Image processing device, image processing method, program, and recording medium

Abstract

To allow a user to comfortably perform an order operation for a print article even when a network band is tight.SOLUTION: In an image processing device, an image processing method, a program, and a recording medium of the present invention, an instruction receiving unit receives an input of an instruction to select a print commercial material and an instruction to select an image to be applied to the print commercial material, and a first image processing unit applies the image to the print commercial material based on the image received from the instruction receiving unit via a global network to generate a first image that becomes a print article. Then, a transmission determination unit determines whether to print the image or the first image based on information about the print commercial material.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, a program, and a recording medium for editing and creating print products such as postcards, photo prints, and photo books on a server on a cloud. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventional image processing devices for creating print products include stand-alone order receiving machines (storefront machines) installed in stores such as photo shops. Stand-alone order receiving machines are required to receive desired print materials and images to be applied to the print materials from users, and to apply image processing to the images, which requires high processing power. For this reason, the order receiving machine needs to be an expensive device with high processing power, and introducing a large number of order receiving machines in a store requires a large amount of money.

[0003] In response to this, in order to reduce the introduction costs of order reception machines, an image processing device has been proposed that is equipped with a server on the cloud that performs image processing on images, which requires high processing power, and a cloud-based kiosk terminal as an order reception machine in a store.

[0004] In a conventional image processing device using a cloud-based kiosk terminal, an order receiving machine in a store receives a desired print product and an image to be applied to the print product from a user, and transmits (uploads) the print product and the image from the store to a server on the cloud via a network. Meanwhile, the server applies the image to the print product to create a print product. The print product is then received (downloaded) from the server via the network to the store or a print lab (print production factory), and the print product is printed in the store or print lab.

[0005] Here, Patent Documents 1 to 4 are prior art documents that serve as references for the present invention.

[0006] Patent Document 1 describes a method for automatically selecting multiple candidate images to be used in creating an album and transmitting them from the album orderer terminal to the album creating device, thereby reducing communication traffic between the album orderer terminal and the album creating device. Patent Document 2 describes a method for reducing communication traffic by creating a sample album using low-quality images, and then receiving high-quality images of images used in creating the album and arranging them in the album. Patent document 3 describes identifying a first portion of multimedia data to be processed within a mobile telephone and a second portion of multimedia data to be processed within a remote server depending on factors affecting the quality of service usage, and executing the first portion within the mobile telephone and the second portion within the remote server. Patent Document 4 describes a method in which photo image data is uploaded from a mobile phone to a server, where it is converted into album image data with a layout, and then downloaded to the mobile phone and the album image data is printed. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0007] [Patent Document 1] JP 2007-193616 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2007-194966 A [Patent Document 3] Special Publication No. 2008-502249 [Patent Document 4] JP 2008-117308 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0008] However, in a conventional image processing device using a cloud-based kiosk terminal, images are sent from the order receiving device in the store to a server on the cloud, so the usability when a user orders a print product varies greatly depending on the bandwidth of the network connecting the order receiving device in the store and the server on the cloud. If there is not enough bandwidth in the network, it takes a long time to send the image, and accordingly, usability decreases, and if the time it takes for the user to place an order becomes long, the user will often give up on the order.

[0009] An object of the present invention is to provide an image processing device, an image processing method, a program, and a recording medium that enable a user to comfortably order a print product even when the network bandwidth is limited. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a first processor and a second processor, The first processor accepts input of an image and an instruction for image processing to be performed on the image; the second processor performs a first image processing corresponding to the image processing instruction on the image based on the image and the image processing instruction received from the first processor via the global network, to generate a first image after image processing; The first processor determining whether to transmit the image and the image processing instructions to a second processor based on the type of the image processing instructions; An image processing device is provided that, when it is determined that an image and an instruction for image processing are to be transmitted to a second processor, performs control so as to transmit the image and an instruction for image processing to the second processor.

[0011] Here, the first processor preferably determines to transmit the image and the image processing instruction to the second processor when the image processing instruction is an image processing instruction other than image processing of enlarging, reducing, rotating or moving the image.

[0012] Furthermore, the first processor preferably determines not to transmit the image and the image processing instruction to the second processor when the image processing instruction is an image processing instruction to enlarge, reduce, rotate or move the image.

[0013] In addition, when it is determined not to send the image and image processing instructions to the second processor, it is preferable that the first processor applies second image processing corresponding to the image processing instructions to the image to generate a second image after image processing.

[0014] The first processor also Accepting an input of a plurality of images, and accepting an input of an image selected from at least one of the plurality of images and an instruction for image processing to be performed on the image; It is preferable to determine whether to transmit the image and the image processing instructions to be applied to the single image to the second processor based on the type of image processing instructions to be applied to the single image.

[0015] It also includes a printer. The first processor accepts an input of an instruction to select a print product; a second processor applies the image to the print product and performs a first image process on the image to generate a first image that becomes the print product; It is preferable that the first processor controls the printer to print, based on the type of print product, an image that is the same as the image that will become the print product without the first image processing being applied by the second processor from among the images, instead of an image that will become the print product without the first image processing being applied by the second processor.

[0016] The first processor also Accept input of instructions to select the print product to which the image will be applied, A third image process is performed to reduce the resolution of the image based on a minimum required resolution of the image for printing, which is set for each type of print product, to generate a third image after changing the resolution; Preferably, the third image is controlled to be transmitted as the image to the second processor.

[0017] Further, the present invention provides a method for acquiring an image by an image processing apparatus, comprising: a step in which a first image processing unit performs a first image processing corresponding to the image processing instruction on the image based on the image and the image processing instruction received from the instruction receiving unit via the global network, to generate a first image after image processing; a transmission determination unit determining whether or not to transmit the image and the image processing instruction to the first image processing unit based on a type of the image processing instruction; An image processing method is provided, the method including a step of controlling an instruction receiving unit to send an image and an image processing instruction to the first image processing unit when the transfer control unit determines to send the image and an image processing instruction to the first image processing unit.

[0018] Here, when the image processing instruction is an instruction for image processing other than image processing for enlarging, reducing, rotating or moving an image, it is preferable to determine that the image and the image processing instruction are to be transmitted to the first image processing unit.

[0019] Furthermore, when the image processing instruction is an instruction for image processing to enlarge, reduce, rotate or move an image, it is preferable to determine not to transmit the image and the image processing instruction to the first image processing unit.

[0020] and a step of the second image processing unit performing, on the image, second image processing corresponding to the image processing instruction based on the image and the image processing instruction received from the instruction receiving unit, to generate a second image after image processing. It is preferable that the method further includes a step of controlling the instruction receiving unit to send the image and image processing instructions to the second image processing unit when the transfer control unit determines not to send the image and image processing instructions to the first image processing unit.

[0021] Also, the instruction receiving unit receives an input of a plurality of images, and receives an input of an image selected from at least one of the plurality of images and an instruction for image processing to be performed on the image; It is preferable that the method includes a step in which the transmission decision unit decides whether to transmit the image and the instructions for image processing to be applied to the image to the first image processing unit based on the type of instructions for image processing to be applied to the image.

[0022] Also, a step of an instruction receiving unit receiving an input of an instruction to select a print material; a first image processing unit applying an image to a print product and performing a first image processing on the image to generate a first image that becomes the print product; It is preferable that the method includes a step in which the print control unit controls the printer to print, based on the type of print product, an image that is the same as the image that will become the print product without the first image processing performed by the first image processing unit from among the images, instead of an image that will become the print product without the first image processing performed by the first image processing unit.

[0023] Also, a step of receiving an input of an instruction for selecting a print material to which the image is to be applied by the instruction receiving unit; A step in which a second image processing unit performs third image processing for reducing the resolution of the image based on a minimum required resolution of the image for printing set for each type of print material, thereby generating a third image after changing the resolution; It is preferable that the method further includes a step of: the transfer control unit controlling the instruction receiving unit to transmit, as the image, the third image to the first image processing unit.

[0024] The present invention also provides a program for causing a computer to execute each step of the image processing method described above.

[0025] The present invention also provides a computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for causing a computer to execute each step of the image processing method described above. Effect of the Invention

[0026] In the present invention, whether or not to send an image and image processing instructions to a first image processing unit is determined based on the type of image processing instruction, and only when it is determined that the image and image processing instructions are sent to the first image processing unit, are the image and image processing instructions sent to the first image processing unit, and image processing is performed on the image by the first image processing unit. As a result, according to the present invention, the amount of image transfer is reduced and the bandwidth usage of the global network can be reduced, so that even when there is limited bandwidth on the global network, usability can be improved and users can comfortably order print products. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0027] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] 1 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of an image processing device according to an embodiment. [Diagram 3] 1 is a block diagram showing a first specific example of the configuration of an image processing device of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 11 is a conceptual diagram of an embodiment illustrating a web browser screen on which a list of images is displayed. [Diagram 5] 5 is a conceptual diagram of an embodiment illustrating a web browser screen on which a first image after image processing by a first image processing unit is displayed in the list of images illustrated in FIG. 4. FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a conventional image processing device that uses a cloud-based kiosk terminal. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a second specific example of the configuration of an image processing device according to the present invention. [Figure 8] FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a third specific example of an image processing device according to the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0028] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An image processing apparatus, an image processing method, a program, and a recording medium according to the present invention will be described in detail below based on preferred embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

[0029] Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an image processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The image processing device 10 shown in Fig. 1 is a device that uses a cloud-based kiosk terminal, and includes an image processing server 12 on the cloud. The image processing server 12 also includes an edit processing unit 14 and a first image processing unit 16. The image processing device 10 in the store includes an order receiving unit 18, a print control unit 20, and a printer 22. The order receiving unit 18 includes an instruction receiving unit 24, a transmission determination unit 26, a transfer control unit 28, and a second image processing unit 30. The store's order receiving unit 18, i.e., the instruction receiving unit 24, the transmission decision unit 26, the transfer control unit 28 and the second image processing unit 30, and the print control unit 20 are an example of a first processor of the present invention, and the editing processing unit 14 and the first image processing unit 16 on the cloud are an example of a second processor of the present invention.

[0030] In the store, the instruction receiving unit 24 is sequentially connected to the transmission determination unit 26 and the transfer control unit 28, and the transfer control unit 28 is connected to the instruction receiving unit 24. The instruction receiving unit 24 is also connected to the second image processing unit 30, and is further connected to the print control unit 20 via a local network 32 within the store. The print control unit 20 is connected to the printer 22. The instruction receiving unit 24 is also connected to the edit processing unit 14 and the first image processing unit 16 on the cloud via a global network 34 such as the Internet and telephone lines. On the cloud, the edit processing unit 14 is connected to a first image processing unit 16, and the first image processing unit 16 is connected to a print control unit 20 in the store via a global network .

[0031] In the store, the order receiving unit 18 is a cloud-based kiosk terminal that receives orders for print products from users. The order receiving unit 18 has lower processing power than the image processing server 12 on the cloud, and is configured by an inexpensive personal computer or the like. In the order receiving unit 18, the instruction receiving unit 24 receives various instructions from the user regarding the ordering of print products on a UI (User Interface) screen for performing editing work displayed on the screen of a web browser running on this instruction receiving unit 24. The instruction receiving unit 24 receives inputs from the user, such as an instruction to select a print product, an instruction to select an image or the like to be applied to the print product, and an instruction for image processing to be applied to the image. The print material indicates the type of material for producing various print products such as photo prints, calendars including photos, photo books (photo albums), and the like. The image processing instructions are not limited to any particular ones, but may include, for example, enlarging, reducing, rotating and moving an image, as well as various kinds of image processing such as applying a filter to an image, combining a stamp with an image, cropping an image, and combining multiple images.

[0032] Based on the type of image processing instruction accepted by the instruction accepting unit 24, the transmission decision unit 26 decides whether or not to transmit the image and image processing instruction also accepted by the instruction accepting unit 24 to the first image processing unit 16 on the cloud. The transmission decision unit 26 decides to transmit the image and the image processing instruction to the first image processing unit 16 when the image processing instruction is an image processing instruction that requires high processing power, for example, an image processing instruction other than image processing of enlarging, reducing, rotating or moving an image. On the other hand, if the image processing instruction is an image processing instruction that does not require high processing power, for example, an image processing instruction to enlarge, reduce, rotate or move an image, the transmission decision unit 26 decides not to transmit the image and the image processing instruction to the first image processing unit 16.

[0033] When the transmission decision unit 26 decides to transmit the image and image processing instructions to the first image processing unit 16, the transfer control unit 28 controls the instruction receiving unit 24 to transmit the image and image processing instructions to the first image processing unit 16. On the other hand, when it is decided not to send the image and image processing instructions to the first image processing unit 16, the transfer control unit 28 controls the instruction receiving unit 24 to send the image and image processing instructions to the second image processing unit 30.

[0034] The second image processing unit 30 generates a second image after image processing by performing second image processing corresponding to the image processing instruction on the image based on the image and the image processing instruction received from the instruction receiving unit 24. That is, the second image processing unit 30 generates the second image when the image processing instruction is an instruction for image processing to enlarge, reduce, rotate or move the image.

[0035] The print control unit 20 controls printing by the printer 22 . The print control unit 20 controls, for example, the printer 22 to print a first image after image processing that becomes a print product received from the first image processing unit 16. The print control unit 20 can also control the printer 22 to print a second image generated by the second image processing unit 30 or an image (local image) accepted by the instruction accepting unit 24 as a print product.

[0036] The printer 22, under the control of the print control unit 20, prints each of the local image, the first image after image processing, and the second image after image processing.

[0037] In the cloud, the image processing server 12 performs various image processing on the image based on instructions from the user to create the final print product. The image processing server 12 is configured with a personal computer or a workstation, etc., which has a higher processing capacity and is more expensive than the order reception unit 18 of the store. In the image processing server 12, the editing processing unit 14 provides a UI screen for the user to perform editing work of the print product on the screen of a web browser operating on the instruction receiving unit 24. This UI screen includes a UI screen for the user to select a desired print product from a plurality of print products, a UI screen for selecting an image to be applied to the print product, a UI screen for displaying an image or a list of images, a UI screen for selecting image processing to be applied to the image, and the like.

[0038] Based on an editing operation performed by a user, the first image processing unit 16 performs image processing corresponding to the editing operation on the image. The first image processing unit 16 performs the first image processing corresponding to the image processing instruction on the image based on the image and the image processing instruction received from the store's instruction receiving unit 24, to generate a first image after image processing. That is, the first image processing unit 16 generates the first image after image processing when the image processing instruction is an instruction for image processing other than image processing for enlarging, reducing, rotating or moving the image. The edit processing unit 14 and the first image processing unit 16 are realized, for example, by a web application that runs on a web browser.

[0039] Next, the operation of the image processing device 10 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

[0040] First, in the store, the order receiving unit 18 receives an order for a print product from a user. The user performs editing work on the desired print product on a UI screen for performing editing work displayed on the screen of a web browser running on the instruction receiving unit 24. For example, the user performs editing work such as selecting a desired print product and a size of the print product from among a plurality of print products, selecting an image to be applied to the print product from images stored in a recording medium such as an SD (Secure Digital) card owned by the user, applying the selected image to the print product, and performing various image processing on the image.

[0041] In response to this, the instruction receiving unit 24 receives input from the user, such as an instruction to select a print product, an instruction to select an image to be applied to the print product, and an instruction for image processing to be applied to the image (step S1).

[0042] When the instruction receiving unit 24 receives from the user an image and an instruction for image processing to be applied to the image (Yes in step S2), the transmission decision unit 26 decides, based on the type of the image processing instruction, whether or not to transmit the image and the image processing instruction received by the instruction receiving unit 24 to the first image processing unit 16 on the cloud (step S3).

[0043] As a result, when the transmission decision unit 26 decides to send the image and image processing instructions to the first image processing unit 16 (Yes in step S4), the transfer control unit 28 controls the instruction receiving unit 24 to send the image and image processing instructions to the first image processing unit 16 (step S5).

[0044] In response, the instruction receiving unit 24 transmits the image and an instruction for image processing to the first image processing unit 16 via the global network 34 (step S6).

[0045] Next, the first image processing unit 16 performs the first image processing corresponding to the image processing instruction based on the image and the image processing instruction received from the instruction receiving unit 24 of the store to generate a first image after image processing (step S7). Since the image processing server 12 has a high processing capacity, the first image processing unit 16 can perform the first image processing, which requires a high processing capacity, on the image. The first image processing unit 16 transmits the first image after the image processing to the instruction receiving unit 24 of the store via the global network 34, or transmits it to the print control unit 20 of the store. Alternatively, the first image processing unit 16 can transmit the first image after the image processing to a print lab via the global network 34.

[0046] On the other hand, when it is decided not to send the image and image processing instructions to the first image processing unit 16 (No in step S4), the transfer control unit 28 controls the instruction receiving unit 24 to send the image and image processing instructions to the second image processing unit 30 (step S8).

[0047] In response to this, the instruction receiving unit 24 transmits the image and an instruction for image processing to the second image processing unit 30 (step S9).

[0048] Next, the second image processing unit 30 performs second image processing corresponding to the image processing instruction on the image based on the image and the image processing instruction received from the instruction receiving unit 24 to generate a second image after image processing (step S10). The order receiving unit 18 has low processing capacity, but the second image processing unit 30 is capable of performing second image processing, which does not require high processing capacity, on the image. The second image processing unit 30 transmits the second image after the image processing to the instruction receiving unit 24.

[0049] If the instruction receiving unit 24 does not receive an instruction for image processing from the user, that is, if there is no instruction for image processing (No in step S2), the transfer control unit 28 does not control the instruction receiving unit 24 (step S11). In this case, no image processing is performed on the image.

[0050] The user can view the image accepted by the instruction accepting unit 24, the first image after image processing received from the first image processing unit 16, and the second image after image processing received from the second image processing unit 30 on the screen of a web browser running on the instruction accepting unit 24. In addition, the user can further edit the image to complete the final print product, and then order the print product.

[0051] When a print product is ordered, for example, a first image after image processing that becomes the print product received from the first image processing unit 16 is printed by the printer 22 under the control of the print control unit 20 (step S12). Alternatively, the print control unit 20 can also perform control so that a second image generated by the second image processing unit 30 or an image (local image) accepted by the instruction accepting unit 24 is printed as the print product.

[0052] In this way, in the image processing device 10, whether or not to send an image and image processing instructions to the first image processing unit 16 is determined based on the type of image processing instruction, and only when it is determined to send an image and image processing instructions to the first image processing unit 16, i.e., only in the case of image processing that requires high processing power, are the image and image processing instructions sent to the first image processing unit, and the image is controlled so that image processing is performed on the image by the first image processing unit 16 on the cloud. As a result, the image processing device 10 can reduce the amount of image transfer and the bandwidth usage of the global network 34, thereby improving usability even when the global network 34 has limited bandwidth, allowing users to comfortably order print products.

[0053] Next, a specific example of the image processing apparatus of the present invention will be described. First, a first specific example will be described.

[0054] Fig. 3 is a block diagram of a first specific example showing the configuration of an image processing device of the present invention. Although not shown, the image processing device shown in Fig. 3 further includes a local image control unit 36 ​​in addition to the order receiving unit 18 of the image processing device 10 shown in Fig. 1. That is, in the image processing device shown in Fig. 3, only the instruction receiving unit 24 and the local image control unit 36 ​​are shown in the store, and the edit processing unit 14 and the first image processing unit 16 are shown on the cloud, and other components are not shown.

[0055] The local image control unit 36 ​​performs control so that the images (local images) accepted by the instruction accepting unit 24 are displayed on a UI screen of a list of images displayed on the screen of a web browser running on the instruction accepting unit 24.

[0056] When a user selects an image to be applied to a print product from among images stored on a recording medium such as an SD card, a list of images (thumbnail images) is displayed on an image list UI screen, as shown in Figure 4.

[0057] In a conventional image processing device using a cloud-based kiosk terminal, image processing is performed on images by a server on the cloud, so all images stored in a recording medium are usually transmitted from the cloud-based kiosk terminal to the server on the cloud, and then all images are received from the server on the cloud to the cloud-based kiosk terminal in the store, and a list of the received images is displayed on a UI screen of a list of images displayed on a screen of a web browser running on the cloud-based kiosk terminal. Therefore, as the number of images increases, the image transfer time becomes longer, and the time until the list of images is displayed becomes longer.

[0058] In contrast, in the image processing device shown in FIG. 3, when a list of images is displayed, the list of images (local images) is displayed under the control of the local image control unit 36, without transmitting or receiving images between the instruction receiving unit 24 and a server on the cloud.

[0059] In this case, the user attempts to display a list of images stored in the recording medium on the UI screen for the list of images. In response to this, the instruction receiving unit 24 receives input of a plurality of images stored in the recording medium. Next, the instruction receiving unit 24 displays on the screen of the web browser the UI screen of the image list received from the editing processing unit 14. At this point, the image list is not displayed on the UI screen of the image list.

[0060] Next, the local image control unit 36 ​​performs control so that a list of local images is displayed on the UI screen of the image list. The local image control unit 36 ​​creates an encoded image by encoding the local image using an encoding method such as base64, but is not limited to this, or obtains the file path of the local image. Then, in the source code of the UI screen of the image list, for example, in the img (Image) tag of the DOM (Document Object Model), the encoded image is embedded as each image included in the image list, or the file path of the local image is replaced, thereby displaying the list of local images.

[0061] This allows a list of local images to be displayed without transferring images between the instruction receiving unit 24 and the first image processing unit 16 of the image processing server 12 on the cloud, thereby allowing the list of images to be displayed quickly.

[0062] Next, the user selects, for example, one image from the list of images displayed on the UI screen of the image list, and selects the image processing to be performed on this one image. In response to this, the order receiving unit 18 receives an input of an image selected by the user from among the images included in the image list, and an instruction for image processing to be performed on this image.

[0063] If the image processing instruction is an instruction for image processing that requires high processing power, as described above, the first image processing unit 16 applies the first image processing corresponding to the image processing instruction to a single image, and a first image after image processing is generated. For example, if the image processing instruction is to composite a heart-shaped stamp onto the image in the upper right corner of Figure 4, the first image processing unit 16 performs processing to composite a heart-shaped stamp onto the image in the upper right corner to generate the first image after image processing. As a result, in the list of images displayed on the UI screen for the list of images, the first image after image processing, onto which the heart-shaped stamp has been synthesized, is displayed as shown by the framed image in the upper right corner of Fig. 5. That is, in the list of images, the local image and the first image after image processing are displayed together.

[0064] On the other hand, if the image processing instruction is an instruction for image processing that does not require high processing power, the second image processing unit 30 applies second image processing corresponding to the image processing instruction to the image, and a second image after image processing is generated. As a result, the second image after the image processing is displayed in the image list displayed on the UI screen for the image list. That is, the local image and the second image after the image processing are displayed in a mixed manner in the image list.

[0065] This reduces the amount of image transmission (upload amount) and the bandwidth usage of the global network 34, so that even when the global network 34 has limited bandwidth, usability can be improved and the user can comfortably order print products. Also, the instruction receiving unit 24 can display the local image, and the first and second images after image processing.

[0066] Note that although the example has been described with the case of displaying a list of images, this is not limited to this, and the same applies to a case in which at least one of a plurality of images is displayed and image processing is performed on one image selected by the user from among the displayed images.

[0067] Next, a second specific example will be described.

[0068] Fig. 6 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a conventional image processing device using a cloud-based kiosk terminal. The image processing device shown in Fig. 6 includes an image processing unit 56, an image storage unit 80, and an order information generating unit 82 on the cloud, and includes an instruction receiving unit 64, a print control unit 60, and a printer 62 in the store.

[0069] In the image processing device shown in FIG. 6, when a user orders a print product, the user selects a desired print product from among a plurality of print products, and selects an image to be applied to the print product from among images stored in a recording medium. In response to this, the instruction receiving unit 64 receives input of the print product and an image to be applied to the print product from the user, and transmits the input to the image processing unit 56 on the cloud. The image is stored in the image storage unit 80 under the control of the image processing unit 56.

[0070] Next, the user performs various editing operations, and after completing the editing operations for the final print product in which the image is applied to the print material, finalizes the order for the print product. In response to this, the image processing unit 56 applies the image to the print product based on the editing work by the user, and performs image processing corresponding to the editing work on the image to generate a processed image that will become the print product. This processed image that will become the print product is stored in the image storage unit 80 under the control of the image processing unit 56. Depending on the type of print product, such as a photograph print, there may be some print products for which image processing is not performed by the image processing unit 56. Such print products are stored in the image storage unit 80 on the cloud in the state in which they are received from the instruction receiving unit 64 of the store. Next, the order information generating unit 82 generates order information including information on the storage location of the print product stored in the image storage unit 80 by the image processing unit 56, and transmits this order information to the print control unit 60 of the store. The information on the storage location is not particularly limited, but for example, the storage location of the print product can be specified by a URL (Uniform Resource Locator).

[0071] Next, the print control unit 60 receives (downloads) the print product from the storage location of the print product included in the order information. That is, the print control unit 60 receives the print product that has been subjected to image processing by the image processing unit 56 from the image storage unit 80 on the cloud. Then, the print control unit 60 causes the printer 62 to print the print product.

[0072] In this way, in the conventional image processing device, all print products are received from the image storage unit 80 on the cloud to the print control unit 60 in the store and printed.

[0073] Fig. 7 is a block diagram of a second specific example showing the configuration of the image processing device of the present invention. Although not shown, the image processing device shown in Fig. 7 further includes a first image storage unit 38 in the order receiving unit 18 of the image processing device shown in Fig. 1, and further includes a second image storage unit 40 and an order information generating unit 42 in the image processing server 12. That is, in the image processing device shown in Fig. 7, only the instruction receiving unit 24, the first image storage unit 38, the print control unit 20, and the printer 22 are shown in the store, and only the first image processing unit 16, the second image storage unit 40, and the order information generating unit 42 are shown on the cloud, and other components are not shown.

[0074] The first image storage unit 38, under the control of the instruction receiving unit 24, stores the image (local image) received by the instruction receiving unit 24. The second image storage unit 40, under the control of the first image processing unit 16, stores the image received from the instruction receiving unit 24 and the first image after image processing that will become the print product. The order information generating unit 42 generates order information based on the order confirmation instruction received from the instruction receiving unit 24. The order information includes, for example, information such as the name of the ordered print product, the number of prints, and the storage location of the print product. The order information generating unit 42 is realized by a web application.

[0075] In the image processing device shown in Figure 7, when a user orders a print product, the user selects the desired print product from among multiple print products on a UI screen for performing editing work displayed on the screen of a web browser running on the store's instruction receiving unit 24, and selects an image to be applied to the print product from among images stored on the recording medium. In response to this, the instruction receiving unit 24 receives input of the print material and an image to be applied to the print material from the user. This image is stored in the first image storage unit 38 under the control of the instruction receiving unit 24. Next, the instruction receiving unit 24 transmits the image to be applied to the print material to the first image processing unit 16 on the cloud. This image is stored in the second image storage unit 40 under the control of the first image processing unit 16.

[0076] Next, the user performs various editing operations, and after completing the editing operations for the final print product in which the image is applied to the print material, finalizes the order for the print product. In response to this, the first image processing unit 16 applies the image to the print product based on the editing work by the user, and performs a first image processing corresponding to the editing work on the image to generate a first image after image processing that becomes the print product. This first image after image processing that becomes the print product is stored in the second image storage unit 40 under the control of the first image processing unit 16. As described above, print products that have not undergone image processing by the first image processing unit 16 are stored in the second image storage unit 40 on the cloud in the state in which they are received from the instruction receiving unit 24 of the store. Next, the order information generating unit 42 generates order information including information on the storage location of the print product stored in the second image storage unit 40 by the first image processing unit 16, and transmits this order information to the print control unit 20 of the store.

[0077] Based on the type of print product (print merchandise) included in the order information, the print control unit 20 controls the printer 22 to print, instead of a print product that does not undergo image processing that requires high processing power, such as a photo print, in other words, an image that will become a print product that will not undergo first image processing by the first image processing unit 16, a local image that is the same as the image that will become the print product, from among the local images stored in the store's first image memory unit 38. Although not limited to this, for example, when printing a local image stored in the store's first image memory unit 38 instead of an image of the print product stored in the second image memory unit 40 on the cloud, the print control unit 20 replaces the storage location of this print product in the order information from the storage location of the image of the print product stored in the second image memory unit 40 on the cloud to the storage location of the local image stored in the store's first image memory unit 38, which is the same image as the print product.

[0078] Next, the print control unit 20 receives (downloads) the print product from the storage location of the print product included in the order information. That is, the print control unit 20 receives from the second image storage unit 40 on the cloud a first image that will become the print product to which the first image processing unit 16 has been applied, and receives from the first image storage unit 38 of the store an image that will become the print product to which the first image processing unit 16 has not been applied, i.e., a local image that is the same as the image of the print product. Then, the print control unit 20 causes the printer 22 to print these print products.

[0079] Thus, in the image processing device of the second specific example, print products that have not been subjected to the first image processing by the first image processing unit 16 are received and printed from the first image storage unit 38 in the store, not from the second image storage unit 40 on the cloud. This reduces the amount of images received (downloaded), and reduces the bandwidth usage of the global network 34. Therefore, even when the bandwidth of the global network 34 is tight, usability can be improved and the user can comfortably order print products.

[0080] Next, a third specific example will be described.

[0081] Fig. 8 is a block diagram of a third specific example showing the configuration of an image processing device of the present invention. Although not shown, the image processing device shown in Fig. 8 further includes a product DB (Database) 44 in the image processing server 12 of the image processing device shown in Fig. 1. That is, in the image processing device shown in Fig. 8, only the instruction receiving unit 24 and the second image processing unit 30 are shown in the store, and only the first image processing unit 16 and the product DB 44 are shown on the cloud, and other components are not shown.

[0082] The product DB 44 stores various information related to print products, including the type of print product and the minimum required resolution of the image for printing, which is set for each type of print product.

[0083] The resolution of an image taken by a smartphone camera or a digital camera is, for example, about 3000×4000 pixels, and the data capacity is about 5 MB to 10 MB. In contrast, for example, in the case of an L-size photo print, the minimum required resolution of an image for printing is 1050×1500 pixels, and in the case of a 2L-size photo print, the minimum required resolution is 1500×2130 pixels. Therefore, the image can be reduced to a resolution equal to or higher than the minimum required resolution of the image for printing set according to the type of print material, and smaller than the resolution of the image accepted by the instruction accepting unit 24, and then transmitted.

[0084] In this case, the user selects a print product to which the image is to be applied from among a plurality of print products on a UI screen for performing editing work displayed on the screen of a web browser running on the instruction receiving unit 24 of the store. In response to this, the instruction receiving unit 24 receives an input of an instruction to select a print material from the user. Next, the first image processing unit 16 acquires, from the product DB 44, the minimum required resolution of the image for printing that is set for this print product, based on the type of the print product received from the instruction receiving unit 24. Next, the instruction receiving unit 24 receives from the first image processing unit 16 the minimum necessary resolution of the image to be printed.

[0085] Next, the second image processing unit 30 performs a third image processing to reduce the resolution of the image based on the minimum required resolution of the image for printing received by the instruction receiving unit 24, and generates a third image after the resolution has been changed. In other words, the second image processing unit 30 reduces the image resolution based on the minimum required resolution of the image for printing set for each type of print material, so that the resolution is equal to or greater than the minimum required resolution of the image for printing set for the print material accepted by the instruction accepting unit 24, but smaller than the resolution of the image accepted by the instruction accepting unit 24.

[0086] Next, the transfer control unit 28 controls the instruction receiving unit 24 so that the third image is sent as the image to the first image processing unit. Then, the instruction receiving unit 24 transmits the third image with reduced resolution to the first image processing unit 16 on the cloud.

[0087] In addition, in the case of print products such as photo books that contain multiple images on one page (one frame), for example, the minimum required resolution of the image for printing can be obtained for each page, and the resolution of each image included on each page can be reduced and transmitted based on the minimum required resolution of the image for printing on each page.

[0088] This reduces the image data volume and the bandwidth usage of the global network 34, so that even when the global network 34 has limited bandwidth, usability can be improved and the user can comfortably order print products.

[0089] In the device of the present invention, the hardware configuration of the processing units that execute various processes such as the editing processing unit 14, the first image processing unit 16, the print control unit 20, the instruction receiving unit 24, the transmission determination unit 26, the transfer control unit 28, the second image processing unit 30, the local image control unit 36, and the order information generating unit 42 may be dedicated hardware or various processors or computers that execute programs. Also, the first image storage unit 38, the second image storage unit 40, and the product DB 44 may be configured with memories such as semiconductor memory, HD (Hard Disk Drive), SSD (Solid State Drive), etc.

[0090] Various types of processors include a CPU (Central Processing Unit), which is a general-purpose processor that executes software (programs) and functions as various processing units, a Programmable Logic Device (PLD), which is a processor whose circuit configuration can be changed after manufacture, such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), and a dedicated electrical circuit, such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), which is a processor having a circuit configuration designed specifically for performing specific processing.

[0091] A single processing unit may be configured with one of these various processors, or may be configured with a combination of two or more processors of the same type or different types, for example, a combination of multiple FPGAs, or a combination of an FPGA and a CPU, etc. Also, multiple processing units may be configured with one of the various processors, or two or more of the multiple processing units may be combined into one processor.

[0092] For example, as typified by computers such as servers and clients, one processor is configured by combining one or more CPUs and software, and this processor functions as multiple processing units. Also, as typified by systems on chips (SoCs), there is a form in which a processor is used to realize the functions of the entire system including multiple processing units in a single IC (Integrated Circuit) chip.

[0093] Furthermore, the hardware configuration of these various processors is, more specifically, an electric circuit that combines circuit elements such as semiconductor elements.

[0094] Furthermore, the method of the present invention can be implemented, for example, by a program for causing a computer to execute each of the steps. Also, a computer-readable recording medium on which this program is recorded can be provided.

[0095] Although the present invention has been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various improvements and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0096] 10 Image processing device 12 Image Processing Server 14 Editing Processing Section 16 First image processing section 18 Order Reception Department 20, 60 Print control unit 22, 62 Printers 24, 64 Instructions Reception Department 26 Transmission decision unit 28 Transfer control section 30 Second image processing unit 32 Local Network 34 Global Network 36 Local Image Control Unit 38 First image storage unit 40 Second image storage unit 42, 82 Order information generation unit 44 Product DB 56 Image Processing Unit 80 Image storage section

Claims

1. A first processor and a second processor, The first processor accepts input of an instruction to select a print product and an instruction to select an image to be applied to the print product; The second processor applies the image received from the first processor via a global network to the print product to generate a first image that is a print product; The first processor performs control to determine whether the image or the first image is to be printed based on information of the print product.

2. Equipped with a printer, The first processor, The image processing apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising: a control unit configured to control the printer to print the image when it is determined to print the image based on the information on the print product.

3. Equipped with a printer, The first processor, The image processing device according to claim 1 , further comprising: a printer configured to print the first image received from the second processor via the global network when it is determined to print the first image based on the information of the print product.

4. 4. The image processing device according to claim 1, wherein the first processor accepts input of an instruction for image processing to be applied to the image, and when the instruction for image processing is an instruction for image processing other than image processing of enlarging, reducing, rotating or moving the image, decides to send the image and the instruction for image processing to the second processor.

5. 5. The image processing device according to claim 1, wherein the first processor accepts input of an instruction for image processing to be applied to the image, and when the instruction for image processing is an instruction for image processing to enlarge, reduce, rotate or move the image, decides not to send the image and the instruction for image processing to the second processor.

6. The image processing device according to claim 5, wherein when it is determined not to transmit the image and the image processing instruction to the second processor, the first processor applies a second image processing corresponding to the image processing instruction to the image to generate a second image.

7. The first processor, Accepting an input of a plurality of images, and accepting an input of an image selected from at least one of the plurality of images and an instruction for image processing to be performed on the one image; The image processing device according to claim 6 , further comprising: a processor configured to determine whether or not to transmit the image and an instruction for image processing to be performed on the image to a second processor based on a type of instruction for image processing to be performed on the image.

8. Equipped with a printer, 8. The image processing device according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the first processor controls the printer to print, based on information about the print product, an image that is the same as an image that will become a print product without the first image processing performed by the second processor, instead of an image that will become a print product without the first image processing performed by the second processor corresponding to the image processing instruction.

9. The first processor, a third image processing step of reducing the resolution of the image based on a minimum required resolution of the image for printing set for each piece of information on the print product, thereby generating a third image after changing the resolution; The image processing device according to claim 6 , further comprising control for transmitting the third image to the second processor as the image.

10. An instruction receiving unit receives an input of an instruction to select a print product and an instruction to select an image to be applied to the print product; a step of a first image processing unit applying the image to the print product based on the image received from the instruction receiving unit via a global network, thereby generating a first image that becomes a print product; a step of a print control unit determining whether to print the image or the first image based on information of the print product.

11. 11. The image processing method according to claim 10, further comprising the step of: when it is determined to print the image based on the information on the print product, the print control unit controls a printer to print the image.

12. The image processing method according to claim 10, further comprising a step of controlling the print control unit to print, when it is determined to print the first image based on the information of the print product, the first image received from the first image processing unit via the global network by the printer.

13. 13. An image processing method according to claim 10, further comprising: accepting input of an instruction for image processing to be performed on the image; and, if the instruction for image processing is an instruction for image processing other than image processing of enlarging, reducing, rotating or moving the image, determining to send the image and the instruction for image processing to the first image processing unit.

14. 14. An image processing method according to claim 10, further comprising: accepting input of an instruction for image processing to be performed on the image; and, if the instruction for image processing is an instruction for image processing to enlarge, reduce, rotate or move the image, determining not to send the image and the instruction for image processing to the first image processing unit.

15. a second image processing unit, based on the image and the image processing instruction received from the instruction receiving unit, performing a second image processing on the image corresponding to the image processing instruction to generate a second image; The image processing method of claim 14, further comprising a step of controlling the instruction receiving unit to transmit the image and the image processing instruction to the second image processing unit when the transfer control unit determines not to transmit the image and the image processing instruction to the first image processing unit.

16. a step of the instruction receiving unit receiving an input of a plurality of images, and receiving an input of one image selected from at least one of the plurality of images and an instruction for image processing to be performed on the one image; The image processing method of claim 15, further comprising a step of determining whether or not to transmit the one image and instructions for image processing to be applied to the one image to the first image processing unit based on a type of instruction for image processing to be applied to the one image by the transmission decision unit.

17. The image processing method of claim 15 or 16, further comprising a step of controlling the print control unit to print, based on information about the print product, an image from among the images that is the same as an image that will become a print product that will not be subjected to the first image processing by the first image processing unit, instead of an image that will become a print product that will not be subjected to the first image processing by the first image processing unit corresponding to the image processing instruction.

18. a step in which the second image processing unit performs a third image processing for reducing the resolution of the image based on a minimum required resolution of an image for printing set for each piece of information on the print product, to generate a third image after changing the resolution; The image processing method according to claim 15 , further comprising: a step in which the transfer control unit controls the instruction receiving unit to transmit the third image as the image to the first image processing unit.

19. 19. A program for causing a computer to execute each step of the image processing method according to any one of claims 10 to 18.

20. 19. A computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for causing a computer to execute each step of the image processing method according to any one of claims 10 to 18.

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