Image management methods, image management systems, and articles of manufacture

• US 7,925,650 B2
• Filed: 07/27/2006
• Issued: 04/12/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/27/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Micro Focus LLC (Open Text Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Moroney, Nathan M., Obrador, Pere
• Primary Examiner(s): Rones; Charles
• Assistant Examiner(s): Gebresenbet; Dinku W
• Application Number:
  US11/495,847
• Publication Number:
  US 20080025647A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,720 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 707/723
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/5838 using colour

Abstract

Image management methods, image management systems, and articles of manufacture are described. According to one embodiment, an image management method includes storing a plurality of images using storage circuitry, storing a plurality of representations for respective ones of the images, and the representations comprise data corresponding to a plurality of human comprehensible words of a human readable lexicon and descriptive of respective characteristics of content of the images, associating respective ones of the representations with respective ones of the respective one of the images, accessing search criteria, comparing the search criteria with the representations, identifying a selected one of the images responsive to the comparing, and accessing the selected one of the images from the storage circuitry responsive to the identifying.

Claims

1. An image management method comprising:

storing a plurality of images using storage circuitry;

for each image;

processing the image, by a processor, on a pixel-by-pixel basis to determine a color of each of a plurality of pixels of the image, resulting in a plurality of colors of the image, where each color of the image is the color of at least one pixel of the image;

associating, by the processor, for each pixel, the color of each pixel a human comprehensible lexical color name descriptive of the color of the pixel; and

,

for each color of the image, determining, by the processor, an extent to which the color is present within the image based on a number of pixels of the image that have the color;

storing, by the processor, a plurality of representations for respective ones of the images, and wherein the representations individually comprise data corresponding to a plurality of human comprehensible words of a human readable lexicon and descriptive of respective characteristics of content of the respective image,

wherein, for each image, the words are descriptive of each color present within the image,

wherein, for each image, the representation further includes numeric data for each color present within the image indicating the extent to which the color is present within the image;

associating respective ones of the representations with respective ones of the images, by the processor;

accessing search criteria, by the processor;

comparing the search criteria with the representations, by the processor;

identifying a selected one of the images responsive to the comparing, by the processor; and

accessing the selected one of the images from the storage circuitry after the identifying, by the processor.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the search criteria comprises at least one of the words of the human readable lexicon and numerical data indicative of a desired extent of the respective characteristic which corresponds to the at least one of the words to be present in the selected one of the images.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising quantifying the extents of the respective characteristics present in the images and providing numerical data indicative of the extents of the respective characteristics, and wherein the comparing comprises comparing the numerical data of the respective characteristic of the search criteria with the numerical data of the respective characteristic of the images.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the search criteria comprises a histogram comprising a plurality of numerical values corresponding to respective ones of the characteristics.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the accessing the search criteria comprises:

providing a search image; and

using the search image, providing numerical data of the search criteria which is indicative of the extent of a respective characteristic present in the search image.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising ranking the images based on similarities of the images to the search criteria responsive to the comparing.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the identifying comprises identifying the selected one of the images being the most similar to the search criteria.

8. An image management system comprising:

storage circuitry configured to store a plurality of images and to store a plurality of representations corresponding to human comprehensible words of a human readable lexicon and associated with respective ones of the images, wherein the words are descriptive of characteristics of content of the images and the respective representations are indicative of the extents of the respective characteristics present in respective ones of the images; and

processing circuitry coupled with the storage circuitry and configured to identify one of the images from an other of the images using the representations associated with the one and the other of the images,

wherein, for each image, the words are described of each color present within the image,

wherein, for each image, the representation further includes numeric data for each color present within the image indicating an extent to which the color is present within the image,

and wherein the processing circuitry is further to, for each image;

process the image on a pixel-by-pixel basis to determine a color of each of a plurality of pixels of the image, resulting in a plurality of colors of the image, where each color of the image is the color of at least one pixel of the image;

associate, for each pixel, the color of each pixel a human comprehensible lexical color name descriptive of the color of the pixel; and

,

for each color of the image, determine the extent to which the color is present within the image based on a number of pixels of the image that have the color.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein the processing circuitry is configured to access search criteria and to use the search criteria to identify the one of the images.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein the processing circuitry is configured to generate the search criteria comprising numerical data for respective ones of the characteristics using a search image.

11. The system of claim 9 wherein the search criteria comprises at least one of the words of the human readable lexicon, and numerical data indicative of a desired extent of the respective characteristic which corresponds to the word to be present in the selected one of the images.

12. The system of claim 9 wherein the characteristics are colors, wherein the storage circuitry is configured to store the representations comprising a plurality of histograms, and wherein the histograms comprise numerical data indicating the extents of the colors in the respective images, and wherein the search criteria is in the form of a histogram comprising the numerical data indicative of the desired extent of the at least one of the colors to be present in the identified one of the images, and wherein the processing circuitry is configured to compare the histogram of the search criteria with respect to individual ones of the histograms of the images to identify the one of the images.

13. A computer-readable data storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, wherein execution of the computer program by a processor causes a method to be performed, the method comprising:

accessing search criteria usable to identify an image having at least one desired color;

searching numerical data of a plurality of stored images using the search criteria, wherein the numerical data for one of the stored images comprises a plurality of values for a plurality of colors corresponding to a plurality of lexical color names of a human readable lexicon, and wherein the values are indicative of quantities of the respective colors present in the respective one of the stored images;

responsive to the searching, selecting at least one of the stored images having the at least one desired color;

processing the image on a pixel-by-pixel basis to determine a color of each of a plurality of pixels of the image, resulting in a plurality of colors of the image, where each color of the image is the color of at least one pixel of the image;

associating, for each pixel, the color of each pixel a human comprehensible lexical color name descriptive of the color of the pixel; and

for each color of the image, determining an extent to which the color is present within the image based on a number of pixels of the image that have the color.

14. The computer-readable data storage medium of claim 13 wherein the accessing search criteria comprises accessing text input of a user and comprising at least one of the lexical color names and numerical data indicative of a desired extent of the color corresponding to the at least one lexical color name to be present in the selected image.

15. The computer-readable data storage medium of claim 13 wherein the accessing search criteria comprises:

accessing image data regarding at least one color of a search image and corresponding to one of the lexical color names to be present in the selected image; and

using the accessed image data, providing numerical data of the search criteria and indicative of a desired extent of the at least one color, and wherein the searching the numerical data of the plurality of stored images comprises searching using the numerical data of the search criteria.