System and method for selecting pictures for presentation with text content

• US 7,930,647 B2
• Filed: 12/11/2005
• Issued: 04/19/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/11/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Topix
• Original Assignee: Topix
• Inventors: Skrenta, Richard
• Primary Examiner(s): Bashore; William L
• Assistant Examiner(s): KEATON, SHERROD L
• Application Number:
  US11/299,712
• Publication Number:
  US 20070136680A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,955 Days
• Field of Search: 715/730, 715/780, 715/500, 715/760, 715/764, 715/763, 715/781, 715/243, 715/788, 707/3, 707/104.1, 707/530, 707 4- 6
• US Class Current: 715/788
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/4393 Multimedia presentations, e.g. slide shows, multimedia albums

Abstract

One or more pictures may be selected for use with a text item, such as an article (news story, blog entry, online magazine) or post (e.g. informal blog entry). Pictures may be selected from a library, such as a collection of stock photographs. Stock photographs are pictures that are available for purchase and use. Information about the content of the picture may be identified. The text item that is to be supplied the picture may be also be analyzed in its content. A given picture from the collection is then programmatically selected based on the identified information about the picture and the text item. A presentation may be created based on the text item and the given picture that is selected.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for selecting pictures for use with text items in creating presentations, the method comprising:

identifying information about individual pictures in a collection of pictures, the information including (i) content information that identifies one or more topics associated with each of the pictures in the collection, and (ii) layout information associated with each of the pictures in the collection;

identifying one or more requirements or conditions for use in selecting a given picture from the collection of pictures, the one or more requirements indicating a desired picture layout information, including implementing one or more rules that govern the appearance of pictures in a layout that includes one or more text items;

identifying information about a content of the one or more text items;

programmatically selecting the given picture from the collection of pictures;

wherein programmatically selecting the given picture is based at least in part on the information about the one or more text items and the content information identified about the given picture;

wherein programmatically selecting the given picture includes using the layout information of the given picture to determine that the given picture satisfies the one or more requirements or conditions;

wherein programmatically selecting a given picture from the collection of pictures further includes selecting one or more candidate pictures based at least in part on the information about the one or more text items and the content information of the given picture;

determining which, if any, of the one or more candidate pictures are to be used with the one or more text items based on a set of rules governing a usage of the pictures in the collection;

wherein identifying information about individual pictures in a collection of pictures includes identifying respective slant information indicating a slant orientation of an object appearing in at least a portion of a respective one of the pictures in the collection;

wherein implementing the one or more rules includes implementing one or more rules that govern the appearance of pictures based on the slant orientation of the pictures;

wherein determining which, if any, of the one or more candidate pictures are to be used with the text item includes determining the slant orientation of one or more a candidate pictures; and

providing the presentation using the text item and the given picture according to the determined layout for the presentation.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining which, if any, of the candidate pictures are to be used includes determining a position on the presentation where the given picture is to be displayed, and disqualifying one or more candidate pictures because the slant orientation of an object appearing in those pictures is not directed towards the text item if the candidate picture is displayed at the candidate position.

3. A computer-implemented method for selecting a picture for use with a text item in creating a presentation, the method comprising:

programmatically analyzing each of a plurality of image files to identify association data for each image file in a collection of image files;

identifying information about a content of the text item;

programmatically selecting a given image file from the collection of image files based at least in part on the information about the text item and the association data of the given image file;

creating a presentation based on the text item and the given image file; and

wherein programmatically analyzing each of a plurality of image files includes programmatically analyzing a slant of an object in individual image files in order to determine association data that includes data about the slant of the object, and wherein programmatically selecting a given image file is based at least in part on the slant of a given object in the given image file.

4. A method for selecting images for use with an article on a web page, the method comprising:

programmatically analyzing text contained within each of a plurality of image files in order to identify one or more categories for individual image files that comprise the collection;

selecting, from a plurality of text items, one or more text items for use in a presentation that is to include at least one image from a corresponding image file;

determining one or more categories for each of the plurality of text items;

programmatically selecting, for the presentation, a given image file from the collection of image files based at least in part on a comparison of the identified one or more categories of individual image files with one or more categories of the given text item;

identifying layout information about an image of one or more of the individual image files, and wherein programmatically selecting the given image file is based in part on determining that the image of the image file conforms to a condition or requirement of the layout for the presentation;

including the given image file with the one or more text items as part of the presentation; and

wherein the condition or requirement of the layout corresponds to a specified slant of an object in the image file.

5. A computer-implemented method for selecting a given image from a plurality of images for use with one or more text items in creating a presentation, the method comprising:

identifying respective image layout information associated with each of the plurality of images;

determining a layout for a presentation that is to include the one or more text items;

identifying, based on the determined layout for the presentation, one or more requirements or conditions for use in selecting the given image from the plurality of images, the one or more requirements indicating a desired image layout information;

programmatically selecting the given image from the plurality of images using the image layout information associated with the given image to determine that the given image satisfies the one or more requirements or conditions;

wherein identifying respective image layout information includes identifying respective slant information indicating a slant orientation of an object in a respective one of the pictures the collection; and

providing the presentation using the one or more text items and the given image according to the determined layout for the presentation.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein programmatically selecting a given image from the plurality of images further includes:

identifying information about a content of the one or more text items;

identifying content information that indicates one or more topics associated with each of the plurality of images;

selecting one or more candidate images based at least in part on the information about the one or more text items and the content information of the given image;

determining which, if any, of the one or more candidate images are to be used with the one or more text items based on a set of rules governing a usage of the plurality of images.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein identifying, based on the determined layout for a presentation, one or more requirements or conditions includes implementing one or more rules that govern the appearance of images in the presentation, and wherein determining which, if any, of the one or more candidate images are to be used with the one or more text items includes disqualifying one of the one or more candidate pictures based on the one or more rules that govern the appearance of images in the determined layout.

8. The method of claim 7,

wherein implementing the one or more rules includes implementing one or more rules that govern the appearance of images based on the slant orientation of the images, and

and wherein determining which, if any, of the one or more candidate images are to be used with the one or more text items includes determining the slant orientation of one or more candidate images.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein determining which, if any, of the candidate images are to be used includes determining a position on the presentation where the given image is to be displayed, and disqualifying one or more candidate images because the slant orientation of an object appearing in those images is not directed towards the text item if the candidate image is displayed at the determined position.