Patent ID: 8102558

Claim:
An image supply apparatus which has an interface for communicating with a printer using a Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP) and a removable storage medium, wherein the apparatus receives a transfer request for an image to be printed from the printer, the transfer request including a handle number that has a format defined in the PTP and specifies an image stored in the removable storage medium, and supplies the image specified by the handle number to the printer, comprising: a designating unit configured to designate at least one image to be printed among images stored in the removable storage medium independently of a connection with the printer via the interface and for storing information specifying the designated images into the removable storage medium as a DPOF (Digital Print Order Format) file, where, in the DPOF file, each of the designated images is described using a file name with a path name different from the handle number used in the PTP; a conversion unit configured to perform a conversion process, if a DPOF file exists in the removable storage medium when the image supply apparatus can communicate with the printer via the interface using the PTP, in order to generate, from the DPOF file, a new print request list including new print request information in which at least a description of the file name in the DPOF file is converted into a description expressed in a handle number usable in the PTP; a transmitting unit configured to transmit the new print request list to the printer using the PTP; and a transferring unit configured to transfer, in response to receiving from the printer a transfer request including the handle number described in the new print request list transmitted to the printer, an image specified by the handle number included in the received transfer request that includes the handle number described in the new print request list transmitted to the printer.