Albuming method with automatic page layout

• US 6,636,648 B2
• Filed: 07/02/1999
• Issued: 10/21/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 07/02/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Monument Peak Ventures, LLC (Dominion Harbor Enterprises, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Eastman Kodak Company
• Inventors: Wood, Mark D., Loui, Alexander C., McBride, John K., Shaffer, Stephen L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Chen, Wenpeng
• Application Number:
  US09/347,310
• Publication Number:
  US 20030072486A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,572 Days
• Field of Search: 382/175, 382/284, 382/294, 382/164, 382/168, 358/302, 358/448, 358/452, 358/453, 707/517, 348/231.2, 715/517
• US Class Current: 382/284
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/60 Editing figures and text; Combining figures or text

Abstract

An albuming method includes the automatic adaptation of the page layout of a plurality of images to a boundary condition of an event. The method includes the steps of receiving a plurality of images having event-determining information that relates to one or more events to which the images pertain and the generation of an event boundary based on the on the event-determining information. The images for each event are then laid out into a page format adapted to the event boundary determined for that event. For example, if the page format is determined to have a maximum number of images per page, and if the number of images remaining for the last page are fewer than the maximum number, the page layout of the last or more pages of the event is automatically adapted to the event boundary by, e.g., adjusting the arrangement of the pictures on the last page.

Claims

1. A method for automatically adapting the page layout of a plurality of images to a boundary condition of an event, said method comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving a plurality of images having event-determining information including at least one of time and date as well as content information that relates to an event to which the images pertain;

(b) automatically generating an event boundary and a sub-event boundary for the plurality of images based on the event-determining information, wherein time and date event boundaries are determined by clustering analysis and content sub-event boundaries are determined by block-based histogram correlation; and

(c) automatically laying out the images for the event into a page layout wherein the page layout of the images comprising the event is adapted to both the event boundary and the sub-event boundary determined for the event, wherein at least some adjacent sub-events are separated by page at sub-event boundaries.

7. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein step (c) further includes laying out the images for the event into a page layout having a maximum number of images per page as predetermined via a user interface, wherein the page layout of the event is further adapted to the maximum number of images per page.

8. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the number of images for the event laid out in step (c) further includes a remaining number of images, fewer than a predetermined maximum number, for a last page ending with the event boundary.

9. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein step (c) further includes rearranging a remaining number of images, fewer than a predetermined maximum number, into a page format for the last page that is different from the page format of the preceding pages of the event.

10. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein step (c) further includes rearranging a remaining number of images, fewer than a predetermined maximum number, changing the size of at least one of the remaining images.

11. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the step (c) further includes rearranging a remaining number of images, fewer than a predetermined maximum enlarging at least one of the remaining images.

12. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the step (c) further includes rearranging a remaining number of images, fewer than a predetermined maximum overlapping at least two of the remaining images.

13. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein step (c) further includes rearranging a remaining number of images, fewer than a predetermined maximum into a page format for the last two or more pages of the event that is different from the page format of the preceding pages of the event.

14. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the event-determining information received in step (a) further comprises at least one of a title and a caption corresponding to the images.

15. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the event-determining information received in step (a) further comprises at least one of a title and a caption corresponding to the images and wherein the event boundary determined in step (b) is based on at least one of the title and caption.

16. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the images are obtained from the digitization of photographic film and the event-determining information received in step (a) comprises the capture date if that is available, and if capture date is not available then the date of film development, and if the date of film development is not available then the date of digitization.

17. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the number of images for the event laid out in step (c) that are spread over the last two or more pages of the event include fewer than the maximum number of images per page.

2. A method for automatically adapting the page layout of a plurality of images to a boundary condition of an event, said method comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving a plurality of images having event-determining information that relates to an event to which the images pertain;

(b) automatically identifying and eliminating low quality images among the plurality of images using one or more of sharpness, noise, exposure and contrast quality measures to determine quality of the images, whereby a user is able to vary one or more of the quality measures in order to determine a level of image quality that is acceptable, thereby generating a plurality of acceptable images;

(c) automatically generating an event boundary for the plurality of acceptable images based on the event-determining information;

(d) automatically identifying duplicate images in an event using a histogram correlation content analysis;

(e) interfacing with the user to eliminate duplicate images in the event, whereby the user is able to vary a duplicate threshold in order to determine a level of similarity between a set of duplicate images; and

(f) automatically laying out the images for the event into a page layout according to a parametric model wherein the page layout of the images comprising the event is adapted to the event boundary determined for the event, wherein the parametric model is based on a number of rules that are applied to an image space divided into a number of grid components, and wherein a combined area of two or more grid components is used to lay out at least some of the images.

3. The method as claimed in claim 2 wherein the images include normal, HDTV and panoramic pictures and wherein the rules that are applied to the image space comprise:

the number of grid components on a page are equivalent to a maximum number of pictures per page, where each panoramic picture occupies a minimum of two grid components;

each normal and HDTV picture occupies a minimum of one grid component, along with any picture whose aspect ratio is less than or equal to 1;

2 (or 2;

1);

each panoramic picture (along with any picture having an aspect ratio greater than 1;

2 or 2;

1) occupies a minimum of two grid components; and

each picture should be centered in its grid component, with panoramic pictures occupying two grid components.

4. The method as claimed in claim 2 wherein the rules further include that if grid components adjacent to the picture are empty, then the picture is centered in the combined area.

5. The method as claimed in claim 2 wherein the rules further include that no two pictures should overlap.

6. A method for automatically adapting the page layout of a plurality of images to a boundary condition of an event, said method comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving a plurality of images having event-determining information including at least one of time and date as well as content information that relates to an event to which the images pertain;

(b) automatically generating an event boundary for the plurality of images based on the event-determining information, wherein time and date event boundaries are determined by clustering analysis and content boundaries are determined by block-based histogram correlation; and

(c) automatically laying out the images for the event into a page layout according to a rule-based parametric model wherein the page layout of the images comprising the event is adapted to the event boundary determined for the event.

18. A method as claimed in claim 6 wherein step (c) further includes laying out the images for the event into a page layout having a maximum number of images per page as predetermined via a user interface, wherein the page layout of the event is further adapted to the maximum number of images per page.

19. A method as claimed in claim 6 wherein the number of images for the event laid out in step (c) further includes a remaining number of images, fewer than a predetermined maximum number, for a last page ending with the event boundary.

20. A method as claimed in claim 6 wherein step (c) further includes rearranging a remaining number of images, fewer than a predetermined maximum number, into a page format for the last page that is different from the page format of the preceding pages of the event.

21. A method as claimed in claim 6 wherein step (c) further includes rearranging a remaining number of images, fewer than a predetermined maximum number, changing the size of at least one of the remaining images.

22. A method as claimed in claim 6 wherein the step (c) further includes rearranging a remaining number of images, fewer than a predetermined maximum enlarging at least one of the remaining images.

23. A method as claimed in claim 6 wherein the step (c) further includes rearranging a remaining number of images, fewer than a predetermined maximum overlapping at least two of the remaining images.

24. A method claimed in claim 6 wherein step (c) further includes rearranging a remaining number of images, fewer than a predetermined maximum into a page format for the last two or more Pages of the event that is different from the page format of the preceding pages of the event.

25. A method as claimed in claim 6 wherein the event-determining information received in step (a) further comprises at least one of a title and a caption corresponding to the images.

26. A method as claimed in claim 6 wherein the event-determining information received in step (a) further comprises at least one of a title and a caption corresponding to the images and wherein the event boundary determined in step (b) is based on at least one of the title and caption.

27. A method as claimed in claim 6 wherein the images are obtained from the digitization of photographic film and the event-determining information received in step (a) comprises the capture date if that is available, and if capture date is not available then the date of film development, and if the date of film development is not available then the date of digitization.

28. A method as claimed in claim 6 wherein the number of images for the event laid out in step (c) that are spread over the last two or more pages of the event include fewer than the maximum number of images per page.