JPH09106012A - Image printing device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] It is possible to automatically determine a scene break without requiring human labor and perform printing on the same sheet without mixing different scenes. SOLUTION: A reading unit 1 for reading date and time data recorded on a recording medium 4, and a printing process for deciding whether or not the images should be printed on the same sheet based on the date and time data read by the reading unit. Means is provided, the date and time data recorded on the recording medium is read by the reading means, and based on this date and time data, it is determined whether or not the images should be printed on the same sheet by, for example, month and day. It is determined whether the image this time should be printed on the same sheet or the next sheet.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image printing apparatus for printing a plurality of, for example, photographic images on the same sheet based on an instructed layout.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, various proposals have been made regarding services for arranging and printing a plurality of photographs on a sheet of A4 size.

FIG. 6 shows an example of the arrangement of this print service. FIG. 6 (a) shows an orderly arrangement of prints of the same shape, and FIG. 6 (b) shows an irregular arrangement. Designed to add fun, Figure 6 (c)
Are irregularly arranged by changing the size of photographs to be arranged.

The merit of such a print service is that it is possible to save the trouble of reprinting the finished photograph on the album, and to make an album just by stacking and binding the photographs.

[0005]

A problem with the conventional print service (hereinafter referred to as album print) is when different scenes are mixed on the same sheet. Specifically, in FIG. 6 (a), six photographs are arranged on one sheet, but the fact that summer scenes and winter scenes are mixed in these six sheets is not an organized album. Appropriate. It is common for a general photographer to mix scenes of summer and winter on the same film, and even if there is no extreme difference in seasons up to this point, it is possible to use different activities and events in the same sheet. It can be said that it is not preferable to mix pictures.

In the conventionally proposed album print system, it is necessary to manually set such a break of the scene, which takes time for the operator.

(Object of the Invention) An object of the present invention is to perform image printing capable of automatically determining scene breaks without requiring human intervention and performing printing on the same sheet without mixing of different scenes. To provide a device.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is based on a reading means for reading date and time data recorded on a recording medium and the same based on the date and time data read by the reading means. A print processing unit that determines whether or not an image should be printed on a sheet is provided, the date and time data recorded on the recording medium is read by the reading unit, and the same sheet should be printed based on this date and time data. Whether or not it is an image is determined by, for example, the month and day, and it is determined whether the current image should be printed on the same sheet or the next sheet (so-called page break processing should be performed). I am trying to do it.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on illustrated embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the structure of a signal reading section which is a part of an image printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is a magnetic head corresponding to a reading means for reading the photographing date and time, 2 is a holding pad of the magnetic head 1, 3 is a film cartridge, 4 is a film having a magnetic recording portion, and 5 is a film. The spool for winding up, 6 is an illumination light source for the scanner. 7
Is a scanner, and the scanner 7 is composed of R, G, B three-color linear sensors, and performs sub-scanning by feeding a film.

Reference numeral 8 is a feeding fork for feeding a film, 9 is a film feeding gear unit, 10 is a fork for driving the spool 5, and 11 is a spool driving gear unit. A feeding motor 12 includes the feeding gear unit 9 and the spool driving gear unit 1.
1 together.

The film 4 is moved by the rotation operation of the feeding motor 12, and during this movement, the photographing date and time data magnetically recorded on the surface of the film 4 is read by the magnetic head 1, and at this time, the film is read by the scanner 7. The image recorded in 4 is read.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration for processing the magnetic recording data read by the magnetic head 1 corresponding to the reading means shown in FIG. 1 and the image data scanned by the scanner 7.

In FIG. 2, 1 and 7 are the magnetic head and scanner shown in FIG. 1, and 12 is a feeding motor. Reference numeral 13 is a magnetic recording data reproducing circuit, which is composed of a differential amplifier circuit, an operational amplifier for signal amplification, etc., but details thereof will be omitted. Reference numeral 14 denotes an arithmetic processing device (hereinafter, referred to as a computer) for processing image data. Fifteen
Is a motor driver for driving the feeding motor 12,
Reference numeral 16 is a memory for storing digital image data read by the scanner 7, 17 is a monitor for confirming the layout result, and 18 is a printer for printing out an album print.

The operation of the image printing apparatus configured as described above will be described based on the operation flowchart of the computer 14 shown in FIG.

First, in step # 1, a signal is output to the motor driver 15, the feeding motor 12 is rotated, and the film 4 is fed. And the next step #
2, the signal is read from the scanner 7 while the film is being fed to read a digital image, and at the same time, the shooting date and time data recorded on the magnetic body (magnetic recording portion) coated on the surface of the film 4 from the magnetic head 1 is read. read. In the subsequent step # 3, the rotation of the feeding motor 12 is stopped at the point in time when the information reading of the image for one frame is completed, and the film feeding is stopped.

In the next step # 4, the film 4
It is determined whether or not the data has been read up to the last frame, and if the last frame has not been reached, the process returns to step # 1 and the same operation (up to step # 4) is repeated. The read digital image data and shooting date / time data are stored in the memory 16.

On the other hand, when the reading up to the last frame of the film 4 is completed, the process branches from step # 4 to step # 5, in which the first frame is set as the frame to be processed. Then, in the next step # 6, the difference between the date and time data of the current processed frame and the next processed frame, that is, the first frame and the second frame is calculated.

Then, in the next step # 7, it is determined whether the time difference is 3 days or more. As a result, if it is 3 days or more, it is assumed that the scene is a different scene. In this case, the flow branches to step # 12 to perform a page break.

If there is less than 3 days, no page break is necessary, so the process branches from step # 7 to step # 8, in which the current processing piece and the next processing piece are arranged in the same album sheet. , Treat them in the same group. Then, in the next step # 9, it is checked whether the number of processed frames in the group is within 5 or over. This is because the number of frames of the album print in one sheet is assumed to be 6 in this embodiment (it is possible to set it to 4 or 5 depending on the layout contents). ). As a result of this check, if 5
If the number of frames exceeds the frame, a page break operation is required even if the next frame is in the same scene, so step # 1
Branch to 2.

If the number of frames is 5 or less, step #
It branches from 9 to step # 10, and it is determined here whether there is a next piece. If it does not exist, it means that all the frames have been processed at that point. Therefore, even if the number of frames is less than 6, it is necessary to print out and complete the process. Therefore, the process branches to step # 12. If it continues, the process branches to step # 11. And step #
11, the above-mentioned steps # 6 to # 10
The processing target piece is changed to the next piece as a preparation for repeating the processing up to. In the case of the first time, the processing target frame up to that point is switched from the first frame to the second frame. After that, the process branches to step # 6 and the above operation is repeated.

As described above, if the time difference between the frames is 3 days or more in step # 7, the number of processed frames in the group exceeds 5 in step # 9, step # 1
If there is no next piece at 0, step #
Branch to 12.

Then, in this step # 12,
Read out the image data stored in the memory 16, 1
Layout in the sheet.

As the layout state, the example shown in FIG. 6 can be considered, but which layout example should be input to the computer 14 in advance by input means (not shown).

When the page break operation results in less than 6 frames, for example, a layout of 2 frames or 3 frames may be performed. In this case, a well-balanced layout is performed with a small number of frames.

FIG. 4 shows a layout example in the case of laying out two frames. FIG. 4A shows an example of a layout corresponding to FIG. 6A when there are two frames, and FIG. FIG. 4C shows an example of a layout having two frames, and FIG. 4C shows an example of a layout having two frames corresponding to FIG. 6C.

FIG. 5 shows a layout example in the case of laying out three frames. FIG. 5 (a) shows an example when the layout is three frames corresponding to FIG. 6 (a), and FIG. 5 (b) shows Figure 6
An example of the layout corresponding to (b) with three frames is shown in FIG.
6C shows an example of a layout corresponding to FIG. 6C with three frames.

After the layout, the printer 18 prints out as an album sheet.

Then, in the next step # 13,
After printing, it is determined whether or not the next frame exists, and if it does not exist, it means that the printout of all the frames has been completed, and the process ends. On the other hand, if it exists, the process branches to the previous step # 11 to change the target piece and continue the above operation.

By executing the above operation, 3
It is possible to realize an image printing apparatus that automatically executes a page break when shooting blanks for more than one day occur.

As a result, it is possible to create a layout album print in which summer scenes and winter scenes do not coexist on the same page, and also to identify and lay out weekends and events and print out. It will be possible.

More specifically, when a shooting frame whose shooting date and time is, for example, August is followed by a shooting frame whose shooting date and time is December, a page break operation is performed once.

In addition, if there are blanks for about a week after continuous shooting for several days so that pictures of vacations and events are not mixed, and if the next few shots are taken continuously, Even if the season is the same, it is assumed that different events, such as excursions and athletic meet, are shot in the same film, and the page break operation is performed also in this case.

By performing such processing, as described above, even when an album print is created from a film in which a summer scene and a winter scene are mixed in the same film,
It is possible to output an album print in which the summer scene and the winter scene do not coexist, and even in the same season,
It is possible to output an album print so that different events are not mixed.

In the above example, the number of blank days is set to 3 days, but it is also possible to set the number of blank days to a photographer having a shorter number of blank days or a photographer having a large number of photographing one day or hour. There is also a possibility of performing a more advanced page break by a method such as statistically analyzing the blank time of all the pieces.

(Correspondence between Invention and Embodiment) In the present embodiment, the magnetic head 1 corresponds to the reading means of the present invention, and the computer 14 corresponds to the print control means.

The above is the correspondence relationship between each configuration of the embodiments and each configuration of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to the configurations of these embodiments, and the functions shown in the claims,
Needless to say, any configuration may be used as long as the functions of the embodiment can be achieved.

(Modification) In the above embodiment,
The case where a photographic image is read from a film taken by a camera and printed is described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this. An image stored in another recording medium is read and printed on the same sheet. It can also be applied to things.

Further, an example is described in which the photographing date and time magnetically recorded on the film is read by the magnetic head and the page break process is performed based on this, but of course, it corresponds to the recording optically performed. It is also possible to use the image printing device.

[0041]

As described above, according to the present invention,
A reading unit that reads the date and time data recorded on the recording medium, and a print processing unit that determines whether or not the images should be printed on the same sheet based on the date and time data read by the reading unit are provided. The date and time data recorded on the medium is read by the reading means, and based on this date and time data, it is determined whether or not the image should be printed on the same sheet by, for example, the month and day, and the current image is the same It decides whether to print on a sheet or the next sheet.

Therefore, it is possible to automatically determine the scene breaks without requiring human labor and perform printing on the same sheet without mixing different scenes.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a signal reading unit of an image printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of the image printing apparatus according to the embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a series of operations in the image printing apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example in which two frames are laid out in one sheet.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a case where three frames are laid out in one sheet.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing each example when 6 frames are laid out in one sheet.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Magnetic Head 4 Film 7 Scanner 13 Magnetic Recording Data Reproducing Circuit 14 Computer 16 Memory 18 Printer

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A printing apparatus for printing a plurality of images on the same sheet, the reading unit reading the date and time data recorded on a recording medium, and the same sheet based on the date and time data read by the reading unit. An image printing apparatus comprising: a print processing unit that determines whether or not an image is to be printed. 2. The print processing means is means for determining whether or not the images should be printed on the same sheet based on the month data read by the reading means. Image printing device. 3. The print processing means is means for determining whether or not the images should be printed on the same sheet based on the month and day data read by the reading means. 1. The image printing device according to 1. 4. The recording medium is a film having a magnetic recording portion, and the reading means is magnetic recording means for performing magnetic recording on the film.
The image printing device described.