Image editing apparatus, and image editing method and program

1 . An image editing apparatus, comprising:

an image input device to which an image photographed by a predetermined photographic device is inputted;

a date presence determination device which determines whether or not a date which has been entered by the photographic device is present in the image having been inputted to the image input device;

a date insertion device which has a capacity of inserting a date into the image having been inputted to the image input device;

an image output device which outputs the image inputted to the image input device; and

a control device which determines whether or not to control the date insertion device to insert the date according to a result determined by the date presence determination device,

wherein if the control device determines to control the date insertion device to insert the date, the control device controls the image output device to output the image in which the date has been inserted by the date insertion device.

2 . The image editing apparatus as defined in claim 1 , wherein if the date presence determination device determines that the date which has been entered by the photographic device is present in the image having been inputted to the image input device, the control device controls the date insertion device to insert the date into the image having been inputted to the image input device.

3 . The image editing apparatus as defined in claim 1 , further comprising:

a date erasure device capable of erasing a date from the image having been inputted to the image input device,

wherein if the date presence determination device determines that the date which has been entered by the photographic device is present in the image having been inputted to the image input device, the control device controls the date erasure device to erase the date which has been entered by the photographic device from the image having been inputted to the image input device, and controls the date insertion device to insert the date into the image that the date which has been entered by the photographic device is erased by the date erasure device.

4 . The image editing apparatus as defined in claim 1 , wherein if the date presence determination device determines that no date which has been entered by the photographic device is present in the image having been inputted to the image input device, the control device controls the date insertion device to insert the date into the image having been inputted to the image input device.

5 . The image editing apparatus as defined in claim 1 , further comprising:

an order information obtaining device which obtains order information indicating whether or not there is an order for inserting the date,

wherein if there is no order for inserting the date according to the order information, the control device controls the date insertion device not to insert the date into the image having been inputted to the image input device.

6 . The image editing apparatus as defined in claim 1 , further comprising an order information obtaining device which obtains order information indicating whether or not there is an order for inserting the date,

wherein if there is no order for inserting the date according to the order information, the control device controls the date insertion device not to insert the date into the image having been inputted to the image input device; and controls the date erasure device to erase the date which has been entered by the photographic device.

7 . The image editing apparatus as defined in claim 1 , wherein if the date presence determination device determines that the date which has been entered by the photographic device is present in the image having been inputted to the image input device, the control device controls the image output device to output the image without inserting the date by the date insertion device; and

if the date presence determination device determines that no date which has been entered by the photographic device is present in the image having been inputted to the image input device, the control device controls the image output device to output the image that the date has been inserting by the date insertion device in the image having been inputted to the image input device.

8 . The image editing apparatus as defined in claim 1 , wherein:

if the date presence determination device determines that the date which has been entered by the photographic device is present in the image having been inputted to the image input device, the control device determines a visibility of the date according to a difference in color between the date which is entered by the photographic device and a peripheral area thereof, and

if the control device determines that the visibility of the date which has been entered by the photographic device is lower than a prescribed threshold value, the control device controls the date insertion device to insert the date into the image having been inputted to the image input device.

9 . The image editing apparatus as defined in claim 1 , further comprising:

a date information obtaining device which obtains at least one of date information in a header appended to the image, and date information in a photography information file associated with an image file containing the image,

wherein the date insertion device inserts the date according to the date information which is obtained by the date information obtaining device.

10 . The image editing apparatus as defined in claim 1 , further comprising:

a storage device which stores table information including information related to the date which has been entered by the photographic device in accordance with a model of the photographic device, and

a model information obtaining device which obtains at least one of model information in a header appended to the image, and model information in a photography information file associated with an image file containing the image,

wherein the date presence determination device determines whether or not the date which has been entered by the photographic device is present according to the model information which is obtained by the model information obtaining device, and the table information.

11 . The image editing apparatus as defined in claim 10 , wherein the table information includes at least one of a position, a color, and a character shape of the date which are entered by the photographic device.

12 . The image editing apparatus as defined in claim 1 , wherein the image output device carries out at least one of a process which outputs the image to a predetermined printer, and a process which records the image on a predetermined recording medium.

13 . The image editing apparatus as defined in claim 1 , further comprising:

an output target range extraction device which extracts an image of an output target range from the image having been inputted to the image input device, wherein:

the date presence determination device determines whether or not the date which has been entered by the photographic device is present in the image of the output target range; and

the date insertion device inserts the date into the image of the output target range according to a result determined by the date presence determination device.

14 . The image editing apparatus as defined in claim 1 , further comprising:

a portrait/landscape photography determination device which determines whether the image having been inputted to the image input device is a portrait orientation image or a landscape orientation image,

wherein the date insertion device conforms a vertical orientation of the date to be inserted in the image to the vertical orientation of the image, according to a result determined by the portrait/landscape photography determination device.

15 . The image editing apparatus as defined in claim 1 , further comprising a date correction device which corrects an incorrect photography date which has been entered by the photographic device to a correct photography date.

16 . An image editing method, comprising the steps of:

inputting an image which is photographed by a predetermined photographic device;

determining whether or not a date which has been entered by the photographic device is present in the image which has been inputted at the step of inputting;

determining whether or not to insert a date into the image which has been inputted at the step of inputting according to a result of the step of determining a date presence; and

inserting the date into the image which has been inputted at the step of inputting, if determining to insert the date into the image at the step of determining a date insertion.

17 . A computer readable medium having embodied thereon a computer program for processing by a compute, the computer program comprising:

a first code segment for a step of inputting an image which is photographed by a predetermined photographic device;

a second code segment for a step of determining whether or not a date which has been entered by the photographic device is present in the image which has been inputted at the step of inputting;

a third code segment for a step of determining whether or not a date is inserted into the image which has been inputted at the step of inputting according to a result of the step of determining a date presence; and

a fourth code segment for a step of inserting the date into the image which has been inputted at the step of inputting, if determining that the date is to be inserted into the image at the step of determining a date insertion.

18 . The medium of claim 17 , wherein the medium is a propagated signal.

19 . The medium of claim 18 , wherein the propagated signal is a carrier wave.