Method of automatic cropping

• US 9,165,388 B2
• Filed: 09/22/2008
• Issued: 10/20/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/22/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Delia, David J., Delia, Wayne M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Johnson, M Good
• Application Number:
  US12/235,282
• Publication Number:
  US 20100073402A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,584 Days
• Field of Search: 345/620, 382/289, 382/298
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/60 Editing figures and text; Combining figures or text

Abstract

A method for rectangular cropping including the steps of: (i) providing a sequence of images on a graphical interface device; (ii) analyzing each pixel in the first image included in the sequence of images; (iii) locating a boundary between the background of the first image and the border of the first image; (iv) determining the degree off true horizontal of the first image; (v) rotating the first image based on the determining step; (vi) applying a cropping operation to the first image; and (vii) automatically applying the cropping operation to each other image in the sequence of images.

Claims

1. A method of processing digital images, the method comprising the steps of:

providing user input devices, an image processing program, a display and an initial raw digital image;

determining an outer boundary of the initial raw digital image;

displaying the initial raw digital image on the display;

manually cropping, by a human user, the initial raw digital image using the image processing program and the input devices to form an initial processed image;

defining a dynamic template based upon the outer boundary determined at the determining step and the cropping performed by the human user at the cropping step;

selecting at least one additional raw digital image;

automatically cropping the at least one additional raw digital image(s) based upon the dynamic template to form at least one additional processed image(s);

wherein;

at the manually cropping step, the human user manually crops the initial raw digital image to form an initial processed image in the shape of a rectangle; and

at the automatically cropping step, the dynamic template crops the at least one additional raw digital image(s) to form at least one additional processed image the shape of a rectangle; and

the method further comprises the step of;

prior to the automatically cropping step, auto straightening the additional raw digital image.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the initial raw digital image is in the shape of a rectangle; and

the outer boundary determined by the determining step is in the shape of a rectangle.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the determining step comprises the sub-steps of:

analyzing each pixel in the initial raw digital image; and

locating the outer boundary between a background of the initial raw digital image and the outer edges of an object in the raw initial digital image.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the defining step comprises the sub-steps of:

calculating a border between the outer boundary determined by the determining step and crop lines selected by the human user at the manual cropping step; and

adjusting the dynamic template based on the border determined at the calculating sub-step.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the automatically cropping step includes the sub-steps of:

determining an outer boundary of the at least one additional raw digital image; and

cropping the at least one additional raw digital image(s) based upon the dynamic template, as adjusted at the adjusting sub-step, to form at least one additional processed image with a border similar to the border selected by the human user with respect to the initial raw digital image.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

prior to the manually cropping step, selecting a batch of digital images including the initial raw image and a plurality of additional raw digital images; and

automatically repeating the automatically cropping step for each additional raw digital image to respectively form a corresponding additional processed image based upon the dynamic template.

7. A method of processing digital images, the method comprising the steps of:

providing user input devices, an image processing program, a display and an initial raw digital image;

identifying a variable co-ordinate feature in the initial raw digital image;

manually cropping, by a human user, the initial raw digital image using the image processing program and the input devices to form an initial processed image;

defining a dynamic template based upon the spatial relationship between the variable co-ordinate feature and the cropping performed by the human user at the cropping step;

selecting at least one additional raw digital image(s); and

automatically cropping the at least one additional raw digital image based upon the dynamic template to form at least one additional processed image(s).