Image supply apparatus, control method therefor, and printing system

Claim 2

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.

Claim 3

The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the interface with the printer is a USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface.

Claim 4

The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the image supply apparatus further comprises an image sensing unit configured to optically sense an image, and a user interface configured to designate creation of the DPOF file to be generated by said designation unit.

Claim 5

The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the handle number is a numeric character.

Claim 8

The method according to claim 5 , wherein the interface with the printer is a USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface.

Claim 9

The method according to claim 5 , wherein the image supply apparatus comprises an image sensing unit configured to optically sense an image, and a user interface configured to designating creation of the DPOF file.

Claim 10

A print system constituted by a printer and an image supply apparatus which has an interface for communicating with the printer using a Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP) and a removable storage medium, wherein the image supply apparatus receives a transfer request from the printer for an image to be printed, said 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, wherein the printer comprises: a receiving unit which receives from the image supply apparatus a print request list in which information specifying an image to be printed is described in a format expressed in a handle number usable in the PTP; a request unit which requests an image to be printed by using the handle number described in the received print request list; and a print unit which prints an image transferred from the image supply apparatus as a result of the request by said request unit, and wherein the image supply apparatus comprises: 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 to store 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 which performs 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 transmit unit which transmits the new print request list to the printer via the interface using the PTP, a reception unit which receives, from the printer via the interface using the PTP, an image transfer request including the handle number described in the new print request list transmitted to the printer, and a transfer unit which transfers, to the printer, an image specified by the handle number in the received image transfer request from the printer.

Claim 11

A print system constituted by a printer and an image supply apparatus which has an interface for communicating with the printer using a Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP) and a removable storage medium, wherein the image supply apparatus receives a transfer request from the printer for an image to be printed, said 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, wherein the printer comprises: a receiving unit which receives from the image supply apparatus a print request list in which information specifying an image to be printed is described in a format expressed in a handle number usable in the PTP; a request unit which requests an image to be printed by using the handle number described in the received print request list; and a print unit which prints an image transferred from the image supply apparatus as a result of the request by said request unit, and wherein the image supply apparatus comprises: 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 to store 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 which performs 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 transmit unit which transmits the new print request list to the printer via the interface using the PTP, a reception unit which receives, from the printer via the interface using the PTP, an image transfer request including the handle number described in the new print request list transmitted to the printer, and a transfer unit which transfers, to the printer, an image specified by the handle number in the received image transfer request from the printer.