JP4591562B2 - Printer and printing control method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a printer and a printing control method .

  A digital camera is known in which a digital camera and a printer are directly connected via Bluetooth (registered trademark), USB (Universal Serial Bus), or the like, and a subject image output by the digital camera can be directly printed on the printer. In such a digital camera, generally, print setting information can be designated so as to print a subject image. Here, the time of photographing specifically refers to, for example, the day when the subject image is output, or the date and time. The digital camera generates a print job based on the subject image designated by the user and the print setting information, and outputs the print job to a printer for printing.

Among the digital cameras described above, there is known a digital camera that stores in advance layout definition data defining the layout of an image and prints the image in a layout defined by the layout definition data (for example, Patent Document 1). reference).
The electronic camera disclosed in Patent Literature 1 allows a user to select a resume frame or a passport frame as an image, and synthesizes compressed data obtained by compressing an image signal acquired by a photographing unit and an image indicating the selected frame. The printer is printing. Since the electronic camera of Patent Document 1 composites and prints an image showing the selected frame, for example, the frame information (layout definition data) stores a layout such as the size of the frame and the position of the frame on the screen. An image representing the frame is printed at the position specified by the frame information.

  According to such layout definition data, if the information for printing at the time of shooting is defined, it is possible to perform the combined printing of the shooting time and the subject image in the same manner as the combined printing of the frame image and the subject image. .

JP 2000-358206 A

However, as described above, the conventional digital camera can perform composite printing at the time of shooting without using layout definition data. Therefore, if information for printing the time of shooting is defined in the layout definition data, the time of shooting can be reduced. There is a problem of being printed twice.
FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a result 57 printed twice during shooting. In the figure, “2002.1.1” is the time of photographing that is synthesized and printed based on the layout defined in the layout definition data, and “January 1, 2002” is based on the print setting information of the print job. In this case, the image is photographed with composite printing in a predetermined layout.

The present invention has been created in view of such a problem, and even when a print job is set to print at the time of shooting, and the shooting time is defined by the layout definition data, the time of shooting can be reduced. It is an object of the present invention to provide a printer and a print control method that can prevent double printing.

In order to achieve the above object, a printer according to the present invention determines whether or not layout definition data defined to print a shooting time is associated with a subject image specified in a print job, When layout definition data is associated, printing is performed based on the layout definition data only, and when the layout definition data is not associated, whether shooting is combined with the subject image or not If it is set to perform composite printing at the time of shooting, the shooting time is combined and printed in a predetermined layout.

During this printer, for printing based only on the layout definition data if the layout definition data is defined so as to print the time of shooting, be set a print job to print the time of photographing shot Only one is printed based on only the layout definition data. Therefore, according to this printer , even when a print job is set so as to print at the time of shooting, and it is defined to print at the time of shooting in the layout definition data, it is possible to prevent double printing at the time of shooting.

  The functions of the plurality of means provided in the present invention are realized by hardware resources whose functions are specified by the configuration itself, hardware resources whose functions are specified by a program, or a combination thereof. The functions of the plurality of means are not limited to those realized by hardware resources that are physically independent of each other.

Further, the present invention can be specified not only as a printer invention but also as a method invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which a digital still camera 1 as a digital camera according to an embodiment of the present invention is connected to a printer 2.
The printer 2 is configured to print a subject image based on the print job when a print job to be described later is output from the digital still camera 1. Specifically, when the printer 2 is set as a print job so as to print the image pickup time based on the layout definition data, the subject image specified by the print job and the image pickup time associated with the object image are set as the subject. Print data is generated by combining with the layout defined by the layout definition data associated with the image, and the image is formed on the printing paper by, for example, an inkjet method, a laser method, a sublimation thermal transfer method, a dot impact method, or the like. In addition, when the print job is set to print at the time of imaging based on the print job, the print data generated at the time of imaging is predetermined as the print data of the subject image generated with the layout defined by the layout definition data. It is configured to print by combining with the layout.

In this embodiment, the printer 2 generates print data, but the digital still camera 1 may generate print data.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the digital still camera 1. FIGS. 4A and 4B are a rear view and a front view, respectively, showing the appearance of the digital still camera 1.

The lens driving unit 23 drives the zoom lens 11 so that an optical image of the subject is formed on the light receiving unit of the image sensor 13 at a magnification according to a signal input from the CPU 25. The diaphragm drive unit 22 drives the optical diaphragm 12 so that the amount of incident light on the image sensor 13 becomes the amount of incident light corresponding to the signal input from the CPU 25.
The image sensor 13 is an area image sensor in which a color filter array composed of four complementary color filters of C (Cyan), M (Magenta), Y (Yellow), and G (Green) is formed on-chip. The electric charge obtained by photoelectrically converting the obtained light is accumulated for a certain period of time, and an electric signal corresponding to the amount of received light for each photoelectric conversion element is output. The color filter array may be composed of CMY three-color complementary color filters, or may be composed of R (Red), G (Green), and B (Blue) primary color filters.

  The CDS circuit 14 performs processing for reducing noise included in the analog electric signal. The AGC circuit 15 adjusts the level of the analog electric signal by adjusting the gain. The A / D converter 16 quantizes the analog electric signal subjected to the above processes into a digital signal having a predetermined gradation. The scanning control unit 21 outputs a shift pulse, a vertical transfer pulse, a horizontal transfer pulse, and the like to the image sensor 13, and operates them in synchronization with the image sensor 13 to the CDS circuit 14, the AGC circuit 15 and the A / D converter 16. The drive pulse for making it output is output.

  The digital image processing unit 17 is configured by, for example, a DSP (Digital Signal Processor), and performs image generation processing, white balance correction, γ correction, color space conversion, and the like based on the image signal output from the A / D converter 16. For example, object data representing, for example, R, G, and B gradation values, Y, Cb, and Cr gradation values for each pixel is created and stored in the RAM 26. Note that the image generation processing here is mainly four CMYG gradation values for each pixel by interpolation processing using digital data representing any one of CMYG gradation values corresponding to the output of each photoelectric conversion element. Is a process for generating image data having

  In the shooting mode, the compression / decompression processing unit 18 compresses the image data output from the digital image processing unit 17 to create compressed image data compliant with, for example, the JPEG format, and in the reproduction mode, the reader / writer 19 is operated. The compressed image data read from the removable memory 20 is decompressed and output to the RAM 26. A removable memory 20 composed of a non-volatile memory such as a flash memory is detachable from the reader / writer 19, and the reader / writer 19 writes compressed image data as a subject image in association with the time of shooting in the removable memory 20, Data stored in the removable memory 20 is read.

  In the removable memory 20 as a non-volatile memory, one or more layout definition data and thumbnail image data representing the layout of the layout definition data are stored in association with each other. Further, as described above, the subject image and the shooting time are stored in association with each other. Specifically, the association between the subject image and the shooting time, for example, stores the identification name for uniquely identifying the subject image and the shooting time in an association table comprising an identification name field, a shooting time field, and a layout definition data field. To do. Here, the layout definition data field is a field for storing an identification name for uniquely identifying the layout definition data, and is a field for associating the subject image, the photographing time, and the layout definition data. The storage of the identification name in the layout definition data field will be described later.

  The operation unit 27 includes a power button for turning on / off the power, a dial switch for setting modes such as a photographing mode, a reproduction mode, and a direct print mode, a shutter button 35 for inputting a shutter instruction, and a selection button. 36, various buttons such as a menu button 37, a print button 38, an A button 40, and a B button 41, and a circuit for detecting the pressing of the button and the rotation angle of the dial switch. The selection button 36 of this embodiment can be operated with one button to turn on / off the upper switch, the lower switch, the right switch, and the left switch as push button switches. Turned on / off. The upper switch, the lower switch, the right switch, and the left switch are switches that are used for selecting an item from a menu, and the A button 40 and the B button 41 are buttons that are used for instructing a screen transition.

The display control unit 29 performs a process of thinning out the subject image stored in the RAM 26 at a fixed magnification according to the display area of the display, a color space conversion process, and the like, and displays it as a display based on the display data created by performing these processes. The LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) 30 is driven.
The interface unit 28 is configured in accordance with the USB (Universal Serial Bus) standard. When transmitting data, the digital still camera 1 and the printer 2 can communicate with each other by inserting one connector of the USB cable into the USB port of the interface unit 28 and the other connector into the USB port of the printer 2. Connected to.

  The CPU 25 controls the entire digital still camera 1 by executing a computer program stored in the ROM 26. The ROM 26 is a memory for storing a computer program and various data for the CPU 25 to execute various controls. The RAM 26 is a memory for temporarily storing various programs and data.

Next, the layout definition data will be described.
FIG. 5A is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of the layout 51 defined by the layout definition data. The layout definition data is data that designates a print position when printing a subject image and an image on a print medium, and is described as a script that can be interpreted by the printer 2. In the figure, a print area 52 indicates a print position of the subject image, and a print area 53 indicates a print position at the time of imaging.

  FIG. 5B shows the layout definition data script 54 shown in FIG. In the layout definition data script, each print area is designated by upper left coordinates and lower right coordinates. The line starting from DrawPicture is a line that defines the print area of the subject image. The print area of the subject image is described in the following format.

DrawPicture (GroupID, “FileName”, “PhotoID”, FrameX1, FrameY1, FrameX2, FrameY2, Direction, Fitting, Alignment, Shape)
Here, FrameX1 and FrameY1 are fields for designating the upper left coordinates of the print area, FrameX2 and FrameY2 are fields for designating the lower right coordinates of the print area, and the subject image is printed in this rectangular print area. The Description of other fields is omitted.

In the script 54, a line starting from DrawStrings is a line defining a print area at the time of imaging. The print area at the time of imaging is described in the following format.
DrawStrings (“FileName”, PhotoID, “Strings”, FrameX1, FrameX2, FrameY2, StrDirection, “FontName”, FontSize, FFColorR, FFColorG, FFColorB)
Here, Strings is a field for designating a character string to be printed. At the time of imaging, the macro variable is designated in the Strings field. For example, if it is desired to print with the character string “13:10 on August 8, 2000” at the time of imaging, it is described as “% Y.% L.% D.% H.% M”. For example, when it is desired to print only the date at the time of imaging, “% Y.% L.% D” is described. FrameX1 and FrameY1 are fields for specifying the upper left coordinates of the print area, and FrameX2 and FrameY2 are fields for specifying the lower right coordinates of the print area, and are printed in this rectangular print area at the time of imaging. Description of other fields is omitted.

Next, a print job and a print job setting for causing the printer to continuously print a plurality of subject images stored in the removable memory 20 will be described.
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram for explaining a print job. The print job is information including print setting information, subject image information, and identification information. In the print setting information, information such as presence / absence of printing at the time of photographing, paper size, presence / absence of border processing, print mode, and the like are designated. In the subject image information, information such as an identification name for uniquely identifying a subject image to be printed in the print job and the number of printed subject images specified by the identification name are specified. In the identification information, identification information for the printer 2 to identify whether to print at the time of shooting based on the print job or the layout definition data is designated. Details of designation of identification information will be described later.

FIG. 7 is a screen transition diagram of screens used for setting a print job. Hereinafter, the flow of processing for setting a print job will be described with reference to FIG.
The image display screen 42 is a screen for displaying a subject image. The image display screen 42 is displayed by performing a predetermined operation. When the selection button 36 (see FIG. 4) is pressed down or up, the subject images stored in the removable memory 20 are displayed in order. When the print button 38 is pressed, a transition is made to the print target setting screen 43.

  The print target setting screen 43 is a screen for designating selection items for designating a print target. The print target setting screen 43 displays three selection items, “Print this image”, “Print all images”, and “Select and print”, as selection items for specifying the print target. Select one of them. When “print all images” is selected, a plurality of subject images stored in the removable memory 20 are all to be printed. When “Print this image” is selected, the subject image displayed when the printer button 38 is pressed on the image display screen 42 becomes the print target. When “Select and print” is selected, one or more subject images selected on the print instruction screen 44 are to be printed. When setting a print job for continuously printing a plurality of subject images stored in the removable memory 20, “Print all images” or “Select and print” is selected. When “Print all images” or “Select and print” is selected and the print button 38 is pressed, the screen shifts to the print instruction screen 44.

  The print instruction screen 44 is a screen for instructing printing. The print number display area 47 is an area for displaying the number of prints set for the subject image. When “print all images” is selected and the screen shifts to the print instruction screen 44, 1 is set for the number of prints for all subject images stored in the removable memory 20. 1 is displayed for the subject image. The number of prints can be arbitrarily changed by a selection button 36. When “Select and print” is selected and the screen changes to the print instruction screen 44, the number of prints is set to 0 for all the subject images stored in the removable memory 20, and the user sets the number of prints of the subject images to be printed. By setting it to 1 or more, the subject image to be printed is selected. When the menu button 37 is pressed on the print instruction screen 44, a transition is made to a menu screen 45 for setting print setting information such as whether or not printing is performed during shooting. When the B button 41 is pressed, the screen transitions to a layout definition data editing screen 46 for selecting layout definition data. When the print button 38 is pressed, subject image information is set so that all images or selected images are to be printed, and processing for causing the printer to print is started.

  The menu screen 45 is a screen for setting print setting information. The print setting information is information that is uniformly applied to the subject image to be printed. The menu screen 45 displays a selection item “when imaging” for selecting whether or not printing is performed during shooting. The user can select either “Yes” or “No” by moving the cursor to “during imaging” with the selection button 36 and pressing the right or left of the selection button 36. When “Yes” is selected, the digital still camera 1 sets “Yes” for “when imaging” in the print setting information. When “None” is selected, “None” is set. When the A button 40 is pressed on the menu screen 45, “Return” is selected and the screen returns to the print instruction screen 44.

  The layout definition data editing screen 46 is a screen for selecting layout definition data. On the layout definition data editing screen 46, thumbnail images previously associated with the layout definition data and stored in the removable memory 20 are displayed, and the user presses the upper or lower selection button 36 to sequentially display the thumbnail images. You can select layout definition data while looking at the screen. When the B button 41 is pressed on the layout definition data editing screen 46, the identification name of the layout definition data displayed on the screen at that time is stored as the identification name of the subject image displayed on the print instruction screen 44 in the association table. Stored in the layout definition data field of the current row. As a result, the subject image, the time of imaging, and the layout definition data are associated with each other.

  In this embodiment, the subject image, the image capturing time, and the layout definition data are stored in the removable memory 20 in association with each other when the print setting information is set. May be stored. Specifically, layout definition data may be selected in advance before conversion to the subject image, and stored in association with the layout definition data selected in advance when converted to the subject image.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of the digital still camera 1.
In S105, the user of the digital still camera 1 presses the shutter button 35 and inputs an instruction to convert the optical image of the subject into a subject image.
In S110, the digital still camera 1 detects that the shutter button 35 has been pressed, and converts the optical image of the subject into a subject image. Specifically, the CPU 25 inputs a predetermined control signal to the scanning control unit 21, scans the electric charge accumulated in the image sensor 13 for a predetermined time, and performs predetermined processing by the CDS circuit 14, the AGC circuit 15, and the A / D converter 16. After the processing, the digital image processing unit 17 converts it into a subject image. Next, the converted subject image is compressed by the compression / expansion processing unit 18 to output the subject image, and the CPU 25 stores the subject image and the time of imaging in the removable memory 20 in association with each other by the reader / writer 19.

In S115, the user wire-connects the digital still camera 1 to the printer 2 with, for example, a USB cable.
In S120, the user sets subject image information and print setting information to be printed, and presses the print button 38 to instruct the digital still camera 1 to perform printing.
In S125, the CPU 25 generates a print job from the print setting information and the subject image information. At this point, nothing is set in the print job identification information. In the present embodiment, a print job after processing in S130 to S150, which will be described later, is referred to as a print command.

  In S130, one identification name is acquired from the set subject image information, and whether or not layout definition data associated with the subject image specified by the identification name is defined to be printed at the time of shooting is determined. Determine. Specifically, the determination is made based on whether or not a macro variable is defined in Strings in the DrawStrings line of the script of the layout definition data. When it is defined, the process proceeds to S135, and when it is not defined, the process proceeds to S140.

In S135, the CPU 25 sets the subject image to be printed based on the layout definition data at the time of imaging. Specifically, “layout definition data” is designated as the identification information of the line specified by the identification name in the print job.
In S140, the CPU 25 determines whether or not “present” is set for printing at the time of shooting the print setting information. When it is set, the process proceeds to S145, and when it is not set, the process proceeds to S150.

In S145, the CPU 25 sets the subject image to be printed based on the print job at the time of imaging. Specifically, “print job” is designated in the identification information field of the line specified by the identification name in the print job.
In S150, the CPU 25 determines whether or not the layout definition data has been determined for all the identification names. If not, the process returns to S130 and repeats the process. If completed, the process proceeds to S155.

In S155, the CPU 25 outputs a print command to the printer via the interface unit 28.
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a print command. The print command in the example shown is a command when “Yes” is specified at the time of imaging in the print setting information. As shown in the figure, “layout definition data”, “print job”, etc. are specified in the identification information. Yes.
As described above, the print command is output to the printer 2. When the print command is output, the printer 2 acquires one identification name of the subject image specified by the print command, and the subject image specified by the identification name and the layout definition associated with the subject image. Data is acquired from the digital still camera 1. If “layout definition data” is specified in the print job identification information, the acquired subject image and the captured image are combined and printed based on the layout defined in the layout definition data. At this time, the printer 2 prints at the time of shooting based only on the layout definition data, and ignores the setting even if “Yes” is set for printing at the time of shooting of the print command. If “print job” is specified in the print job identification information, the print data at the time of imaging is preset in the digital still camera 1 as the print data of the subject image generated with the layout defined by the layout definition data. Is printed with a predetermined layout. When nothing is specified in the identification information of the print command, the printer 2 does not print at the time of imaging. The printer 2 repeats the process until printing for all the subject images specified in the print job is completed.

Hereinafter, effects of the embodiment will be described.
FIG. 9A is a diagram showing a printing result 55 by the digital still camera 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The digital still camera 1 designates “layout definition data” as identification information of a print command when a print job is set to print at the time of shooting and the layout definition data is defined to print at the time of shooting. By doing so, the shooting time is printed based only on the layout definition data. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 9A, only one is printed at the time of shooting. Therefore, according to the digital still camera 1, even when the print job is set to print the shooting time and the shooting definition is defined to be printed in the layout definition data, the shooting time is prevented from being printed twice. it can.

  FIG. 9B is a diagram illustrating a print result 56 by the digital still camera 1. According to the digital still camera 1, when a print job is set to print at the time of shooting and is not defined to print at the time of shooting in the layout definition data, “print job” is specified in the identification information of the print command. By doing so, the shooting time is printed based on the print job. For this reason, even if the layout definition data is not defined to print the shooting time, the shooting time can be printed as shown in FIG. 9B.

It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a process of a digital camera. It is a schematic diagram which shows a digital camera and a printer. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of a digital camera. (A) is a rear view showing the appearance of the digital camera, and (B) is a front view. (A) is a schematic diagram showing layout definition data, and (B) is a diagram showing a script of layout definition data. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a print job generated by a digital camera. It is a screen transition diagram of a digital camera. It is a figure which shows the print command which a digital camera outputs. (A) And (B) is a figure which shows the printing result by the digital camera by one Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the printing result by the conventional digital camera.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Digital still camera (digital camera), 2 ... Printer, 11 ... Zoom lens (optical system), 12 ... Optical aperture (optical system), 19 ... Reader / writer (recording means), 20 ... Removable memory (nonvolatile memory) 25 ... CPU (recording means, print setting means, print control means), 27 ... operation unit (print setting means), 29 ... display control section (print setting means), 30 ... LCD (print setting means).

Claims (2)

For the subject image specified for the print job,
It is determined whether or not layout definition data defined to print the shooting time is associated, and when the layout definition data is associated, the shooting time is printed based only on the layout definition data,
If the layout definition data is not associated, it is determined whether or not shooting is set to be combined with the subject image, and if shooting is set to be combined and printed, the shooting is set to a predetermined layout. A printer characterized by combining and printing. For the subject image included in the print job in which whether or not to synthesize and print the subject image during each print job is set,
It is determined whether or not layout definition data defined to print the shooting time is associated, and when the layout definition data is associated, the shooting time is printed based only on the layout definition data,
If the layout definition data is not associated, it is determined whether or not shooting is set to be combined with the subject image, and if shooting is set to be combined and printed, the shooting is set to a predetermined layout. A print control method comprising: combining and printing with a printer.

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