System and method for printing and scanning a user-completed digital still camera image proof sheet and order form

• US 6,744,529 B2
• Filed: 11/29/2001
• Issued: 06/01/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 10/15/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Hilliard, William C., Winter, Kirt A., Epstein, Yoav
• Primary Examiner(s): WALLERSON, MARK E
• Application Number:
  US09/995,869
• Publication Number:
  US 20020033965A1
• Time in Patent Office: 915 Days
• Field of Search: 358/1.12, 358/1.13, 358/1.14, 358/1.15, 358/296, 358/402, 358/403, 358/468, 358/506, 358/487, 305/40, 305/41
• US Class Current: 358/1.15
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00132 in a digital photofinishing system, i.e. a system where digital photographic images undergo typical photofinishing processing, e.g. printing ordering
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00143 Ordering
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00167 Processing or editing H04N1/00196 - H04N1/00201 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00175 from a still image storage medium H04N1/00172, H04N1/0018 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00188 Printing, e.g. prints or reprints H04N1/0019, H04N1/00196 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00968 by scanning marks on a sheet mark-sheet input means H04N1/00355; sensing record carriers G06K7/00

Abstract

A digital still camera is used for taking and storing digital representations of a plurality of images. A printer, such as an ink jet printer or a laser printer, is used for generating graphical representations of selected ones of the plurality of images on a preselected print media such as a paper. A flash memory card, floppy diskette, direct data link or some other data transfer scheme is used to transfer the digital representations of the plurality of images from the digital still camera to the printer. The printer includes programming for generating a combination proof sheet and order form. The combination proof sheet and order form can include an array of thumbnail images and a plurality of image selection and/or image enhancement user designation areas such as bubbles to be filled in by the user with a pencil. The printer includes a scanner and related circuitry and software for scanning the combination proof sheet and order form to detect the user designation areas completed by the user. The programming in the printer thereafter causes it to generate at least one final print sheet with the images and enhancements designated by the user on the combination proof sheet and order form. The proof sheet and order form can be used to designate the number of final prints of a selected image, the size and/or cropping of the prints, the brightness, color balance, background, borders and so forth.

Claims

1. A printer for enabling a user to select and print a plurality of digitally stored images taken by a digital still camera, the printer comprising:

a print mechanism capable of generating graphical representations of selected ones of the plurality of images and a plurality of user designation areas on a preselected print medium;

a scanner mechanism capable of detecting at least one user designation area on the print medium utter it has been completed by a user;

means for receiving the plurality of digitally stored images from the digital still camera;

stored program means for causing the print mechanism to generate a combination proof sheet and order form that incorporates at least one of the plurality of images and the plurality of user designation areas;

stored program means for causing the scanner mechanism to scan the combination proof sheet and order form after at least one of the plurality of user designation areas has been completed by a user and the combination proof sheet and order form has been inserted into the scanner mechanism;

stored program means for interpreting one or more of the user designation areas completed by the user and detected by the scanner mechanism; and

stored program means for causing the print mechanism to generate at least one final print sheet in accordance with the user designation areas completed by the user.

2. A method for enabling a user to select and print digitally-stared images, comprising the steps of;

receiving in a printer a plurality of the digitally-stored images from a digital still camera;

generating with the same printer a combination proof sheet and order form that incorporates a graphical representation of at least one of the images and a plurality of image selection and/or image enhancement user designation areas;

receiving with the same primer the combination proof sheet and order form after the user has completed at least one of the user designation areas thereon and the form has been re-inserted into the printer;

utilizing the same printer to detect and interpret the user designation areas completed by the user on the re-inserted combination proof sheet and order form; and

automatically generating with the seine printer, responsive to the detection and interpretation of the completed user designation areas, at least one final print sheet with the images and enhancements designated by the user on the combination proof sheet and order form.