Abstract:
An image forming method usable with an image forming device includes a storage medium mounting part to receive image data from a storage medium connectable therein and a displaying part to images that correspond to the image data received from the storage medium. The image forming method includes: receiving the image data and print information data about whether the images that correspond to the image data received from the storage medium have been printed before, dividing the images into a first group and a second group according to whether the images have been printed before and displaying the images in at least one of the first and second groups, printing one or more images selected from among the displayed images, and updating the print information data that corresponds to the printed one or more images in the storage medium. Thus, the user may easily obtain information about whether the images stored in the storage medium have been printed or not.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2004-106735, filed on Dec. 16, 2004, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0003]     The present general inventive concept relates to an image forming device and an image forming method using the same, and more particularly, to an image forming device and an image forming method to display and record whether images have been printed before.  
         [0004]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0005]     A printer is typically connected to a host computer such as a personal computer. For example, when a task is performed on an application program running on the host computer, the application program executes a printer driver to print images from the printer. The printer driver is executed according to a user print command. The printer driver translates the images to be printed into a printer language, such as a PCL (Printer Control Language), and transmits the translated images to the printer. The printer then prints the images on sheets of paper.  
         [0006]     A printer that can receive image data by being directly connected to a storage medium, such as a digital camera and/or a memory card, without being connected to the host computer, has recently been developed. This printer can print images that correspond to the received image data without having the host computer to relay the image data.  
         [0007]      FIG. 1  illustrates a conventional printer  10 . Referring to  FIG. 1 , the conventional printer  10  comprises a USB (universal serial bus) connector  11  to be connected to a storage medium (e.g., a digital camera) and a connector (not shown) to be connected to a host computer, an adapter  12  to be connected with another storage medium (e.g., a memory card), a display part  13  to display images, and a printing part (not shown) to print the images.  
         [0008]     The conventional printer  10  further comprises a controller (not shown) which receives image data from the storage medium that is connected to the USB connector  11  or the adapter  12 , controls the display part  13  to display the images that correspond to the received image data, and controls the printing part (not shown) to print images selected by a user.  
         [0009]     Accordingly, by using the conventional printer  10 , the user may receive the image data directly from the storage medium, such as the digital camera or the memory card, display the corresponding images, select the images to print from among the displayed images, and print the selected images.  
         [0010]     However, in the conventional printer  10  described above, the display part  13  displays the images that correspond to the image data without any information about whether the corresponding images have been printed. As a result, the user is required to check every one of the displayed images in order to determine which images have not been printed before (i.e., which images are new images). This is inconvenient, since it takes the user a large amount of time to determine the new images.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0011]     Accordingly, the present general inventive concept provides an image forming device and an image forming method using the same by which a user may easily obtain information about whether images stored in a storage medium have been printed before.  
         [0012]     The present general inventive concept also provides an image forming device and a image forming method using the same by which a user can quickly print the images selected from displayed images according to the obtained information about whether the images stored in the storage medium have been printed before.  
         [0013]     Additional aspects of the present general inventive concept will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the present general inventive concept.  
         [0014]     The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present general inventive concept are achieved by providing an image forming method usable with an image forming device having a storage medium mounting part to receive image data from a storage medium connectable therein and a displaying part to display images that correspond to the received image data. The image forming method comprises receiving the image data and print information data about whether the images that correspond to the image data received from the storage medium have been printed before, dividing the images into a first group and a second group according to whether the images have been printed before and displaying the images in at least one of the first and second groups of images, printing one or more images selected from among the displayed images, and updating the print information data that corresponds to the printed one or more images in the storage medium.  
         [0015]     The displaying of the at least one of the first and second groups of images comprises displaying images that have not been printed before.  
         [0016]     The method may further comprise receiving a selection of one of the first and second groups, wherein the printing of the one or more images comprises automatically printing each of the selected one or more images when the selected one of the first and second groups includes the images that have not been printed before.  
         [0017]     The print information data may be stored in the corresponding image data in the storage medium.  
         [0018]     The print information data may be stored separately from the corresponding image data in the storage medium.  
         [0019]     The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present general inventive concept are also achieved by providing a method of forming an image usable by an image forming device, the method comprising receiving file information in at least one external port connected to an external memory device, and managing the file information including one or more files and one or more file print histories associated with the one or more files received from the external memory device.  
         [0020]     The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present general inventive concept are also achieved by providing a method of forming an image performed by an image forming device, the method comprising accessing an external memory device having one or more images stored therein through an external memory port on the image forming device, determining print histories of the one or more images from a print history file stored in the external memory device, and indicating the print histories of the one or more images stored in the external memory device.  
         [0021]     The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present general inventive concept are also achieved by providing a method of printing files using an image forming device, the method comprising displaying one or more files that are stored in an external storage medium that is currently connected to the image forming device and indicating which of the one or more files is previously printed, and receiving a print command to print selected ones of the displayed one or more files.  
         [0022]     The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present general inventive concept are also achieved by providing an image forming device comprising a storage medium mounting part in which a storage medium having image data and print information data about whether images that correspond to the image data have been printed before is connectable, a selecting part to receive one or more selections, a displaying part to display the images that correspond to the image data, a printing part to print the images, a control part to receive the image data and the print information data from the storage medium, to divide the image data according to the print information data received from the storage medium, to control the displaying part to display the images thereon, to control the printing part to print predetermined images among the images that are displayed on the displaying part according to the one or more selections, and to update the print information data of the printed predetermined images in the storage medium.  
         [0023]     The control part may control the displaying part to display images that have not been printed before from among the images that correspond to the image data received from the storage medium.  
         [0024]     The control part may control the printing part to automatically print images that have not been printed before according to the one or more selections.  
         [0025]     the control part may update the print information data that corresponds to the printed predetermined images in the storage medium.  
         [0026]     The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present general inventive concept are also achieved by providing an image forming device, comprising at least one external port to connect to an external memory device and to receive file information therefrom, and a control part to read the file information including one or more files and one or more file print histories associated with the one or more files received from the external memory device, when the external memory device is connected to the at least one external port.  
         [0027]     The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present general inventive concept are also achieved by providing an apparatus to manage printable images in an image forming device, comprising a memory to store a plurality of images and a plurality of image print histories associated therewith, and a control part to manage the stored plurality of images according to the plurality of image print histories associated therewith.  
         [0028]     The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present general inventive concept are also achieved by providing a computer readable medium containing executable code to form an image using an image forming device, the medium comprising a first executable code to access an external memory device having one or more images stored therein through an external memory port on the image forming device, a second executable code to determine print histories of the one or more images from a print history file stored in the external memory device, and a third executable code to indicate the print histories of the one or more images stored in the external memory device. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0029]     The above and/or other aspects of the present invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:  
         [0030]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view illustrating a conventional printer.  
         [0031]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating an image forming device according to an embodiment of the present general inventive concept.  
         [0032]      FIG. 3  illustrates print information data displayed on a displaying part of the image forming device of  FIG. 2 .  
         [0033]      FIG. 4  is a flow diagram illustrating a method of forming an image according to another embodiment of the present general inventive concept. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0034]     Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present general inventive concept, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.  
         [0035]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating an image forming device according to an embodiment of the present general inventive concept. As illustrated in  FIG. 2 , the image forming device comprises a storage medium mounting part  110  in which a storage medium  200  having image data and print information data is connectable, a selecting part  120  to receive a selection of images that correspond to the image data to print, a displaying part  130  to display the images, and a printing part  140  to print the selected images. The selection of the one or more images to print may be input by a user. Alternatively, the selection of the images may be automatically input according to one or more predetermined criteria or options.  
         [0036]     The storage medium mounting part  110  receives data directly from an external device. The storage medium mounting part  110  includes an adapter in which the storage medium  200 , such as a memory card or a memory stick, is connectable, and a connect port to connect to the storage medium  200 , such as a digital camera, etc. The connect port may comprise a serial port, a parallel port, and/or a USB port. The image data stored in the storage medium  200  comprises one or more files having a predetermined digital format such as JPEG. Thus, the storage medium mounting part  110  includes the connect port and the adapter to connect to a variety of different external devices that are capable of storing the image data and/or print information data. For example, the connect port may be connectable to a first type of storage medium, and the adapter may be connectable to a second type of storage medium. Although the embodiments of the present general inventive concept are described with reference to printable images, it should be understood that other types of files may also be used with the present general inventive concept. For example, the embodiments of the present general inventive concept may be used with TIFF, GIFF, BMP, and PDF formats. Other formats may also be used.  
         [0037]     The print information data stored in the storage medium  200  comprises information about whether the images that correspond to the image data have been printed before. In other words, the print information data indicates new images stored in the storage medium  200 . For example,  FIG. 3  illustrates print information data displayed on the displaying part  130  of the image forming device of  FIG. 2 . As illustrated in  FIG. 3 , the print information data comprises file names  310  of the images that correspond to the image data stored in the storage medium  200  and print history information  320  to indicate whether the images stored in the storage medium  200  have been printed before. The print history information  320  may comprise a designation of “Y” which indicates that the image having the corresponding file name  310  has been printed before, and “N” which indicates that the images having the corresponding file name  310  has not been printed before (i.e., is a new image). The print history information  320  may include a designation to correspond to each of the file names  310 .  
         [0038]     The print information data may be stored in the storage medium  200  as an independent file separate from the image data. For example, the storage medium  200  may include a print history file that contains the print information data for all the images that are stored in the storage medium.  
         [0039]     Alternatively, the print information data may be stored in each file of the image data or in each image. In this case, the print information data may be stored in a header part, in which a file size, a recording date, etc. are stored. For example, the print information data may be stored with a new field or an extra space in an existing field.  
         [0040]     The displaying part  130  may comprise a color LCD to display the images stored in the storage medium  200  in detail. The displaying part  130  may display one image at a time. Alternatively, the displaying part  130  may display a plurality of images at a time. Thus, the user can select the images to print from among the displayed images without difficulty.  
         [0041]     When the selecting part  120  receives the selection of the images, a control part  150  retrieves the selected images from the storage medium  200 , displays the selected images on the displaying part  130 , and controls the printing part  140  to print the selected images. The control part  150  comprises a storing part (not shown) to store the corresponding image data and the print information data received from the storage medium  200 . Additionally, according to some embodiments of the present general inventive concept, if the selected images retrieved from the storage medium  200  are not in a predetermined file format that is used in the image forming device, the control part  150  converts the selected images into the predetermined file format. For example, when the image forming device uses the JPEG file format, if the file format of the retrieved images is in the TIFF format, the GIF format, the BMP format, or another format that is different from the JPEG file format used in the image forming device, the control part  150  converts the file format of the retrieved images into the JPEG format.  
         [0042]      FIG. 4  is a flow diagram illustrating a method of forming an image according to another embodiment of the present general inventive concept. The method of  FIG. 4  may be performed by the image forming device illustrated in  FIG. 2 . Alternatively, the method of  FIG. 4  may be performed by other image forming devices. Thus, the method of  FIG. 4  is described below with reference to  FIGS. 2 and 3 . If the storage medium  200  storing the image data and the print information data is connected in the storage medium mounting part  110  and an input command to receive the image data and the print information data is received by the selecting part  120 , the control part  150  retrieves the image data and the print information data from the storage medium  200  at operation S 110 . The control part  150  then determines whether the images that correspond to the retrieved image data have been printed before by reading the retrieved print information data at operation S 120 . Also at operation S 120 , the control part  150  generates two folders in the storing part thereof and divides the images that correspond to the retrieved image data into two groups to be stored in the two folders, respectively, according to whether the images that correspond to the retrieved image data have been printed before. Thus, the two folders comprise a first folder including images that have been printed before and a second folder including the new images that have not been printed before.  
         [0043]     However, if the print information data does not exist in the storage medium  200  (e.g., if the storage medium  200  is newly adapted to the image forming device), the control part  150  considers all image data stored in the storage medium  200  as new image data for which the corresponding images have not been printed before.  
         [0044]     At operation S 130 , the control part  150  controls the displaying part  130  to display the images in the two folders containing the images. The control part  150  may perform the operation S 130  in response to a command received by the selecting part  120 .  
         [0045]     There may be various methods of displaying the images divided into the two folders at operation S 130 . In an exemplary embodiment of the present general inventive concept, the two folders may be displayed on the displaying part  130  and the user can select one of the two folders. The control part  150  then controls the displaying part  130  to display the images in the selected folder. In another exemplary embodiment of the present general inventive concept, all images in the two folders may be simultaneously displayed with different colors at their edges according to which of the two folders they are stored in. Alternatively, the images that have been printed before may be displayed with a shade thereon to indicate their print history. In another exemplary embodiment, only the new images may be displayed. Other methods of displaying the images to indicate which images have been printed before and which have not been printed before may also be used.  
         [0046]     At operation S 140 , the user selects the folder which contains the image(s) that he/she wants to print. If the user selects the folder containing the images that have been printed before, the images in the folder are displayed on the displaying part  130 . At operation S 150 , the user then selects the images to print from among the displayed images and inputs a command to print the selected images to the selecting part  120 . Accordingly, the selected images are printed at the printing part  140  at operation S 150 .  
         [0047]     If the user selects the folder containing the new images that have not been printed before, the new images are displayed on the displaying part  130  such that the user can select the images to print at operation S 170 . If the user selects the images and inputs a command to print the selected images, the control part  150  controls the printing part  140  to print the selected images at operation S 170 . However, if, at operation S 160 , it is determined that an auto-printing option is set, the control part  150  controls the printing part  140  to automatically print all of the new images at operation S 180 .  
         [0048]     When the new images are printed at operation S 170  or S 180 , the control part  150  updates (i.e., renews) the corresponding print information data in the storage medium  200  such that the printed new images are designated as images that have been printed before at operation S 190 . If the print information data to be updated does not exist in the storage medium  200 , the control part  150  generates the print information data using data about the printed new images and stores the generated print information data in the storage medium  200 .  
         [0049]     The auto-printing option may be set to automatically print the new images when the user inputs the command to retrieve the image data that corresponds to the new images that have not been printed before from the storage medium  200 . The print information data may be automatically updated in the storage medium  200 .  
         [0050]     The present general inventive concept may be embodied in a computer by running a program from a computer-readable medium, including but not limited to storage media such as magnetic storage media (ROMs, RAMs, floppy disks, magnetic tapes, etc.), optically readable media (CD-ROMs, DVDs, etc.), and carrier waves (transmission over the internet). The present general inventive concept may be embodied as a computer-readable medium having a computer-readable program code to cause a number of computer systems connected via a network to effect distributed processing.  
         [0051]     Although a few embodiments of the present general inventive concept have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the general inventive concept, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims and their equivalents.