JP2001042451A - Digital printing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] A device for printing image data of a digital camera as a service has a problem that the price of the device itself is expensive, the operation is not easy, and the time required for printing is long. SOLUTION: Data reading means (31) for reading image data of a digital camera, setting means (32) for setting the number of additional prints, etc., and a plurality of printers (33)
A printer switching means (34) for selecting a printer to be used from a plurality of printers; and transmitting a predetermined control signal to the printer switching means (34) based on the information set by the setting means (32). And an image processing circuit (3) for processing the read image data.
6) is provided in each printer (33).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a digital printing machine for automatically printing out image data read from a storage medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Digital cameras that store image data photographed by a CCD image pickup device in a memory are rapidly spreading. The image data stored in the memory can be transferred to a personal computer and output by a color printer. However, it is difficult for those who do not have a personal computer or those who are not good at performing such work to print out. Accordingly, a DPE service for printing from electronic data output from a digital still camera or the like (hereinafter, referred to as an electronic DPE)
Is now offered.

[0003] After removing the memory from the camera body, the electronic D
When brought to a photo shop that handles PE, the image data is read from the memory by the terminal, transmitted to the center online, and printed on ordinary photographic paper at the center. The completed print is delivered to the original store. This system takes several days to complete, and is inconsistent with one of the characteristics of digital cameras: the speed at which you can shoot immediately.

[0004]

Therefore, there has been developed a printer which can be output to a photo shop by using a high-quality color printer on the spot. However, even if a plurality of printers are provided, it takes time to print out a plurality of sheets, and the operation is not easy, so that printing cannot be performed by itself, resulting in a high printing fee in terms of labor costs. was there.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and is suitable for installation in a convenience store or the like, and can automatically perform print processing in a short time only by inserting a storage medium. It is an object of the present invention to provide a digital printing machine capable of performing the following.

[0006]

As shown in FIG. 1, a digital printing machine according to the present invention is a digital printing machine for printing out image data read from a storage medium using a printer. Data reading means (31) for reading data, setting means (32) for setting the number of additional prints, etc., and a plurality of printers (3
3), a printer switching means (34) for selecting a printer to be used from a plurality of printers, and a predetermined control signal to the printer switching means (34) based on information set by the setting means (32). The selected printer
(33) and a controller (35) for sending image data, wherein each printer (33) is provided with an image processing circuit (36) for processing the read image data.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a used printer determining means (39) for determining a printer to be used so as to be used equally among the respective printers. A preferred printer determining means (39a) for determining a printer to be used so that a printer designated in advance among the printers is preferentially used can be provided.

[0008]

FIG. 2 shows the appearance of a digital printing machine 50 according to the present invention. Reference numeral 1 denotes an insertion port of an image data reader for reading image data from various storage media. Reference numeral 3 denotes a liquid crystal display. A touch panel 4 is attached to a display surface of the liquid crystal display 3, and The number of additional copies and the like are set and input through the touch panel 4. FIG. 3 shows a digital printing machine 50 according to another embodiment of the present invention, in which a display unit 51a, an operation unit 51b,
It is a desktop type that is separated from the printer unit 51c.

FIG. 4 shows such a digital printing machine 50.
FIG. 2 is a control block diagram illustrating a first embodiment in FIG.
An image data reader 11 reads image data from various storage media, and includes a multimedia (MM) card,
It has a reader for a SmartMedia (SM) card, a CompactFlash® (CF) memory card and a drive for an MO disk.

Reference numeral 12 denotes a main body of the notebook personal computer.
8) and a control program for executing the printer determining means (39) and the sending destination / order adjusting means (41) by software. A menu is displayed, and an interface that allows a desired menu to be input on the touch panel 4 is provided. The PC provided in the main body 12 of the notebook computer
The above-described image data reader 11 is connected through the SCSI card 12a installed in the card slot. If necessary, a modem card 12 can be inserted into this PC card slot.
The device can be connected online to a maintenance company via a public line by attaching b. The liquid crystal display 3
The touch panel 4 is connected to an external monitor terminal of the notebook computer main body 12 and the serial port.

Reference numeral 13 denotes a controller connected to the notebook computer main unit 12 through a parallel port and an RS232C port of Centronics. Reference numeral 14 denotes one of twelve sublimation-type thermal transfer color printers 15 based on a command from the controller 13. This is a printer switch for selecting a printer to be operated from. Each color printer 1
Reference numeral 5 contains an image processing circuit for expanding compressed image data supplied from the printer controller 13. 1
Reference numeral 6 denotes an ink changer for exchanging the ink emptied by the color printer 15 with spare ink. In a sublimation type printer, the number of prints is determined irrespective of the combination of colors to be printed, and if a specified number of prints are made, ink replacement work is required.

In this digital printing machine, each printer 1
The printer 15 to be used is determined under the control of the notebook computer main unit 12 so that the ink is used in all the printers 5. ing. If replenishment of the preliminary ink is performed at this time, it is possible to avoid running out of ink. The maintenance company may be notified of the need for maintenance through the modem card 12b at the time of replacement with the spare ink.

Reference numeral 17 denotes a collecting device for collecting the photograph P printed out by each printer 15 at one place. In order that the collected photos overlap in the shooting order (multiple images of the same image are overlapped), the notebook computer main unit 12 is configured as shown in FIG.
It has a scheduling function for adjusting the destination of each image data to the printer 15 and the order of transmission in accordance with the procedure shown in the flow of FIG.

In step S51, the number of prints per printer (minimum value) is obtained by dividing the number of prints by the number of active printers. In step S52,
The fractional number is obtained from the remainder of the division of the number of prints / the number of active printers. In step S53, the i-th printer is set as the start printer (the printer to be operated first), and the count value j of the printer is set to 0.

In step S54, it is determined whether or not the value of j is equal to or greater than the number of active printers. If the value of j is greater than or equal to the number of active printers, the process proceeds to step S71. It is determined whether the printer is not an error printer (printing is not possible due to lack of ink or paper).
The process proceeds to 59, but if the printer is an error printer, the process proceeds to step S56.

In step S56, it is determined whether the value of i is less than the fractional number.
At step 57, a value obtained by adding 1 to the number of prints per unit is adopted as the number of prints of the i-th printer, and if not less than the fractional number, the number of prints of the i-th printer is set at step S58. The number is adopted.

In the next step S59, the values of i and j are respectively incremented, and in step S60, i and j are incremented.
Is determined to be less than the fractional number. If the value is not less than the fractional number, the process returns to step S54. If the value is less than the fractional number, the value of i is set to 1 in step S61, and the process returns to step S54.

In step S71, the value of j is set to 0, and the j-th printer is set as the start printer. In step S72, it is determined whether or not the value of i is equal to or more than the number of active printers. If the value of i is equal to or greater than the number of active printers, the flow ends here. If not, the process proceeds to step S73. It is determined whether or not the printer is an error printer. If the printer is not an error printer, the process proceeds to step S78. If the printer is an error printer, the process proceeds to step S74.

In step S74, an array of printer numbers
j is set to (i). In step S75, the arranged image Nos. Are skipped by the number of prints from the top printer (No. 1) to the j-th printer. In step S76, an image No. obtained by skipping the print image No. array (i) is set.

In step S77, the value of i is incremented. In step S78, the next printer is updated to the value of j. Thereafter, the flow returns to step S72.

FIG. 7 shows, for example, NO.
The printer 15 of No. 1 to No. 8 is used, and a processing example when six print requests of photographing frames 1 to 6 are requested this time is shown. In this case, NO. 9 to NO. 12 and N.
O.1 to NO.2 are used.

At this time, the printer 15 of No. 9
Instead of supplying the image data of frame 1, the image data of frame 3 is supplied.
5 is supplied with the image data of the frames 4 to 8, respectively.
The image data of frame 1 and frame 2 are supplied to the printers 15 of O.1 to NO.2.

The order of supplying predetermined image data to each printer 15 and the schedule for determining the timing will be described in detail. Here, for convenience of explanation, seven printers No. 1 to No. 7 are used.

FIG. 8 shows the control for printing 20 sheets from the printer No. 3 and printing 10 sheets in response to the next print request. In this case, the printers No. 3 to No. 7 print in the order of frame 8, frame 11, frame 14, frame 17 and frame 20, respectively, and then print the frame 3 by the printers 15 of No. 1 to No. 7. , Frame 5, frame 7, frame 10, frame 13, frame 16, and frame 19 in that order.
2, 4, 6, 6, 9, 12, 1
5. Print in the order of the frame 18, and finally print the frame 1 with the printer No. 1.

When printing is performed in this manner, the photo of the frame 1 is stacked on the tray of the printer of No. 1 in the order of the photo of the frame 2, the photo of the frame 3, and the tray of the printer of No. 2 is The photo of the piece 4 is stacked from the top in the order of the photo of the piece 5, and the tray of the printer No. 7 is stacked from the top in the order of the photo of the piece 18, the photo of the piece 19, and the photo of the piece 20. Therefore, the recovery device 1
According to 7, if the photos in the trays of the printers are picked up from the bottom and collected, the photo of the piece 1 The photo of the piece 2 The photo of the piece 3: The photo of the piece 19 The photo of the piece 20 Can be recovered.

Next, when ten sheets are printed, the number 2 is used.
Print from the printer.

If it is not necessary to collect the photographs in the order of photographing, the frame 1 is first printed by the printer No. 3 to be used, and the frame 2 is printed by the printer No. 4 to be used next. Simply print in frame order. In this case, the collection device 17 is not particularly necessary, and the photographs obtained by each printer may be collected at one place by a shooter or the like.

FIG. 9 shows the control in the case where an error has occurred in the printing of the second sheet by the No. 5 printer at the time of printing 20 sheets. At this point, rescheduling is performed.
Pieces 12, which were to be printed with a No. 5 printer,
The frame 13 is printed by the printer of No. 6, and the printer 15 of No. 5 is excluded at the next printing.

FIG. 10 also shows a case where a print error has occurred on the second sheet of the No. 5 printer at the time of the schedule.
2 and No. 3 printer.

FIG. 11A shows the conventional control, in which the read JPEG-compressed image data is JPEG-decompressed into bitmap data, and the RGB color data is converted into YMC color data suitable for a printer. After that, the image data is transferred to the printer, and when the transfer is completed, the next image data is subjected to JPEG expansion.

In this conventional method, the image data must be JPEG-decompressed, and then the image data must be transferred to a printer before proceeding to the next processing. , The transfer time itself is long, and the print time for a plurality of sheets is long.

On the other hand, according to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 11B, each of the printers has the image processing circuit (36) for performing JPEG expansion and color conversion. The next image data can be captured at the time of transfer, and the data to be transferred is JPEG compressed.
Since the data is compressed (compressed to about 1/10 to 1/20), the transfer time itself is extremely shorter than the transfer time shown in FIG. Therefore, since each printer can be operated almost simultaneously (because the number of movable printers increases), the printing time for a plurality of printers can be greatly reduced.

FIG. 12 is a detailed block diagram of the controller 13 and the printer switch 14. Image data supplied as a parallel signal by Centronics is supplied to a printer switch 14 via a controller 13. On the other hand, a serial signal by RS232C for communicating with the notebook personal computer body 12 is transmitted to the controller 13.
The drive signal for controlling the printer 15, the ink changer 16 and the collection device 17 is created. The ink changer 16 and the collection device 17 are controlled by the controller 13.

In the printer switching unit 14, the buffer 1
4a temporarily stores the image data supplied through the controller 13 and supplies it to each printer 15. Selector
SEL2 selects the printer 15 to be used, and the selector SEL1
Extracts the busy signal from the selected printer 15.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a flow of an operation mode in the present apparatus. There are menus for an image print service M1 and a write service M2. When the image print service M1 is selected, a menu for the print service M3 for data read from the card or the camera and a menu for a reprint service M4 from data in the storage device are displayed. Is shown. When the data print service M3 is selected, a menu is displayed for a service M5 for printing all images at once and a print service M6 for selecting additional printing of only necessary images. When the batch print service M5 is selected, selection of a batch print service for all images and a service for batch printing only marked images is displayed.

FIGS. 14 and 15 show a series of screen operations when the modes M1, M3, and M5 are sequentially selected.
At the time of standby, the image print service M1 shown in S1
And a menu of the writing service M2 are displayed. When the image print service M1 is selected, an instruction to set a storage device such as a memory card, a camera, or a memory card is issued as shown in S2. If any of them is set, the image data is read and S
The display as shown in 3 appears.

There are cases where image files are stored in a PC card without a directory structure and cases where image files are stored in a directory structure, and the file structure differs for each digital still camera manufacturer. If the file is read out by designating the directory one by one, the printing machine is inconvenient. Therefore, in the present embodiment, first, the image file is read from the root directory, then a subdirectory is found, and the image file in the subdirectory is read. If the subdirectory has a lower subdirectory, the subdirectory is searched further. By adopting such a search method, image files can be read in accordance with various directory structures. Reading from the MO disk is performed in the same manner.

Next, as shown in S4, a menu for a batch print mode M5 and a print mode M6 for additional printing selection is displayed. When the batch print mode M5 is selected, a menu for a batch print service for all images and a service for batch print of only marked images is displayed as shown in S5. Whichever mode is selected, a print paper size selection screen is displayed as shown in S6. Then, as shown in S7, all pieces (or marked pieces) are
The number of prints and the print fee for printing each sheet are displayed. Multiple sheets can be printed as needed. When print start is instructed, the remaining print time and its bar graph are displayed as shown in S8. When printing is completed, a display as shown in S28 of FIG. 19 described later appears.

FIGS. 16 and 17 show a series of screen operations when the modes M1, M3, and M6 are sequentially selected.
When the user selects the image print service M1 in S11 and then selects the print mode M3 from a memory card, a camera or a storage device (super disk),
When the image data is read in S12 and the print mode M6 of the additional printing selection is selected in S13, an input as to whether or not the image is marked is awaited as in S14. As shown in the next S15,
All images are displayed as thumbnails, and the marked image is displayed with, for example, a border, but the marking can be changed on this screen. When there is no marking, an image to be printed is selected on this screen.
In the next step S16, the number of additional prints is specified for each image to be printed. Next, a print paper size selection screen is displayed as shown in S7. Then, as shown in S18, the number of prints and the print fee are displayed.

FIGS. 18 and 19 show a series of screen operations when the modes M1 and M4 are sequentially selected. S21
When the user selects the image print service M1 and then selects the additional printing mode M4 from the storage device, the folder in the storage device is displayed as shown in S22. If a folder to be printed is designated here, all the corresponding images are displayed as thumbnails as shown in S23. Select the image you want to print on this screen. In the next step S24, the number of additional prints is specified for each image to be printed. Next, a print paper size selection screen is displayed as shown in S25. Then, as shown in S26, the number of prints and the print fee are displayed. As shown in S27, the remaining print time and its bar graph are displayed. When printing is completed, a display as shown in S28 appears.

A series of screen operations when the mode of M2 is selected are shown in FIGS. When the write service M2 is selected in S31, an instruction is given to insert a medium containing an image to be stored and a storage device for storage. When a predetermined operation is performed, image data to be stored is read as shown in S32. Next, as shown in S33, the folders of the storage device for storage are displayed in a list, and the folder of the storage destination is designated here. In the next S34, when the title of the image to be stored is input, S
As shown at 35, a title confirmation screen is displayed, and a fee for recording is also displayed. When the start of writing is instructed here, the storage of the image data is started as shown in S36, and when the recording is finished, in S37,
The display of S38 appears.

In the first embodiment described above, in order to avoid frequent ink replacement, each printer is used on an average basis,
When all the printers run out of ink, the ink is replaced collectively. Replace ink with ink changer 1
If automatic printing is performed in step 6, even if all the printers run out of ink during printing, ink replacement is performed in a relatively short time, so that no inconvenience occurs. However, the cost for the ink changer device is increased. In the case of a configuration that does not use an ink changer, all the inks must be replaced manually at once, and the replacement work is time-consuming. No configuration is difficult to achieve.

Therefore, the second embodiment of the present invention has a function of the preferential use printer determining means (39a) instead of the function of the above-mentioned use printer determining means (39). This function selects the printer to be used so that it will be used more frequently by one specified printer, and if the printer runs out of ink, it will be used again so that another printer will be used more frequently. Select a printer.

To increase the frequency of use, a printer (referred to as a start printer) to be used preferentially at the time of printing is set, and when the start printer is, for example, the No. 1 printer, the No. 1 printer is always used. , And when the printer runs out of ink, for example, the printer of No. 2 is set as the start printer.

The operation of each printer based on this priority printer determination is shown in the flowchart of FIG. When the user inputs the desired number of prints in step S101, the number of prints is set to N. In step S102, it is checked whether each printer 15 is operating. In step S103, it is determined whether there is an active printer. If there is no active printer, paper replenishment and ink replacement are performed in step S104, and the process returns to step S102.

If there is an active printer 15, the process proceeds from step S103 to step S105, and P is set to the number of active printers. In step S106, it is determined whether or not the start printer has an error. If not, the process proceeds to step S107.
, The number of the starting printer is incremented, and the incremented number is set again in the starting printer. In step S109, it is determined whether the number of the start printer at this time does not exceed P. If not, the process proceeds to step S107, but if it does, the smallest printer among the active printers is determined in step S110. Set as start printer and step S10
Go to 7.

In step S107, the start printer number is set to I. In step S111, the I-th printer is checked. In step S112, it is determined whether there is an error. In the case of an error, the process proceeds to step S113. In step S113, it is determined whether the I-th printer is the start printer. In step S114, the value of I is incremented, the incremented number of I is set in the start printer, and the process returns to step S11.

On the other hand, in the determination in step S113,
If the I-th printer is not the start printer, step S1
In step S116, it is determined whether or not there is an active printer. If not, paper replenishment or ink replacement is performed in step S116. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S107. On the other hand, if there is an active printer in the determination of step S115, the value of I is incremented in step S117, and the process returns to step S111.

If it is determined in step S112 that the I-th printer has no error, the process proceeds to step S11.
Proceeding to 8, the image data is transferred to the I-th printer. The point that the transferred image data is expanded from the JPEG image data into bitmap data on the printer 15 side and that the processing shifts to processing for the next image data without waiting for this data expansion processing is described in the previous embodiment. Is the same as the control in (2) of FIG.

In the next step S119, the value of I is incremented, and in step S120, it is determined whether or not the value of I exceeds the number of active printers P. If so, the process proceeds to step S121, where In step S122, the smallest number is set to I.
Proceed to. On the other hand, when I does not exceed P, the process proceeds to step S122.

In step S122, the value of the remaining print number N is decremented, and in step S123,
It is determined whether the value of N has become 0. If the value is not 0, the process returns to step S111. If the value is 0, that is, the printing of the desired number of sheets has been completed, this flow ends.

An actual printing operation based on the above control will be described with reference to FIG. Here, the printer 15 of No. 1 is set as the start printer for the 12 printers 15, and the printer that has run out of ink is regarded as an error printer for ease of explanation.

When three print requests are made for the first time, N is set so that the start printer of No. 1 is preferentially included.
The printers 15 of O.1, No. 2 and No. 3 are selected as printers to be used, and printing is performed by those printers. Here, "ON" in [ON / 19] in the figure indicates that the printer has been operated, "19" indicates the number of remaining prints after printing, and each printer can print 20 sheets after ink replacement. And

When the second print request is made, the printers of No. 1 and No. 2 print the data so that the start printer of No. 1 is preferentially included in this case. When there is a print request for one sheet, NO.
Printing is performed by the printers No. 1 to No. 5.

When two print requests are made at the 21st time, printing is performed in the same manner by the printers No. 1 and No. 2, but when the printer No. 1 is used, the number of remaining prints is Becomes "0", the next time (22
At the time of the (second) printing, the printer of No. 2 is set as the start printer, the printer of No. 1 is set as the error printer, and the printer of No. 1 is excluded from the used printers. The fact that the number of remaining prints is "20" in the No. 1 printer at the time of the 23rd printing indicates that the error printer has been released by ink replacement.

In the printer of No. 2 set as the starting printer, the number of remaining prints becomes "0" at the time of the 22nd printing, and therefore, at the time of the 23rd printing, the printer of NO. Printer 3 is set as the starting printer. Here, the setting order of the start printer is as follows: NO.1 → NO.2 → NO.3 →
.. NO.11 → NO.20, and if the ink of the printer of No. 1 has been exchanged, that printer is set as the start printer next.

Incidentally, in the printing based on the flow of FIG. 22, for simplicity of explanation, the N pieces of image data to be printed are simply sequentially transferred to the printer.
As described in the first embodiment, by controlling the transmission destination and the transmission order of the image data, the printed photographs can be collected in the photographing order.

[0058]

As described above, according to the present invention, since image processing such as decompression of a compressed image is performed by each printer, a plurality of images can be printed in parallel by a plurality of printers. The transfer time is short because the size of image data to be transferred to one printer is small, and another image data can be transferred to the next printer as soon as the transfer is completed. Time can be greatly reduced. In the first embodiment of the present invention (claim 2), a plurality of printers are used on average, so that when all of the printers run out of ink or paper, ink and paper are collectively used. Replenishment is possible, and the frequency of maintenance can be reduced. Further, in the second embodiment of the present invention (claim 4), the printer designated in advance is used preferentially, and the printer is used to run out of ink or paper first. If ink or paper is replenished each time, it is difficult for all the printers to run out of ink at the same time, so that it is easy to realize even a configuration without an ink changer.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram corresponding to claims of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an external view showing a digital printing machine of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an external view showing another embodiment of the digital printing machine of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a control block diagram showing a first embodiment of the digital printing machine of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating scheduling when printing is performed by the digital printing machine according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a view showing a continuation of the flowchart of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the operation of each printer when printing a plurality of photos.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the operation of each printer when printing a plurality of photos.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the operation of each printer when printing a plurality of photos.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the operation of each printer when printing a plurality of photos.

FIG. 11 is a time chart showing a method of processing image data according to the related art and the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a detailed control block diagram of a controller and a printer switch in FIG. 4;

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a flow of each operation mode in the present apparatus.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an operation procedure shown on the display when a course of image print service, printing from a card / camera, and batch printing is selected in FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a continuation of the operation procedure in FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an operation procedure shown on the display when a course of image printing service, printing from a card / camera, and additional printing selection is selected in FIG. 13;

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a continuation of the operation procedure in FIG. 16;

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an operation procedure shown on the display device when an image print service and a course of additional printing from a storage device are selected in FIG.

FIG. 19 is a view showing a continuation of the operation procedure in FIG. 18;

FIG. 20 is a diagram of an operation procedure shown on the display when a writing service course is selected in FIG.

FIG. 21 is a view showing a continuation of the operation procedure in FIG. 20;

FIG. 22 is a flowchart illustrating control of the digital printing machine according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 23 is a view showing the operation of each printer when printing a plurality of photos based on the flow of FIG. 22;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Insertion opening 3 Liquid crystal display 4 Touch panel 11 Image data reader and drive 12 Notebook personal computer main body 12a SCSI card 12b Modem card 13 Controller 14 Printer switch 15 Color printer 16 Ink changer 17 Collection device 50 Digital printing machine

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Takeshi Ito 1006 Kazuma Kadoma, Kadoma, Osaka Prefecture Inside Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A digital printing machine for printing out image data read from a storage medium using a printer, comprising: a data reading means (3) for reading image data from the storage medium.
1) and setting means (3) for setting the number of reprints, etc.
2), a plurality of printers (33), printer switching means (34) for selecting a printer to be used from the plurality of printers, and information set by the setting means (32).
A control unit (35) for sending a predetermined control signal to the printer switching means (34) and sending image data to the selected printer (33); and an image processing unit for processing the read image data. A digital printing machine characterized in that a circuit (36) is provided in each printer (33). 2. The digital printing machine according to claim 1, further comprising a used printer determining means (39) for determining a printer to be used so as to be used evenly among the respective printers. 3. The digital printing machine according to claim 2, further comprising an ink changer for replacing ink used in each of the printers with spare ink. 4. A priority printer determining means (39a) for determining a printer to be used so that a printer designated in advance among the printers is preferentially used.
Digital printing machine as described. 5. A priority printer determining means (39a).
Sets the start printer to be used at the time of printing, and when the start printer is, for example, the printer of No. 1, the printer is always printed from the printer of No. 1, and the printer becomes unavailable. Sometimes N
5. The digital printing machine according to claim 4, wherein the O.2 printer is set as a starting printer. 6. The digital printing machine according to claim 1, further comprising an interface capable of performing an operation procedure for performing printing in accordance with an instruction shown on a display. 7. The digital printing machine according to claim 1, wherein the printer is of a sublimation type thermal transfer system. 8. A collection mechanism (40) for collecting photos printed by each printer, wherein when printing is performed in parallel by a plurality of printers, the photos are collected in the order of photographing.
The digital printing machine according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising destination / order adjusting means (41) for scheduling a destination and a transmission order of image data to be supplied to each printer. 9. The digital printing machine according to claim 1, further comprising a function of reading image data stored in a digital camera and writing the image data in a desired storage medium. 10. A digital printing machine for printing out image data read from a storage medium using a printer, wherein the data read means reads image data from the storage medium.
1) and setting means (3) for setting the number of reprints, etc.
2), a plurality of printers (33), printer switching means (34) for selecting a printer to be used from the plurality of printers, and information set by the setting means (32).
A control unit (35) for sending a predetermined control signal to the printer switching means (34) and sending image data to the selected printer (33), wherein a printer designated in advance among the above-mentioned printers has priority. A digital printing machine comprising a preferential use printer determining means (39a) for determining a printer to be used so as to be used in a typical manner.