JP7523955B2 - Information processing device, information processing system, control method for information processing system, and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an information processing device capable of image editing , an information processing system, a control method for an information processing system, and a program.

Patent Document 1 discloses a technology for performing image correction in a printing system equipped with an information processing device and an image forming device, in which a shooting scene is estimated from an image and image quality is corrected according to the estimated shooting scene. This type of image correction function can be installed in both the information processing device and the image forming device, but installing it on the image forming device makes it possible to use the image correction function from all applications running on the information processing device.

Such printing systems can also be equipped with a function for performing layout editing, which involves processing images such as trimming, enlarging/reducing, and rotating. This layout editing is desirably performed on the print host side, i.e., on the information processing device side, for the following reasons. In trimming, part of the original image is cut out, reducing the image size, reducing the amount of image data transferred to the image forming device and also reducing the transfer time. By previewing the image after layout editing on the display unit of the information processing device, the user can check the layout to be the same as the actual printed matter before printing.

JP 2005-151130 A

However, if the information processing device has a layout editing function and the image forming device has an image correction function, there is a risk that the printed image will deteriorate depending on whether or not layout editing is performed on the information processing device.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems, and aims to provide a technology that can suppress deterioration that occurs in images printed by an image forming device that performs image correction processing.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, one embodiment of the present invention is a program that causes a computer of an information processing device capable of communicating with an image forming device to function as an image editing means capable of performing edits on an image to be printed, an output means for outputting data based on the image to be printed, and a compression means for compressing the image to be printed when at least one of the capacity and resolution of the image to be printed reaches a threshold value or above , wherein the output means outputs the data in a format that enables the image forming device to determine whether the image to be printed has been edited by the image editing means, and outputs the data by adding specific information to one of the image to be printed that has been compressed by the compression means and the image to be printed that has not been compressed by the compression means, without adding the specific information to the other .

The present invention makes it possible to suppress deterioration of images printed by an image forming device that performs image correction processing.

1 is a diagram showing an information processing system including an information processing device according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an information processing apparatus and an image forming apparatus. 5 is a flowchart of a setting process in the information processing device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a print preview screen. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an initial state of a preview image. FIG. FIG. FIG. 13 is a flowchart of a print instruction process. 4 is a flowchart of a printing process in the image forming apparatus. 11 is a flowchart of a sheet analysis process which is a subroutine of the printing process. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a feature amount data table. 10 is a flowchart of a setting process in an information processing device according to a second embodiment.

Hereinafter, with reference to the attached drawings, an example of an embodiment of an information processing device , an information processing system, a control method for an information processing system, and a program will be described in detail. Note that the following embodiments do not limit the present invention, and not all of the combinations of features described in the embodiments are necessarily essential to the solution of the present invention. In addition, the relative positions and shapes of the components described in the embodiments are merely examples, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention to only those.

First Embodiment
Prior to explaining the embodiments, it will be explained in more detail that when the information processing device has a layout editing function and the image forming device has an image correction function, the correction results obtained by the image correction process may differ depending on whether or not layout editing is performed on the information processing device side.

A trimmed image has less information for determining the shooting scene than an unedited original image. Therefore, there is a risk that the correction result of the image correction process of the trimmed image will not match the correction result of the image correction process of the original image. As a result, when trimming is performed, there is a risk that the printed image will deteriorate. Also, for example, in order to provide an area for writing a message on a printed matter, a layout editing function is used to perform a reduction process or a movement process on the image to generate a margin area on the image. In this case, there is a risk that the reference color for adjusting the brightness and density will change between the image after layout editing and the original image. Therefore, there is a risk that the correction result of the image correction process of the image after editing such as reduction processing or movement processing will not match the correction result of the image processing of the original image. As a result, when a margin is generated by performing a reduction process or movement process, there is a risk that the printed image will deteriorate. In the embodiment described below, a technology for suppressing such deterioration will be described.

<Information Processing System>
First, an information processing system including an information processing device according to the first embodiment will be described. Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of an information processing system including an information processing device according to the first embodiment. The information processing system 10 in Fig. 1 includes an information processing device 12 that can input various information such as user instructions and various settings, and an image forming device 14 that can print based on information output from the information processing device 12 and the like. The information processing device 12 and the image forming device 14 are connected via a network 16. The information processing system 10 also includes a wireless LAN router 18 connected to the network 16, and a server 22 connected to the wireless LAN router 18 via the Internet 20.

The information processing device 12 may be a smartphone, a mobile terminal, a notebook PC, a tablet terminal, a PAD (Personal Digital Assistant), a digital camera, or the like. In the following description, the information processing device 12 will be described using a smartphone as an example, and the information processing device 12 will also be referred to as the smartphone 12.

The image forming device 14 can communicate with the information processing device 12, and can be, for example, an inkjet printer, a full-color laser beam printer, or a monochrome printer. A multifunction device equipped with a copying function, a fax function, a printing function, etc. can also be used.

The server 22 transmits various information to the information processing device 12 used by the user via the Internet 20. The information processing device 12 is connected to the wireless LAN router 18 via the network 16, and the connection between the wireless LAN router 18 and the Internet 20 enables Internet communication via the wireless LAN router 18. In addition, the image forming device 14 is connected to the network 16, and the information processing device 12 and the image forming device 14 can communicate with each other via the wireless LAN router 18.

The network 16 is connected to the Internet 20 via a wireless LAN router 18, but it can also be connected by wire rather than wirelessly. Note that the smartphone 12 serving as the information processing device has not only an operating system (OS) installed, but also applications with various functions that run on the OS installed.

In this embodiment, the user first launches a specific application in the smartphone 12. The specific application will be described as an application with a function to print image data and document data stored in the smartphone 12, but it may be an application with other functions. In the following description, an application with a print function is referred to as a "printing application." The printing application may have other functions in addition to the functions described above. For example, if the image forming device 14 is a multifunction device with a scanning function, the printing application may have a function to scan a document set in the multifunction device and a function to perform other settings of the image forming device 14. The printing application may also have a function to obtain data such as images and documents from a cloud server (not shown) via the Internet 20 and print them.

<Configuration of Information Processing Apparatus and Image Forming Apparatus>
Next, the configuration of the smartphone 12 and the image forming device 14 as information processing devices will be described. Fig. 2 is a block diagram of the smartphone 12 and the image forming device 14. Note that the following description shows an example of the configuration of the information processing device and the image forming device, and is not limited thereto.

The smartphone 12 includes an input interface 24, a central processing unit (CPU) 26, a ROM 28, a RAM 30, a storage device 32, an output interface 34, a touch panel 36, and a network interface 38. The smartphone 12 also includes a communication unit (not shown) for connecting to the Internet via a mobile communication network such as 3G or LTE (Long Term Evolution). The touch panel 36 includes both an input unit that accepts operations from the user and a display unit that displays a predetermined display.

The network interface 38 can be connected to an access point (not shown) in the image forming device 14. By connecting the network interface 38 to the access point in the image forming device 14, the smartphone 12 and the image forming device 14 can communicate with each other. The communication may be direct wireless communication, or may be via an access point outside the device installed on a wired network. Examples of communication methods include Wi-Fi (registered trademark) (Wireless Fidelity), Bluetooth (registered trademark), and NFC (Near Field Communication; ISO/IEC IS 18092). In this embodiment, the access point is a device that connects the smartphone 12 and the image forming device 14 to each other and has a function of connecting to other networks such as the Internet. A typical example of a device that has the function of an access point is a wireless LAN router.

The ROM 28 stores an initialization program, and the storage device 32 stores an OS. This OS holds a print service program that controls print control. Furthermore, the storage device 32 holds an application that allows the user to execute prints, and a print information generation program that generates print information that can be processed by the image forming device 14. The storage device 32 also holds various programs, such as an information transmission/reception control program that transmits and receives the generated print information to and from the image forming device 14 via the network interface 38, the OS, and various information used by these programs. The CPU 26 executes processes based on the various programs stored in the ROM 28 to realize the functions of the smartphone 12 and the setting process described below.

The image forming device 14 includes a network interface 40, a RAM 42, a ROM 44, a CPU 46, and a print engine 48. The network interface 40 has an access point that can be connected to the network interface 38 of the smartphone 12.

RAM 42 is used as the main memory and work memory of CPU 46, and stores various information as well as a receiving buffer for temporarily storing received print information. Print engine 48 prints based on the information stored in RAM 42. ROM 44 stores various control programs and information used by each control program, and CPU 46 controls each part of image forming device 14 in accordance with these control programs.

<Processing in information processing device>
In the above configuration, a case will be described where an image is printed using the information processing system 10. When printing an image using the information processing system 10, first, image data is edited and various settings are made using a printing application stored in the smartphone 12. Then, data and setting information based on the image to be printed are output from the smartphone 12 to the image forming device 14, and the image is printed based on the acquired data and setting information based on the image to be printed in the image forming device 14.

The smartphone 12 performs a setting process for setting the image to be printed to be sent to the image forming device 14 based on the settings for editing the image to be printed and printing (hereinafter referred to as "print settings") to be sent to the image forming device 14. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the detailed processing contents of the setting process executed in the information processing device according to the first embodiment. The series of processes shown in the flowchart in FIG. 3 are performed by the CPU 26 expanding the program code stored in the ROM 28 (or the storage device 32) into the RAM 30 and executing it. Alternatively, some or all of the functions of the steps in FIG. 3 may be executed by hardware such as an ASIC or an electric circuit. Note that the symbol S in the description of each process means a step in the flowchart (the same applies hereinafter in this specification).

This setting process is executed, for example, when a printing application is launched. When the setting process starts, the CPU 26 first generates a preview image for the image to be printed and sent to the image forming device 14 (S302). That is, in S302, the CPU 26 generates a preview image to be displayed on the touch panel 36 based on image data stored in the storage device 32 or the like.

Next, the CPU 26 displays a preview of the generated preview image on the touch panel 36 (S304). At this time, the preview image is displayed on a print preview screen 50 on the touch panel 36. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the print preview screen 50 displayed as a preview on the touch panel 36. The print preview screen 50 displays a preview image 52 and an edit button 54 for editing the preview image 52. The print preview screen 50 also displays a print setting button 56 for making various settings for printing, and a print start button 58 for instructing the start of printing. The print preview screen 50 shows how the preview image 52 will be arranged on the print medium.

Figure 5 shows an example of the initial state of the preview image 52 displayed on the print preview screen 50, where (a) shows borderless printing and (b) shows bordered printing. In the case of borderless printing, the image is arranged in a circumscribed state with respect to the print area such that at least two opposing sides of the preview image 52 are positioned on the frame of the print area, and the sides that are not on the frame are positioned outside the frame. In other words, if the aspect ratio of the print area and the aspect ratio of the preview image 52 match, the preview image 52 becomes a circumscribed image with four sides positioned on the frame of the print area. Also, if the aspect ratio of the print area and the aspect ratio of the preview image 52 differ, part of the preview image 52 is positioned outside the frame of the print area, as shown in Figure 5(a).

When printing with borders, the preview image is placed inscribed in the print area with all four sides within the print area frame and a specified distance away from the print area frame. If the aspect ratio of the print area and the aspect ratio of the preview image differ, margins are added as shown in Figure 5 (b). Borderless printing and bordered printing are set on the print settings screen 72 (described later), which is displayed by selecting the print settings button 56.

Returning to FIG. 3, the CPU 26 then determines whether the image to be printed has been edited (S306). In this embodiment, the user selects the edit button 54 displayed on the print preview screen 50, opens the image edit screen 60 (described later), and performs input into the image edit screen 60. The CPU 26 then performs image editing on the image to be printed based on the input results. Therefore, in S306, it is determined whether the edit button 54 has been selected and image editing has been performed. Note that, in this embodiment, image editing includes at least one of the processes of trimming, resizing, moving, and rotating.

The image editing screen 60 is a screen for performing image editing on the image to be printed. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the image editing screen 60. On the image editing screen 60, an image 62 to be processed, a print area frame 64 indicating the print area, a rotate button 66 for rotating the image 62, a cancel button 68 for canceling the process, and an OK button 70 for confirming the process are displayed. Note that the image 62 displayed on the image editing screen 60 may be, for example, a preview image 52.

On the image editing screen 60, the user can pinch in or out on the image 62 to reduce or enlarge the image 62, and drag to determine the position of the image 62 relative to the print area frame 64. Also, on the image editing screen 60, the user can select the rotate button 66 to rotate the print area frame 64 by 90 degrees, achieving the same effect as if the image had been rotated relatively.

An example of image editing on the image editing screen 60 will be described. Figures 7(a) and 7(b) are diagrams for explaining an example of image editing on the image editing screen 60. When the user enlarges the image 62 by pinching out and moves the image 62 to the left by dragging, the image 62 displayed on the image editing screen 60 and the image to be printed generated by the operation are as shown in Figure 7(a). In this case, a part of the image 62 is located outside the print area frame 64. Therefore, the image to be printed generated is an image in which the image to be printed before image editing is enlarged and the part located outside the print area frame 64 is trimmed. When the user reduces the image 62 by pinching in and moves the image 62 to the upper side within the print area frame 64 by dragging, the image 62 displayed on the image editing screen 60 and the image to be printed generated by the operation are as shown in Figure 7(b). In this case, the entire image 62 is located inside the print area frame 64. As a result, the image to be printed that is generated is a reduced version of the image to be printed before image editing, with margins added.

Returning to FIG. 3, if it is determined in S306 that the image has been edited, image editing is performed based on the input on the image editing screen 60, and the process returns to S302, where a preview image reflecting the image editing is displayed on the touch panel 36. If it is determined in S306 that the image has not been edited, it is determined whether the size of the image to be printed is equal to or larger than a threshold value (S308). That is, in S308, the CPU 26 checks whether the size of the image to be printed, that is, the capacity and resolution, are equal to or larger than the corresponding threshold values.

Here, the image forming device 14 has an upper limit on the size of the image to be printed that can be processed depending on the performance of the CPU 46 and RAM 42 installed. If the upper limit is exceeded, printing will be stopped or image quality will be significantly deteriorated. The upper limit of the size of the image to be printed is a value specific to each image forming device 14, and the smartphone 12 will obtain it from the image forming device 14 via the network interfaces 38 and 40. Therefore, the threshold value that serves as the basis for judgment in S308 is set based on information regarding the upper limit of the size of the image to be printed that can be processed by the image forming device 14, which was obtained in advance from the image forming device 14. In other words, the CPU 26 will determine whether the size of the image to be printed is equal to or greater than the threshold value set based on information regarding the upper limit value obtained from the image forming device 14. In addition, in S308, if at least one of the capacity and resolution of the image to be printed is equal to or greater than the threshold value, it is determined that the size of the image to be printed is equal to or greater than the threshold value, and if both are less than the threshold value, it is determined that the size of the image to be printed is not equal to or greater than the threshold value.

If it is determined in S308 that the size of the image to be printed is equal to or larger than the threshold, the CPU 26 performs a compression process on the image to be printed (S310) and sets the image to be printed to be sent as an edited image edited on the smartphone 12 (S312). This setting process then ends. That is, in S312, for example, specific information indicating an edited image is added to the image to be printed. Also, if it is determined in S308 that the size of the image to be printed is not equal to or larger than the threshold, the CPU 26 determines whether image editing has been performed on the image to be printed (S314). That is, in S314, it is determined whether image editing has been performed on the image editing screen 60.

If it is determined in S314 that image editing has been performed, the process proceeds to S312, and the image to be printed is set to be sent as an edited image. If it is determined in S314 that image editing has not been performed, the CPU 26 determines whether or not automatic photo correction, which is an image correction process for the image to be printed, has been set (S316). The automatic photo correction setting is set in the print setting screen 72 that is opened by selecting the print setting button 56 on the print preview screen 50.

The various settings on the print setting screen 72 are performed by the user before the print start button 58 is selected. The print setting screen 72 is a screen for making various settings for printing on the image forming device 14. In the following description, the setting information set on the print setting screen 72 is referred to as "print setting information." FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the print setting screen 72. On the print setting screen 72, for example, the number of copies to be printed, the size of the print paper, the border setting for setting borderless or bordered printing, the color setting for setting color printing or monochrome printing, and the automatic photo correction setting for setting whether to perform automatic photo correction can be performed. For example, when setting automatic photo correction, the setting can be made by selecting the automatic photo correction setting button 74.

Return to FIG. 3. If it is determined in S316 that automatic photo correction has not been set, the process proceeds to S312, where the image to be printed is set to be sent as an edited image. That is, in this embodiment, if automatic photo correction has not been set, the image to be printed is sent as an edited image even if image editing processing, compression processing, etc. have not been performed. As will be described later, this is because the image forming device 14 does not perform image processing on the image to be printed sent as an edited image. That is, if automatic photo correction has not been set, the image to be printed is sent as an edited image so that automatic photo correction processing is not performed on the image forming device 14 side. On the other hand, if it is determined in S316 that automatic photo correction has been set, the CPU 26 sets the image to be printed to be sent as an unedited image that has not been edited on the smartphone 12 side, that is, as an original image (S318), and ends this setting process. That is, in S318, for example, information indicating an unedited image is added to the image to be printed.

When the print start button 58 is selected on the print preview screen 50, a print instruction process is started to instruct the image forming device 14 to start printing. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the detailed processing contents of the print instruction process. The series of processes shown in the flowchart in FIG. 9 are performed by the CPU 26 expanding the program code stored in the ROM 28 (or the storage device 32) into the RAM 30 and executing it. Alternatively, some or all of the functions of the steps in FIG. 9 may be performed by hardware such as an ASIC or an electrical circuit.

When the print instruction process is started, first, the CPU 26 transmits print setting information to the image forming device 14 (S902). That is, in S902, the print setting information set on the print setting screen 72 is transmitted to the image forming device 14. Next, the CPU 26 transmits data based on the image to be printed to the image forming device 14 (S904). Note that the data based on the image to be printed transmitted to the image forming device 14 is provided with information set in the setting process, i.e., information indicating an edited image or an unedited image. That is, in this embodiment, the data based on the image to be printed is output in a format that allows the image forming device 14 to determine whether the image to be printed has been edited or not. Typically, the CPU 26 functions as an output unit that outputs the image to be printed as an edited image or an unedited image depending on whether the image has been edited or not.

Then, the CPU 26 determines whether all data based on the images to be printed has been sent (S906). If it is determined in S906 that data based on all images to be printed has not been sent, the process returns to S904, and data based on the images to be printed that has not yet been sent is sent. If it is determined in S906 that data based on all images to be printed has been sent, the print instruction process ends. Note that either the print setting information or the data based on the images to be printed may be sent to the image forming device 14 first, and the printing setting information and the data based on the images to be printed may be sent in parallel. In this way, in this embodiment, the image forming device 14 is instructed to start printing by sending the printing setting information and the data based on the images to be printed.

In the above example, if the image to be printed is edited, the image to be printed is set to be sent as an edited image, and if the image to be printed is not edited, the image to be printed is set to be sent as an unedited image, but this embodiment is not limited to this. In other words, a specific setting may be made only in one of the cases. For example, if the image to be printed is edited, the image to be printed may be sent without specific information being added, and if the image to be printed is not edited, the image to be printed may be sent with specific information added. Alternatively, if the image to be printed is edited, the image to be printed may be sent with specific information added, and if the image to be printed is not edited, the image to be printed may be sent without specific information being added.

In other words, the smartphone 12 only needs to output the image to be printed in a format that allows the image forming device 14 to determine whether the image has been edited or not.

<Processing in Image Forming Apparatus>
Next, the processing in the image forming device 14 will be described. When the image forming device 14 is started, a print processing for executing printing on a print medium is started. Fig. 10 is a flowchart showing the detailed processing contents of the print processing. A series of processes shown in the flowchart of Fig. 10 is performed by the CPU 46 expanding the program code stored in the ROM 44 into the RAM 42 and executing the program code. Alternatively, some or all of the functions of the steps in Fig. 10 may be executed by hardware such as an ASIC or an electric circuit.

When the print process is started, the CPU 46 first determines whether or not print setting information has been received (S1002). That is, in S1002, it is determined whether or not print setting information transmitted from the smartphone 12 has been received. If it is determined in S1002 that print setting information has been received, it is determined whether or not data based on the image to be printed has been received (S1004). That is, in S1004, it is determined whether or not data based on the image to be printed transmitted from the smartphone 12 has been received.

When it is determined in S1004 that data based on the image to be printed has been received, the CPU 46 determines whether image processing in the image forming device 14 is necessary (S1006). That is, in S1006, the CPU 46 determines whether the image to be printed is set as an unedited image or an edited image. Specifically, if information indicating an edited image is provided to the image to be printed, the CPU 46 determines that image processing in the image forming device 14 is not necessary. Also, if information indicating an unedited image is provided to the image to be printed, the CPU 46 determines that image processing in the image forming device 14 is necessary.

If it is determined in S1006 that image processing in the image forming device 14 is not required, the CPU 46 controls the print engine 48 and the like to execute printing based on the print setting information and the image to be printed (S1008). The CPU 46 then determines whether printing has been completed (S1010), and if it is determined that printing has been completed, ends this printing process.

On the other hand, if it is determined in S1006 that image processing in the image forming device 14 is necessary, the CPU 46 determines whether or not automatic photo correction is set based on the print setting information (S1012). If it is determined in S1012 that automatic photo correction is set, the CPU 46 executes automatic photo correction. Specifically, the CPU 46 first performs a scene analysis process, which is a subroutine of the main routine (S1014), and then performs image correction based on the results of the scene analysis process (S1016), and proceeds to S1018, which will be described later.

Now, the scene analysis process of S1014 will be described. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the processing routine of the scene analysis process. In this scene analysis process, image feature amounts of representative images for each shooting scene are stored in advance in a database, and the similarity between the image to be corrected and feature amounts calculated in the same manner as the representative image for each shooting scene is calculated. Then, shooting scenes with high similarity are output together with their likelihood.

In this embodiment, the database of image features (hereinafter simply referred to as "features") is composed of two tables: table T1 showing image feature information and table T2 showing scene information. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the schema of the feature database, where (a) is a table showing image feature information and (b) is a table showing scene information.

Table T1 showing image feature information consists of fields for image features and scene IDs. Image features are binary data with a data structure specific to the image analysis process defined for each scene ID. A scene ID is an identifier that uniquely identifies a photographed scene, such as a landscape, flower, or portrait. The photographed scene can be set in more detail depending on the analysis capabilities of the image analysis process. The records stored in the image feature table T1 are prepared by preparing one or more typical images and their variations for each photographed scene to be determined, and the features extracted from each image and the corresponding scene ID are stored as one record per pixel.

Table T2, which indicates scene information, is composed of a scene ID, which is a unique key, and fields for the corresponding correction method and image analysis method. The data stored in the correction method field is in variable-length binary format, and the contents store correction policies such as emphasizing the degree of saturation, brightness, etc., describing the color space conversion matrix and the optimal value of the color histogram, and moving toward these values by the specified degree. When partial correction is required in the position space or color space, or when heuristic correction is to be applied, a specific correction algorithm can be applied and correction can be made using a correction algorithm identifier for each shooting scene. The data stored in the image analysis method field is in variable-length binary format, and stores an identifier that identifies the image analysis algorithm and the unique parameters given to it.

In the scene analysis process of FIG. 11, first, the CPU 46 moves the cursor to the top of the table T1 showing image feature amount information (S1102). Then, the CPU 46 acquires the record where the cursor is located (S1104). After that, the CPU 46 calculates the feature amount from the image for which the shooting scene is to be analyzed, that is, the image to be printed (S1106). Note that in this process, the same calculation method may be used depending on the record, so if the feature amount calculated once is cached and reused, the process will be faster. An example of an algorithm for extracting the feature amount is a color histogram, in which each still image is divided vertically and horizontally into a plurality of blocks in a lattice pattern and the average RGB value is calculated for each block. In this case, the parameters of this algorithm are the number of vertical and horizontal block divisions, whether the coordinate system of the color space is the RGB system or the YUV system, the number of bits for expressing the color average value, etc.

Next, the CPU 46 compares the feature amounts (S1108). Specifically, for example, when dividing each still image into a number of blocks in a grid pattern vertically and horizontally, and comparing feature amounts obtained by calculating the average RGB value for each block, the comparison is performed as follows. The sum of squares of the RGB channels of the corresponding blocks of the images to be compared is calculated, and the similarity distance between the still images is determined. The smaller the calculated similarity distance, the more similar the images are, that is, the higher the image correlation is, and the larger the calculated similarity distance, the less similar the images are, that is, the lower the image correlation is. The image distance thus calculated and the shooting environment information that can be inferred from the auxiliary information are weighted according to a heuristic rule to determine the final image distance. As an example of the rule, even if there is a high similarity with a photograph of the sun setting over the sea, if the sun does not rise in the morning or evening, it can be determined that the scene is not a sunset, based on the shooting location, shooting date and time, and shooting time information of the shooting environment.

Then, the CPU 46 saves the minimum value of the inter-image distance for each scene ID (S1110). Then, the CPU 46 judges whether or not the last record in table T1 has been processed (S1112). If it is judged in S1112 that the last record has not been processed, the cursor is moved to the next record in table T1 (S1114) and the process returns to S1104. On the other hand, if it is judged in S1112 that the last record has been processed, the CPU 46 obtains the likelihood for the scene from the minimum value of the inter-image distance obtained for each scene ID (S1116). Here, the comparison algorithm and parameters differ depending on the shooting scene. For this reason, it cannot be obtained by a simple comparison of the inter-image distance. Therefore, a conversion formula for converting the inter-image distance into a likelihood that makes it possible to compare the inter-image distance between shooting scenes is obtained in advance by a statistical method, and the inter-image distance is converted into likelihood information for shooting scene judgment using this conversion formula and output.

Then, the CPU 46 reflects the learning results (S1118). This involves reading the number of selections corresponding to the determined shooting scene from the learning results, setting the likelihood so that when sorted in order of likelihood, the scenes are sorted in order of the number of learned selections, and then ending the process.

Note that while an example of determining the shooting scene using a block-divided color layout has been shown, this is not the only method. Other methods include using a color histogram of the entire image or part of it, and methods that focus on region division and edges. Features for image search techniques such as edge histograms, region shapes, and counter shapes standardized in MPEG-7 may also be used. Furthermore, it goes without saying that if the attached information contains information that is useful for determining the shooting scene, this can be used to determine the shooting scene. For example, if focus information is available, it will be possible to determine whether the photo contains only landscapes.

In addition, in S1016, the CPU 46 refers to table T2 based on the analysis results of the scene analysis process to obtain a proposed correction method for the captured scene. Then, the CPU 46 performs image correction on the image to be printed using the obtained proposed correction method.

Returning to FIG. 10. If it is determined in S1012 that automatic photo correction is not set, the CPU 46 determines whether or not a bordered setting (i.e., a setting for printing with a border) is set based on the print setting information (S1018). If it is determined in S1018 that a bordered setting is set, the CPU 46 generates an inscribed image as shown in FIG. 5(b) (S1020), proceeds to S1008, and performs printing based on the generated inscribed image and the print setting information. If it is determined in S1018 that a bordered setting is not set, the CPU 46 forms a circumscribed image as shown in FIG. 5(a), proceeds to S1008, and performs printing based on the generated circumscribed image and the print setting information.

As described above, in the information processing system 10, the data based on the image to be printed is output from the smartphone 12 in a format that allows the image forming device 14 to determine whether the image to be printed has been edited or not. Then, when the image to be printed has been edited, the image forming device 14 prints the image to be printed without performing image processing such as automatic photo correction, and when the image to be printed has not been edited, the image forming device 14 performs the image processing on the image to be printed before printing.

As a result, in the information processing system 10, image processing is not performed in both the smartphone 12 and the image forming device 14. This means that image correction processing is not performed on images that have little information for determining the shooting scene, and the image forming device 14 can print the image to be printed without degradation.

Second Embodiment
Next, an information processing system including an information processing device according to a second embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 13. In the following description, the same or corresponding components as those in the information processing system including the information processing device according to the first embodiment will be denoted by the same reference numerals as those used in the description of the first embodiment, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

This second embodiment differs from the first embodiment described above in that if automatic photo correction is set when editing an image on the smartphone 12, the reduction ratio of the image during image editing processing is limited.

Specifically, in this embodiment, when it is determined that an image has been edited during the setting process, and automatic photo correction is not set, the minimum value of the reduction ratio of the image to be printed that is the subject of image editing is limited to a value that results in a circumscribed image, as shown in FIG. 5(a). In other words, by setting it so that no margins are generated within the print area frame, no margin areas are generated in the image generated by image editing. Note that in this embodiment, some of the setting process is different from the first embodiment described above. For this reason, the following explanation will only cover the setting process.

<Processing in information processing device>
Fig. 13 is a flowchart showing the detailed processing contents of the setting processing executed in the information processing device according to the second embodiment. The series of processing shown in the flowchart in Fig. 13 is performed by the CPU 26 expanding the program code stored in the ROM 28 (or the storage device 32) into the RAM 30 and executing it. Alternatively, some or all of the functions of the steps in Fig. 13 may be executed by hardware such as an ASIC or an electric circuit.

In the setting process of FIG. 13, first, the CPU 26 generates a preview image of the image to be printed and sent to the image forming device 14 (S1302). Next, the CPU 26 displays the generated preview image on the touch panel 36 (1304). Thereafter, the CPU 26 determines whether the image to be printed has been edited (S1306). Note that the specific process contents from S1302 to S1306 are the same as those from S302 to S306 described above, and therefore detailed description thereof will be omitted.

If it is determined in S1306 that the image has been edited, the CPU 26 determines whether or not automatic photo correction has been set based on the print setting information (S1308). If it is determined in S1308 that automatic photo correction has not been set, the CPU 26 performs image editing based on the input on the image editing screen 60, and returns to S1302. If it is determined in S1308 that automatic photo correction has been set, the CPU 26 sets the minimum reduction ratio of the image to be printed during image editing to the reduction ratio at which the image becomes a circumscribed image (S1310). Then, the CPU 26 performs image editing based on the input on the image editing screen 60, and returns to S1302. The reduction ratio at which the image becomes a circumscribed image is a reduction ratio at which at least two opposing sides of the image to be printed are located on the frame of the print area, and two opposing sides that are not on the frame are located outside the frame.

If it is determined in S1306 that the image has not been edited, the CPU 26 determines whether the size of the image to be printed is equal to or larger than the threshold (S1312). If it is determined in S1312 that the size of the image to be printed is equal to or larger than the threshold, the CPU 26 performs compression processing on the image to be printed (S1314) and sets the image to be printed to be sent as an edited image (S1316). This setting process then ends. If it is determined in S1312 that the size of the image to be printed is not equal to or larger than the threshold, the CPU 26 determines whether the image to be printed has been edited (S1318).

If it is determined in S1318 that image editing has been performed, the process proceeds to S1316, where the image to be printed is set to be sent as an edited image. If it is determined in S1318 that image editing has not been performed, the process determines whether automatic photo correction has been set based on the print information setting (S1320). If it is determined in S1320 that automatic photo correction has not been set, the process proceeds to S1316, where the image to be printed is set to be sent as an edited image. If it is determined in S1320 that automatic photo correction has been set, the CPU 26 sets the image to be printed to be sent as an unedited image (S1322), and ends this setting process. Note that the specific processing contents from S1312 to S1322 are the same as those from S308 to S318 described above, and therefore detailed explanations thereof will be omitted.

As described above, in the information processing system 10 of this embodiment, when automatic photo correction is set during image processing (image editing) on the smartphone 12, the minimum reduction ratio of the image to be printed during image editing is limited to the reduction ratio that results in a circumscribed image. As a result, in the information processing system of this embodiment, image processing on the smartphone 12 does not result in blank areas being generated in the image to be printed. Therefore, the impact of the editing process on the image on the smartphone on the image correction process on the image forming device 14 can be more reliably suppressed than in the information processing system of the first embodiment described above. Therefore, in the information processing system 10 of this embodiment, the image to be printed can be properly printed on the image forming device 14.

In this embodiment, too, the smartphone 12 may output the image to be printed in a format that allows the image forming device 14 to determine whether the image to be printed has been edited or not. In other words, if the image to be printed has been edited, the image to be printed may be sent without specific information being added, and if the image to be printed has not been edited, the image to be printed may be sent with specific information added. Alternatively, if the image to be printed has been edited, the image to be printed may be sent with specific information added, and if the image to be printed has not been edited, the image to be printed may be sent without specific information being added.

Other Embodiments
The present invention can also be realized by a process in which a program for implementing one or more of the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or device via a network or a storage medium, and one or more processors in a computer of the system or device read and execute the program. The present invention can also be realized by a circuit (e.g., ASIC) that implements one or more of the functions.

12 Information processing device 26 CPU

Claims (15)

A computer of an information processing device capable of communicating with an image forming device,
an image editing means capable of executing editing on an image to be printed;
an output unit for outputting data based on an image to be printed;
a program that functions as a compression unit that compresses an image to be printed when at least one of the size and resolution of the image to be printed becomes equal to or greater than a threshold value,
The output means includes:
outputting the data in a format that enables the image forming apparatus to determine whether the image to be printed has been edited by the image editing means ;
A program characterized by adding specific information to one of a printing target image that has been compressed by the compression means and a printing target image that has not been compressed by the compression means, and outputting the data without adding the specific information to the other. A computer of an information processing device capable of communicating with an image forming device,
an image editing means capable of executing editing on an image to be printed;
an output unit for outputting data based on an image to be printed;
A program that functions as a setting unit that sets print information for printing an image to be printed, the setting unit including image correction that corrects the image to be printed,
The output means includes:
outputting the data in a format that enables the image forming apparatus to determine whether the image to be printed has been edited by the image editing means;
A program characterized by outputting the data of an image to be printed for which image correction has been set by the setting means and an image to be printed for which image correction has not been set by the setting means, while adding specific information to one of the images, and outputting the data of the other image to be printed without adding the specific information. The program according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the output means outputs the data by adding specific information to one of the image to be printed that has been edited by the image editing means and the image to be printed that has not been edited by the image editing means, and outputs the data without adding the specific information to the other image to be printed. The output means includes:
When editing has been performed by the image editing means, information indicating that editing has been performed on the image to be printed is added to the image to be printed and the data is output;
A program according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that if no editing has been performed by the image editing means, the data is output with information indicating that no editing has been performed on the image to be printed. The computer further comprises:
5. The program according to claim 1, further comprising a limiting means for limiting a reduction ratio of an image to be printed in accordance with an image correction setting for the image to be printed during editing by said image editing means. 6. The program according to claim 1, wherein the editing of the image to be printed by said image editing means includes at least one of trimming, magnification, movement, and rotation. 7. The program according to claim 1, wherein the image editing means adds a blank area when the edited image to be printed is smaller than the print area. The computer further comprises:
When at least one of the size and resolution of the image to be printed reaches a threshold value or more, the image is caused to function as a compression unit that compresses the image to be printed;
The program according to claim 2, characterized in that the output means outputs the data by adding specific information to one of the image to be printed that has been compressed by the compression means and the image to be printed that has not been compressed by the compression means, and by not adding the specific information to the other of the image to be printed. The program according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the data output from the output means is transmitted to the image forming device. The program according to any one of claims 1 to 9, further causing the computer to function as a preview means for displaying a preview of the image to be printed after editing by the image editing means. an image editing means capable of executing editing on an image to be printed;
an output unit for outputting data based on an image to be printed;
a compression unit that compresses an image to be printed when at least one of a size and a resolution of the image to be printed becomes equal to or greater than a threshold value; and
The output means includes:
outputting the data in a format that enables the image forming apparatus to determine whether the image to be printed has been edited by the image editing means ;
An information processing device characterized in that the data is output by adding specific information to one of a printing target image that has been compressed by the compression means and a printing target image that has not been compressed by the compression means, and by not adding the specific information to the other . An information processing device capable of communicating with an image forming device,
an image editing means capable of executing editing on an image to be printed;
an output unit for outputting data based on an image to be printed;
A setting unit that sets print information for printing the image to be printed, including image correction that corrects the image to be printed;
The output means includes:
outputting the data in a format that enables the image forming apparatus to determine whether the image to be printed has been edited by the image editing means;
An information processing device characterized in that the data is output by adding specific information to one of an image to be printed for which image correction has been set by the setting means and an image to be printed for which image correction has not been set by the setting means, and by not adding the specific information to the other of the images to be printed. An information processing system including an information processing device and an image forming device capable of executing image correction on an image to be printed and printing based on information output from the information processing device,
The information processing device includes:
an image editing means capable of executing editing on an image to be printed;
an output unit for outputting data based on an image to be printed;
the output means outputs the data in a format that enables the image forming apparatus to determine whether the image to be printed has been edited by the image editing means ;
The information processing system according to the present invention is characterized in that, when the image to be printed output from the information processing device is an edited image, the image forming device does not execute the image correction on the image to be printed. The information processing system according to claim 13, characterized in that the image correction in the image forming device is performed by analyzing the scene in which the image to be printed was captured and using a correction method based on the analysis results. A method for controlling an information processing system including an information processing device and an image forming device capable of executing image correction on an image to be printed and performing printing based on information output from the information processing device, comprising:
an image editing step for executing editing on an image to be printed in the information processing device;
an output step of outputting data based on an image to be printed in the information processing device,
In the output step, the data is output in a format that enables an image forming apparatus to determine whether or not the image to be printed has been edited in the image editing step;
The control method for an information processing system, wherein in the image forming apparatus, when the image to be printed output from the information processing apparatus is an edited image, the image correction is not performed on the image to be printed.

Images