JP2003244391A - PHOTO PRINT CREATION SYSTEM, PHOTO PROCESSING DEVICE USED FOR THE SYSTEM, AND FOLDER MANAGEMENT PROGRAM INSTALLED IN THE PHOTO PROCESSING DEVICE - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] (With correction) [PROBLEMS] To provide a photographic print creation system that does not reduce the processing capability of a photographic processing apparatus when image data is captured from the image data acquisition apparatus to the photographic processing apparatus. A photographic processing apparatus 1 that prints and exposes an image on a photosensitive material to create a photographic print, an image data acquisition apparatus 3 that acquires image data from a recording medium, a photographic processing apparatus 1, and an image data acquisition apparatus 3. A photo print creation system connected by a network 4, provided in the image data acquisition device 3, provided in the first hard disk (HD) 31 for storing image data acquired thereby, and the photo processing device 1, There is free space in the second HD 15 for storing data to be processed and the second HD 15,
In addition, when there is data to be printed in the first HD 31, data fetching means 11c for fetching the data into the photo processing apparatus is provided.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a photographic print creating system for connecting a photographic processing device and a computer via a network and using the data created by the computer to create a photographic print by the photographic processing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The basic function of a digital photographic processing apparatus, which has become widespread in recent years, is to read an image from a developed photographic film (negative film or positive film) with a scanner, convert it into digital data, An image is printed and exposed on a photographic light-sensitive material using digital image data to create a photographic print. An exposure engine is also provided for printing and exposing the image. In this way, a photographic print can be created using the image data. Further, as an image forming medium, not only photographic film but also various recording media (CD-R, MO, storage media for digital cameras, etc.) can be used to obtain image data and similarly make a photographic print. it can.
The number of customers who want to create photographic prints from recording media is also increasing.

An image data acquisition device is provided as a device for acquiring image data from a digital recording medium other than the photographic film, and the image data acquisition device and the photographic processing device can be connected by a network. The image data acquired by the image data acquisition device is temporarily stored in the hard disk (corresponding to the first storage device) provided in the image data acquisition device.

The image data stored in the image data acquisition device is taken in by an operator who operates the photographic processing device at an appropriate timing. The captured image data is stored in a hard disk (corresponding to a second storage device) inside the photo processing device.

[0005]

However, if the image data is fetched at an appropriate timing by the manual operation of the operator, the image data may be gradually accumulated in the hard disk of the photo processing apparatus, and the capacity of the hard disk may be compressed. As a result, there arises a problem that the print processing capability of the photographic processing apparatus is reduced. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a photographic print creating system that does not reduce the processing capacity of the photographic processing device when capturing the image data from the image data acquisition device to the photographic processing device. Is to provide.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a photographic print creating system according to the present invention uses an image data of a predetermined image file format to print an image on a photographic light-sensitive material by photographic printing. A photo processing apparatus for creating a photo processing apparatus, an image data acquisition apparatus for acquiring image data from various recording media, and a photo print creation system in which the photo processing apparatus and the image data acquisition apparatus are connected by a network, A first storage device provided in the acquisition device for storing the image data acquired by the image data acquisition device; and whether or not there is data to be printed in the first storage device provided in the photo processing device. Folder monitoring means for monitoring data, and a second storage device provided in the photo processing device for storing data to be printed. A storage device monitoring means for monitoring whether or not the second storage device has a predetermined amount of free space; and data to be printed in the first storage device when there is free space in the second storage device. In the case where there is such a data, a data fetching means for fetching the data into the photographic processing apparatus is provided.

The operation and effect of the photographic print making system according to this configuration are as follows. First, the photo processing device and the image data acquisition device are connected by a network. The numbers of photo processing devices and image data acquisition devices connected to the network are not particularly limited. A computer other than the photo processing device and the image data acquisition device may be connected to the network.

The image data acquired by the image data acquisition device is stored in the first storage device. On the other hand, the photo processing apparatus includes a folder monitoring unit that monitors whether or not the image data to be print-processed is stored in the first storage device of the image data acquisition apparatus connected to the network. The timing of monitoring can be, for example, a predetermined cycle. The image data fetched from the image data acquisition device is stored in the second storage device provided in the photo processing device, and a storage device monitoring means for monitoring the free space of the second storage device is provided.

If the second storage device has a predetermined amount of free space and the first storage device has image data to be printed, the image data is fetched and stored in the second storage device. The predetermined amount is preferably set appropriately so that the processing capacity of the photographic processing device does not decrease. If there is no free space, the image data is not taken in, so the capacity of the second storage device is not pressed. As a result, it is possible to provide a photographic print creating system that does not reduce the processing capacity of the photographic processing device when the image data is captured from the image data acquisition device to the photographic processing device.

The photo processing device used in the photo print creating system according to the present invention is a folder monitoring means for monitoring whether or not there is image data to be print processed in the first storage device provided in the image data acquisition device. A second storage device for storing image data to be printed, and a second storage device having a predetermined amount of free space, and the first storage device having image data to be printed, Data capturing means for capturing the image data into the photographic processing device is provided. The operation and effect of this configuration are as described above.
As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, when the image file format of the image data captured from the image data acquisition device is not a predetermined image file format, an image for converting the captured image data into a predetermined image file format An example is a device equipped with data conversion means.

When the print processing is performed in the photographic processing apparatus, the image file format of the finally processed image data is fixed, and is, for example, a bitmap. Therefore, if the image file format of the captured image data is not a bitmap, such as JPEG, TIFF, GIF, it is necessary to convert this into a bitmap.
Therefore, by providing an image data conversion unit that performs the conversion process in the photographic processing device, it is possible to appropriately create a photographic print based on the image data captured from the image data acquisition device.

The folder management program installed in the computer provided in the photographic processing apparatus according to the present invention determines whether or not there is image data to be printed in the first storage device provided in the image data acquisition apparatus. If there is a predetermined amount of free space in the second storage device that stores the image data to be printed and the image data to be printed is stored in the first storage device, And a step of importing into the photographic processing device is executed by the computer.

Further, when the image file format of the image data fetched from the image data acquisition device is not a predetermined image file format, there is a step of converting the fetched image data into a predetermined image file format. preferable. The actions and effects of this folder management program are as described above.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of a photographic print creating system according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Figure 1
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration example of a photographic print creating system installed in a photo shop or the like.

<Photographic Print Making System> This system is constructed by connecting a photoprocessing device 1, a plurality of personal computers 2 and an image data acquisition device 3 via a network 4. The photo processing device 1 and the image data acquisition device 3
In FIG. 1, only one unit is shown, but a plurality of units may be connected. Further, the number of connected personal computers 2 is not limited. Network 4
It is, for example, is constructed with LAN by Ethernet ^TM,
Network devices are connected via the hub 4a. Of course, it may be a network other than Ethernet ^TM.

The photographic processing apparatus 1 prints and exposes an image on a photographic light-sensitive material such as photographic paper using the image data to create a photographic print. The photo processing apparatus 1 can set at least a first print mode and a second print mode. In the first print mode, the image of the developed negative film can be read by the scanner device 5, converted into digital data, and a photographic print can be created using the digital image data. In the second print mode, a photographic print can be created by using the image data transmitted via the network.

The personal computer 2 can handle not only image data but also various data other than image data (this is called non-image data). For example, there are document data created by word processing software, graph / table data created by spreadsheet software, and presentation data. There is also data in which a document and an image are combined, but this is also called non-image data. There is a demand to obtain these non-image data as photographic prints instead of ordinary prints (prints printed on paper by an inkjet printer, a laser printer, etc.). Therefore, in this system, a system is constructed so that photographic prints can be created using non-image data other than image data. Therefore, a printer driver is installed in each personal computer 2 connected to the network 4, and non-image data can be converted into image data (details will be described later).

The image data acquisition device 3 can acquire image data from various recording media. Examples of this recording medium include CD-R, MO, storage media for digital cameras (smart media, compact flash).
^TM , Memory Stick, etc.) and the like. Further, the image data is acquired in a predetermined image file format, for example, bitmap, JPEG, TIFF, GIF or the like.

The flow of processing in the photo shop will be briefly described. At the counter 6 of the photo shop, the customer receives an order for making a photo print. When an order is received, a copy of the order is given to the customer. Here, when the non-image data file is received from the customer, the recording medium (for example, a flexible disk) storing the file is set in the personal computer, and the non-image file is taken into the personal computer. Then, the printer driver sets various items for print processing, converts non-image data into image data, and transmits the image data to the photographic processing apparatus 1 via the network. The photographic processing device 1 creates a photographic print using the received converted image data. If the finished photographic print is inspected and the image quality is OK,
When the customer comes to the photo shop to receive the photo print, the photo print is handed over, and the photo shop receives the print price. If there is a problem in image quality, the image is corrected by the personal computer 2 and the print process is performed again. The same applies when a photo print is created by depositing a file of image data from a customer.

<Block diagram of system> Next, FIG.
The functional block configuration of the photographic print creating system shown in FIG. 2 will be described with reference to FIG. It should be noted that the functions shown here show only parts necessary for explaining the configuration of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, the photo processing apparatus 1 (printer processor) has a net order unit 10 for managing order information transmitted via the network 4.
And a net folder section 11 is provided as a part of the function of the net order section 10. The net order unit 10 and the net folder unit 11 can be constructed by installing a program in a computer provided inside the photo processing apparatus 1. This program is usually stored in the hard disk, and the program data is stored in the memory when working.

The data receiving means 10a receives the image data to be print-processed, which is transmitted via the network, on an order-by-order basis. The data management means 10b manages the image data received by the data reception means 10a on an order-by-order basis. For example, the order in which print processing should be performed, incidental data (print size, number of prints,
Quality, etc.). The order change unit 10c can change the order managed by the data management unit 10b. For example, the order of print processing can be changed. The data transfer unit 10d transfers the managed image data to the image processing board 13 based on the order in which the print processing should be performed when actually performing the print processing. The display control unit 10e causes the monitor 17 to display the status managed by the data management unit 10b and the progress status of the print processing in the printer unit 12 on the same display screen. In addition, various other processing screens are displayed.

Although it means the order, it can be set appropriately. For example, one image can be one order, in the case of document data, one page or all pages (one file) can be one order, and a folder in which data (files) are stored can be one order. In the case of photographic film, one film is ordered.

The image data managed by the data management means 10b is the personal computer 2 connected to the network 4.
The image data transmitted from the image data acquisition device 3 and the image data transmitted from the image data acquisition device 3.

The net folder unit 11 mainly manages the image data acquisition device 3. Data receiving means 11a
Accepts the image data to be print-processed, which is transmitted from the image data acquisition device 3, on an order-by-order basis. Folder monitoring means 11b (corresponds to a storage device monitoring means.
) Periodically monitors whether or not data to be printed is stored in the folder in the image data acquisition device 3 connected to the network 4.

The data capturing means 11c is the photographic processing apparatus 1
If there is sufficient free space to store the image data in the internal hard disk 15 (based on the function of the HD capacity monitoring means described later), the image data is acquired from the image data acquisition device 3. When the image file format of the image data taken in from the image data acquisition device 3 is not a bitmap (JPEG, TIFF, G).
(IF, etc.), and converts it into a bitmap which is a predetermined image file format. This is because it is necessary to convert the image into a bitmap when actually printing and exposing the image on the photographic light-sensitive material. A program that realizes the function of the net folder unit 11 corresponds to a folder management program. The printer unit 12 prints and exposes an image on the photographic light-sensitive material using the image data. Therefore, the exposure engine 12a is provided. As the exposure engine 12a, for example, a laser engine, a PLZT engine, C
There are various structures such as an RT engine. They are,
While the photographic light-sensitive material is being conveyed in the sub-scanning direction, exposure light is repeatedly scanned in the main-scanning direction to print a two-dimensional image on the emulsion surface of the photographic light-sensitive material. The photographic light-sensitive material is developed and dried, and then discharged as a photographic print to the outside of the apparatus.

The image processing board 13 performs various kinds of image processing before printing the image data. Image processing includes, for example, displaying an image on a monitor before performing print processing, determining whether or not color / density is appropriately printed, and correcting color / density as necessary. . Further, various corrections such as gradation correction may be performed according to the request of the customer. In addition, there is image processing based on a color management system.

The memory 14 is used as a temporary storage place for performing various kinds of work and processing. The hard disk 15 (corresponding to a second storage device) is a large-capacity storage device, and image data to be printed is temporarily stored here. That is, the image data received by the net order unit 10 and the net folder unit 11 and the incidental data accompanying the image data are stored in the hard disk 1.
5 will be saved.

The CPU 16 is a core part for performing various controls and calculations. The monitor 17 visually displays the information necessary for performing the printing process. It is possible to display the management status in the net order unit 10 and the image before the printing process described above. The keyboard 18 is an input device for inputting various data. Further, a command can be given to the photographic processing device 1.

OS (Operating System) 19
Is a basic software that directly controls hardware. As a part of its function, HD capacity monitoring means 19a is provided. It can monitor the free space of the hard disk 15. The net order unit 10 and the net folder unit 11 take in image data via the network, but since this image data is stored in the hard disk 15, it is necessary to monitor whether or not there is free space. If there is no free space, the image data is not taken in. Further, the net order unit 10 and the net folder unit 11 do not directly access the hardware. In that case, the OS 1
9 functions are used.

Next, the personal computer 2 will be described. A program called a printer driver 20 is installed in the personal computer 2. In general, when a commercially available printer is connected to the personal computer 2 to print data, the personal computer 2 needs a printer driver for the printer to be connected. The printer driver 20 in the present invention enables the photographic processing apparatus 1 to be operated in the same manner as a commercially available printer. However, since the photographic processing apparatus 1 has a function different from that of a commercially available printer, that is, a function of creating a photographic print, the photographic processing apparatus 1 is also characterized by a function required of the printer driver 20.

The data handled by the personal computer 2 is data that is taken into the personal computer 2 in response to a request from the customer, and mainly non-image data. However, even if this non-image data is sent to the photographic processing device 1 as it is, the photographic processing device 1 cannot use it to make a photographic print. Therefore, as the function of the printer driver 20,
Data conversion means 20a is provided. The data conversion unit 20a converts non-image data into bitmap image data. A configuration in which this conversion process is performed in the photo processing device 1 is also conceivable. In that case, the CPU of the photo processing apparatus 1 is burdened, and the print processing capability is reduced. Therefore, in consideration of the efficiency of print processing, it is preferable that the conversion processing into image data is performed by the printer driver 20 of each personal computer 2.

The print data setting section 20b sets the data (auxiliary data attached to the image data) necessary for printing a photograph. For example, the print size setting, the number of prints, and the like. The converted image data and the incidental data are sent together to the photographic processing apparatus 1.

Further, the printer driver 20 can acquire incidental data (including data for understanding the state of the photo processing device 1) from the photo processing device 1.
Based on the additional data, the print data setting unit 20b can set specific additional data (for example, a specific one of a plurality of print sizes is set) for print processing. That is, the printer driver 20 has a function of grasping the state of the photo processing apparatus 1, and the data transmitted from the printer driver 20 can be used as it is in the photo processing apparatus 1.

As another configuration, an input unit 21 (flexible disk drive or the like) for inputting non-image data to be printed, a hard disk, a CPU, a monitor, a keyboard and the like are provided.

The image data acquisition device 3 has an input unit 30 for inputting image data to be printed according to a customer request, and a hard disk 31 for storing the image data.
(Corresponding to the first storage device), the image data requested by the customer and its accompanying data into a single file for each order, a CPU, a monitor, a keyboard, and the like. The order file is stored in a predetermined location on the hard disk 31.

The image data acquisition device 3 does not have a function of grasping the state of the photographic processing device 1. Therefore, the data transmitted from the image data acquisition device 3 cannot always be used as it is in the photo processing device 1. This is because, for example, the print size of a photographic light-sensitive material that has not been set in the photographic processing apparatus 1 may be specified. Therefore, the net folder unit 11 described above plays a role of mediating.

<Net order screen> As described above,
The photo processing apparatus 1 can set the first and second print modes. When performing the print processing of the image data received via the network, a mode setting screen (not shown) is displayed on the monitor 17 and the second print mode is selected. FIG. 3 shows a configuration example of the display screen displayed on the monitor 17 in the second print mode.

In the message display area 40, an appropriate message according to the situation at that time is displayed. When the printing process has not started, “Please press the [Start] key to start printing” is displayed as shown in the figure. While printing your order, you may see the "reception number #
"# Is being printed" is displayed. In addition, it is preferable to display at any time how many prints have been completed out of the total number of prints for one order.

When the start key 41 is clicked, the print process is started. Data transfer means 10
Image data is sent from the hard disk 15 to the image processing board 13 by the function of d. When you press the start key,
The display "Start" switches to "Stop".
Therefore, if the key is pressed in this state, the print processing is ended. However, since the print processing is performed on an order-by-order basis, the print processing is not interrupted in the middle of an order, and the print processing for one order is waited for before ending.

The order list area 42 displays the contents of orders managed by the data management means 10b. In addition, the orders being accepted are also displayed. The orders are displayed from the beginning in the order in which they are received, and the print processing is performed in order from the beginning. The order for which the print processing is completed is deleted from the order list and excluded from management targets. Each item that constitutes the order list is displayed in FIG.

The "receipt number" indicates the number automatically assigned when the order is accepted by the net order unit 10 or the net folder unit 11. “Status” displays the status of the current order. For example, "printing"
“Print waiting” and “hold”. "Paper" indicates the width and surface quality of the paper (photosensitive material). The "number of frames" indicates the total number of frames to be processed for the order. "Size" indicates the total data size of the order. "Reception date and time" displays the date and time when the order was received. “Host” displays the host names of the personal computer 2 and the image data acquisition device 3 that requested the print processing.
The image data acquisition device 3 is displayed as CT-1.
Is the host name of. “User” displays the user name of the personal computer 2 or the image data acquisition device 3 that requested the print processing.

The order status area 43 displays the number of received orders. In addition, the free space of the hard disk 15 for receiving orders is displayed. The received image data and incidental data are stored in the hard disk 15. The image data and the incidental data saved here are deleted after the printing process is completed.

By operating each button in the order operation area 44, the order of orders to be processed can be changed. Also, you can put the order status into "pending",
You can also delete the order itself. When the order is set to hold, the print processing is not performed even if the order of the print processing comes around. The above is the function of the order changing unit 10c. Parameter display area 45
Displays the print parameters of the order currently selected in the order list. For example, the presence / absence of print processing, the presence / absence of index print creation, the presence / absence of media output (writing image data to various recording media), the feed length / width / number of photographic light-sensitive materials, the presence / absence of price sheet is displayed, etc. . These are displayed based on the incidental data transmitted together with the image data.

Further, when the details button in the parameter display area 45 is clicked, details of the order data are displayed. This is shown in FIG. Here, the file name of each image data for one order, the file size, the print size, etc. are displayed.

By clicking the function button 46, for example, the following functions can be exhibited. First, it is possible to register a net folder (described later). Also, the order acceptance history can be displayed. Items displayed as a reception history display include a host name, user name, reception date and time, print processing completion date and time, reception number, total number of prints, paper width / surface quality, total number of frames, and index print size. This allows
You can immediately check what kind of orders you have received in the past.

The print status display area 47 displays device information, order information, and processor information. As the device information, information about the paper, for example, the conveyance state of the paper and the width / surface quality / remaining capacity of the paper set in the paper magazine are displayed. As the order information, the print result of the order is displayed. For example, the host name, user name, total number of prints, print size, number of repeats (number of prints), etc. are displayed (not shown). Further, as the processor information, information such as the processing solution temperature of each development processing solution is displayed. Finish button 4
When 8 is pressed, the net order display screen is closed.

<Net Folder Registration Screen> Next, a configuration example of the net folder registration screen will be described with reference to FIG. This is for registering a folder in which an order (image data and incidental data) of the image data acquisition device 3 connected to the network 4 is stored. The net folder unit 11 of the photo processing apparatus 1 monitors the registered folders at predetermined time intervals (for example, every several seconds).
If the folder has an unprocessed order (a file in a predetermined format), the order is processed.

In FIG. 5, the net folder registration list 50 displays a list of registered net folders. There is a check box on the left side, and if it is checked, Net Folder will be enabled. That is, the Net Folders are monitored. If unchecked, the Net Folder will be disabled and the Net Folder will not be monitored. The machine name of the image data acquisition device 3 is displayed in the machine name. In the “network path”, the path of the folder in which the order of the image data acquisition device 3 is stored (storage location on the network) is displayed. In the “connection status”, the connection status between the photo processing apparatus 1 and the image data acquisition apparatus 3 is displayed. If the connection is normal, "OK: connection" is displayed.

When the registration button 51 or the correction button 52 is clicked, the net folder registration / correction screen shown in FIG. 6 is displayed, and new registration or correction of the net folder is possible. The net folder can be deleted by clicking the delete button 53. When the end button 54 is clicked, the net folder registration screen ends.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a net folder registration / correction screen. In the network path, the path of the folder in which the order of the image data acquisition device 3 is stored is input. The folder of the image data acquisition device 3 is set in the shared state in advance. For the user name, enter the login user name for browsing the folder.
Enter the login password for the password as well.
The entered information is registered by clicking the "YES: OK" button. Click the "Cancel" button to discard the entered information and return to the original screen.

<Printer Driver Display Screen> Next, the printer driver installed in the personal computer 2 will be described. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a display screen for setting various items when the print processing is requested to the photographic processing apparatus 1 using the printer driver 20.

FIG. 7 shows an example of the configuration of the display screen when the basic settings are made. The feature here is that both the paper size and the output size can be set. The data input to the personal computer 2 is originally non-image data. For example, in the case of document data, A4 specified by Japanese Industrial Standards is used.
The data is created based on the paper size generally used as the size of the document such as B4 and B5.
When printing such non-image data with a general printer, set paper of size A4, B4, B5, etc. in the printer and obtain a printed matter corresponding to the size of the created document data. You can

However, the print sizes of the photographic prints created by the photographic processing apparatus 1 include A4 and B.
There is no size of 4, B5. As print size, service size, 2L, 2E, 8 out, 6 out, 4
There are cuts and the like (these correspond to the output size) and are defined by a standard different from the paper size. Therefore, the paper size and the output size can be set independently.

A check box for setting whether or not the paper size setting is valid is provided. When the paper size setting is enabled, the conversion process is performed while maintaining the paper size when converting the non-image data to the image data. Further, when the paper size is invalidated, when the conversion process is performed, the process of matching the size of the non-image data with the output size is also performed.

Further, when the window shown in FIG. 7 is opened, incidental data (including data for understanding the state of the photo processing device 1) is acquired from the net order unit 10 of the photo processing device 1. In order to obtain this supplementary data, communication is performed between the net order unit 10 and the printer driver 20 at an appropriate timing. The set range in FIG. 7 is also determined based on this additional data. For example, the range that can be set in the output size is determined by the paper magazine (size of photographic photosensitive material, etc.) set in the photographic processing device associated with the printer driver. Further, it is possible to know the remaining length of the photographic light-sensitive material contained in the paper magazine. In the case of the photo processing apparatus 1 in which two paper magazines can be mounted, the status of each paper magazine is displayed.

In addition, the orientation of printing, the number of copies (the number of prints), and the presence or absence of register marks can be set.

<Processing procedure from print acceptance to printing completion><< In case of personal computer >> Next, the procedure from print acceptance to printing completion will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

It is assumed that a customer has requested that document data (non-image data) created by word processing software be output as a photographic print. The operator of the photo shop sets a recording medium such as a flexible disk received from the customer in the input unit 21 of the personal computer 2,
Import data (# 1). Next, the non-image data file is opened using application software capable of handling the data (# 2). Then, when “print” is selected from the menu, a display screen as shown in FIG. 7 appears. While viewing this screen, various print data settings are made (# 3). When the setting is completed, click the OK button (# 4). The non-image data is converted into bitmap image data (# 5).
Then, the image data and the incidental data (various print data) are transmitted to the photographic processing apparatus 1 as information for one order (# 6). If the non-image data covers several pages, one page is one image. When transmitting data, the image data for n sheets is transmitted first, and the supplementary data is transmitted last. Since the supplementary data has been sent, it can be seen that there is a break in the order.

In the photo processing apparatus 1, it is monitored whether or not there is a free space in the hard disk for receiving the image data (# 7). If there is no free space,
Since image data cannot be stored, in that case, retry is performed after a predetermined time has elapsed. And hard disk 1
If there is a free space in 5, the data of the order is accepted, and the image data and the incidental data are stored in the hard disk 15 (# 8).

As another embodiment, the auxiliary data is included in the free space information of the hard disk 15 and transmitted to the printer driver 20, and step # 7 is checked before the transmission. You may.

The received orders are managed by the net order unit 10. Then, it is determined whether or not the print processing order of the order has come (# 9). When the print processing comes, the image data is transferred to the image processing board 13 (# 10). Then, image processing is executed (# 11), and print processing is performed by the printer unit 12 (# 12). The progress of the printing process is shown in the print status display area 47 of the net order screen described with reference to FIG.
Is displayed in. When the printing process is completed, the photographic prints are discharged to the outside of the apparatus and accumulated in the sorter in order units. On the other hand, when the printing process is completed, the order is deleted from the order list (# 13), and the image data and the incidental data stored in the hard disk 15 are also deleted (# 14). Note that the timing of deletion may not be immediately after the print processing is completed. For example, it may be stored for a while in preparation for the reprinting process.

<< In case of image data acquisition device >> Next,
A procedure for performing print processing using the image data acquired by the image data acquisition device 3 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, the recording medium in which the image data received from the customer is stored is set in the input unit 30 and the image data is taken in (# 20). Even if there are a plurality of image data, data processing for handling as one order is performed (# 21). At this time, incidental data necessary for print processing is also set. The data for one order is stored in a predetermined folder of the hard disk 31 of the image data acquisition device 3 as one order file. This data will be transmitted based on the access from the photo processing apparatus 1.

In order to create a photo print from the image data stored in the image data acquisition device 3, it is necessary to register the net folder as described above.

Next, the procedure for taking in the data of the image data acquisition device 3 and performing the printing process by the photographic processing device 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. It should be noted that this flowchart is for the second print mode, and the folder is not monitored in the first print mode. First, the net folder part 11
Determines whether the folder monitoring timing has come (# 30). As the monitoring timing, for example, it can be monitored at intervals of several seconds. When the monitoring timing comes, it is determined whether or not there is free space on the hard disk 15 (# 31). If there is no free space, check again at the next monitoring timing. If there is free space, go to the folders registered in the net folder. It is determined whether or not the data to be processed is stored in the folder (# 32). If no data, step #
Return to 30. If multiple net folders are registered, the presence / absence of data is checked for all folders. In the above, steps # 31 and # 30 may be interchanged.

If the data exists, the image data and the incidental data are fetched from the folder (# 33). When accepted by the net folder unit 11, if the image file format of the image data is not a bitmap, this is converted into a bitmap (# 34). After being converted into a bitmap, the data is stored on the hard disk 15. The subsequent processing procedure is performed in the same manner as in the case of FIG. <Other Embodiments> The structure of the photographic processing apparatus is not limited to that of this embodiment, and various structures can be adopted. For example, the functions of the scanner device 5 may be incorporated inside the main body of the photo processing device, not separately from the main body. Further, it may be a photographic processing device in which the image processing unit (image processor) and the printer unit are separate bodies.

In the present embodiment, the personal computer 2 handles only non-image data, but it goes without saying that it may handle image data. In this case, the personal computer functions as an image data acquisition device. In this case, the printer driver needs to have a function of converting an image file format other than bitmap into a bitmap. Network 4 is connected by wire, but this is wireless LA
You may comprise by N. Wired and wireless may be combined. The non-image data acquired by the personal computer 2 may be created using the personal computer 2. When the network 4 is connected to the Internet, it may be acquired (downloaded) via the Internet.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration example of a photographic print creation system.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a functional block configuration of a system.

[Fig. 3] Configuration example of the net order display screen

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration example of an order data detail screen.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a net folder registration screen.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a net folder registration / correction screen.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a display screen by a printer driver.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the procedure from print acceptance to print processing (for non-image data).

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a procedure when image data is acquired by the image data acquisition device.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the procedure from print acceptance to print processing (for image data).

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Photo processor 2 PC 3 Image data acquisition device 4 network 10 Net Order Department 10a Data reception means 10b Data management means 10c Order change means 10d Data transfer means 10e Display control means 11 Net folder section 11b Folder monitoring means 11c Data acquisition means 11d image data converter 12 Printer section 13 Image processing board 15 hard disk 19a HD capacity monitoring means 20 Printer driver 20a data conversion means 20b Print data setting means

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F term (reference) 5C062 AA05 AA14 AA29 AB38 AB42                       AC41 AC55 BA04                 5C073 AB03 BC02 CD22

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A photographic processing apparatus for producing a photographic print by printing an image on a photographic light-sensitive material using image data of a predetermined image file format, and image data for acquiring image data from various recording media. An acquisition device, a photographic print creation system in which the photographic processing device and the image data acquisition device are connected via a network, the image print acquisition system being provided in the image data acquisition device and storing the image data acquired by the image data acquisition device. A first storage device, a folder monitoring unit provided in the photo processing device for monitoring whether or not there is data to be printed in the first storage device, and a folder monitoring unit provided in the photo processing device to perform print processing. A second storage device for storing data, and a storage device monitor for monitoring whether the second storage device has a predetermined amount of free space And a data fetching means for fetching the data into the photographic processing device when the second storage device has a free space and the first storage device has data to be printed. A photo print creation system featuring. 2. A photographic processing device used in the photographic print creation system according to claim 1, wherein whether or not there is image data to be printed in the first storage device provided in the image data acquisition device. A folder monitoring means for monitoring the image data, a second storage device for storing image data to be printed, an image to be printed in the first storage device, which has a predetermined amount of free space A photographic processing device comprising: a data capturing means for capturing the image data into the photographic processing device when there is data. 3. An image data conversion means for converting the acquired image data into a predetermined image file format when the image file format of the image data acquired from the image data acquisition device is not a predetermined image file format. The photographic processing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising: 4. A folder management program installed in a computer provided in the photo processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein image data to be print-processed in a first storage device provided in the image data acquisition apparatus. If there is a predetermined amount of free space in the second storage device that stores the image data to be printed, and there is image data to be printed in the first storage device. And a step of loading the image data into the photographic processing apparatus by the computer. 5. If the image file format of the image data captured from the image data acquisition device is not a predetermined image file format, the method further comprises the step of converting the captured image data into a predetermined image file format. The folder management program according to claim 4, which is characterized in that.