Canon Kabushiki Kaisha

Kikuo Naito

Toshiyuki Noguchi

Kosuke Ito

Hideaki Ohshima

Shigeyuki Mitani

Shinji Fukunaga

Kunio Seto

Akihiro Masukawa

Kenji Kasai

Atsushi Furuta

Shinichi Suzuki

Daisuke Tanaka

Katsuhisa Ogawa

Masanori Saito

Hiroshi Satomi

Tsutomu Inose

Yutaka Myoki

Tomoko Eguchi

Hayato Kubo

Kazuhiro Kasai

Mitsuharu Tanaka

Miwa Takagi

Kensuke Nozaki

Natsuki Uemura

This invention provides a color print control method of acquiring an optimum profile by a simple profile acquisition process in consideration of the clustering configuration. According to the color print control method of this invention, a printer manager () manages a combination of color printers as a virtual printer. A color setting manager () manages a color profile used for color matching in association with the virtual printer and output paper. A job controller () controls to accept a print job, whose destination is the managed virtual printer and which contains color matching settings, cause a rendering unit () to render the print job, acquire a profile for each virtual printer, and cause a color management processor () to perform color matching.

Color print control method and apparatus for managing color profile used for color matching in association with a virtual printer and paper

When a user client requests an output of a composed image in which contents such as an image or a document are composed in a frame provided by a printing provider, an instruction for the composition of the contents and the template by a simple operation can be made. A server apparatus of the printing provider stores a table, showing correspondence between numeral keys of the user client and a composing position of the contents to the template or a size change in the contents, in a memory. Based on a mere information on the contents and the numeral keys from the user client, the server apparatus composes and outputs the contents with the template.

Server apparatus for outputting composed image including composed contents such as image and document in template, control method therefor, program for execution thereof by computer, and computer readable storage medium storing the program

This invention provides an information providing system which can easily update a price in accordance with data processing, an information providing apparatus, an information presenting method, a control program, and a storage medium. To accomplish this, a user accesses a Web server () in a photosite () by using a browser () of a user PC (), browses images, and selects an image which he/she wants to print out (S, S). A printsite () receives input data indicating a print form, print count, and the like for each selected image (S), calculates an estimated price by using a print information database () in which print unit prices are stored and the price calculation module (), and transfers the estimated price to the photosite () (S). The photosite () calculates a price while factoring personal information into the estimated price by using a personal information database () and a price calculation module (), and presents the price to the user (S).

Information presenting system for performing data processing in accordance with order from user

A data processing apparatus having a data analysis circuit for extracting data control information from data provided with the data control information to be used for restricting various processes, a data processing circuit for performing various processes for the data added with the data control information, a display unit for displaying a process function of each of the various processes to be executed by the data processing circuit, and a control circuit for controlling the data processing circuit and the display unit in accordance with the data control information extracted by the data analysis circuit, wherein the control circuit inhibits to execute an inhibited process in accordance with the data control information extracted from the data and controls the display unit to change a display style of the process function of each of the various processes to an inhibition display style.

Display and control of permitted data processing based on control information extracted from the data

A server transmits, to clients, display data for displaying a plurality of input areas for pieces of identification information which identify apparatuses in which software is to be installed. The server receives the plurality of pieces of identification information input to the input areas. The server then issues, to the clients, license information for permitting installation of the software to the apparatuses corresponding to the pieces of received identification information. This makes it possible to efficiently issue license information of software.

Method and apparatus for preventing unauthorized use of software

This disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for implementing online sales in an environment on a network, which is provided by a creator, without putting any load on the creator. A creator-side apparatus transmits a content that forms merchandise and merchandise information about its output medium to a support-side apparatus. The support-side apparatus makes the merchandise information correspond to an address that indicates a location on the network and transmits the address to the creator-side apparatus as an address where an order for the merchandise should be received. The creator-side apparatus sends data containing the address to the network to which an orderer-side apparatus is connected such that the orderer-side apparatus accepts connection to the location. The support-side apparatus executes merchandise order reception processing when the orderer-side apparatus is connected to the location and requests an output system to execute output processing based on the merchandise information.

Merchandise sales system for selling merchandise produced by printing image data on a printing medium

An information processing system appropriately switches communication protocols to acquire content printing information or printing service information from one of a content provider and a printing service provide via a network when contents are to be printed using a number of content providers via the network.

Apparatus, method and program for processing information acquired through a network

This invention provides a service which allows the user of the client apparatus that submits a print request to preview an image to be printed, and can reduce the information volume with the client apparatus to achieve quick response, and prints a high-quality image with the requested size. For this purpose, a center server () on the network stores and manages display image data, and transfers requested display image data upon receiving a request from a client computer. Upon receiving a request including a print size from the client computer, the center server sends the print size and information that specifies an image to an image server which saves high-resolution images. Upon receiving the information, the image server processes high-resolution image data to have the designated size, and sends back the processed image data to the center server. The center server sends the received image data to a print server to make it print the data.

Data communication apparatus, image server, control method, storage medium, and image system

A printing control system has a contents provider and a printout service provider connected via a network. The contents provider comprises a device for generating viewing screens, a device for generating a conditions settings screen from printout information and service information obtained from a printout service provider, a device for generating a confirmation screen for setting the conditions, and a device for transmitting the contents selected with the viewing screen, and the printout service provider comprises a device for transmitting the service information, and a device for generating printing data from the contents provided from the contents provider. This provides contents providers with contents providing means other than downloading data, and users with services for various printing forms other than home-use printers.

Printing control device and printing control method, printing control system, and recording medium

In order to protect the copyright of data in accordance with the intent of a copyright holder, an arbitrary timing can be set for the application of an electronic watermark to data. For example, a data registration timing, a data communication timing or a data output timing can be arbitrarily selected.

Information processing apparatus enabling electronic watermarking, and communication network connectable to such information processing apparatus

This invention provides a service which allows the user of the client apparatus that submits a print request to preview an image to be printed, and can reduce the information volume with the client apparatus to achieve quick response, and prints a high-quality image with the requested size. For this purpose, a center server ( ) on the network stores and manages display image data, and transfers requested display image data upon receiving a request from a client computer. Upon receiving a request including a print size from the client computer, the center server sends the print size and information that specifies an image to an image server which saves high-resolution images. Upon receiving the information, the image server processes high-resolution image data to have the designated size, and sends back the processed image data to the center server. The center server sends the received image data to a print server to make it print the data.

Growing community of inventors

Kanagawa, Japan

Kikuo Naito