KR20020075966A - Method and Apparatus for Manufacturing Photographic Album through On-line - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for producing an online photo album, in particular, the method of the present invention includes uploading a photo image online to accept an album production order, and at least one advertisement image to be inserted into the received album production order. Selecting a photo frame, designing a photo album including the uploaded photo image, a selected advertisement image, and calculating a final production order by calculating a total production cost of the designed photo album and a discount cost according to the selected advertisement image. Calculating a cost, and producing a photo album according to the calculated production order cost and delivering the produced album to an orderer. Therefore, in the present invention, the orderer can make an album more cheaply by carrying the advertisement image together when producing the photo album, and the advertiser can effectively advertise through the photo album.

Description

Method and apparatus for making online photo albums {Method and Apparatus for Manufacturing Photographic Album through On-line}

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for producing an online photo album, in particular, by uploading photos for album production through a network such as the Internet and inserting the uploaded photos by designing them with advertisement images and advertisement texts and ordering photo album production. The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for producing an online photo album, which may be discounted in part or in whole according to the amount of advertisement.

Typically, photographic images taken with a camera are transferred onto a film, and obtained by photographing the transferred film on a photo paper. The obtained photos are usually attached to album paper and decorated with photo albums for easy storage.

Recently, with the spread of digital cameras or color image scanners, it is possible to prepare photographic image data into computer readable data files, and such photographic image data files can be transmitted over a network such as the Internet.

Therefore, recently, an Internet service has been introduced, which uploads a photo image data file to a photo printing service server and prints or prints the photo image data files uploaded from the service server through a photo paper or a high resolution color printer. .

Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2000-63187 discloses uploading a user's photos to a server through the Internet and storing their photos in the form of a cyber album in an allocated storage space of the server. Wherever you are, you can access the site to view your photos on your computer screen or to request photo printing. In the case of synthesizing advertisement texts to a photo when a download or print request for a photo output is performed, a technology for freeing the download or print cost is disclosed.

The advertisement synthesized in the photograph is placed at a predetermined position in the photograph, the photograph is synthesized based on the advertisement image, or the advertisement is placed on the back of the photograph. Thus, the user can download or print a picture for free by synthesizing the advertisement, and can effectively advertise. However, the published patent discloses only a technique of inserting an advertisement for each picture.

Since the advertisement synthesized in each photo is limited to each photograph, it is mainly limited to advertisement text or text, and therefore, it is difficult to insert various advertisements, and thus, it is difficult to expect an advertisement effect more than expected due to the low frequency and time of advertisement exposure to consumers.

In addition, the orderer has to go through a cumbersome process of storing the delivered photos back to the photo album.

An object of the present invention is to order the production of photo albums online through a network such as the Internet to solve the problems of the prior art and to design an album by placing the advertisement image or advertisement with the photo images in the ordered photo album If you do, by discounting some or all of the album production costs according to the amount of advertising carried on the album, the user can order the album cheaply, and the advertiser can obtain an advertising effect through the personal photo album online photo album production method and apparatus To provide.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for producing an online photo album, in which a user can directly design an album online and calculate a production cost according to a design result.

Another object of the present invention is to increase the exposure time and frequency of the advertisement by the advertiser selects and edits the advertisement image naturally in the process of designing his album by combining the advertisement image or text with the photograph. The present invention provides a method and apparatus for producing an online photo album that can be maximized.

1 is a conceptual diagram of a method for producing an online photo album according to the present invention.

2 is a block diagram of an online photo album production apparatus according to the present invention.

3 to 7 is a configuration diagram of the databases built in the online photo album production apparatus according to the present invention.

8 and 10 are flowcharts for explaining the production of an online photo album according to the present invention.

11 to 19 are screen state diagrams for explaining online photo album production according to the present invention.

* Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings

10: service provider 20: orderer

30: advertiser 40: server

50: orderer terminal 60: advertiser terminal

In order to achieve the above object, the method of the present invention includes uploading a photographic image online to accept an album production order, selecting at least one advertisement image to be inserted into the received album production order, and uploading the uploaded image. Designing a photo album including a photo image, a selected advertisement image, calculating a final production order cost by calculating a total production cost of the designed photo album and a discount cost according to the selected advertisement image, and calculating Producing a photo album by the production order cost has been characterized in that it comprises the step of delivering the produced album to the orderer.

The album production order in the present invention includes the type of album, the number of album pages, the number of photo images, and the like. The album may be selected from a printed photo album, a photo album, or a CD album. The album may be made of any one of natural leather, mother-of-pearl, artificial leather, bind, and UV coating. The album may be one of a family album, a wedding album, a graduation album, a memorial album, a baby album, a star album, and a character album.

In the present invention, the advertisement images are preferably classified by company, by advertisement product, by advertisement concept, by advertisement model, and by advertisement start year.

In the present invention, the discount price calculation is calculated by the number, size, insertion position of the selected advertisement image and the discount unit price of each advertisement image.

Editing in the present invention may be made by a combination of the uploaded picture of the orderer's photo image, the selected advertisement image and the decorative image or text. Here, the decorative text may include memories stories, song lyrics, sayings, essays, or poems that you want to leave. The decorative image may include a star image, a movie image, a background image, a cartoon character, and the like. In the case of a CD album, it can also include a video.

The apparatus of the present invention comprises a storage means and a processor.

The storage means stores an online photo album production program using advertisements, an advertisement image, a decoration image, and text as a database.

The processor executes an online album order program using an advertisement, uploads a photo image online to receive an album production order, selects at least one or more advertisement images to be inserted into the received album production order, and uploads the uploaded photo image. Design a photo album including the selected advertisement image, calculate a final production order cost by calculating the total production cost of the designed photo album and the discount cost according to the selected advertisement image, and calculate the final production order cost. Create a photo album file and manage the delivery of the album produced by the created album production file.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail through a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Specific specific examples are provided in the following to assist in understanding the present invention. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that these specific specific examples are not necessarily adopted in order to practice the present invention.

1, in the online photo album production according to the present invention, the album orderer 20 and the advertiser 30 are connected to each other through an online photo album production service provider 10.

The orderer 20 uploads album production photographic images through an online connection to the server of the service provider 10. Photo images are created and uploaded into commercial image files such as PDF, HTML, GIF, BMP, JPEG, etc. through digital cameras or color image scanners.

The advertiser 30 uploads the advertisement images onto media such as an advertisement image, a banner advertisement on the Internet, a TV, a magazine, a newspaper, and the like through an online connection to the server of the service provider 10.

The service provider 10 manages the uploaded advertisement images as an advertisement database, and charges an advertisement fee to the advertiser 30 for advertisement images inserted into the album by the order of the orderer 20.

The service provider 10 calculates the production cost of the ordered photo album, calculates the final production cost by applying a discount rate according to the amount of advertisements inserted into the photo album, and presents it to the orderer 20. When the production order is confirmed and the production cost is settled at the suggested final production cost, the service provider 10 provides the album-produced photo album production file to the album production company to perform the album production and to manage the delivery of the produced photo album. do.

Therefore, service providers can create new demand for photo albums by providing part of the album production costs from orderers and partly from advertisers, and provide consumers with cheaper photo albums, You can make your promotional opportunities available at low advertising rates.

The service provider 10 may receive an advertisement request from an advertiser online, receive an advertisement through an advertisement order business, or receive a recommendation of an orderer.

2 shows a configuration of an online photo album production system according to the present invention. The service provider 10 establishes a database with the server 40 to provide an online photo album production service through the Internet. Therefore, the server 40 is connected to the orderer terminal 50 and the advertiser terminal 60 through the Internet.

The server 40 includes a processor and storage means. The storage means stores an online photo album production service program, and stores various databases. The processor executes a program of a storage means to receive an online order, calculate an advertisement discount for the total amount of advertisement according to the insertion of the advertisement image of the orderer, and generate a production file.

The database includes a customer database 42, a design database 44, an order database 45, an advertiser database 46, and an advertisement image database 48.

3, the customer database 42 is a member management database of the orderer 20, ID (identification code) / PW (password) / orderer attributes / order list / photo image / advertising image / cyber money, etc. It includes.

Here, the orderer attribute includes the orderer's name, address, contact information, email address, and other personal information. The order list includes the orderer's photo album orders so far. That is, information such as order date, album type, number of albums, number of photos, number of advertisement images, production cost, and delivery date are included. If you click on the order in the order list, you will be linked to the file of the customized photo album and you will be able to see the photo album you ordered on the screen.

Photo images are collected in the order in which they are uploaded. The advertisement image is a collection of advertisements selected and inserted in order. Cyber money can earn a certain amount every time you click on the bonus form according to the performance of the transaction, the bonus form according to the award in the photo album design contest, or the advertisement image. Earned cyber money can be exchanged for real money at 1: 1 or other rates, which can then be used to make the actual photo album.

Referring to FIG. 4, the design database 44 includes an album type / album cover type / decorative image / decorative text / best design example book. Here, the album type may be a book in the form of a printed publication, a photo album composed of ordinary album paper and a cover, a CD D album, or the like. The book type may be a personal photobook, a promotional photobook, or the like. It also includes production cost information for each album type.

The album cover includes binder cover, UV coating, artificial leather, leather, natural leather, BH silver, BH gold, and various cover images according to the material or form of the album cover and unit price information of each cover.

Decorative images include background images or illustrations of album papers, and include landscape images, star photograph images, cartoon characters, movie scenes, masterpieces, drawings, and the like. Decorative text may include margins other than the photographic attachment of the album, or phrases such as essays, sayings, song lyrics, etc. when synthesized in the photograph.

The Best Design Casebook is a collection of examples where design and advertising are harmoniously designed for orderers to refer to when designing a photo album.

Referring to FIG. 5, the advertiser database 46 includes advertiser ID / PW / advertiser attribute / ad image / etc. Advertiser attributes include advertiser company, representative director, advertisement manager / address / contact / email address / other company information. The advertisement image is an image uploaded by the advertiser and includes information such as upload date, advertisement name, click count, insertion count, advertisement discount price, total advertisement fee, and popularity ranking.

Referring to FIG. 6, the advertisement image database 48 includes an advertisement image serial number / advertiser ID / advertisement image attribute / advertisement image / uploading date / selection frequency / insertion frequency / advertisement insertion unit price. Advertising image attributes include advertising company / model / product / concept / genre. Attribute information is used as a search keyword when searching for an advertisement. The advertisement image has information such as advertisement file name, file attribute, and data size.

Referring to Figure 7, the order database 45 includes the order code / order date / orderer ID / photo album order number / production file / advertising discount / delivery date / delivery address. The advertising discount is the sum of the discount rates of the total advertisement images inserted in the photo album. In the photo album, the discount unit price can be given a difference according to the insertion position of the advertisement image.

For example, the discount rate may vary according to the case of being inserted immediately after the cover of the photo album, inserted in the middle, inserted after the last page, inserted into the inner side of the cover sheet, and the like. The discount rate is higher because the advertising effect is better when placed in the next chapter of the cover, and the discount rate decreases as the advertising effect decreases toward the back. Therefore, as the orderer inserts a lot of advertisement images in the first chapter, the discount benefits can be seen more.

8 and 10 show flowcharts for explaining an order program executed in the server 40 of the service provider.

8 and 10, when accessing the server 40 through the orderer terminal 50 (S100), the server 40 provides the homepage of FIG. 11 to the orderer terminal 50 to display the homepage ( S102).

In the homepage of Fig. 11, a check box such as View Best Practices / Order / View Ad Image / My Album and an operation mode icon, for example, upload a photo, view an advertisement, view album properties, view decorative images, and design an album are displayed. do.

When the orderer enters an ID and PW on the homepage displayed on the screen and logs in, the server 40 logs in (S104). If the non-member in step S104 (S108) goes through the normal membership registration procedure (S110).

When the picture uploading icon of the homepage is clicked in the logged-in state, the picture uploading screen of FIG. 12 is displayed (S106).

In the picture uploading screen of FIG. 12, when the picture image files of the subscriber terminal 50 are displayed in the left file list field, and the picture image file displayed in the file list field is clicked, the uploaded picture images on the right side are sequentially displayed. The total number of uploaded photo images is displayed at the bottom. Through this uploading process, the orderer uploads the target photographic images to produce a photo album. The uploaded photographic images are registered in the customer database 42.

When the picture uploading is completed, the homepage is displayed again, and when the advertisement view icon is clicked on the homepage (S112), the advertisement image view screen of FIG. 13 is displayed (S114).

In the advertisement image view screen of FIG. 13, categories such as company, model, product, concept, and genre are displayed on the left side, and when one of them is clicked, related advertisement images are displayed on the right side. When each advertisement image is clicked on, the selected advertisement image is enlarged and displayed on the entire screen as shown in FIG. In the lower portion of the enlarged advertisement image in FIG. 14, an advertiser and a discount rate are displayed, and an insertion button and a previous button are displayed.

When the orderer clicks the insert button, it is temporarily registered in the customer database as an interstitial image. Click the Return button to return to the previous screen state.

By repeating the above operation, the orderer selects a desired advertisement image (S116). The total number of inserted and selected advertisement images is displayed at the bottom right of the screen of FIG. 13.

When the advertisement insertion selection is completed, the homepage is displayed again, and when the album property view icon is clicked on the homepage (S118), the album property view screen of FIG. 15 is displayed (S120).

In FIG. 15, mode selection such as album type / album cover / album sheet is displayed on the left side, and items of the mode selected on the left side are displayed on the right side. If you click on the item on the right, the item will be selected and listed in the corresponding column at the bottom. Therefore, the orderer can select the album specification, for example, a photo album, the cover is made of natural leather, and an advanced type of album paper. When the bottom button is clicked, the selected album property is temporarily registered in the customer database (S122).

When the album attribute selection is completed, the homepage is displayed again, and when the decorative image viewing icon is clicked on the homepage (S124), the decorative image viewing screen of FIG. 16 is displayed (S126).

In FIG. 16, a mode selection for each category such as a decorative image (star photo / background image / cartoon character, etc.) / Decorative text (poetry, essay, quote, etc.) is displayed on the left side of the screen, and items of the mode selected on the left are displayed on the right side of the screen. Is displayed. If you click on the item on the right, the item will be selected and listed in the corresponding column at the bottom. Thus, the orderer can select the desired decorative image and test. When the completion button at the bottom is clicked, the selected decorative image and text are temporarily registered in the customer database (S128).

As such, when the materials for designing the album are selected and the design icon is selected on the homepage (S130), the designing screen of FIG. 17 is displayed (S132).

In FIG. 17, the uploaded photo image, the selected decorative text, the decorative image, the advertisement image, and the like are edited on album paper to design the album. Thus, the orderer can decorate the photo album with his or her personality. If you are not confident in the design, selecting the sample design from the example design view allows the photo and advertising images to be edited similar to the sample design. Click the Done button when the design is completed for all the pages by turning the page using the front and back buttons at the bottom. When the Done button is clicked, the design file of the completed photo album is created and temporarily registered in the customer database.

When ordering the homepage is selected to order the production of the designed photo album in step S132 (S134), the design file stored in the customer database is taken temporarily and the photo album production fee is calculated (S136).

The production fee is calculated based on the album type, album cover, album paper, number of pages, number of photo images, etc. of the designed photo album. The discount rate is calculated. The production cost per photo album is calculated by subtracting the advertising discount rate from the production cost, and the total production fee is calculated by multiplying the order volume. Subsequently, the design file is created as a customized file and temporarily registered in the order database.

When the production fee calculation is completed, the order screen shown in FIG. 18 is displayed (S138).

In the screen of Figure 18, production file name / orderer ID / PW / name / number of images and cost / number of images and discounts / album type and cost / album production fee / order date / number of albums / total production fee / delivery address / Delivery date / payment is displayed. In FIG. 17, an example of credit card payment is given, but various payment methods such as cyber money payment, mobile phone payment, email payment, and bankbook payment are possible. If the payment is approved on the screen of FIG. 18 and the confirmation button is clicked (S140), the production order is completed and the order confirmation screen of FIG. 19 is displayed (S142). Subsequently, the production file temporarily registered in the order database is formally registered, and the production file is transmitted to the album production system to produce a photo album according to the order specification (144).

The created photo album will be delivered to the delivery date by the delivery company.

In particular, the present invention is very affordable because it is possible to order large quantities at a low cost by inserting an advertisement at the time of production of commemorative photobooks of various meeting groups, photobooks for wedding recitals, photobooks for promotion of kindergarten, photobooks for politicians, etc. useful.

Although the components of the invention have been described in connection with specific embodiments, the invention may be implemented in numerous other ways. In conclusion, the particular embodiments depicted in the description are not intended to be interpreted in a limiting sense. Reference to specific parts of this embodiment is not intended to limit the scope of protection of the claims, which describes only the features regarded as essential components of the invention.

As described above, in the present invention, while ordering a photo album production online by uploading a photo image for album production through a network communication network such as the Internet, when inserting an advertisement into the ordered photo album in response to the inserted advertisement volume By discounting some or all of the photo album production costs, users can make albums at low cost.

In addition, as the orderer designs the design of the photo album online, the advertisement is naturally exposed to consumers in the process of selecting and inserting various advertisements, thereby maximizing the advertisement effect.

Claims (13)

Accepting an album production order online; Selecting at least one advertisement image to be inserted into the received album production order; Calculating a discount rate corresponding to the insertion of the selected at least one advertisement image; Calculating a final album production fee by subtracting the calculated discount rate from the ordered album production estimate; Editing the uploaded photo images and the selected advertisement images in response to the calculated album production fee; Producing an album from the edited final album production images; And And delivering the produced album to an orderer. The method of claim 1, wherein the album production order An online photo album production method comprising the type of album, the number of album pages and the number of photo images. The method of claim 2, wherein the type of album is Method of producing an online photo album, characterized in that any one of a printed photo album, a photo album or a CD album. The method of claim 2, wherein the type of album is Natural leather, mother-of-pearl, artificial and leather, bind, UV coating is an online photo album production method using any one of the features. The method of claim 2, wherein the type of album is Method of producing an online photo album, characterized in that any of the family album, wedding album, graduation album, commemorative album, baby album, star album, character album. The method of claim 1, wherein the advertisement images Online photo album production method characterized by classified by company, by advertisement product, by advertisement concept, by advertisement model, by advertisement start year. The method of claim 1, wherein the discount rate calculation A method for producing an online photo album using an advertisement, characterized by calculating the number of selected advertisement images and a discount unit price of each advertisement image. The method of claim 1, wherein the discount rate calculation A method for producing an online photo album using an advertisement, which is calculated according to the number of selected advertisement images, the discount unit price of each advertisement image, and the insertion position of the advertisement image within the album. The method of claim 1, wherein the editing Method for producing an online photo album comprising a combination of uploaded photo images of the orderer, selected advertisement image and decorative image or text. The method of claim 9, wherein the decorative text How to make an online photo album, including a story, song lyrics, sayings, essays, poetry, etc. to leave. The method of claim 9, wherein the decorative image is An online photo album production method comprising a star image, a movie image, a background image, a cartoon character, and the like. An online album order program using advertisements, storage means storing advertisement images, decorative images and texts; And Perform an online album order program using the advertisement, Perform an online album order program using an advertisement, upload an image of an image online to receive an album production order, select at least one advertisement image to be inserted into the received album production order, and upload the uploaded photo image and the selected image. Design a photo album including an advertisement image, calculate the final production order cost by calculating the total production cost of the designed photo album and the discount cost according to the selected advertisement image, and calculate the photo album by the calculated production order cost. And a processor for generating a file and managing a delivery of an album produced by the generated album production file. Uploading a photographic image online to receive an album production order; Selecting at least one advertisement image to be inserted into the received album production order; Designing a photo album including the uploaded photo image, a selected advertisement image, and the like; Calculating a final production order cost by calculating a total production cost of the designed photo album and a discount cost according to the selected advertisement image; And And producing a photo album at the calculated production order cost and delivering the produced album to an orderer.