Patent ID: 7782473

Claim:
A method in an image transforming apparatus of transforming an image format of image data stored in an apparatus connected to the image transforming apparatus via a network, the method comprising the steps of: receiving a request from the apparatus for format information; providing the apparatus with the format information in response to the request for format information, the format information containing plural different image format transformation types that can be performed within the image transforming apparatus, each image format transformation type indicating a transformation from a respective initial image format to a different respective final image format; receiving a request for transforming the image format of the image data from the apparatus, said request being sent from the apparatus based on the format information; acquiring the image data from the apparatus; transforming the image format of the image data acquired from the apparatus thereby to form format-transformed image data; and providing the format-transformed image data to the apparatus, wherein the format information provided to the apparatus further contains information of a transformation speed at which the image format of the image data can be transformed within the image transforming apparatus; wherein the step of acquiring the image data comprises: informing the apparatus of a first location in which the apparatus is to store the image data, the first location being indicated as a URL; and acquiring the image data from the first location in which the apparatus has stored the image data.