U.S. patent application number 14/611202 was filed with the patent office on 2016-01-28 for system and method for automatic generation of image distributions.
The applicant listed for this patent is LumaPix, Inc.. Invention is credited to Luis Fernando Talavera Abdala, Michael Mondry, Michael Sheasby.
Application Number | 20160027195 14/611202 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 34198063 |
Filed Date | 2016-01-28 |
United States Patent
Application |
20160027195 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Sheasby; Michael ; et
al. |
January 28, 2016 |
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AUTOMATIC GENERATION OF IMAGE
DISTRIBUTIONS
Abstract
A method and system for automatically producing arrangements of
two-dimensional extents in a computer-based editing or animation
environment is presented. The method consists of defining a set of
objects having two or more dimensions automatically calculating and
presenting an arrangement of send objects, and optionally iterating
to produce alternative arrangements. The arrangements may use
templates to guide the selection of sizes, border colors and
transparency, rotation, and other attributes of the contained
regions.
Inventors: |
Sheasby; Michael;
(Boucherville, CA) ; Mondry; Michael; (Nuns
Island, CA) ; Abdala; Luis Fernando Talavera; (St.
Cloud, FR) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
LumaPix, Inc. |
Brossard |
|
CA |
|
|
Family ID: |
34198063 |
Appl. No.: |
14/611202 |
Filed: |
January 31, 2015 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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12539318 |
Aug 11, 2009 |
8947451 |
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14611202 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
345/619 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06T 11/60 20130101;
G06Q 10/043 20130101 |
International
Class: |
G06T 11/60 20060101
G06T011/60 |
Claims
1. A computer-implemented process for generating arrangements of a
set of images, wherein there is a number of images in the set,
comprising: receiving from a user the set of images, wherein the
set can contain any number of images, generating, in a memory of a
computer, a collage of the set of images in a plurality of frames,
thereby providing a number of frames, by: specifying the plurality
of frames according to a set of attributes, and setting the number
of frames to correspond to the number of images, generating an
arrangement of the plurality of frames wherein the plurality of
frames fits within an overall dimension defining a border with a
uniform distance between all edges of all frames and edges of
adjacent frames and the border in the collage, associating each of
the images with at least one of the frames, sizing and cropping
each image to fit the frame with which it is associated; and
rendering the sized and cropped images in the frames to create the
collage of the images with a uniform distance between all edges of
all images and edges of adjacent images and the border in the
collage; and causing the collage to be displayed on a display.
2. The computer-implemented process of claim 1, wherein each image
has attributes that are independent of content of the image, and
wherein associating an image with a frame is based on matching one
or more attributes of the image to one or more attributes of the
frame, without requiring analysis of the content of the image.
3. The computer-implemented process of claim 1, wherein images and
frames have corresponding attributes, and wherein associating an
image to a frame is based on matching one or more attributes of the
images to one or more attributes of the frames.
4. The computer-implemented process of claim 1, wherein associating
an image with a frame is based on attributes of the images and
frames.
5. The computer-implemented process of claim 1, wherein arranging
the frames is based on attributes of the frames.
6. The computer-implemented process of claim 1, wherein the
arrangement of the plurality of frames is specified by a template
having a number of frames, and wherein the number of frames is
adjusted to match the number of images.
7. A computer-implemented method for generating arrangements of a
set of images wherein there is a number of images in the set,
comprising: receiving from a user the set of images, generating, in
a memory of a computer, a first collage of the set of images in a
template comprising a plurality of frames by: specifying the
plurality of frames according to a set of attributes and
corresponding in number to the number of images, wherein values
used for the set of attributes in the first collage are selected by
the computer from within ranges defined for the attributes,
generating a first arrangement of the plurality of frames wherein
the plurality frames fits within an overall dimension with uniform
spacing among the frames, and associating each of the images with
at least one of the frames in the first arrangement; causing the
first collage to be displayed on a display; generating, in the
memory of the computer, a second collage of the set of images using
the same template as the first collage, by: specifying the set of
attributes of the plurality of frames such that values used for the
set of attributes in the second collage are selected by the
computer from within ranges defined for the attributes and differ
from the values used for the set of attributes in the first
collage, generating a second arrangement of the plurality of frames
wherein the plurality of frames fits within the overall dimension
with uniform spacing among the frames, and associating each of the
images with at least one of the frames in the second arrangement;
causing the second collage to be displayed on the display; and
enabling the user to select at least one of the first and second
arrangements.
8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein images have
attributes that are independent of content of the images, and
wherein associating an image with a frame is based on matching one
or more attributes of the image to one or more attributes of the
frame, without requiring analysis of the content of the image.
9. The computer implemented method of claim 8, wherein generating
the second arrangement comprises varying an attribute within a
range of values for the attribute.
10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein varying the
attribute comprises varying the attribute in a random fashion.
11. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein images and
frames have corresponding attributes, and wherein associating an
image to a frame is based on matching one or more attributes of the
images to one or more attributes of the frames.
12. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, wherein generating
the second arrangement comprises varying an attribute within a
range of values for the attribute.
13. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein varying
the attribute comprises varying the attribute in a random
fashion.
14. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein associating
an image with a frame is based on attributes of the images and
frames, and wherein generating the second arrangement comprises
varying one or more of the attributes within ranges of values for
the one or more attributes.
15. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein varying
the attribute comprises varying the attribute in a random fashion.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
TABLE-US-00001 [0001] Appl. # Title Relationship 60/446,751 Method
and System for interactive 2D Regions of a composition generated by
the current region segmentation invention can be further subdivided
using the methods taught in said related application. 60/469,873
Method and system for multipage Compositions generated by the
current invention print layout can be subdivided for printing using
the methods in said related application. 60/446,752 Method and
system for distributing Regions of a composition generated by the
current multiple dragged objects invention can be populated with
data using the methods taught in said related application.
60/446,757 Method and system for interactive Regions of a
composition generated by the current cropping of a graphical object
within invention can be cropped using the methods taught a
containing region in said related application.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to computer-based editing
systems and methods. More particularly, the present invention
relates to a method and system for the automatic creation of
arrangements of two-dimensional data, such as images within a
collage.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Digital imaging systems enable the user to manipulate images
such as those captured by a digital camera, scanned from paper
originals, or generated by other digital imaging software systems.
One such operation involves assembling multiple ages into a single
larger image, forming a "collage", or an arrangement of images
which is itself an image. Software tools, such as the
LumaPix:FotoFusion.TM. software application published by LumaPix,
simplify the creation of collages with tools that enable the user
to position, resize and interactively crop images in order to
generate larger collage.
[0004] To create a collage, the user typically selects images from
a repository, then brings the onto a collage surface, or "Canvas",
where further editing (such as rotating, mirroring, or resizing
member images) possible. The act of producing the collage may be
aided by tools such as the subdivision of the canvas into smaller,
aligned frames. In many cases the user must manually populate the
empty frames with images from the repository. In other prior art,
there exist "templates", or pre-defined arrangements of frames
within canvases, which can be populated with a selected set of
images with a single action by the user. While this technique
requires less work of the user than manual placement, it also
restricts the variety of collage compositions to only those
alternatives made possible by re-ordering the insertion of selected
images into pre-arranged frames in the template; the overall
structure of the generated collage remains identical to the
template collage. While this uniformity may be desirable for
certain applications, the results become monotonous for other
applications where variety and uniqueness are appreciated. Novel
collage layouts retain visual interest, a desirable trait when
viewing collections of collages.
[0005] It is therefore desirable to provide a method and system for
producing two-dimensional arrangements that obviates or mitigates
the disadvantages of the prior art. In particular, it is desirable
to provide a method and system for automatically generating unique
arrangements of images, ideally with the ability to produce novel
varieties of arrangements that have been "inspired" by a selected
template layout.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] According to a first aspect of the present invention, there
is provided a method for editing an arrangement of objects in a
computer-based editing system, comprising the steps of: [0007] a)
Defining a set of objects to be arranged, each object member of
said set specifying an extent in at least two dimensions
[0008] b) Automatically calculating and presenting an arrangement
of said set of objects within an extent of at least two dimensions
such that said arrangement of said objects fills said extent,
cropping said images as necessary to allow uniform spacing if
desired. [0009] c) Optionally, automatically calculating and
presenting alternative arrangements of said set of objects.
[0010] According to a further aspect of the present invention,
there is provided a method wherein the user selects a template
arrangement determining a set of attributes to be used in the
calculation of a new arrangement. The attributes specified by this
template may include region border width and/or color and/or
transparency and/or texture and/or rotation and/or size
distribution.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be
described, by way of example only, with reference to the attached
Figures, wherein:
[0012] FIG. 1a is a schematic of an editing system operating on a
single computing device according to an embodiment of the present
invention;
[0013] FIG. 1b is a schematic of an editing system operating on a
client-server basis in a networked system of computing devices
according to an embodiment of the present invention;
[0014] FIG. 2 illustrates the user interface of a preferred
embodiment of the present invention
[0015] FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a method according to an
embodiment of the present invention;
[0016] FIG. 4 illustrates two alternative styles of collages, or
arrangements of data objects exposing a two-dimensional extent: a
regular, or aligned collage, and an irregular, or free-floating
collage.
[0017] FIGS. 5A and 5B (herein collectively "FIG. 5") illustrates
various techniques for producing alternative arrangements of a
given collage, including varying data object order, varying data
object size and position, and varying attributes (such as color or
thickness) of the frames enclosing the data objects.
[0018] FIG. 6 illustrates a resizing of the overall collage extent
forced by the variation of the size and position of data objects
contained within that collage.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0019] The present invention provides a system and method for
editing digital information. In the following discussion, the
present invention is described for illustrative purposes with
reference to the manipulation of raster image information. However,
one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the invention,
in its broadest aspect, is applicable to applications other than
image applications, and it is not intended that the scope of the
invention be so limited.
Computer Imaging System
[0020] A computer-based system 1 suitable for use of this invention
is schematically depicted in FIG 1a. The application system 1
includes a computer 2 that has a central processing unit (CPU) 3
which may include local memory 3a, static memory 4 such as
Read-only memory (ROM), main memory 5 such as Random Access memory
(RAM), mass memory 6 such as a computer disk drive, a system bus 7,
adaptor(s) for external input devices 8, and a display adapter 9
which may include local memory 9a. The computer 2 communicates with
an alphanumeric input device 10 such as a keyboard, a pointing
device 11 such as a mouse for manipulating a cursor and making
selections of data via said input adapter 8. The computer 2
communicates with a video display 12 such as a computer monitor via
said display adapter 9.
[0021] The computer 2 may execute software such as the imaging
system described below to allow the system 1 to render high quality
graphics images on the monitor 12. The CPU 3 comprises a suitable
processing device such as a microprocessor, for example, and may
comprise a plurality of suitable processing devices. The graphics
adaptor 9 may also be capable of executing instructions.
Instructions are stored in the CPU local memory 3a, static memory
4, display adapter local memory 9a, main memory 5, and/or mass
memory 6 and are executed by the CPU 3 or the display adapter
9.
[0022] The static memory 4 may comprise read only memory (ROM) or
any other suitable memory device. The local memory may store, for
example, a boot program for execution by CPU 3 to initialize the
graphics imaging system 1. The main memory 5 may comprise random
access memory (RAM) or any other suitable memory device. The mass
memory 6 may include a hard disk device, a floppy disk, an optical
disk, a flash memory device, a CDROM, a file server device or any
other suitable memory device. For this detailed description, the
term memory comprises a single memory device and any combination of
suitable devices for the storage of data and instructions.
[0023] The system bus 7 provides for the transfer of digital
information between the hardware devices of the system 1. The CPU 3
also receives data over the system bus 7 that is input by a user
through alphanumeric input device 10 and/or the pointer device 11
via an input adaptor 8. The alphanumeric input device 10 may
comprise a keyboard, for example, that comprises alphanumeric keys.
The alphanumeric input device 10 may comprise other suitable keys
such as function key for example. The pointer device 11 may
comprise a mouse, track-ball, tablet and/or joystick, for example,
for controlling the movement of a cursor displayed on the computer
display 12.
[0024] The system 1 of FIG. 1a also includes display adapter
hardware 9 that may be implemented as a circuit that interfaces
with system bus 7 for facilitating tendering of images on the
computer display 12. The display adapter hardware 9 may, for
example, be implemented with a special graphics processor printed
circuit board including dedicated random access memory 9a that
helps speed the rendering of high resolution, color images on a
viewing screen of the display 12.
[0025] The display 12 may comprise a cathode ray tube (CRT) or a
liquid crystal display particularly suited for displaying graphics
on its viewing screen. The invention can be implemented using
high-speed graphics workstations as well as personal computers
having one or more high-speed processors.
[0026] In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the system 1
utilizes specialized graphics software which implements a user
interface and related processing algorithms as described in
subsequent sections to enable the user to produce works viewed on
the display 12 and which may be stored in mass memory 6.
[0027] With reference to FIG. 1b, the system may also operate in a
networked environment of multiple computing devices. Specifically
the system may perform certain calculations on a server device 13,
which communicates via a network adaptor 13d with a client device
14 which itself includes a network adaptor 14d. The communication
between client and server enables the method of the current
application to be executed in a distributed fashion, with
flexibility as to which of the two devices performs each step as
will be described in further detail below.
[0028] Employing system 1, a collage or other digitally edited
representation of multiple source data can be computed and edited.
FIG. 2 shows a typical graphical user interface employed by a user
to create and edit a composition. Embodiments of the present
invention will be described with reference to the illustrated
LumaPix::FotoFusion.TM. interface. However, as will be apparent
from the following description, the present invention is not
limited to any particular user interface or application software
package, and can be used in any system enabling the assembly of
compositions of multiple source data objects exposing
two-dimensional extents.
[0029] In some examples of prior art, assembling collages is
achieved by manually adding images to a workspace in an iterative
fashion. The workspace may have been pre-configured with a set of
frames which accept the images into pre-defined positions and
sizes, thereby accelerating the process of arranging the collage;
this set of pre-configured frames is herein referred to as a
`template`. A collection of templates may expose a variety of
border styles (for example, blurred edges versus hard edges, blue
versus red color borders around the images); however, in prior art
the primary purpose of each template is to provide a set of fixed
`pigeonholes` which determine how a user-specified set of pictures
will be arranged, thus reducing the amount of manual work required
by the user.
[0030] In prior art, using a template with a set of selected
pictures determines the size and position of each image in the
resulting collage, with the end product matching the template
layout precisely. In particular, should a template contain
sufficient frames to hold ten images, then prior art methods may
respond to attempts by the user to insert twelve images by creating
an additional instance of the ten-image collage to hold the two
extra images, or by reducing the list of some images by two images
by some automated criteria or user intervention and continuing with
ten images.
[0031] The method and system of the present invention improve upon
this static definition of a template, in that the template instead
defines guidelines for the production of a final collage which may
contain an number of source images. The template may additionally
include attributes such as border color and style, which are used
as guidelines for the creation of variations upon a theme as
opposed to exact duplicates of the template styles. Importantly,
the user has the ability to iteratively generate new collages had
upon a selected template and set of source images; the user can
choose a favorite result from within the generated series of unique
compositions, which vary within ranges allowed by the template.
[0032] In other prior art, software tools exist to optimize the use
of wide-format paper when outputting multiple "jobs" to a printer,
arranging those unrelated jobs (such as photos or text documents)
to fit side-by-side on the printed output as opposed to beside one
another (thus leaving less paper blank and wasted). Each of the
documents to be printed must be printed at an exact size (number of
square inches) and resolution (dots per inch) and without any
modification to the document (e.g. cropping part of the image away
to fit a space). As a result, the prior art produces a "best fit of
images without affecting those images".
[0033] The method and system of the present invention improve
differ from that automatic printed document arrangement
functionality by allowing cropping and scaling of the source images
to take place. This allows the user to create compositions of
interesting arrangements of images that appear evenly laid out,
with uniform distances between all edges of all images in the
collage. This effect is not possible unless the program is allowed
to crop images to fit. The prior art for printing layout is a
technical process designed to optimize paper usage; the current
invention is an layout tool designed to present images in an
aesthetic manner. The prior art must not affect the source images
in any way; the current invention may crop and scale images as
required to accomplish the goal of a uniformly-spaced layout.
[0034] The method of the present invention will be described with
reference to the flow chart shown in FIG. 3.
[0035] The method of the present invention commences at step 3a, by
selecting a set of images, with no bounds on the number of images
in that set. As will be easily conceived by one of skill in the
art, selection may take place via browsing the file system,
conducting searches for suitable data objects, referring to a
database of data objects, or other techniques. Alternatively, in
this step, the user may elect to merely specify a number of frames
as opposed to the specific images that will fill those frames. This
enables the user to generate an `empty` collage, ready for the
introduction of images at a later time if this is desirable. In
another alternative, the user may skip step 3a and proceed to step
3b, the selection of a template, which may suggest a number of
empty frames in the absence of a number specified by the user.
[0036] The method proceeds to step 3b, where in a preferred
embodiment the user selects a template from a library of available
templates; the library contains "styles" such as those shown in
FIG. 4, where by way of example one template produces a `regular`
collage 40 (a grid-like arrangement where frames 41 do not overlap
and have no rotation) and as second template products a `free-form`
collage 42 (in which frames 43 can be rotated to any angle and
empty space can exist between images). If the user chooses not to
select a template, a default template may be employed. Step 3b is
itself optional, as the user may choose to simply apply an
`autocollage` tool, which uses the steps in the current invention
to create an automatic layout to fill dimensions specified by the
user.
[0037] The method proceeds to step 3c, in which the user clicks a
button 20 or otherwise indicates his desire to create an
arrangement automatically. The system 1 responds by producing a
collage in the style of the currently selected template, in a
method described more fully in a subsequent section, and displaying
it to the user for consideration.
[0038] In step 3d, the user evaluates the automatically-generated
collage for suitability. If it is unacceptable deficient wider some
criteria, the user may elect to regenerate a new collage using the
same template (which in the current invention will produce a unique
new arrangement with the same visual character as the current
template) or alternatively to select a different template
entirely.
[0039] The ability to generate a novel arrangement at this step 3c
in the method is unique among current art; indeed, because in
existing art the generation of arrangements from a template in
current art involves copying the arrangement and frame attributes
from the template directly into the final collage, there is often
no need in existing art for the option to regenerate the collage as
this would produce identical results to the extant collage. In
contrast, a user of the current invention can continue to request
alternative arrangements and see a stream of unique variations upon
the theme proposed by the initial collage.
[0040] Continuing to step 3e, the user may elect to apply
additional editing tools to modify the automatically-generated
collage. Various techniques for accelerating the positioning of
images within frames, and the subdivision of frames to hold
additional images, are described in commonly assigned U.S. Patent
Application entitled "METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR INTERACTIVE 2D REGION
SEGMENTATION", USPTO application No. 60/446,751, the contents of
which are incorporated herein by reference.
[0041] At step 3f, the user is satisfied with his composition and
the process competes.
[0042] Alternatively, if at step 3d the user is not satisfied with
some aspect of the arrangement of his collage, the method proceeds
to step 3g in which the user determines whether the attributes of
the template are acceptable but the specific arrangement is not (in
which case the user proceeds to step 3c), or the attributes of the
collage itself are unacceptable (loading to the selection of a
different template in step 3b).
[0043] Finally, it is important to note that the user can add new
images to the collage or remove existing images from the collage at
any point through this process; for example, the user can choose to
add three images to a collage already holding 10 flumes to produce
a new collage with 13 frames.
[0044] The method of the present invention will now be described in
greater detail with reference to FIG. 5.
[0045] The user selects a set 50 of source images from storage, in
this diagram by way of example a set of nine images labeled A
through I. Note that the user may also elect to simply specify a
number of images for the collage, which will be created with empty
placeholder frames that can be fined in at a later time. The user
also selects a template 51, in this diagram by way of example a
template that produces regular, or grid-based, arrangements of
images. Note also that the system 1 may provide a default template,
removing the requirement for the user to manually specify a
template at this step.
[0046] The system 1 automatically generates a collage 52 which has
the following properties: [0047] It is composed of a set of frames
53, each capable of holding an image from the set of source images
50. [0048] the set of frames 53 is of the same size as the same as
the set of source images 50 selected by the user (in this case 9
frames), unless the template includes an upper bound on the number
of frames a generated collage may contain (in which case the system
1 may generate one or multiple additional instances of the collage
52 as required) [0049] The frames 53 are filled with the images A-I
selected by the user 50 [0050] The arrangement of the frames 53
within the collage 52 and the attributes of those frames are within
a threshold of the values, or within the range of values specified
by, the template 51 sewed by the user. [0051] At this or any
subsequent moment the user may elect to re-generate the collage; in
the preferred embodiment of the invention, he may indicate this
choice by clicking on a button 20 with the pointing device 11 or a
similar contrivance. [0052] When the user so triggers a
re-arrangement of the collage, the results are generated by the
system 1 in such a manner that the newly-generated collage 54-59
vary from the original 52 in some manner determined by the template
51, including by way of example, [0053] Variations (54, 55) in the
order of image insertions into the frames of the collage 52, such
that the order of the displayed images 50 but no other aspect of
the collage is affected [0054] Variations (56, 57) in the position
and size of frames holding the source images 50 [0055] Variations
(58) in the width, color, transparency, and/or ornamentation of the
frames holding each source image 50. [0056] Variations (59) in the
rotation of the frames holding each source image 50.
[0057] With respect to variations in frame size, the template 51
may support specification of a fixed size (which would result in
collages with evenly-sized frames, and a rectangular matrix of
equally-sized frames if the template additionally restricts
rotation to zero and arrangements to non-overlapping).
[0058] Additionally, the template may support specification of as
distribution of sizes; for example, a template may specify that 20%
of the frames in the resulting collage are four times the size of
the smallest, and that 20% of the frames are twice the size of the
smallest.
[0059] Variations of parameters exposed by the template may be
computed by a variety of methods, including: [0060] direct copying
of a single value included in the template [0061] random selection
of a value within a bounded range specified by the template, using
a uniform distribution or one suggested by the template for that
parameter
[0062] With respect to variations in frame size and position, note
that in most cases the overall dimensions of the collage extent 52
remain the same between variations upon the collage; alternatively,
the user may enable the resizing of the collage based upon the
shape of the images it contain. As illustrated in FIG. 6, an
arrangement 60 of a set of image A-I has a particular size (in this
case, the width of images A+B+C and the height of images A+D+H).
The resizing of images D, F, I and H to form D',F', I'and H'
respectively has been allowed to resize the collage to a new
dimension 61 (in this case, the width of images A+B+C and the
height of images A+D'+I'+G).
[0063] Referring once again to FIG. 1b, it is noted that the
execution of the method of this invention can be performed in a
distributed fashion between a client 14 and at least one server
application 13. Making use of such a network may be desirable for
several reasons, including: [0064] Application security. By placing
the executable code to compute the arrangement of the collage on
the server 13, it becomes impossible to create an unauthorized copy
of the program (as the user must connect to the server 13 to
produce a collage, and unauthorized attempts to connect can be
detected and denied). [0065] Efficient use of bandwidth. Consider a
user who wishes to create collages from a set of images that are
available in advance (for example, producing a visual selection
list of items available for sale that are listed in a central
database of such items). Working on the Client computer 14, the
user can query the server 13 for a collage which is assembled by
the server according to the method of this invention; the resulting
collage makes much more efficient use of the bandwidth available
via the network 15 than would be the case had the server 13 simply
returned all available images. In particular, the user can use the
collage as a `table of contents` for selecting higher-bandwidth
versions of images available from the server 13. What is unique in
this method is the dynamic assembly of the collage by the server
13, based on the unpredictable query he makes of the server's
database.
[0066] In a networked embodiment of this invention, [0067] A. The
code used to generate the arrangement of frames resides on the
server 13 [0068] B. The parameters of the creation of the collage
(the overall size of the collage, the template for its creation,
the image format to write the insulting image in) may reside on the
server 13 or client 14 [0069] C. The images used as sources for the
collage may reside on the server 13 or client 14.
[0070] The alternatives B and C are independent and result in
different uses: [0071] If the parameters reside on the client and
the images reside on the server 13, the resulting application
allows a user to compose a novel arrangement of images from a
database. Examples include the selection of wedding pictures from a
web database by a guest at a wedding: the owner of the pictures has
a fixed set of images available but cannot predict which pictures a
specific guest would be interested in seeing in a collage. [0072]
If the parameters and images reside on the client 14, the use of
the server to create the collage indicates that the collage
generation is a `web service`, in which the user does not have to
install the collage-making software on the client machine 14 but
simply make use of a service available on the network. [0073] If
the parameters reside on the server 13 and the images reside on the
client 14, the user has the ability to select local images and have
a collage generated and sent via the network which conforms to a
style determined by the operator of the web service. As an example,
a real estate agent may take pictures of a house and use a
server-based collage generation tool to have a collage with a
visual style conforming to the format expected by the realty
company.
* * * * *