Today Canon, Kodak, Fujifilm and Matsushita (Panasonic) updated DPOF (Digital Print Order Format) specification to version 1.1. DPOF has been a feature of all recent digital cameras, it's a mechanism for naming and marking digital images created by digital cameras to be printed later by printers / photofinishers which also understand DPOF. In the latest revision DPOF supports Multiple Image Printing, Specific Size Printing, Slide Shows (for intelligent projectors) and 2-byte Unicode text (greater language support).

The DPOF "Vision"

Press release: [PDF DPOF 1.1 WhitePaper]

Four Companies Revise Digital Print Order Format

TOKYO & ROCHESTER, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 17, 2000--Canon Inc.; Eastman Kodak Company; Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd.; and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (Panasonic), today announced that they have jointly developed a new version of the digital print order format (DPOF) for printing, transferring, and viewing photos from digital cameras. The revision is version 1.10.

Since the original launch of DPOF in October 1998, more than eighty companies have been licensed. Industries involved in digital imaging have supported the format, introducing a variety of DPOF-based products, such as digital cameras and printers. In addition, photofinishing services supporting the format have contributed to its popularity.

As digital cameras continue to improve in image quality and home printers yield better quality prints, digital photography continues to gain acceptance. And the number of photofinishing labs that accept the DPOF format is constantly increasing. Today images from digital cameras are regularly shared over the Internet, and many companies offer printing services online. Advances in the market have created the needs for a new level of support in digital cameras and other related equipment as well as photofinishing services. Version 1.10 responds to these needs.

Where version 1.00 defined the auto print format for directly printing images, version 1.10 further defines the format for auto transfer and auto play of the images stored in the removable media. The new version of DPOF offers a variety of new functions:

• Multiple Image Print--so that multiple pictures can be printed on the same sheet
  Specific Size Print--so that the user can select different sizes for their printed images
• Automatic Transfer--so that image files can be electronically transmitted to selected e-mail addresses or fax numbers.
• Automatic Play--so that the user can create ``slide shows'' of still pictures, audio files, and movie files that can be displayed using a digital camera, computer, or electronic display device.
• Unicode--so that images can be annotated in many different languages (Note: this is a 2-byte character code that supports most of the world's languages).

Additional information is available at http://www.panasonic.co.jp/avc/video/dpof/dpof_110/

The DPOF version 1.10 specifications are available free to those who already hold a license. Licensing operations for version 1.10 will begin on July 18. The logo remains unchanged.