Generating imitation custom artwork by simulating brush strokes and enhancing edges
First Claim
1. A method for modifying an initial image to produce a resulting image having the appearance of custom art work, comprisingstoring a pixellated representation of said initial image in an electronic memory,inspecting pixels of said pixellated representation of said initial image to derive, without human input, modifications which reduce the precision of said initial image in a manner simulating techniques used by humans to produce custom art work, by selecting locations in said initial image, determining contrast of said initial image at each location in at least two directions, determining a direction of maximum contrast at each location, and selecting elongated portions of said initial image at each location, the elongated portion at each respective location being oriented with its elongated dimension perpendicular to the direction of maximum contrast at said respective location,automatically applying said modifications to said pixels of said pixellated representation of said initial image to generate a pixellated representation of said resulting image by blurring said initial image to form a background within which said portions are modified, and modifying each selected portion to approximate one or more of uniform luminance, uniform color saturation and uniform color hue as compared to said initial image, whereby said resulting image has the appearance of brush strokes, andproducing a visual output of said resulting image.
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Abstract
The precision of an initial image is reduced through image automatic processing in a manner simulating techniques used in the production of a custom art work. The resulting image, although generated without human intervention, has a pleasing, customized appearance which can be desirable to consumers seeking decorative art work. One way of reducing the precision of the initial image is modifying portions of the image to have more uniform luminance, color saturation, or color hue, producing a resulting image appearing to contain brush strokes. Alternatively, the precision of the initial image is reduced by locating contrast edges in the image, and modifying the luminance along these edges, producing a resulting image in which objects and features are outlined and have an enhanced definition from the background.
177 Citations
32 Claims
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1. A method for modifying an initial image to produce a resulting image having the appearance of custom art work, comprising
storing a pixellated representation of said initial image in an electronic memory, inspecting pixels of said pixellated representation of said initial image to derive, without human input, modifications which reduce the precision of said initial image in a manner simulating techniques used by humans to produce custom art work, by selecting locations in said initial image, determining contrast of said initial image at each location in at least two directions, determining a direction of maximum contrast at each location, and selecting elongated portions of said initial image at each location, the elongated portion at each respective location being oriented with its elongated dimension perpendicular to the direction of maximum contrast at said respective location, automatically applying said modifications to said pixels of said pixellated representation of said initial image to generate a pixellated representation of said resulting image by blurring said initial image to form a background within which said portions are modified, and modifying each selected portion to approximate one or more of uniform luminance, uniform color saturation and uniform color hue as compared to said initial image, whereby said resulting image has the appearance of brush strokes, and producing a visual output of said resulting image.
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12. A method for modifying an initial image to produce a resulting image having the appearance of custom art work by identifying contrast edges in the initial image, comprising
storing a pixellated representation of said initial image in an electronic memory, generating at each pixel of said initial image a differential measure of luminance contrast by computing a luminance variation between pixels neighboring said pixel, and computing a logarithm of said luminance variation, and modifying luminance of said initial image by combining the logarithm of each said differential measure with luminance of a corresponding pixel in said initial image, to generate luminance values for said resulting image, whereby objects in said resulting image have enhanced definition from background, and producing a visual output of said resulting image.
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17. Apparatus for modifying an initial image to produce a resulting image having the appearance of custom art work, comprising
an electronic memory storing a pixellated representation of said initial image, computing circuitry inspecting pixels of said pixellated representation of said initial image to derive, without human input, modifications which reduce the precision of said initial image in a manner simulating techniques used by humans to produce custom art work, by selecting locations in said initial image, determining contrast of said initial image at each location in at least two directions, determining a direction of maximum contrast at each location, and selecting elongated portions of said initial image at each locations, the elongated portion at each respective location being oriented with its elongated dimension perpendicular to the direction of maximum contrast at said respective location, and automatically applying said modifications to said pixels of said pixellated representation of said initial image to generate a pixellated representation of said resulting image, by blurring said initial image to form a background within which said portions are modified, and modifying each selected portion to approximate one or more of more uniform luminance, uniform color saturation and uniform color hue as compared to said initial image, whereby said resulting image has the appearance of brush strokes, and an output port for connection to an output device capable of producing a visual output of said resulting image.
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28. Apparatus for modifying an initial image to produce a resulting image having the appearance of custom art work by identifying contrast edges in the initial image, comprising
an electronic memory storing a pixellated representation of said initial image, computing circuitry inspecting pixels of said pixellated representation of said initial image to derive, without human input, modifications which reduce the precision of said initial image in a manner simulating techniques used by humans to produce custom art work, by generating at each pixel of said initial image a differential measure of luminance contrast by computing a luminance variation between pixels neighboring said pixel, and computing a logarithm of said luminance variation, and modifying luminance of said initial image by combining the logarithm of each said differential measure with luminance of a corresponding pixel in said initial image, to generate luminance values for said resulting image, whereby objects in said resulting image have enhanced definition from background, and an output port for connection to an output device capable of producing a visual output of said resulting image.
Specification