Image analysis – Image enhancement or restoration – Intensity – brightness – contrast – or shading correction
Reexamination Certificate
1997-10-22
2001-04-10
Couso, Von J. (Department: 2623)
Image analysis
Image enhancement or restoration
Intensity, brightness, contrast, or shading correction
C358S531000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06215912
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus for retouching a digital image by drawing the image at, for example, the cursor part of the digital image on a screen repeatedly in other parts, and a recording medium in which a computer program for image processing is recorded.
Along with the wide spreading of a digital camera, scanner, multimedia system, etc., general users come to have more opportunities of taking an image into a computer. Accordingly, as a tool for supporting the retouching of image taken into the computer, various products of software are presented for retouching the taken digital image.
Such software includes as retouching methods for erasing unnecessary objects, located in front of a building, such as passers-by and trees, and leaving the background building, a method of magnifying the partial image containing the unnecessary objects, and retouching and erasing this part dot by dot, on considering the surrounding intensity and color, and a method of cutting out a part of a building wall, sky or the like in a proper range, pasting the partial image to a part of unnecessary object, and erasing.
An image of a wall or the like, meanwhile, which appears to be entirely uniform in intensity in a photographic image is actually composed of pixels of different colors and intensity delicately changing depending on the texture, ray of light, etc. Therefore, even in the case of retouch of dot by dot for erasing a part of the wall which appears to be uniform, a sophisticated skill is required for retouching into a natural image on considering the surrounding intensity and colors.
Incidentally, a method of pasting another portion by utilizing the function called “copy and paste” is easy, but a photographic image as mentioned above is composed of pixels of different colors and intensity despite appearing to be uniform entirely, and therefore the boundary of the pasted portion and the surrounding is obvious, and an unnatural image with a strange feel is produced. It hence requires correction processing for making the boundary line vague to melt the pasted portion into the surrounding, making the retouching operation complicated.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to solve the problems discussed above, and is to provide an image processing apparatus for retouching an image without requiring a special skill.
According to the present invention, an image portion and a range in which the retouching is expected is designated as by dragging a mouse, the retouching portion is positioned from the designated image portion and range, the color and/or color intensity of each pixel forming the designated image portion are detected, the detected color and/or color intensity are stored in a memory, data required for retouching is generated by reading the stored color and/or color intensity, and the image portion within the designated range is retouched in accordance with the generated data.
The above and further objects and features of the invention will more fully be apparent from the following detailed description with the accompanying drawings.
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patent: 5276510 (1994-01-01), Cok et al.
patent: 5412767 (1995-05-01), Long
patent: 5572607 (1996-11-01), Behrends
Shiitani Shuichi
Watanabe Masaki
Couso Von J.
Fujitsu Limited
Staas & Halsey , LLP
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