Group print, and print system and method for making group print

An apparatus for producing print image data used for printing a group print, which is a single print that contains a main frame and a plurality of smaller sub frames, one or more first sub frames having different sizes than one or more second sub frames, the apparatus comprising:

• a device for selecting the main frame from among a plurality of picture frames;
• a device for selecting the sub frames from among those picture frames which relate to the main frame, said sub frames are selected from the plurality of picture frames recorded on an image recording medium except for the picture frame recorded on the image recording medium that is selected for the main frame;
• and
• a device for synthesizing image data of the main and sub frames in accordance with a predetermined group print format to produce the print image data, such that the main frame is merged in a main frame print area, and the sub frames are reduced in size and merged in a sub frame print area that is located adjacent to the main frame print area, wherein the sub frames are arranged on one side or on two or three sides of the main frame, or around the main frame and wherein each side of each sub frame is shorter than every side of the main frame.

A print system for making a group print, which is a single print containing a main frame and a plurality of sub frames that are smaller than the main frame and arranged adjacent to the main frame, the apparatus comprising:

• a device for allocating group ID data to each of a plurality of picture frames photographed on an image recording medium, the group ID data being representative of a group the picture frame belongs to;
• a device for taking out image data of the plurality of picture frames from the image recording medium;
• a device for selecting the main frame from among the plurality of picture frames;
• a device for selecting the sub frames from among those picture frames which belong to the same group as the main frame with reference to the group ID data, said sub frames are selected from the plurality of picture frames recorded on the image recording medium except for the picture frame recorded on the image recording medium that is selected for the main frame, wherein one or more first sub frames have different sizes than one or more second sub frames;
• a device for synthesizing the image data of the main and sub frames in accordance with a predetermined group print format to produce print image data, wherein the sub frames are arranged on one side or on two or three sides of the main frame, or around the main frame and wherein each side of each sub frame is shorter than every side of the main frame;
• and
• a device for printing the group print based on the print image data.

A method of producing a group print, which is a single print, comprising:

• (a) specifying a main frame position;
• (b) arranging a plurality of sub frames adjacent to the main frame, wherein the sub frames are arranged on one side or on two or three sides of the main frame, or around the main frame;
• (c) selecting a main image from a plurality of images;
• (d) selecting a plurality of sub images from the plurality of images, said sub images are selected from a plurality of picture frames recorded on an image recording medium except for the picture frame recorded on the image recording medium that is selected for the main image;
• (e) printing the main image in the main frame;
• and
• (f) printing the sub images in the sub frames,
• wherein the sub frames are smaller than the main frame in that each side of each sub frame is shorter than every side of the main frame;
• wherein the selected sub images relate to the main image;
• and
• wherein one or more first sub frames differ in size from one or more second sub frames.