Mixed but indistinguisable raster and vector image data types

• US 20040257367A1
• Filed: 07/15/2004
• Published: 12/23/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 07/26/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Gwozdz, Daniel, Bradstreet, John, Joshi, Tanuja Abhay, Cover, Steven Andrew, Fay, Jonathan Edgar, Connell, Edward W., Clay, Nicholas John, Bronskill, John Fitzgerald, Smith, Alvy Ray, Sehgal, Ajai
• Granted Patent: US 7,148,907 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/441
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/60 Editing figures and text; Combining figures or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 17/00 Three dimensional [3D] modelling, e.g. data description of 3D objects
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 19/20 Editing of 3D images, e.g. changing shapes or colours, aligning objects or positioning parts
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2210/32 Image data format
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2219/2004 Aligning objects, relative positioning of parts
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2219/2016 Rotation, translation, scaling

Abstract

An image processing application employs the concept of integral pre-multiplied alpha channel, and combines the techniques of multi-resolution representation, graph-structured representation, and automatic and intelligent data type conversion in order to permit a computer user to mix and manipulate both raster and vector based images in a single user interface while remaining unaware of the different data types underlying the images.

Claims

1. In a computer having memory wherein is stored raster data corresponding to a raster image and vector data corresponding to a vector image, a method of executing an image manipulation operation comprising the steps of:

receiving user input requesting performance of an image manipulation operation on a selected one of the raster and vector images, the operation being selected by the user from a plural group consisting of all operations available for image manipulation within a single user interface for application to both raster and vector image types, with user input steps required to apply the operation to raster data being the same as user input steps required to apply the operation to vector data; and

automatically executing the requested image manipulation operation on the selected image, whereby the image manipulation operation is executed in substantially the same amount of time regardless of the data type of the selected image without regard to which image manipulation operation is requested.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the selected image is the raster image, and the requested image manipulation operation is one which resizes at least a portion of the selected image, the method further comprising the steps of:

resampling the selected image, prior to the step of receiving user input requesting performance of an image manipulation operation, thereby producing at least one pre-calculated image having a different resolution than the selected image;

storing in the memory the pre-calculated image; and

using the stored pre-calculated image when performing the step of automatically executing the requested image conversion operation.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the resolution of the pre-calculated image varies from the resolution of the selected image by a predetermined multiplicative factor.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the resolution of the pre-calculated image varies from the resolution of the selected image by a factor of an integral power of two.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the raster image is a shaped image.

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of:

eliminating at least some transparent pixels from the raster data corresponding to the raster image to form a raster sprite.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the raster data comprises a premultiplied alpha channel.

8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of:

storing in the memory a graph, the graph comprising nodes representing ordered image manipulation operations which have been executed on the selected image in processing the selected image.

9. The method according to claim 8, further comprising the step of re-executing at least a portion of the ordered operations represented by the stored nodes to effectively undo at least another portion of the operations.

10. The method according to claim 8, further comprising the steps of:

modifying the selected image; and

re-executing at least a portion of the ordered operations represented by the stored nodes to effectively redo those operations on the selected image.

11. The method according to claim 8, wherein the selected image is the vector image and the method further comprises the steps of:

determining whether an operation represented by a second node in the graph is only executable on raster image data; and

if the operation is only executable on raster image data, and if a first node in the graph immediately prior to the second node yields data in vector format, automatically inserting in the graph at a location between the first and second nodes a third node corresponding to a rasterization operator, wherein the rasterization operator is operable to convert the image data corresponding to the selected image to raster image data.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the computer is associated with an output device and the method further comprises the steps of;

determining the image resolution of the output device; and

associating with the rasterization operator a resolution parameter, wherein the resolution parameter corresponds to the image resolution of the output device.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the step of determining the image resolution of the output device further comprises the step of reading a quality setting corresponding to the output device.

14. The method according to claim 8, wherein the selected image is the raster image and the method further comprises the steps of;

determining whether an operation represented by a second node in the graph is only executable on vector image data; and

if the operation is only executable on vector image data, and if a first node in the graph immediately prior to the second node yields data in raster format, automatically inserting in the graph at a location between the first and second nodes a third node corresponding to a vectorization operator, wherein the vectorization operator is operable to convert the image data corresponding to the selected image to vector image data.

15. The method according to claim 8, wherein the selected image varies temporally.

16. The method according to claim 8, wherein at least one of the nodes further comprises a parameter which varies temporally.

17. The method according to claim 8, wherein the selected image is a two-dimensional image and the method further comprises the steps of;

determining whether an operation represented by a second node in the graph is only executable on three-dimensional image data; and

if the operation is only executable on three-dimensional image data, and if a first node in the graph immediately prior to the second node yields data in two-dimensional format, automatically inserting in the graph at a location between the first and second nodes a third node corresponding to a conversion operator, wherein the conversion operator is operable to convert the image data corresponding to the selected image to three-dimensional image data.

18. The method according to claim 8, wherein the selected image is a three-dimensional image and the method further comprises the steps of;

determining whether an operation represented by a second node in the graph is only executable on two-dimensional image data; and

if the operation is only executable on two-dimensional image data, and if a first node in the graph immediately prior to the second node yields data in three-dimensional format, automatically inserting in the graph at a location between the first and second nodes a third node corresponding to a conversion operator, wherein the conversion operator is operable to convert the image data corresponding to the selected image to two-dimensional image data.

19. The method according to claim 8, further comprising the steps of:

determining whether an alteration of the order of the nodes representing image manipulation operations in the graph to create an alternative graph would yield an alternative graph which is more efficiently executable than the graph, wherein each of the graph and the alternative graph has an output;

if the alteration would yield an alternative graph which is more efficiently executable than the graph, determining whether the output of the graph is the same as output of the alternative graph would be; and

if the output of the graph is the same as the output of the alternative graph would be, automatically altering the order of the nodes representing image manipulation operations in the graph to yield the alternative graph.

20. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing a method of manipulating image data via a user interface comprising the steps of:

receiving user input requesting performance of an image manipulation operation on an image, the image having a data type selected from the group consisting of raster and vector, the operation being selected from the plural group consisting of all operations available for image manipulation within the user interface for application to both raster and vector image types, with user input steps required to apply the operation to raster data being the same as user input steps required to apply the operation to vector data; and

automatically executing the requested image manipulation operation on the image, whereby the operation is executed in substantially the same amount of time regardless of the data type of the image without regard to which image manipulation operation is requested.

21. (Cancelled)

22. (Cancelled)

23. In a computer having memory wherein is stored data corresponding to an image of a data type selected from the group consisting of raster and vector, a method of executing an image manipulation operation comprising the steps of:

receiving user input requesting performance of an image manipulation operation on the image, wherein the operation is selected from a plural group consisting of all operations available for image manipulation within a single user interface for application to both raster and vector image types, and wherein the user input is independent of the data type of the image, regardless of which image manipulation operation is requested to be performed; and

automatically executing the requested image manipulation operation on the image transparently to the user.

24. (Cancelled)

25. In a computer having memory wherein is stored data corresponding to a raster image and data corresponding to a vector image, wherein the computer is associated with an output device, a method of manipulating image data comprising the steps of:

receiving user input requesting performance of a series of image manipulation operations on a selected one of the raster and vector images, wherein the series comprises at least one image manipulation operation; and

manipulating the image data of the selected image by automatically executing the requested image manipulation operations on the image data of the selected image while converting the data type only when necessary to the completion of an operation, and at an optimum resolution for the output device.