Two-dimensional slider control

• US 8,468,465 B2
• Filed: 08/09/2010
• Issued: 06/18/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 08/09/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Warner, Peter, Bryant, Andrew, Arndt, James Clinton, Fedkiw, Olivier, Gallagher, Ryan Alan
• Primary Examiner(s): HO, RUAY L
• Application Number:
  US12/853,275
• Publication Number:
  US 20120036480A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,044 Days
• Field of Search: 715200-277, 715700-867, 700701-866, 709201-229, 705 50- 79, 345 30-111, 348206-2319, 707200-206, 707/609, 725/37
• US Class Current: 715/833
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04847 Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials

Abstract

Some embodiments provide a computer program that provides a graphical user interface (GUI) for controlling an application. The GUI includes a contiguous two-dimensional sliding region for defining several values. The GUI also includes several sliders for moving within the sliding region. Each slider selects one or more values from the several values based on a position of the slider within the sliding region. The selected values are parameters for controlling one or more operations of the application.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a computer program which when executed by at least one processor applies color correction operations to an image using a slider control, the slider control comprising a sliding region and a plurality of sliders that each controls a color correction operation, the computer program comprising sets of instructions for:

movably positioning a slider in the plurality of sliders within the sliding region;

in response to the positioning of the slider, determining the color correction operation of the slider based on a radial distance from a center of the sliding region to the position of the slider within the sliding region; and

applying to the image the determined color correction operation.

2. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the computer program further comprises a set of instructions for receiving a selection and movement into the sliding region of a particular user interface (UI) item in a plurality of user interface (UI) items for adding a particular slider in the plurality of sliders to the sliding region.

3. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 2, wherein the computer program further comprises a set of instructions for displaying a display area for displaying the sliding region within the display area.

4. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 3, wherein the set of instructions for displaying the display area comprises a set of instructions for displaying the display area for displaying the plurality of UI items within the display area.

5. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 3, wherein the display area is a first display area, wherein the computer program further comprises a set of instructions for displaying a second display area adjacent to the first display area, wherein the second display area is for displaying the plurality of UI items within the second display area.

6. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a media editing application which when executed by at least one processing unit applies color correction operations to an image using a slider control that comprises a sliding region and a plurality of sliders that each controls a color correction operation, the media editing application comprising sets of instructions for:

movably positioning a slider in the plurality of sliders within the sliding region;

in response to the positioning of the slider, determining the color correction operation of the slider based on an angle formed by a first line from a center of the sliding region to the position of the slider within the sliding region and a second line from the center of the sliding region to a defined position within the sliding region; and

applying the determined color correction operation to the image.

7. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 6, wherein the media editing application further comprises a set of instructions for receiving a selection of a UI item in a set of selectable UI items for specifying a set of pixels in the image to which the color correction operation of the slider is to be applied, the set of pixels having luminance values that fall within a particular range of luminance values.

8. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 7, wherein the media editing application further comprises a set of instructions for displaying a menu for displaying the set of selectable UI items.

9. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 6, wherein the media editing application further comprises a set of instructions for receiving a selection and movement into the sliding region of a UI item in a plurality of selectable UI items for adding a particular slider in the plurality of sliders to the sliding region.

10. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 6, wherein the media editing application further comprises a set of instructions for displaying a display area for (1) displaying the image and (2) displaying effects of color correction operations that are applied to the image.

11. A method of applying color correction operations to an image using a slider control, the slider control comprising a sliding region and a plurality of sliders that each controls a color correction operation, the method comprising:

movably positioning a slider in the plurality of sliders within the sliding region;

in response to the positioning of the slider, determining, by a processing unit, the color correction operation of the slider based on a radial distance from a center of the sliding region to the position of the slider within the sliding region; and

applying to the image the determined color correction operation.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the color correction operation is a saturation operation.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the color correction operation is a contrast operation.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the color correction operation is a brightness operation.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the color correction operation is a color cast operation.

16. A method of applying color correction operations to an image using a slider control that comprises a sliding region and a plurality of sliders that each controls a color correction operation, the method comprising:

movably positioning a slider in the plurality of sliders within the sliding region;

in response to the positioning of the slider, determining, by a processing unit, the color correction operation of the slider based on an angle formed by a first line from a center of the sliding region to the position of the slider within the sliding region and a second line from the center of the sliding region to a defined position within the sliding region; and

applying the determined color correction operation to the image.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the first line is an x-axis distance of a coordinate system of the sliding region and the second line is a y-axis distance of the coordinate system.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the color correction operation is a first color correction operation, the method further comprising determining a second, different color correction operation of a second, different slider based on a position of the second slider.

19. A method of applying color correction operations to an image using a slider control having a sliding region and a plurality of sliders that each controls a color correction operation, the method comprising:

movably positioning first and second sliders in the plurality of sliders within the sliding region;

in response to the positioning of the first and second sliders, determining, by a processing unit, (i) a first color correction operation of the first slider based on the position of the first slider within the sliding region and (ii) a second color correction operation of the second slider based on the position of the second slider within the sliding region; and

applying the first and second color correction operations to the image.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the position of the first slider is a first position in a first plurality of positions associated with a first range of values and the position of the second slider is a second position in a second plurality of positions associated with a second range of values.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the first range of values is different from the second range of values.

22. A method of applying color correction operations to an image using a slider control having a sliding region and a plurality of sliders comprising a first slider that controls a first color correction operation and a second slider that controls a second color correction operation, the method comprising:

grouping the first slider and the second slider into a group of sliders;

movably positioning the first slider in the plurality of sliders within the sliding region;

in response to the positioning of the first slider, determining, by a processing unit, the first color correction operation of the first slider based on the position of the first slider within the sliding region; and

applying to the image the determined color correction operation.

23. The method of claim 22 further comprising:

movably positioning the group of sliders within the sliding region;

in response to the positioning of the group of sliders, determining the first and second color correction operations of the first and second sliders based on corresponding positions of the first and second sliders within the sliding region; and

applying to the image the determined first and second color correction operations.

24. The method of claim 22 further comprising creating a third slider that represents the positions of the first and second sliders within the sliding region.

25. The method of claim 24 further comprising:

movably positioning the third slider within the sliding region;

in response to the positioning of the third slider, determining the first and second color correction operations based on a position of the third slider within the sliding region; and

applying to the image the determined first and second color correction operations.

26. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a computer program which when executed by at least one processing unit applies color correction operations to an image using a slider control having a sliding region and a plurality of sliders that each controls a color correction operation, the computer program comprising sets of instructions for:

movably positioning first and second sliders in the plurality of sliders within the sliding region;

determining, in response to the positioning of the first and second sliders, (i) a first color correction operation of the first slider based on the position of the first slider within the sliding region and (ii) a second color correction operation of the second slider based on the position of the second slider within the sliding region; and

applying the first and second color correction operations to the image.

27. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 26, wherein the first color correction operation is different from the second color correction operation.

28. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 26, wherein the set of instructions for applying the first and second color correction operations to the image comprises sets of instructions for:

identifying a portion of the image having a particular image attribute;

applying the first color correction operation only to the identified portion of the image; and

applying the second color correction operation to an entirety of the image.

29. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a computer program which when executed by at least one processing unit applies color correction operations to an image using a slider control having a sliding region and a plurality of sliders comprising a first slider that controls a first color correction operation and a second slider that controls a second color correction operation, the computer program comprising sets of instructions for:

grouping the first slider and the second slider into a group of sliders;

movably positioning the first slider in the plurality of sliders within the sliding region;

determining, in response to the positioning of the first slider, the first color correction operation of the first slider based on the position of the first slider within the sliding region; and

applying to the image the determined color correction operation.

30. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 29, wherein the computer program further comprises sets of instructions for:

movably positioning the group of sliders within the sliding region;

determining, in response to the positioning of the group of sliders, the first and second color correction operations of the first and second sliders based on corresponding positions of the first and second sliders within the sliding region; and

applying to the image the determined first and second color correction operations.

31. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 29, wherein the computer program further comprises a set of instructions for creating a third slider that represents the positions of the first and second sliders within the sliding region.