JP2010268042A - Image processing apparatus and image processing system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a means of easily restoring one of transferred images even if the image is lost or damaged by improving convenience in transfer of a plurality of images. <P>SOLUTION: A printer 10 capable of communicating with a server 30 includes: a URL acquisition section for acquiring a URL in which the plurality of images are stored; a watermark generation section for converting the URL to a watermark; and an image embedding section for embedding the generated watermark in each of the plurality of images. The printer communicates with the server 30 to store the plurality of images, and generates a watermark image, where the watermark is embedded in each of the plurality of images. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and an image processing system, and more particularly to an image processing apparatus capable of communicating with a server, and an image processing system including the server and the image processing apparatus.

  In recent years, with the spread of digital cameras, USB memories, etc., it has become popular to transfer images such as photographs as electronic data. However, as the image quality of digital cameras increases, the amount of data is very large even if the image data is compressed to JPEG or the like. Therefore, in Patent Document 1, image data (original image) is placed on a server on the Internet, and the URL of the original image is embedded in the thumbnail data of the original image as a digital watermark, and only the thumbnail data is provided to the viewer. Is described. In this case, the viewer can obtain the original image by browsing the thumbnail and acquiring the URL from the electronic watermark of the favorite thumbnail.

JP 2004-320465 A

However, when transferring multiple pieces of image data to a person, the side that received the thumbnail data must extract links for each thumbnail. Was troublesome. There is also a problem that if the thumbnail data is lost, the image data of the original image cannot be acquired.
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and improves convenience when delivering a plurality of images. Even if one of the delivered images is lost or damaged, the images are displayed. The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and an image processing system capable of providing means for easily restoring.
The purpose is to provide.

  In order to solve the above problems, an image processing apparatus according to the present invention is an image processing apparatus capable of communicating with a server, and when storing a plurality of images on the server, a place where the plurality of images are stored. Information for specifying (hereinafter referred to as “storage destination information”) is embedded in each of the plurality of images as a watermark.

  The watermark may be a so-called “digital watermark” embedded as digital data in image data, or a watermark implemented in a hard copy readable from a printed image, an image displayed on a display, or the like (hereinafter, referred to as “watermark”). May be described as “hard copy watermark”. However, the term “readable” as used herein may mean that it can be visually recognized, but for example, so-called scan data obtained by scanning output results such as print results and display results using a scanner or the like is analyzed. Anything can be used as long as it can be read.

Image data in which storage destination information of a plurality of images is embedded as “digital watermark” is delivered from the creator to the related parties, for example. Since this party can acquire storage destination information from any of the image data, a plurality of image data can be downloaded from the server. That is, this person can easily create a hard copy by appropriately downloading and printing other images that have not been handed over.
In this case, since it is only necessary to pass one of the plurality of image data to the parties concerned, for example, when the image data is attached to an e-mail and transmitted, the mail size can be reduced and the transmission time can be reduced. There isn't much pressure on the mailbox. Further, when the data is stored in a storage medium such as a USB memory and transferred, it is not necessary to prepare a large-capacity one and the time for storing the image data in the USB memory can be shortened. In addition, if you pass multiple image data when transferring image data, even if one of the image data is damaged or lost, the image data is damaged or lost using the storage information of other image data. Can be reacquired. Of course, not only the concerned parties but also the creator himself can use the storage destination information embedded in the image data when recovering the image data from the same damage or loss.

In addition, image data in which storage destination information of a plurality of images is embedded as a hard copy watermark is printed by a creator by a printing unit, for example, and passed to related parties. The related person causes the scanner to read the print result, obtains a watermark from the scan data, and obtains storage destination information from the watermark. If this storage location information is accessed, a plurality of image data can be downloaded from the server. Therefore, the related person can download other images that have not been handed over as appropriate, print them, and easily obtain hard copies.
In this case as well, since it is only necessary for one of the plurality of images to be passed to the concerned person, the time for selecting the printing result to be given to the concerned person from among the plurality of images for the creator. It is economical and environmentally friendly because it eliminates the need to print all the images for all the people involved. Also, if not all of the multiple images are handed over to the parties involved, several copies can be easily duplicated from other hard copies if some of them are damaged, damaged or lost. it can. Of course, there are similar merits when not only the concerned parties but also the creator himself / herself duplicates image data from the same damage / stain / loss.

The image stored in the server may be a watermark image in which a watermark is embedded or an original image before embedding the watermark. This is because it is not necessary to include a watermark when creating a copy of an image. Needless to say, there is a possibility that damage, defacement, or loss may occur again. Therefore, an image stored in the server may be set as a watermark image so that storage destination information can be extracted from the copied image.
Also, both the original image and watermark image are saved on the server, and the save destination information used when requesting the image from the server is the first created image (when the image is saved on the server). A watermark image may be downloaded if it is extracted or stored, and an original image may be downloaded if the storage destination information is extracted from a copied image. For example, if both the watermark image and the original image are stored in the server, the storage destination information embedded in the image to be printed first indicates the storage destination of the watermark image, and is embedded in the watermark image stored in the server. The storage location information indicates the storage location of the original image. Then, it becomes impossible to generate a copy from the second generation image. In this way, if the download is limited according to the number of generations of the copied image, the range of use can be limited and the load on the server is reduced.

  Furthermore, the image stored in the server may be a corrected image obtained by performing image quality correction on the original image or watermark image, or a halftone image obtained by performing halftone processing on the original image, watermark image, or corrected image. Also good. If the corrected image or halftone image is stored in the server, the intention of the creator can be reflected in the print result based on the downloaded image data. In the case of a halftone image, the printing processing time after downloading can be shortened. Of course, any combination of these original image, watermark image, corrected image, and halftone image is saved on the server, and when downloading based on the save destination information, select which image to download to the parties concerned You may let them. When selecting in this way, it is preferable to display the original image, the watermark image, the corrected image, and the halftone image so that the parties concerned can easily distinguish them.

  By the way, the maximum value of the amount of information that can be embedded as a watermark varies depending on the size of each image and the algorithm for embedding the watermark in the image. In particular, in the present invention, the storage destination information of a plurality of images is embedded in each image, so that the amount of information embedded in one image may exceed the maximum value. Therefore, as a selective aspect of the present invention that makes it possible to cope with an increase or decrease in the data amount of the storage destination information of a plurality of images, the data amount of information for specifying the location where each of the plurality of images is stored If the sum of the values exceeds the maximum amount of information that can be embedded as a watermark in the image, information for collectively specifying the location where the plurality of images are stored is used as a watermark for each of the plurality of images. If the total amount of information for embedding and specifying the location where each of the plurality of images is stored does not exceed the maximum value of the information amount that can be embedded as a watermark in the image, Information for specifying the location where each is stored may be embedded as a watermark in each of the plurality of image data.

That is, when a plurality of images are stored on the server, the plurality of images are stored so as to form one group relationship. In this way, when an image satisfying a specific group relationship is designated and a download request is made to the server, a plurality of images are downloaded from the server.
Furthermore, when the image is embedded as a watermark after being pre-compressed with a predetermined compression algorithm so that the information to be embedded as a watermark is reduced, or when a plurality of images are stored on the server, most of the storage destination information of the plurality of images is stored. However, the common part may be described only once and different parts may be recorded as the storage destination information.

  Further, as an optional aspect of the present invention for preventing an image stored on the server from being distributed indefinitely, means for designating the number of times the image is downloaded when the image is stored on the server. The image processing apparatus further includes a means for counting the number of times the image stored by the image processing apparatus has been downloaded, and the number of times the specific image data is counted by the means for the specific image data. An image processing system including a server that restricts access to the specific image data when the specified number of downloads is exceeded may be used.

  Further, as another selective aspect of the present invention for preventing an image stored in the server from being distributed indefinitely, a download deadline for the image is designated when the image is stored in the server. An image processing apparatus further comprising a means and a timer means for holding the date and time, and if the date and time of the timer means exceeds the download deadline specified for the specific image data, access to the specific image data is performed. It is good also as an image processing system provided with the server to restrict | limit.

  Further, as a selective aspect of the present invention, the watermark is a hard copy watermark that can be read from a hard copy of an image in which the watermark is embedded, and when printing the image in which the watermark is embedded, printing paper is used. Printing the image on the front surface of the printing paper, printing information for specifying the location where the plurality of images are stored on the back surface of the printing paper, and forming a watermark in the printing result on the front surface based on the printing result of the back surface You may comprise so that the printing means to perform may be provided. According to this aspect, even if there is no function for embedding a watermark, it is possible to create a watermark by turning over using a duplex printing mechanism provided in a general printer or copier, and the watermark also has an OCR function. It can be easily read by a scanner. Of course, if the storage location information is described in a character string, a person can access the server by reading the storage location information.

  In addition, as a selective aspect of the present invention for improving the convenience of persons who have been given a watermark image, information for specifying a place where a plurality of images are stored is embedded as a watermark. A reading unit that reads the watermark; a downloading unit that downloads a plurality of images from a plurality of storage destination information acquired based on the watermark read by the reading unit; and the same image as the printed matter among the plurality of downloaded images A printing unit that prints and receives an operation input indicating that the user needs to print an image different from the printed matter may be provided. This configuration is effective, for example, when the watermark is visible. That is, for an image from which the storage destination information that is in the hands of the parties is reading, an image without a watermark is downloaded from the server and printed, so that the party can obtain an image without the watermark.

  In addition, as a selective aspect of the present invention for improving the convenience of persons who have been given a watermark image, information for specifying a place where a plurality of images are stored is embedded as a watermark. A reading unit that reads the watermark; a downloading unit that downloads a plurality of images from a plurality of storage destination information acquired based on the watermark read by the reading unit; and an image that is different from the printed material among the plurality of downloaded images. A printing unit that prints and receives an operation input indicating that the user needs to print the same image as the printed matter may be provided. This configuration is particularly effective when the watermark is not visible. In other words, it is unlikely that the parties need to have two images already at hand, and it is likely that they want to obtain hard copies of other images.

  The above-described image processing apparatus includes various modes such as being implemented in a state where it is incorporated in another device or being implemented together with another method. The present invention also provides an image processing system including the above-described image processing apparatus and the server, an image processing system including the image processing apparatus, the server, and an image processing apparatus including the reading unit, and a configuration of the above-described apparatus. The present invention can also be realized as a control method having a process corresponding to the above, a program for causing a computer to realize a function corresponding to the configuration of the apparatus described above, a computer-readable recording medium on which the program is recorded, and the like. The inventions of the image processing system, the image processing method, the image processing program, and the medium on which the program is recorded also have the above-described operations and effects. Of course, the configurations described in claims 2 to 12 are also applicable to the system, the method, the program, and the recording medium.

It is a block diagram which shows the hardware constitutions of an image sharing system. It is a block diagram which shows the software structure of an image sharing system. 4 is an example of a UI displayed on an operation panel for setting printing conditions. It is a flowchart of a printing process. It is a flowchart of a reading process. It is a flowchart of the printing process concerning a modification.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in the following order.
(1) Configuration of the present invention:
(1-1) Hardware configuration:
(1-2) Software configuration:
(2) Printing process:
(3) Reading process:
(4) Modification:
(5) Summary:

(1) Configuration of the present invention:
(1-1) Hardware configuration:
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of an image sharing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, an image sharing system 100 constitutes an image processing system of the present invention, and a printer 10 and a multifunction device 20 constitute an image processing apparatus. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the printer 10 and the multifunction device 20 having a communication function are directly connected to the network, but these may be connected to the network via a computer. That is, it may be connected to the network via a computer in which a control program (driver program or the like) for controlling the printer 10 or the multifunction device 20 is installed. In this case, the computer that controls the printer 10 or the multifunction device 20 Constitutes an image processing apparatus.

  In FIG. 1, the image sharing system 100 includes a server 30 connected to a network NT, and a printer 10 and a multifunction device 20 connected to the server 30 via the network NT. The printer 10 and the multifunction device 20 constitute a client for the server 30 in the image sharing system 100. The network NT can be configured by appropriately combining a LAN (Local Area Network), the Internet, a telephone line network, and the like.

  The printer 10 includes a control unit 11, an operation input unit 12, a network interface (N I / F) 13, a printing mechanism 14, and a general-purpose interface (I / F) 15, and is connected to the network NT via the N I / F 13. It is connected. The control unit 11 includes a program execution environment including, for example, a CPU that is the center of arithmetic processing and a RAM or ROM as a storage medium. In this case, while sequentially transferring the control program PP stored in the ROM to the RAM, The CPU controls the entire printer 10 by executing arithmetic processing using the RAM as a work area according to the control program PP.

  The operation input unit 12 can be configured by an operation panel including, for example, a plurality of operation buttons and a small liquid crystal display. For example, a memory card reader is connected to the general-purpose I / F 15, and the control unit 11 can acquire and print image data recorded on the memory card. Of course, the general-purpose I / F may be connectable to an image processing device such as a digital camera. In this case, the control unit 11 acquires and prints image data from the digital camera connected to the general-purpose I / F 15. Can do.

  The printing mechanism 14 is a mechanism that prints characters and images on a printing medium such as printing paper according to the control of the control unit 11. For example, when the printing mechanism 14 is configured by an inkjet printer, a printing tray on which a printing medium is set, an ink tank in which ink is stored, an ink head that attaches ink supplied from the ink tank to the printing medium, ink A carriage mechanism that reciprocates a carriage on which the head is mounted in the main scanning direction, a conveyance mechanism that conveys the print medium in the sub-scanning direction (paper feeding direction), and the like can be used. Of course, the printing mechanism 14 may have a configuration such as an ink sublimation printer or a laser printer.

  In this embodiment, the printer 10 itself has a function of connecting to the network NT to communicate and a program execution environment. However, a printer that does not have these functions is connected to a computer serving as a print control apparatus. However, the communication function and the program execution environment may be realized on a computer. In this case, a computer or a combination of a computer and a printer constitutes an image processing apparatus.

  In addition, the printer is equipped with colorless ink that adjusts glossiness, or ink that develops color when irradiated with a special light source such as ultraviolet light or X-ray, or at a specific angle with respect to the paper surface. Alternatively, an ink that produces only a color may be mounted. In this way, if printing using a recording material that develops color only under specific conditions is possible, the watermark printing can be easily realized by printing a watermark described later with these recording materials.

  The server 30 includes a control unit 31, an HD (Hard Disk) 32, and an NI / F (Interface) 33, and the NI / F 33 is connected to the network NT. The server 30 can communicate with an external device connected to the network NT via the NI / F 33. The HD 32 stores an OS (Operating System) 32a, program data 32b of an image sharing program, and image data 32c uploaded from a client. The control unit 31 includes a program execution environment including, for example, a CPU, a RAM, and a ROM. In this case, the CPU stores the RAM according to the image sharing program SP while sequentially transferring the image sharing program SP stored in the ROM to the RAM. The entire server 30 is controlled by executing arithmetic processing using it as a work area. The server 30 does not have to be a single computer. For example, a function equivalent to that of the server 30 may be realized by distributed processing that is organically performed by a plurality of computers connected to a network.

  The multi-function device 20 includes a control unit 21, an operation input unit 22, a network interface (NI / F) 23, a printing mechanism 24, and a reading mechanism 25, and the NI / F 23 is connected to the network NT. The multi-function device 20 can communicate with the server 30 via the NI / F 23, and by specifying the storage location of the image data stored in the server 30 to the server 30 via the NI / F 23, Desired image data can be downloaded.

The control unit 21 includes a program execution environment including, for example, a CPU, a RAM, and a ROM. In this case, the CPU transfers the control program CP stored in the ROM sequentially to the RAM, and the CPU transfers the RAM according to the control program CP to the work area. As a result, the entire MFP 20 is controlled.
The operation input unit 22 includes, for example, a plurality of operation buttons and a display, and receives an operation input performed by the user on the operation buttons while displaying a message on the display.

  The printing mechanism 24 is a mechanism that prints characters and images on a printing medium such as printing paper under the control of the control unit 21. For example, when the printing mechanism 24 is configured by an inkjet printer, a print tray on which a print medium is set, an ink tank in which ink is stored, an ink head that attaches ink supplied from the ink tank to the print medium, ink A carriage mechanism that reciprocates a carriage on which the head is mounted in the main scanning direction, a conveyance mechanism that conveys the print medium in the sub-scanning direction (paper feeding direction), and the like can be used. Of course, the printing mechanism 24 may have a configuration such as an ink sublimation printer or a laser printer.

The reading mechanism 25 is a mechanism that acquires image data on the surface of a reading object (for example, a document or the like) according to the control of the control unit 21. For example, when the reading mechanism 25 is configured by a flat bed type scanner, a light source that irradiates a light beam onto the surface of the reading object, and light reflected from the reading object is reflected and aggregated by a mirror or a lens, and an image sensor ( For example, an optical system that leads to a CCD (Charge Coupled Devices, etc.), an image sensor that generates an electrical signal corresponding to the amount of received light, a carriage that mounts the image sensor, and an image sensor that is mounted on the carriage It can be configured by a carriage transport mechanism or the like that moves the carriage so as to scan the entire surface.
Of course, the reading mechanism 25 may be a system in which the image sensor is fixed and the object to be read is conveyed, or a hand scanner is provided instead of the reading mechanism 25 and the user reads using the hand scanner. You may make it scan the surface of a target object. In the example described above, the optical reduction type optical system has been described as an example, but a contact image sensor type may be used.

(1-2) Software configuration:
A software configuration for realizing the present invention by the configuration of the image sharing system 100 described above will be described. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a software configuration of the image sharing system.

  In FIG. 2, when printing is instructed, the control program PP displays a UI (User Interface) for setting the printing conditions in the printer 10 on the operation panel 12, and each of the printing conditions is displayed via this UI. Accept setting value settings for setting items. When the user completes the setting of printing conditions and instructs execution of printing, the control program PP accepts this, and causes the printer to execute printing based on the set printing conditions. In order to execute this processing, the control program PP includes a printing condition setting unit PP1 and a printing processing unit PP2.

  FIG. 3 is an example of a print setting UI (User Interface) for receiving an input of print conditions displayed by the print condition setting unit PP1. Various print condition items are displayed in the print setting UI, and setting values can be set for the respective print condition items.

  The print condition item is an item for a plurality of conditions necessary for executing printing. The print resolution, the ink type (selection of color and monochrome or the selection of ink set (combination of ink colors)), the type of print medium Size, printing layout, borderless printing, print quality (clean, fast, etc.), color management type (automatic adjustments, use of colors beyond the display gamut, etc.), bidirectional printing There are various print condition items that can be set for the print processing unit PP3, such as whether or not image processing is possible by the driver.

  In the print setting UI, an operation item for instructing execution of printing is also displayed. When this operation item is operated, the print condition setting unit PP1 causes the print processing unit PP2 to start printing. The print processing unit PP2 sets the setting value set in the print setting UI as a print condition in the print processing unit PP3, and transfers the image data to be printed to the print processing unit PP3. The print processing unit PP3 includes modules (not shown) that perform processing such as resolution conversion, color conversion, and halftone processing, and each module performs processing according to the set value of the print condition for image data to be printed. Print data is generated. The printer 10 executes printing based on the print data by controlling the printing mechanism 14 according to the generated print data.

  In addition, the control program PP uploads an image instructed to be printed to a predetermined server, acquires storage location information indicating an image upload destination when uploading the image to the server, and embeds this storage location information. Images can be created. In order to execute these processes, the control program PP has a function corresponding to the image upload unit PP3. Further, the image upload unit PP3 has functions corresponding to the URL acquisition unit M1, the watermark generation unit M2, and the image embedding unit M3.

  When the URL acquisition unit M1 is instructed to upload an image, the URL acquisition unit M1 acquires a URL for specifying a storage destination when each image instructed to be printed is stored in the server 30. In order to acquire this URL, for example, the URL acquiring unit M1 acquires the URL by communicating with the image receiving unit SP1 of the server 30. That is, the URL acquisition unit M1 notifies the image reception unit SP1 of the server 30 of the number of images to be uploaded, and has the URLs for storing these images set (issued) in advance. For example, if the URL acquisition unit M1 includes an algorithm for specifying a URL without communicating with the server 30, the URL acquisition unit M1 may generate the URL itself based on this algorithm.

  When there are a plurality of image data for which printing has been instructed, the information required for downloading is reduced if the plurality of image data can be designated collectively. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the URL acquired by the URL acquisition unit M1 is a URL that can identify that each image data of a plurality of image data belongs to the same group.

  For example, when the server 30 manages image data in a hierarchical directory structure, the URL acquisition unit M1 acquires a URL for designating a directory as a storage destination of the image data. Then, the image upload unit PP3 uploads a plurality of image data so as to be stored in a common directory. By uploading multiple image data in a common directory in this way, when downloading, if you specify a directory, you can specify and download image data under that directory, or download image data in the directory You can get a list. Therefore, it is possible to specify storage destination information of a plurality of image data with a small amount of information.

  Further, for example, when the image data is managed by adding common identification information to a part of the file name in the server 30, the URL acquisition unit M1 identifies the identification information to be commonly added to a plurality of image data. To get. In this case, the image upload unit PP3 creates a file name that includes common identification information in a predetermined part of the file names of a plurality of image data, and uploads the file name so as to be stored on the server. To do.

  Of course, when a directory is shared among a plurality of image data or identification information is shared, the directory name and identification information may be designated from the client side. In this case, the URL acquisition unit M1 displays a UI for accepting designation of a directory name and identification information on the operation panel 12, and accepts a user-desired directory name and identification information via this UI.

  Also, for example, when the server 30 manages image data based on a correspondence table that associates the image data with a group ID to which the image data belongs, the URL acquisition unit M1 specifies when uploading a plurality of image data. Get the power group ID. In this case, the image upload unit PP3 notifies the server 30 of this group ID when uploading a plurality of image data so that each image data is stored in association with the same group ID. The URL acquired by the URL acquisition unit M1 as described above is transferred to the watermark generation unit M2.

  The watermark generation unit M2 performs a process of converting the URL acquired by the URL acquisition unit M1 as described above into a watermark. The watermark mentioned here may be a watermark realized by a technique typified by steganography or DRM (Digital Rights Management), or may be a print result obtained by printing image data with a printer or displayed on a display. It may be a watermark that is read from an output image such as a display result. In the following description, the former watermark is referred to as an electronic watermark, and the latter watermark is referred to as a hard copy watermark.

  The watermark generation unit M2 can add a hard copy watermark by changing the density, contrast, spatial frequency, etc. of the image data so that the actual image changes at a level that cannot be recognized by humans. Such hard copy watermarking techniques include “digital watermarking using the density pattern method” (August 21, 1998), published by Kokoo Matsui, published by Morikita Publishing Co., Ltd., pages 17-20, "Embedding signatures in hard copy images", (September 25, 1996), Kazuhiro Oka, Yasuhiro Nakamura, Koko Matsui, published by The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers, pages 1624-1626, Methods for detecting falsification of electronic documents using a block protection network "(January 25, 2001), Noriko Kobori, Munetoshi Iwakiri, Kokoo Matsui, published by the Institute of Image Electronics Engineers, pages 21-24, etc. are known.

  Each image data has a maximum value Dmax of the data amount that can be embedded as a watermark, and it is not possible to embed data exceeding this amount. This maximum value Dmax is determined according to, for example, the amount of data that can be embedded per unit area of an image by an algorithm that converts data into a watermark, and the size and number of pixels of image data in which the data is embedded. is there. In this embodiment, URLs that are storage destinations of a plurality of image data are embedded in each image data, but the data amount DURL of the URLs of the plurality of image data (hereinafter referred to as “URL group”) is the maximum value Dmax. If it exceeds, it can no longer be embedded. Of course, when embedding URL data, data may be compressed in advance based on a predetermined compression algorithm.

  Therefore, the watermark generation unit M2 has a function of determining whether the URL group transferred from the URL acquisition unit M1 can be embedded in each image data. With this function, the watermark generation unit M2 calculates the data amount DURL of the URL group notified from the URL acquisition unit M1 and the maximum value Dmax of the character data capacity that can be embedded in one of the plurality of input image data. The maximum value Dmax calculated here is the maximum value for the image data having the smallest size when the sizes of the plurality of image data vary.

  When DURL ≦ Dmax, the watermark generation unit M2 converts all URL groups into a watermark image and outputs the watermark image to the image embedding unit M3. When DURL> Dmax, the watermark generation unit M2 outputs a plurality of pieces of image data among the URLs of the images. Are converted into a watermark image and output to the image embedding unit M3. The URL for collectively specifying a plurality of image data is a combination of a URL indicating a directory for storing a plurality of image data as described above, a URL necessary for requesting a download to the server 30, and the identification information. Information. The information to be embedded is used by switching between the URL for individually specifying each image data and the URL for collectively specifying all the image data, so that watermark embedding can be performed regardless of the size and number of image data designated for printing. become able to do.

  When the image embedding unit M3 receives the watermark created as described above, the image embedding unit M3 embeds a digital watermark in each of the plurality of image data to generate a plurality of watermark image data. Then, the image embedding unit M3 outputs the generated watermark image to the print processing unit PP2.

  When embedding a watermark in an image, the image embedding unit M3 adds information specifying which URL in the URL group into which the image data to be embedded the watermark is converted into the watermark. I can leave. For example, the image embedding unit M3 embeds information indicating the position in the URL group of the URL of the image data in which the watermark is embedded. Further, similar information may be generated in advance when the watermark generation unit M2 generates a watermark. For example, when creating a digital watermark, the order of URL groups is changed in each image to embed it. It may be created so that the URL of the image data to be included is at the beginning or end. By embedding information indicating the correspondence between the image data in which the watermark is embedded and the storage destination of the image on the server, the convenience in the reading process described later is improved.

The image data uploaded by the image upload unit PP3 may be either image data before embedding a watermark (original image data) or watermark image data in which a watermark is embedded. Further, the image data uploaded by the image upload unit PP3 may be corrected image data in which image quality adjustment desired by the user is performed on the image data, or halftone image data after the halftone process is performed. Also good.
That is, the image upload unit PP3 acquires the original image data, the watermark image data, the corrected image by acquiring the image data at the time when the image processing is advanced to an arbitrary stage after the image data is input to the printer 10. Either data or halftone image data can be acquired and uploaded.

The image quality adjustment process may be executed by automatically creating an appropriate adjustment parameter for each image based on the analysis result of the image. Each adjustment parameter can be created by, for example, image analysis as described below. Note that the target image quality (reference value and target value) of the following adjustment parameters may be prepared not only for one type but also for each image type such as a person image or a landscape image.
For contrast, shadow, and highlight, the shadow point and highlight point are detected from the image data, and the level correction value based on the reference value and the expansion degree of the luminance histogram are used as parameters. In addition, a tone curve correction value for correcting the luminance standard deviation to a reference value is used as an adjustment parameter.
As for brightness, a tone for determining whether an image is dark (underexposure) or bright (overexposure) based on a brightness value calculated from each area obtained by dividing image data into nine parts, and correcting the brightness to a reference value The curve is the adjustment parameter.
For color balance, the color balance bias is analyzed from the histograms of the R component, G component, and B component of the image data, and the tone curves of the R component, G component, and B component are corrected to reference values for the RGB components. The correction value is used as an adjustment parameter.
For saturation, the saturation distribution of the image data is analyzed, and a correction value that enhances the saturation as a reference value is used as an adjustment parameter. Therefore, the lower saturation image data becomes an adjustment parameter for increasing the saturation enhancement level.
For sharpness, the frequency of image data and the intensity distribution of edges are analyzed, and an unsharp mask based on the reference value is used as an adjustment parameter. The reference value is determined based on the frequency distribution, and the reference value decreases as the high-frequency image data (landscape or the like), and the reference value increases as the low-frequency image data (such as a person). The application amount of the unsharp mask depends on the edge intensity distribution, and the application amount of the image data having a blurred characteristic increases.
As for memory colors, generally, for “skin color”, “green”, “sky blue”, etc., which are called memory colors, the corresponding layers are extracted from the image data so that the colors (target values) that are considered preferable are obtained. The correction value to be corrected is set as an adjustment parameter.

  The image sharing program SP controls image data upload requests and download requests from the client to the server 30 and manages image data stored in the server. In order to realize such a function, the image sharing program SP includes an image reception unit SP1, an image management unit SP2, and an image transmission unit SP3.

  When image data is uploaded from the client, the image reception unit SP1 stores the uploaded image data in the HD 32. Prior to this upload, if a URL indicating the storage location of the image data to be stored is requested, the URL is generated and reserved so that the URL is not used in other upload requests. Reply to the client. When a URL is generated and sent back, the save destination URL is notified along with the upload of the image, so the image data is saved in association with the reserved URL.

  When there is a request for downloading image data from the client, the image transmission unit SP3 acquires the image data associated with the designated URL from the HD 32 and transmits it to the client. The image transmission unit SP3 notifies the image management unit SP2 that the image data has been transmitted. When the storage expiration date and the number of downloads are specified for the uploaded image data, the image reception unit SP1 notifies the image management unit SP2 of the URL of the image data and the information thereof. When the number of times each image data is downloaded reaches the number of downloads, the image management unit SP2 deletes the corresponding image data or locks the image data so that it cannot be downloaded.

  The image management unit SP2 has a timer unit that holds the current time. If the time of the timer unit has passed the management expiration date of the image data, the image data cannot be deleted from the HD 32 or downloaded. Or lock it. Since the image management unit SP2 manages the uploaded image data in this way, it is possible to suppress the situation where the image data is distributed to an unspecified number of unintended users of the client user who uploaded the image as much as possible. . The image management unit SP2 can also limit the number of downloads for each request source by managing the download request source of the image data with an IP address, a user ID, or the like.

  When the reading of the object to be read is instructed, the control program CP displays a UI (User Interface) for performing reading condition setting work in the multifunction machine 20 on the operation panel 22, and the reading condition is set via this UI. Accept setting value settings for setting items. In particular, in the present embodiment, designation of whether or not to download an image by extracting a watermark from read data to be read via the UI is accepted. In order to realize such a function, the control program CP has functions corresponding to the image reading unit CP1, the watermark extracting unit CP2, the image obtaining unit CP3, and the printing unit CP4.

  The image reading unit CP1 controls the reading mechanism 25 to acquire scan data of the reading object, and when the image download is designated, the acquired scan data is transferred to the watermark extraction unit CP2. On the other hand, when image download is not designated, the image reading unit CP1 delivers the scan data to the printing unit CP4, and realizes a copy function by executing printing based on the scan data.

  The determination of whether or not to download an image may be performed by the image reading unit CP1 automatically analyzing scan data. For example, when a predetermined marking indicating a watermark image is printed at a predetermined position on the printing paper when a watermark image is created or printed by the printer 10, the marking is detected at a predetermined position of the scan data. Whether or not to download an image can be automatically determined based on whether or not the image is downloaded.

When the scan data is input, the watermark extraction unit CP2 analyzes the scan data based on the watermark analysis algorithm corresponding to the above-described watermark generation algorithm, and restores the URL embedded in the scan data. The watermark extraction unit CP2 delivers the restored URL to the image acquisition unit CP3.
Further, the watermark extraction unit CP2 acquires information indicating which URL is the URL indicating the image data corresponding to the reading object among the URLs obtained from the watermark, and the URL indicated by this information is the image acquisition unit. Notify CP3.

The image acquisition unit CP3 sequentially accesses the delivered URLs and downloads image data from the server. The image acquisition unit CP3 sequentially transfers the acquired image data to the printing unit CP4. Note that the image acquisition unit CP3 may allow the user to select which image data to print without immediately transferring the acquired image data to the printing unit CP4. In this case, the image acquisition unit CP3 creates a thumbnail image of each image data, for example, displays it on the operation panel 22, and asks the user whether or not printing is desired. Then, only the image desired by the user is transferred to the printing unit CP4 to be printed.
When image data or scan data is input, the printing unit CP4 controls the printing mechanism 24 based on these data to execute printing.

(2) Printing process:
An example of the printing process realized by the configuration described above will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the printing process executed in the printer 10. 4 is executed when printing of image data is instructed via the operation panel of the printer 10.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the UI displayed on the operation panel can display an operation item for selecting “image to be printed” and an operation item for selecting whether or not “upload image” is possible. It has become. In this UI, when the user checks the check box of the operation item “image upload”, image upload is selected. Further, when “image upload” is selected, an operation item associated with this operation item, such as “image retention time limit”, “image download count”, and the like can be set. By making desired settings for these operation items, when an uploaded image is downloaded from the server, restrictions based on the date and time, the number of downloads, and the number of downloads can be imposed.

  For example, when the user sets a desired time limit in the operation item “Image Retention Time Limit”, the uploaded image is deleted from the server when the set date and time has passed or the set period has passed. It can be set to limit further downloads.

  Also, if you set the desired number of downloads in the operation item of “Image Download Count”, you can set to delete the uploaded image from the server when the number of downloads reaches the set number, or more Can be set to restrict downloads. The download restriction based on the number of downloads may be performed for each access source in total for each access source that has requested the image download, or the total number of downloads performed on the server 30 regardless of the access source. You may go on.

In S100 (hereinafter, “step” is omitted), the URL acquisition unit M1 determines whether to upload an image. If the “image upload” operation item is selected in the UI of FIG. 3, the URL acquisition unit M1 proceeds to S105, and if the “image upload” operation item is not selected in the UI of FIG. The process proceeds to S135.
In S105, the URL acquisition unit M1 acquires the upload destination URL of each image data instructed to be printed, and outputs the URL to the watermark generation unit M2.

In S110, the watermark generation unit M2 determines whether or not the total DURL of the URL data amount to which the acquired image data is uploaded exceeds the maximum embeddable value Dmax. The watermark generation unit M2 proceeds to S115 when DURL ≦ Dmax, and proceeds to S120 when DURL> Dmax.
In S115, the watermark generation unit M2 converts all URLs of the image data into watermark images and outputs them to the image embedding unit M3. The image embedding unit M3 inserts the watermark image received from the watermark generation unit M2 into each of a plurality of image data, and creates a plurality of watermark image data.
In S120, the watermark generation unit M2 converts a URL for collectively specifying a plurality of image data into a watermark image and outputs the watermark image to the image embedding unit M3. The image embedding unit M3 inserts the watermark image received from the watermark generation unit M2 into each of a plurality of image data, and creates a plurality of watermark image data.

In S125, the image upload unit PP3 uploads a plurality of image data to the URL acquired in S105. At this time, if “image retention time limit” or “image upload count” is set in the UI, the image upload unit PP3 transmits these pieces of information to the server 30 together with a plurality of image data.
The image reception unit SP1 of the server 30 stores the uploaded image data in association with the designated URL in the HD 32, and receives information such as “image retention time limit” and “image upload count” from the image management unit SP2. hand over. The image management unit SP2 manages the uploaded images based on the inputted “image retention time limit” and “image upload count”.

In S130, the print processing unit PP2 prints the watermark images in order.
When the process proceeds from S100 to S135, the print processing unit PP2 prints images without a watermark in order.

(3) Reading process:
Next, the reading process executed in the multifunction machine 20 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the reading process. The process shown in FIG. 11 is executed when a reading target is read by the multifunction device 20.

  In S200, the image reading unit CP1 determines whether to download an image based on the read image data (hereinafter referred to as “scan data”). The image reading unit CP1 makes a determination based on, for example, whether or not an image download is instructed via the operation panel 22, or whether or not there is a predetermined marking at a predetermined position of the acquired scan data. To do. If the image download is instructed, the image reading unit CP1 outputs the scan data to the watermark extraction unit CP2 and proceeds to S205. If the watermark image is not embedded, the image reading unit CP1 stores the scan data in a predetermined storage location. Or print scan data.

  In S205, the watermark extraction unit CP2 extracts the watermark image from the read data, and restores the URL before being converted from the watermark image to the watermark. Then, the watermark extraction unit CP2 outputs the restored URL to the image acquisition unit CP3.

  In S210, the image acquisition unit CP3 accesses the input URL and downloads the image data. That is, the image transmission unit SP3 of the server 30 is requested to transmit image data while specifying the URL, and in response to this request, the image transmission unit SP3 reads out the image data associated with the URL from the HD 32 and transmits it to the multifunction device 20. To do. The image acquisition unit CP3 acquires the transmitted image data.

  In S215, the image acquisition unit CP3 creates a thumbnail image based on the acquired image data, and inquires of the user whether or not printing is desired while displaying the thumbnail image on the operation panel 22. The image acquisition unit CP3 transfers the acquired image data to the printing unit CP4 when the user performs an operation input indicating that printing is desired. In S220, the printing unit CP4 prints the received image data in the order received. On the other hand, when an operation input indicating that the user does not want to print is performed, the acquired image data is discarded, and a thumbnail image of the next image data is displayed on the operation panel to inquire the user of the print request. The processing of S215 to S220 is repeatedly executed until the inquiry about necessity of printing is completed for the user for all the image data downloaded from the URL acquired in S205.

  As described above, an image sharing system that prints a watermark image, uploads image data to an image sharing server, and enables downloading from the image sharing server can be effectively used under the following circumstances. With the spread of digital devices in recent years, the opportunity to transfer image data as electronic data has increased, but when actually bringing or transferring photos with friends, so-called hard copies that develop the photos are used. There are still many uses. In order to enjoy a large number of image data within the group, an electronic device for displaying electronic data is required, but the display of a digital camera or mobile phone is not suitable for viewing by a large number of people, and a large screen display This is because it is not realistic to carry around. In addition, a hard copy can be easily enjoyed while comparing a plurality of images side by side, but there is also an aspect that is difficult with an electronic device. Therefore, photo passing in hard copy is still a means used.

  However, if there are many photos, it is difficult for the owner of the image data to determine which photo the other person wants, and in such a case, hard copies of all the photos will be shared with all of the friends. If you give them the photos they want, they will always be in it, but those who are given the photos will have trouble processing unwanted photos. Therefore, considering the convenience of both the photo handing side and the handing side, if there are a large number of photos, only a part of them will be printed and handed over when they are brought together. It is preferable to be able to select a usage method such as selecting and printing from a large number.

  Moreover, problems such as breakage, fouling due to soy sauce, and image quality deterioration are unavoidable for hard copies. If these problems occur, you will need the electronic data to re-create the hard copy, but you will no longer be able to contact the owner of the image data when you need it. There is a possibility that the owner of the image data has forgotten or lost the location of the image data. Of course, such a problem may occur not only for the person who has been given the image but also for the owner of the image data.

  In the technique of Patent Document 1 described above, it is necessary to pass electronic data separately from the photograph that has been brought, and when thumbnail data is lost, access means to the original image corresponding to the thumbnail is lost. On the other hand, with the technique of this embodiment, since all URLs of a plurality of image data are recorded as watermarks in each image, even if one of them is lost, damaged or soiled, It is possible to duplicate another hard copy from a hard copy.

(4) Modification:
Incidentally, the hard copy watermark in the above-described embodiment is realized by embedding the watermark data in the image data. However, the hard copy watermark may be realized by using the show-through of the paper. When realizing a hard copy watermark by show-through, it is desirable to provide the printer 10 with a double-sided printing mechanism, and the control program CP of the multifunction machine 20 implements an OCR (Optical Character Reader) function for character recognition. It is necessary to provide a so-called character recognition unit CP5. Of course, the character recognition unit CP5 may have a function of analyzing information encoded in a special figure such as a barcode or QR code in addition to recognizing alphabets, hiragana / katakana / kanji.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the printing process according to this modification. In addition, about the process which is common in FIG. 4, an outline will be described and detailed description will be omitted.
In S300, the URL acquisition unit M1 determines whether to upload an image. If the “image upload” operation item is selected in the UI of FIG. 3, the URL acquisition unit M1 proceeds to step S305. If the “image upload” operation item is not selected in the UI of FIG. The process proceeds to S325.
In S305, the URL acquisition unit M1 acquires the upload destination URL of each image data instructed to be printed, and outputs the URL to the watermark generation unit M2.

In S310, the watermark generation unit M2 creates image data in which the URL is recorded as character information (hereinafter referred to as “URL image”). At this time, it is desirable that the character information color of the URL is a color that is easy to show through and the amount of ink ejected per unit area is maximized. For example, if the ink colors installed in the printer are 6 colors of CMYKlclm and the ink discharge amount data is expressed by 256 gradations of 0 to 255, the K ink which is the darkest of the 6 colors is selected. The URL text color is set to be recorded with the highest gradation.
Then, the watermark generation unit M2 creates show-through image data in which URL image data is inserted between the image data as image data to be printed on the back side of each image data.

In S315, the image upload unit PP3 uploads a plurality of image data to the URL acquired in S305.
In S320, the print processing unit PP2 prints the show-through image data in order.
When the process proceeds from S300 to S320, the print processing unit PP2 prints image data in order only on the surface of the paper.

  When the show-through image printed as described above is set in the multifunction device 20 and reading is instructed, the image reading unit CP1 acquires scan data of the show-through image. Then, the watermark extraction unit CP3 outputs the scan data to the character recognition unit CP5, extracts character information from the scan data, and acquires it. The watermark extraction unit CP2 passes the acquired URL to the image acquisition unit CP3.

(5) Summary:
According to the embodiment described above, the printer 10 that can communicate with the server 30 includes the URL acquisition unit M1 that acquires a URL in which a plurality of images are stored, and the watermark generation unit M2 that converts the URL into a watermark. An image embedding unit M3 that embeds the generated watermark in each of the plurality of images, communicates with the server 30 to store the plurality of images, and embeds the watermark in each of the plurality of images. Is generated. Therefore, it is possible to improve convenience when delivering a plurality of images, and to provide means for easily restoring the images even if any of the delivered images is lost or damaged. .

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and modifications, and the structures disclosed in the above-described embodiments and modifications are mutually replaced, the combinations are changed, the known technique, and the above-described implementations. Configurations in which the configurations disclosed in the embodiments and modifications are mutually replaced or the combinations are changed are also included.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Printer, 11 ... Control part, 12 ... Operation input part (operation panel), 13 ... NI / F, 14 ... Printing mechanism, 15 ... General-purpose I / F, 20 ... Multifunction machine, 21 ... Control part, 22 ... Operation input unit (operation panel), 23 ... N I / F, 24 ... printing mechanism, 25 ... reading mechanism, 30 ... server, 31 ... control unit, 32 ... HD, 32a ... OS, 32b ... program data, 32c ... image Data, 33... N I / F, 100... Image sharing system, CP... Control program, CP 1... Image reading unit, CP 2 .. Watermark extraction unit, CP 3 ... Image acquisition unit, CP 4. ... watermark generation unit, M3 ... image embedding unit, NT ... network, PP ... control program, PP1 ... print condition setting unit, PP2 ... print processing unit, PP3 ... image upload unit, SP ... image sharing program, P1 ... image receiving unit, SP2 ... image management unit, SP3 ... image transmission unit

Claims (12)

An image processing apparatus capable of communicating with a server,
An image processing apparatus, wherein when storing a plurality of images on the server, information for specifying a location where the plurality of images are stored is embedded in each of the plurality of images as a watermark. If the total amount of information for specifying the location where each of the plurality of images is stored exceeds the maximum amount of information that can be embedded as a watermark in the image, the plurality of images are stored. Embedded in each of the plurality of images as a watermark to identify the location to be collectively
When the total amount of information for specifying the location where each of the plurality of images is stored does not exceed the maximum value of information that can be embedded as a watermark in the image, each of the plurality of images The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein information for specifying a place where the image is stored is embedded as a watermark in each of the plurality of image data. A printing means for printing the watermark embedded image;
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the watermark is a hard copy watermark that can be read from a hard copy of an image in which the watermark is embedded.   In printing the image in which the watermark is embedded, the image is printed on the front surface of the printing paper, and information for specifying the location where the plurality of images are stored is printed on the back surface of the printing paper, The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a printing unit that forms a watermark in the printing result on the front surface based on the printing result on the back surface.   The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image stored in the server is an image in which the watermark is embedded.   The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image stored in the server is an image in which the watermark is not embedded.   The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image stored in the server is an image obtained by performing image quality adjustment on the plurality of images.   The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image stored in the server is image data obtained by performing halftone processing on the plurality of images. The image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, further comprising means for designating a download count of the image when the image is stored in the server.
Means for counting the number of times the image stored by the image processing device has been downloaded, and the number of times counted for the specific image data by the means exceeds the number of downloads specified for the specific image data; And a server according to any one of claims 1 to 8, which restricts access to the specific image data. The image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9, further comprising means for designating a download deadline of the image when the image is stored in the server.
A timer means for holding a date and time is provided, and access to the specific image data is restricted when the date and time of the timer means exceeds the download deadline specified for the specific image data. An image processing system comprising the server according to any one of the above items. Reading means for reading the watermark from a printed material in which information for specifying a place where a plurality of images are stored is embedded as a watermark;
Download means for downloading a plurality of images from a plurality of storage destination information acquired based on the watermark read by the reading means;
An image processing apparatus comprising: a printing unit that prints an image that is the same as the printed material among a plurality of downloaded images and that receives an operation input indicating that printing is required from a user for an image different from the printed material . Reading means for reading the watermark from a printed material in which information for specifying a place where a plurality of images are stored is embedded as a watermark;
Download means for downloading a plurality of images from a plurality of storage destination information acquired based on the watermark read by the reading means;
An image processing apparatus comprising: a printing unit that prints an image different from the printed material among a plurality of downloaded images, and prints an image that is the same as the printed material after receiving an operation input indicating that printing is required from a user.

Images