cases, a specialized photographer is required.
JP 2004-333719 A JP 2004-287122 A

However, the cost paid to the professional photographer must be reflected in the cost of creating the photo album, which increases the cost.
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a system capable of creating a funeral photo album at low cost without requiring the dispatch of a dedicated photographer.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is a photo print or a first storage medium provided at a funeral hall and provided from a funeral attendant, or a second storage medium attached to a camera for imaging at the funeral hall. A photographic image acquisition device having a transmission means for acquiring photographic image data and transmitting the acquired photographic image data, and receiving the photographic image data transmitted from the transmission means via a communication line. It is characterized by comprising receiving means and a photo album creating apparatus for editing the received photo image data and creating a sample photo album or a formal photo album.

According to the present invention, the photographic image acquisition device further comprises an image data reading means for reading photographic image data from the first storage medium or the second storage medium, and a photographic image obtained by optically reading an image from the photographic print. And scanner means for outputting image data.
In the present invention, the image data reading means reads first photographic image data from the first storage medium, and second image data reads photographic image data from the second storage medium. And reading means.
Further, the present invention is characterized in that the first storage medium or the second storage medium is a memory card.

  According to the present invention, a funeral photo album can be created at low cost without requiring the dispatch of a dedicated photographer.

Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail.
<Configuration of photo album creation system>
FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a photo album creation system.
The photo album creation system includes an image acquisition device 5 and a photo album creation device 7 connected to the image acquisition device 5 via a communication line 6.
The image data acquired by the image acquisition device 5 is transmitted to the photo album creation device 7 via the communication line 6. The photo album creating apparatus 7 creates a sample album 8 and a genuine album 9 based on the received image data.

<Photographic image acquisition device 5>
FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the photographic image acquisition device 5.
The image acquisition device 5 is installed in each of the plurality of funeral halls 100-1 to 100-n, and acquires image data related to the funeral in each of the funeral halls 100-1 to 100-n.
The image acquisition device 5 includes a scanner 10 for optically reading photographic image data from a photographic print 1 brought by a bereaved family or a participant, and a storage medium such as a card memory when the bereaved family or a participant has taken a picture with a digital camera in the past ( The first media I / F 11-1 for reading image data from the first recording medium 2 and the card memory of the rental camera (DSC) 3 photographed during the funeral by the staff of each funeral hall 100-1 to 100-n A second medium I / F 11-2 for reading image data from a storage medium (second storage medium) 4, an input keyboard 12 for inputting various information, a display 13 for displaying necessary information, and image acquisition ROM 17 in which a program defining the control operation of device 5 is stored in a compressed state, and a work memory for expanding the program stored in ROM 17 The RAM 16, the CPU 15 that controls the entire image acquisition device 5 in cooperation with the operation program stored in the RAM 16, the scanner 10, the first media I / F 11-1, and the second media I / F 11. The HDD (Hard Disk Device) 18 which is a storage means for storing the image data 29 acquired via -2 and the image acquisition device 5 are connected to the communication line 6, and the photo image storage data 29 is stored in the photo album creation device 7. And a communication I / F 19 for transmission to the network. Each of these means is connected to the system bus 14.

  The image acquisition device 5 can be configured using, for example, a so-called personal computer. That is, image acquisition application software that defines the operation (see FIG. 4) described later is stored in the HDD of a general-purpose personal computer, the application software is expanded in the RAM, and the expanded application software is executed by the CPU of the personal computer. The image acquisition device 5 can be realized by performing the configuration.

The reason for providing the first media I / F 11-1 for the storage media of the bereaved family or the attendant and the second media I / F 11-2 for the funeral hall staff is that the first storage media 2 and This is for preventing confusion in handling with the second storage medium 4. That is, as will be described later, the first storage medium 2 must be returned to the bereaved family or the like, while the second storage medium 4 is recorded in the second storage medium 4 before being returned to the staff such as the funeral hall 100-1. This is because the image data is erased, and it is necessary to avoid accidentally erasing the recorded data in the first storage medium 2 of the bereaved family.
A mouse pointing device as an input means can be used together with the input keyboard 12.
The second media I / F 11-2 for the funeral hall staff is a wireless LAN communication I / F or a weak radio wave receiving I / F from the camera 3 when the camera 3 has a wireless transmission function. As described above, image data of a photograph taken by the camera 3 can be transmitted wirelessly.
The communication line 6 can be a dedicated line or a public line such as the Internet.

<Photo album creation device 7>
FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the photo album creation apparatus.
The photo album creating apparatus 7 connects the photo album creating apparatus 7 to the communication line 6, a communication I / F 20 for receiving image data transmitted from the image acquisition apparatus 5, and processing, editing or editing of the received image data An input keyboard 21 for inputting various information such as trimming, a pointing device 22 for inputting various information such as processing, editing or trimming of received image data, and a display 23 for displaying necessary information. A color printing device 24 for creating the sample album 8 or the original album 9, a program 27 that stores a control program for the photo album creating device 7 in a compressed state, and a program stored in the 27 In cooperation with the RAM 26 as a working memory to be expanded and the operation program stored in the RAM 26 A CPU 25 that centrally controls the entire true album creating apparatus 7 and storage means for storing image data 30 received via the communication I / F 20 and storing a program 31 for editing (including trimming). These units are connected to a system bus 32.

<Photo album creation process and operation>
FIG. 3 shows a photo album creation process and operation.
First, in constructing the photo album creation system, the image acquisition device 5 is installed in the funeral halls 100-1 to 100-n. At this time, the digital camera 3 and the image acquisition device 5 are lent from the photo studio 200 to the funeral halls 100-1 to 100-n free of charge or for a fee.
In that case, it is preferable to provide two image acquisition devices 5 to each of the funeral halls 100-1 to 100-n. The reason is that one is used for backup. In addition, it is preferable that the staff in charge of taking a picture of the funeral hall be instructed in advance of camera operation methods and photographing techniques.

  Further, it is assumed that the recorded image data in the second storage medium 4 is erased after the image acquisition device 5 finishes reading the image data from the second storage medium 4, and the image data is transmitted to the photo album creation device 7. It is assumed that the image data 29 stored in the HDD 18 of the image acquisition device 5 is deleted after the end. Preferably, the image acquisition device 5 is configured so that the image data is automatically deleted at the above timing. Alternatively, a contract for the deletion as described above is exchanged in advance between the traders of the funeral halls 100-1 to 100-n and the trader of the photo studio 200. The reason is to prevent unauthorized use of image data stored in the HDD 18.

Next, with reference to FIG. 4, a series of steps from album creation, delivery, and price collection, and operations of the image acquisition device 5 and the photo album creation device 7 during that time will be described.
The operation of the image acquisition device 5 is executed in cooperation with the operation program stored in the ROM 17 and expanded in the RAM 16 and the CPU 15. Similarly, the operation of the photo album creation device 7 is stored in the ROM 27 and expanded in the RAM 26. The program is executed in cooperation with the CPU 25. In the following description, detailed description of the CPU 15 or 25 will not be repeated.

In addition, for the sake of simplicity of explanation, the funeral hall is assumed to be 100-1, but the same applies to other funeral halls 100-n.
It is assumed that the bereaved photo print 1 and / or the first storage medium 2 are provided from the bereaved family or the attendant at the funeral (step S1).
The provided brought-in photo print 1 is read by the scanner 10 in the image acquisition device 5 (step S camera 3), and the read image data is stored in the HDD 18 (step S4).
Similarly, the image data in the first storage medium 2 is taken in via the first medium I / F 11-1 and stored in the HDD 18 (step S4).

On the other hand, the staff entrusted with the shooting takes a picture of the funeral with the loaned camera 3 lent from the photo studio 200 and records it in the second storage medium 4 (step S2). The image data recorded on the second storage medium 4 is taken in via the second medium I / F 11-2 and stored in the HDD 18 (step S4).
Each image data stored in the HDD 18 is transmitted to the photo album creating apparatus 7 through a route of the communication I / F 19, the communication line 6, and the communication I / F 20 automatically or by manual input operation from the input keyboard 12. Step S5). This transmission operation is repeated until the transmission of all image data is completed (step S6).
When the transmission is completed (YES in step S6), the image data in the second storage medium 4 corresponding to the lending camera 3 is deleted automatically or manually by the input keyboard 12 (step S7).

Note that the image data in the first storage medium 2 provided by the bereaved family or a participant is not erased. After the image data is erased, the second storage medium 4 is returned to the commissioned staff again and used for the next funeral.
The first storage medium 2 and the second storage medium 4 are discriminated by determining which slot of the first media I / F 11-1 and the second media I / F 11-2 is used, The determination can be made based on the identification information recorded in the storage medium 2 and the second storage medium 4.

Next, all the image data 29 stored in the HDD 18 is erased (step S9), and the operation of the image acquisition device 5 ends.
On the other hand, the image data transmitted in step S5 is received via the communication I / F 20 of the photo album creating apparatus 7 (step S10) and stored in the HDD.

  In the photo album creating apparatus 7, image editing / trimming is performed (step S11). The editing / trimming of the image is executed by the staff in the photo studio 200 using the input keyboard 21, pointing device 22, and display 23 in accordance with the editing / trimming program 31 developed from the HDD 28 to the RAM 26, for example, in an interactive manner. The edited and trimmed image data is again stored in a predetermined storage area of the HDD 28.

  In the photo album creation device 7, the edited / trimmed image data stored in the HDD 28 is printed by the printing device 24, and the sample album 8 is created (step S12). The format of the sample album 8 is arbitrary.

  At a later date, the created sample album 8 is delivered from the photo studio 200 to the funeral company in the funeral hall 100-1 (steps S13 and S14). The staff of the funeral hall 100-1 brings the sample album 8 to the bereaved family and the attendees' homes and conducts sales activities for orders (step S15).

  As a result, when there is an order from the bereaved family / participant (step S16), the order information is transmitted to the funeral hall 100-1 and accepted (step S17). Based on the order, an order is placed from the funeral hall 100-1 to the photo studio 200 side (step S18), and the work on the funeral hall 100-1 side ends.

  In the photo studio 200 that has received the order, the photo album creating device 7 creates a formal album 9 with an order specification (step S20). If there is a significant correction, editing / trimming is performed again as in step S11.

  The completed official album 9 is temporarily sent from the photo studio 200 to the funeral hall 100-1 by mail or home delivery (step S21). The sent official album 9 is received by the funeral hall 100-1 (step S23), and the received official album 9 is delivered to the bereaved family / participants ordered by the person in charge of the funeral hall 100-1 by bringing it. (Step S22).

  The survivor / participant who received the official album 9 pays the price (step S26), and the person in charge of the funeral hall 100-1 collects the price (step S25). Expenses are deposited into the photo studio 200 from the funeral hall 100-1 through a financial institution (step S24).

It is a block diagram which shows the outline | summary of a photograph album production system. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of an image data acquisition apparatus. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of an album production apparatus. It is a ladder chart figure which shows the creation process of a photo album, and the operation example of each part.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Bring-in photo print 2 2nd storage medium 3 Lending camera 4 1st storage medium 5 Image acquisition apparatus 6 Communication line 7 Photo album creation apparatus 8 Sample album 9 Original book album 10 Scanner 11-1 1st media I / F
11-2 Second media I / F
12 Input keyboard 13 Display 14 System bus 15 CPU
16 RAM
17 ROM
18 HDD
19 Communication I / F
20 Communication I / F
21 Input Keyboard 22 Pointing Device 23 Display 24 Printing Device 25 CPU
26 RAM
27 ROM
28 HDD
29 Photographic image data 30 Editing program 100-1 Funeral hall,
100-n funeral hall 200 photo studio

Claims (4)

Photo image data is acquired from a photographic print or a first storage medium provided at a funeral hall and provided by a funeral attendant, or a second storage medium attached to a camera imaged at the funeral hall, and the acquired photographic image A photographic image acquisition device having transmission means for transmitting data;
A receiving unit that is installed in a photo studio and receives photographic image data transmitted from the transmitting unit via a communication line, and edits the received photographic image data to create a sample photo album or a formal photo album A photo album creation device;
A photo album creation system characterized by comprising:   The photographic image acquisition apparatus includes an image data reading unit that reads photographic image data from the first storage medium or the second storage medium, and a scanner unit that optically reads an image from the photographic print and outputs the photographic image data. The photo album creation system according to claim 1, further comprising:   The image data reading means includes: first image data reading means for reading photographic image data from the first storage medium; and second image data reading means for reading photographic image data from the second storage medium. The photo album creation system according to claim 2, further comprising: 4. The photo album creation system according to claim 1, wherein the first storage medium or the second storage medium is a memory card. 5.

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