JP3827817B2 - Photo finishing system - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a photofinishing system that performs print output of a digital image captured by a scanner or the like and media output in parallel, and particularly relates to a method for determining a file name at the time of media output of such a photofinishing system. .
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, a service for recording photographic image data read from a film as an image file on a medium such as PhotoCD has been provided. In such a service, the file name of the digital image recorded on the medium is, for example, 0001.PCD, 0002.PCD, 0003.PCD (where .PCD is the file extension in the case of PhotoCD) In general, the serial number was simply assigned in the order of recording.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Conventionally, the service as described above has a smaller number of users than the photo print service, and the number of photos to be recorded on the media has been limited to a very small number, such as a favorite photo. Therefore, even if the file name is a simple serial number, there is no particular inconvenience when distinguishing image files.
[0004]
However, in recent years, the purpose of using services has been changing due to the widespread use of various large-capacity storage media such as CD-R, MO, and Zip to ordinary households. That is, instead of selecting only a special photo and outputting it to media as in the past, a method of use in which all the taken photos are output to media and stored as an electronic album is becoming mainstream.
[0005]
On the other hand, the present applicant has proposed a photo finishing system that performs both photo print creation and media output by reading a film once in Japanese Patent Application No. 8-309322, etc. Aiming for processing.
[0006]
With the realization of this system, the media output service as described above becomes easier to use, and it is expected that the number of image files that are output to the media by one order per customer will increase significantly in the future. However, when the number of files increases, the file number of the serial number has a problem that it is difficult to organize the file because it is difficult to know which file is a photograph taken when.
[0007]
In view of the above problems, the present invention provides a photo finishing system that performs print output and media output in parallel so that the contents of a photographic image recorded on a medium can be easily associated with the file name. It is the purpose.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The photofinishing system of the present invention includes an image data capturing unit that captures a digital image, an image processing unit that performs image processing on the captured digital image, and a digital image that has been subjected to the image processing as a photographic print. A photofinishing system comprising print output means for outputting and media output means for recording a digital image after the image processing is performed on a predetermined recording medium, the date when the digital image was captured, and a predetermined date File name generating means for generating a file name composed of a unique number assigned according to the rules of the above, wherein the media output means uses the file name generated by the file name generating means as the file name of the digital image Recording on the recording medium And it is characterized in and.
[0009]
Here, the image data fetching means means, for example, a film scanner for reading a developed film, a reflective scanner for reading a photographic print, various interfaces for fetching data from a digital camera, and the like. The image processing means performs pixel density conversion, color gradation correction, and the like according to the output form. Specific examples of the predetermined recording medium include CD-R, MO, and Zip.
[0010]
The unique number may be assigned, for example, starting from 1 for all images captured on the same day or for all images recorded on the same recording medium. . . You can shake the following turn. In this case, the numbers may be assigned according to any rule as long as they do not overlap each other.
[0011]
Alternatively, when reading a photograph recorded on a film and outputting the media, a unique number assigned according to the predetermined rule is set to a unique number assigned to each film captured on the same day, and It may be a number composed of a frame number of a photograph recorded on each film.
[0012]
Note that the number is not necessarily limited to numbers, and includes symbols such as alphabets.
[0013]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, when a large number of photographic image data is output to the media at the same time by performing print output and media output in parallel, the file name of the photographic image to be recorded on the medium is converted into a digital image. Since the file name is composed of a date taken in and a unique number assigned according to a predetermined rule, the customer can easily associate the contents of the photo later with the file name.
[0014]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment of a photofinishing system of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of a photofinishing system of the present invention. As shown in the figure, this system includes an image handling device 1 and a photographic printer 2 connected to the image handling device 1.
[0015]
In the present embodiment, the image handling apparatus 1 is a general-purpose personal computer in which a dedicated program is incorporated. As a peripheral device or an external interface, a film scanner for reading a developed film, a cable interface with a digital camera, a digital camera A card reader for reading a memory card for use is provided. Further, the image handling apparatus 1 includes a media drive such as a CD-R or Zip, or is provided externally.
[0016]
The photographic printer 2 is a known digital photographic printer, which receives image data and output instruction information (for example, the number of prints, size, etc.) from the image handling apparatus 1 and performs print output based on these.
[0017]
In the above system, the image handling apparatus 1 performs predetermined image processing on the image data taken from the digital camera 3 or the developed film 4 and then transfers the image data to the photographic printer 2 as well as a medium such as a CD-R. Record in 6.
[0018]
Examples of image processing performed on image data include color and gradation correction, sharpness processing, and the like. If the image data is subjected to correction processing suitable for print output, and the processed image data is recorded on the media and provided to the customer, the customer later orders the print of the image data in the media. The result is a print that has the same finish as the photographic print that was originally provided.
[0019]
In addition, for example, enlargement / reduction processing according to the size of the print mount may be performed on image data for print output, and compression processing may be performed on image data for media output.
[0020]
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a method for generating a file name when image data is recorded on the medium 6 in the photofinishing system. The file name generation means for generating the file name according to this method is specifically realized as software incorporated in the photofinishing system.
[0021]
As shown in the figure, in this example, the file name of the image data is represented by a prefix of 8 characters and a suffix of 3 characters. Of the eight prefix characters, the first two characters are the last two digits of the year of the digitized date displayed as two decimal digits. The next one character is the digitized month displayed in hexadecimal, and the next two characters are the digitized date displayed in two decimal digits. The last three characters are decimal numbers representing the serial number when digitizing on the same date. Alternatively, the last three characters may be used as a serial number for all images recorded on the same recording medium.
[0022]
According to this name generation method, for example, if the media output of a photograph recorded on two 25-frame film on December 10, 1997 is performed, the photographic image of the first frame of the first film is 97C10001. FPX is recorded on the medium with the file name, and the nnth frame of the first film is 97C100nn. It is recorded with the file name FPX. In this case, the first frame of the second film is 97C10026. It is recorded with the file name FPX.
[0023]
If additional recording is performed later on the same medium, for example, if the date of the additional recording is January 12, 1998, the file name of the added image data is 98112001. Like FPX. Therefore, by looking at the file name, it can be seen at a glance when the image data was taken and recorded on the medium, and the contents of the photographic image can be easily associated with the file name.
[0024]
When the image data read from the film is output as media, the serial number may be a number associated with the film as shown in FIG. In the example shown in FIG. 3, among the last three characters of the prefix, one character is a serial number for distinguishing films, and the remaining two characters are frame numbers.
[0025]
In this method, for example, when the media output of a photograph recorded on two 25-frame film on December 10, 1997 is performed as in the example of FIG. 2 above, the first frame of the first film is photographed. Is 97C10101. It is recorded on the medium with a file name of FPX. Similarly, the nnth frame of the first film is 97C101nn. It is recorded with the file name FPX. In this case, the photographic image of the first frame of the second film is 97C10201. It is recorded with the file name FPX.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of a photofinishing system of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a file name generation method. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing another example of a file name generation method.
1 Image Handling Device 2 Photo Printer 3 Digital Camera 4 Developed Film 5 Photo Print 6 Recording Media

Claims (1)

A plurality of types of image data capturing means for capturing digital images taken by a digital camera, image processing means for performing image processing on the captured digital images, and digital printing after the image processing is performed as a photographic print A photofinishing system comprising: a print output unit that outputs a digital image after the image processing is performed; and a media output unit that records the digital image on a predetermined recording medium.
For each digital image captured by the image data capturing means, a file name composed of alphanumeric characters representing the date of capturing the digital image and a serial number assigned to the image captured on the same day A file name generation means for generating,
The photo finishing system, wherein the media output means records on the recording medium the file name generated by the file name generation means as the file name of each digital image.

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