JP2004114464A - Printing apparatus and method - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to directly connect a digital camera and a printer and easily print a photograph in the digital camera directly on various designed printing album sheets.
SOLUTION: When purchasing a favorite album paper from various freely designed album papers and connecting a digital camera 11 and a printer 12 to print a photograph in the digital camera 11, a photo paper attached to the printer 12 is attached. The album paper is scanned in advance by a scanner, the print information and the photo print position in the album paper are determined, and the photos in the digital camera 11 are sequentially located at the obtained photo positions, and the optimal print position for the album paper is determined based on the print information. Perform printing.
[Selection diagram] Fig. 1

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a printing apparatus and a printing method, and more particularly to, for example, direct printing in which a digital camera and a printer are directly connected to perform printing, and in particular, print information and photo printing positions on album paper are determined in the printer. And a printing method for sequentially printing photograph data in a digital camera at a predetermined position on an album sheet automatically and under optimum printing conditions.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In conventional direct printing, for example, index printing for printing a list of photos in a digital camera on standard A4 paper or, for example, printing one or a plurality of photographs on a standard A4 paper at a predetermined position. There was a form.
[0003]
There has also been a form in which a fixed image is printed simultaneously with a photograph in an area other than the photograph (for example, see Patent Document 1).
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-11-353466 [0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
As in the past, in a form in which printing is performed on a fixed-size sheet in a regular manner, there is a method of performing design on the background of a photograph in order to make the photograph stand out. There was a drawback that it lacked the elements to enjoy watching. Further, in a mode in which an image is printed at the same time as a photograph as in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-353466, the case where a predetermined image is stored in a printer in advance, or the case where an There was a problem that it was necessary to acquire an image, and it was not possible to obtain a free design at a low price.
[0006]
Therefore, purchase your favorite album paper from various freely designed album paper, for example, connect a digital camera and a printer, and when printing photos in the digital camera, use the scanner attached to the printer in advance There has been a demand for a printing apparatus that scans a sheet, determines print information and a photo print position in an album sheet, and sequentially prints the photos in the digital camera at the acquired photo positions.
[0007]
The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and a purpose thereof is to print on album paper of a free design, and if there is album paper, printing can be performed with a simple operation at low cost. An object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus and a method therefor.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is directed to a printing apparatus including a reading buffer and a printing buffer, capable of performing a printing operation and a reading operation, and capable of photographing a plurality of still images. An imaging unit, an album sheet reading unit that reads, in the reading buffer, print information and an album sheet in which one or more photo print areas are present, and the printing information is included in data read by the album sheet reading unit. Print information discriminating means for discriminating whether or not the print information is present, print information analyzing means for analyzing the print information and converting it into digital data when the print information discriminating means determines that the print information is present, and the print information analyzing means A print information storage unit for storing the digital data analyzed in the step S1; Photo print area position acquiring means, a photo print position storing means for storing the position and size of the photo print area acquired by the photo print area position acquiring means, and transmitting and receiving data by connecting the printing means and the imaging means. Communication means for enabling the image processing means, still image data acquisition means for sequentially acquiring one or more still image data in the imaging means to the printing means via the communication means, and a still image acquired by the still image data acquisition means. Developing means for developing image data into a bitmap in a memory in the printing means, and corresponding to a photo print area in a print buffer in the printing means based on a photo print area position stored in the photo print position storage means. Print buffer developing means for performing image correction on the basis of the print information stored in the print information storage unit and sequentially copying the data at the designated position, Characterized by the contents of the print buffer developed based on the stored print information in the print buffer development means to print on the printing unit in.
[0009]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the print information is located on a margin above a photo print area in the album sheet.
[0010]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the print information is printed on the album sheet in a form that can be converted into digital data such as a character string. I do.
[0011]
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the print information includes data including a code for identifying the album sheet, a sheet size, a print mode, and image correction information. It is characterized by having.
[0012]
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the photo print area can be distinguished from outside the photo print area in the data read by the album reading means. Is characterized by the following.
[0013]
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing method for a printing apparatus including a reading buffer and a printing buffer, capable of performing a printing operation and a reading operation, and an imaging device capable of capturing a plurality of still images. An album sheet reading step of reading the album sheet into a reading buffer by the printing means; a print information determining step of determining whether or not the print information exists in the data read in the album sheet reading step; A print information analysis step of analyzing the print information when it is determined that the print information exists in the print information determination step and converting the print information into digital data; and a print information storage step of storing the digital data analyzed in the print information analysis step. The position and size of the photo print area are obtained while reading the photo print area by the album paper reading means. A print area position obtaining step, a photo print position storing step of storing the position and size of the photo print area obtained in the photo print area position obtaining step, and data transmission and reception possible by connecting the printing means and the imaging means Communication step, still image data obtaining step of sequentially obtaining one or more still image data in the imaging means by the printing means via the communication step, and still image data obtained in the still image data obtaining step Developing a bitmap into a memory in the printing means, and a position corresponding to a photo print area in a print buffer in the printing means based on the photo print area position stored in the photo print position storage step. To a print buffer developing step of performing image correction based on the print information stored in the print information storage unit and successively copying. And a flop, characterized in that printed on the printing means with the contents of the print buffer developed in the print buffer development step based on the print data stored in the print information storage step.
[0014]
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the sixth aspect of the invention, the print information is located on a margin above a photo print area in the album paper.
[0015]
The invention according to claim 8 is the invention according to claim 6, wherein the print information is printed on the album sheet in a form that can be converted into digital data such as a character string. I do.
[0016]
According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to the sixth aspect, the print information includes data including a code for identifying the album sheet, a sheet size, a print mode, and image correction information. It is characterized by having.
[0017]
According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the sixth aspect of the present invention, the photo print area can be distinguished from the outside of the photo print area in the data read by the album reading means. Is characterized by the following.
[0018]
Further, the invention according to claim 11 is a printer that communicates with an image output device, comprising: a determination unit that determines a print area of a recording medium; and information on the print area determined by the determination unit. Transmitting means for receiving the print information corresponding to the print area from the image output device; and printing means for printing based on the print information received by the receiving means. .
[0019]
According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to the eleventh aspect, the determining unit is an image reading unit, and reads the recording medium to determine a print area on the print medium. And
[0020]
The invention according to claim 13 is a printing method in a printer that communicates with an image output device, wherein a determining step of determining a printing area of a recording medium and information of the printing area determined by the determining step are stored in the printer. A transmitting step of transmitting to the image output device, a receiving step of receiving print information corresponding to the print area from the image output device, and a printing step of printing based on the print information received by the receiving step. Features.
[0021]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a printing apparatus according to the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 11 denotes a digital camera. Reference numeral 12 denotes a printer in which the print head and the scanner head are exchangeable. When the scanner head is mounted, data read by the scanner head is stored as bitmap data in a read buffer memory area in the printer 12.
[0022]
When a print head is mounted, bitmap data to be printed is written in a predetermined print buffer memory area of the printer 12 so that printing is performed on paper via the print head. Reference numeral 13 denotes a connection line for connecting the printer 12 and the digital camera 11, and for example, a USB cable or an RS232C cable is used.
[0023]
Reference numeral 14 denotes a power button of the printer 12, which is used to turn on and off the power of the printer 12. Reference numeral 15 denotes a reset button of the printer 12, which is used to cancel an error of the printer when the user wants to stop printing by the printer or runs out of ink or paper. Reference numeral 16 denotes an album reading button of the printer 12, which is used when acquiring information on the album sheet P6 as shown in FIG.
[0024]
Reference numeral 17 denotes an LED lamp of the printer, which is turned off when the power is turned off, lit green when the power is turned on, and turned green during printing or when the printer is performing a recovery operation or the like. It blinks, and if there is an error in the printer, it blinks orange for the number of times corresponding to the type of error.
[0025]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the printing apparatus according to the present invention. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 11 denotes a digital camera capable of photographing a plurality of still images. A printer 12 performs a printing operation and a reading operation including a reading buffer and a printing buffer. P6 is an album sheet as shown in FIG. 4, in which print information and one or more photo print areas exist.
[0026]
Reference numeral 21 denotes an album sheet reading unit for reading the album sheet P6 into a reading buffer by the printer 11. Reference numeral 22 denotes a print information determination unit which determines whether or not print information exists in the data read by the album paper reading unit 21. A print information analysis unit 23 analyzes the print information and converts it into digital data when the print information determination unit 22 determines that the print information exists.
[0027]
Reference numeral 24 denotes a print information storage unit which stores digital data analyzed by the print information analysis unit 23. The 25 photo print area position acquisition unit acquires the position and size while reading the photo print area with the album paper reading unit 21. Reference numeral 26 denotes a photo print position storage unit which stores the position and size of the photo print region acquired by the photograph print region position acquisition unit 25.
[0028]
Reference numeral 27 denotes a communication unit which connects the printer 12 and the digital camera 11 to transmit and receive data. Reference numeral 28 denotes a still image data acquisition unit which sequentially acquires one or more still image data in the digital camera 11 to the printer 12 via the communication unit 27. Reference numeral 29 denotes a developing unit that develops the still image data acquired by the still image data acquiring unit 28 into a bitmap in a memory in the printer 12. Reference numeral 30 denotes a print buffer developing unit, which is stored in the print information storage unit 24 at a position corresponding to the photo print area in the print buffer in the printer 12 based on the photo print area position stored in the photo print position storage unit 26. The image data is subjected to image correction based on the print information and is sequentially copied.
[0029]
With this configuration, the printer 12 prints the contents of the print buffer developed by the print buffer developing unit 30 based on the print information stored in the print information storage unit 24.
[0030]
Examples of the present invention will be described in more detail below.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an album sheet for explaining the embodiment of the present invention.
For example, assuming that a photograph is taken at a camp site, first, as shown in FIG. 5, the camp site purchases an album sheet P6 with a background. Next, in order to determine the print information P1 and the photo print areas P2 to P4 on the album paper P6, first, the print head and the scanner head of the printer 12 are exchanged, and the album paper P6 is set on the paper feed tray. When the album reading button 16 is pressed, the album paper P6 is fed and necessary information is automatically acquired by the scanner (steps S1 to S6 in FIG. 3).
[0031]
Next, the user operates the digital camera 11 to specify a photo to be printed, sets the required number of album sheets P6 in the paper feed tray, replaces the scanner head with the print head, and connects the digital camera 11 to the printer 12. When the connection is made (step S7 in FIG. 3), printing is started, and the photographs are sequentially printed at predetermined positions P2 to P4 of the album paper P6 (step S8 in FIG. 3). Note that P5 indicates a background image, and P12 to P14 indicate photo print area rectangular lines.
[0032]
FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the printing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. First, the album paper P6 is read by a scanner attached to the printer 12 in order to obtain the print information P1 and the photo print areas P2 to P4 positions on the purchased album paper P6.
[0033]
That is, in step S1, the album paper P6 is set on the paper feed tray, and if the print head is mounted, the album paper P6 is first replaced with a scanner head and then the album read button 16 is pressed. Next, the process proceeds to step S2, and if the pressed button is not the album read button, the process ends. If it is an album read button, the process proceeds to step S3.
[0034]
In step S3, the album paper P6 is fed, and first, the print information P1 area in the album paper P6 is read. That is, the print information P1 area in the printing apparatus is located on the upper margin side of the photo print areas P2 to P4 in the album paper P6 and exists at a predetermined position in the album paper P6. In order to determine whether the print information P1 area exists, a predetermined position is scanned on the album sheet P6, and the process proceeds to step S4.
[0035]
Next, in step S4, read data as a result of scanning is determined. That is, if a character string in the form shown in FIG. 4 exists in the read data, the process proceeds to step S5. Otherwise, the album sheet P6 is discharged and an error corresponding to the LED is displayed. The process ends.
[0036]
It should be noted that a method of determining characters is processed using a known method. The character string as shown in FIG. 4 has a form delimited by "-", "ZZZ" is a code for identifying the album paper, and "s ... s" follows the paper size. "M ... m" specifies the printing mode, that is, the optimum number of passes and the printing direction when printing on the album sheet P6. The last "k ... k" specifies the input image. The image correction information for the data is shown.
[0037]
That is, it is correction information for adjusting a color expression space of a photograph taken by a digital camera and a color expression space expressed by album paper and ink of a printer to an optimal color expression range. Based on this information, the image data input from the digital camera is converted into data optimal for the printer.
[0038]
Next, in step S5, print information is stored from a character string having a form as shown in FIG. That is, the paper size, print mode, and image correction related information are stored in a predetermined memory in the printer, and the process proceeds to step S6.
[0039]
Next, in step S6, the position is acquired while scanning the photo print areas P2 to P4. In other words, when the photographic print areas P2 to P4, which are surrounded by rectangular lines P12 to P14 for each scan and are white in the rectangular lines, are determined while checking the continuity with the contents of the previous scan, scanning is performed to the end of the sheet. The determined upper left position of the photo print area and the horizontal and vertical sizes are stored in a predetermined memory in the printer E2, the album sheet P6 is discharged, and the process proceeds to step S7. It should be noted that a method of acquiring an area surrounded by a rectangular line from the bitmap data is performed by a known method.
[0040]
Next, in step S7, the process waits for the user to connect the printer and the digital camera with a predetermined cable. When the cable is connected, first, the two devices negotiate to establish a connection state. In the case of a device that is not compatible, the negotiation results in an error, and the printer displays a corresponding error on the LED and ends the processing. When the connection state is established, the process proceeds to step S8.
[0041]
In step S8, a photograph to be printed is selected from photographs taken in the digital camera in advance by a predetermined communication rule with the digital camera, and the storage position and the order of the photograph in the digital camera are acquired, and the printer Sequentially obtains the photo data of the photo, develops it into a bitmap in the memory in the printer, and further prints the photo data in the printer on the basis of the position information on the album paper P6 of the photo print area obtained in step S6. Based on the image correction information in the print information stored in step S5, the images are sequentially copied to the positions corresponding to the photo print areas P2 to P4 in the buffer while performing image correction so as to be optimal for the album paper based on the image correction information in step S5. The printing is performed based on the printing information stored in the step S, and a predetermined number of printings are performed, and the process ends.
[0042]
The character string as shown in FIG. 4 may be, for example, a barcode. That is, a character string is not particularly required as long as the data read by the scanner can be analyzed and converted into digital data.
[0043]
In the above-described embodiment, the album paper has been described. However, it is apparent that the present invention can be applied to other standard paper.
[0044]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, when purchasing a desired album sheet from various freely designed album sheets, for example, by connecting a digital camera and a printer, when printing a photograph in the digital camera, Scan the album paper in advance with the scanner attached to the printer, determine the printing information and photo printing position in the album paper, and print the photos in the digital camera sequentially at the acquired photo position, an album of free design It has the effect of printing on paper.
[0045]
In addition, if there is only album paper, an expensive external storage card in which the album background is separately stored is unnecessary, so that there is an effect that printing can be performed with a simple operation at low cost.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram illustrating an embodiment of a printing apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the printing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a form of a character string in read data.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an album sheet for explaining an embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
Reference Signs List 11 Digital camera 12 Printer 13 Connection line 14 Power button 15 Reset button 16 Album reading button 17 LED lamp 21 Album paper reading section 22 Print information discriminating section 23 Print information analyzing section 24 Print information storage section 25 Photo print area position obtaining section 26 Photo Print position storage unit 27 Communication unit 28 Still image data acquisition unit 29 Developing unit 30 Print buffer developing unit P1 Print information P2 to P4 Photo print area P5 Background image P6 Album paper P12 to P14 Photo print area rectangular line

Claims (13)

A printing unit capable of performing a printing operation and a reading operation including a reading buffer and a printing buffer;
Imaging means capable of shooting a plurality of still images;
An album sheet reading means for reading, in the printing means, album information having print information and one or more photo print areas into a reading buffer;
Print information determining means for determining whether the print information is present in the data read by the album paper reading means,
A print information analysis unit that analyzes the print information and converts the print information into digital data when the print information is determined to be present by the print information determination unit;
Print information storage means for storing digital data analyzed by the print information analysis means,
A photo print area position acquisition unit that acquires the position and size while reading the photo print region with the album sheet reading unit;
Photo print position storage means for storing the position and size of the photo print area acquired by the photo print area position acquisition means,
Communication means for connecting the printing means and the imaging means to enable transmission and reception of data,
Still image data acquisition means for sequentially acquiring one or more still image data in the imaging means to the printing means via the communication means,
Expanding means for expanding the still image data acquired by the still image data acquiring means into a bitmap in a memory in the printing means;
Image correction based on the print information stored in the print information storage unit to a position corresponding to the photo print area in the print buffer in the print unit based on the photo print area position stored in the photo print position storage unit And a print buffer developing means for sequentially copying
A printing apparatus for printing on the printing means with the contents of a print buffer developed by the print buffer developing means based on the print information stored in the print information storage means. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print information is located on an upper margin side of a photo print area in the album sheet. 2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print information is printed on the album sheet in a form that can be converted into digital data such as a character string. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print information includes data including a code for identifying the album sheet, a sheet size, a print mode, and image correction information. 2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the photo print area has a form in which data outside the photo print area and inside the photo print area can be distinguished in the data read by the album reading means. A printing method including a reading buffer and a printing buffer, capable of performing a printing operation and a reading operation, and a printing apparatus including an imaging unit capable of capturing a plurality of still images,
An album sheet reading step of reading the album sheet into a reading buffer by the printing means;
A print information determining step of determining whether or not the print information exists in the data read in the album sheet reading step;
A print information analysis step of analyzing the print information and converting it into digital data when it is determined that the print information exists in the print information determination step;
Print information storage step means for storing digital data analyzed in the print information analysis step,
A photo print area position obtaining step of obtaining the position and size while reading the photo print area with the album sheet reading means;
A photo print position storing step of storing the position and size of the photo print area obtained in the photo print area position obtaining step;
A communication step of connecting the printing unit and the imaging unit to enable transmission and reception of data,
A still image data acquisition step of sequentially acquiring one or more still image data in the imaging unit to the printing unit via the communication step,
Developing the still image data obtained in the still image data obtaining step into a bitmap in a memory in the printing unit;
Image correction based on the print information stored in the print information storage unit to a position corresponding to the photo print area in the print buffer in the printing means based on the photo print area position stored in the photo print position storage step. And a print buffer developing step of sequentially copying
A printing method, wherein the printing unit prints the contents of the print buffer developed in the print buffer developing step based on the print information stored in the print information storing step. 7. The printing method according to claim 6, wherein the print information is located on a margin above the photo print area in the album paper. 7. The printing method according to claim 6, wherein the print information is printed on the album sheet in a form that can be converted into digital data such as a character string. 7. The printing method according to claim 6, wherein the print information includes data including a code for identifying the album sheet, a sheet size, a print mode, and image correction information. 7. The printing method according to claim 6, wherein the photo print area has a form in which data outside the photo print area and inside the photo print area can be distinguished in the data read by the album reading means. A printer communicating with the image output device,
Determining means for determining a printing area of the recording medium;
Transmitting means for transmitting information on the print area determined by the determining means to the image output device;
From the image output device, receiving means for receiving print information according to the print area,
A printing unit for printing based on the print information received by the receiving unit. The printer according to claim 11, wherein the determination unit is an image reading unit, and reads the recording medium to determine a print area on the print medium. A printing method in a printer communicating with an image output device,
A determining step of determining a print area of the recording medium;
A transmitting step of transmitting information of the print area determined by the determining step to the image output device;
From the image output device, a receiving step of receiving print information according to the print area,
A printing step for printing based on the print information received in the receiving step.

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