Image analysis – Image transformation or preprocessing – Image storage or retrieval
Reexamination Certificate
1998-08-13
2001-06-05
Couso, Yon J. (Department: 2721)
Image analysis
Image transformation or preprocessing
Image storage or retrieval
C382S254000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06243502
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to the field of image processing. It is more specifically directed to digital image processing methods and systems.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Scientists and engineers continue to make improvements in the ways images are scanned and/or stored in digital format. Generally, image-description information is stored in structured fields that collectively are described as the image's header. The image's header are stored in an image's file in addition to the image's pixel values. For example, the TIFF file format produced and trademarked by Aldus Corporation, (411 First Ave. South, Seattle, Wash.), defines many such structured fields.
There are continually developing image editing packages which are employed to use and perform various processing tasks to the stored image files. Because of the large number of possible structured fields, many image-editing packages recognize only a fraction of the fields defined. A result of the lack of recognition of some fields, is that the information stored in these unrecognized fields is often lost. Thus, following the completion of the processing task performed by the editing package, the image file is reformed in processed files that lack the fields that are not recognized. For example, a very popular editing package, Adobe PhotoShop, (sold by Adobe Systems Incorporated, 1585 Charleston Rd., Mountain View, Calif.) deletes the image-description information and the color interpretation of the image's pixel values.
It should be apparent that the removal of the image- description information often degrades the value and quality of the reformed image. Furthermore, it can impede the operation of subsequent image processes and/or systems that would otherwise use this removed information in their operation. Generally the lost information include information that would ordinarily serve various purposes. For example, metadata (a totality of image textural catalog information) that describes an image's content may be stored in an image's header for subsequent use in indexing the image in a database. The removal of a part or all of the metadata may render the file not to be able to be indexed by an image system at some later time.
In order to better understand the present invention, the invention is described in regard to a particular imaging format. The format described is the TIFF format having the following tags definitions:
ImageWidth
(100 hex) - width of the
image in pixels.
ImageLength
(101 hex) - length of the
image in pixels.
BitPerSample
(102 hex) - number of bits
per color plane.
Orientation
(112 hex) - The correct
orientation with respect to
rows and columns of the
data.
SamplesPerPixel
(115 hex) - number of color
planes.
ImageDescription
(10E hex) - ASCII field
that describe the content.
StripOffsets
(111 hex) - the length of
the header and where the
data starts in the file.
TransferFunction
(12D hex) - A lookup table
to convert the data.
DateTime
(132 hex) - the time stamp
when file is created
WhitePoint
(13E hex) - the
chromaticities of the white
point.
PrimaryChromaticities
(13F hex) - the
chromaticities of the
color.
Copyright
(8298 hex) - ASCII field of
the copyright message.
Tables 1 and 2, show a structure of the TIFF files at each stage of the process before the present invention. It is noted that the tags listed are not an exhaustive list of tags that a TIFF file may have. The group of tags is selected only to show one particular utilization. Table 1 shows an example of a header and data for an original image file with the structured fields/tags before the file is edited by PhotoShop.
TABLE 1
Original Scanned File Structure:
Header:
Width
tag
Length
tag
BitPerSample
tag
SamplesPerPixel
tag
Orientation
tag
Offset
tag
Description
tag
TransferFunction
tag
DateTime
tag
WhitePoint
tag
PrimaryChromaticities
tag
Copyright
tag
Data:
(bytes of image data)
XXXXXXXXX XXX XXXXX
Table 2 shows an example of a modified file structure of fields/tags after the image file is edited by PhotoShop. It is noted that Table 2 no longer has tags for ImageDescription, TransferFunction, DateTime, WhitePoint, PrimaryChromaticities or Copyright. All information in these tags is lost for subsequent image files for all further processing an/or viewing.
TABLE 2
Modified File Structure:
(Example: After editing image with PhotoShop)
Header:
New Width
tag
New Length
tag
BitPerSample
tag
SamplesPerPixel
tag
Orientation
tag
new Offset
tag
Data:
(bytes of image data)
YYYY YY YYYYYY YYYY
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Thus it is an object of this invention to maintain and reproduce enriched image files even after the image file is operated upon by one or more processes. This is accomplished by extracting image-description/quality information included in the original image file, prior to the processing of the image by an editing package. In one embodiment, this information is selected and stored so as to be preserved for later reinsertion. The so stored data is reinserted into the editing package's processed image file, to produce an enriched processed image file. The enriched files includes the preserved data which would otherwise be discarded.
An aspect of this invention is to save header information before an image manipulation process is performed. After the image is modified, the saved information is re-inserted into the image file. For example, this may be used to preserve header information used to identify and maintain the quality and color fidelity of the original scanned image. Any other information in the header may also be preserved for later use. This may include such things as file description, copyright, etc.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5768446 (1998-06-01), Reasoner, Jr. et al.
patent: 5963659 (1999-10-01), Cahill et al.
patent: 6081251 (2000-06-01), Sakai et al.
Christensen James
Lee Jack C.
Couso Yon J.
Herzberg Louis P.
International Business Machines - Corporation
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