Apple Inc.

Shell & Slate Software Corporation

Other

Adobe, Inc.

Ben Weiss

Nikhil M Bhatt

Russell Mackay Reid

Doug Ahmann

Kai Krause

Some embodiments of the invention provide an image-editing process that non-uniformly adjusts at least one particular color attribute (e.g., saturation level) of pixels in an image. Specifically, the image-editing process of these embodiments uniformly adjusts the particular color attribute of pixels with a first set of values and non-uniformly adjusts the color attribute of pixels with a second set of values. In this manner, some embodiments provide a vibrancy process that non-uniformly adjusts saturation levels of an image in order to preserve saturation levels for skin tones appearing within the image.

Adjusting color attribute of an image in a non-uniform way

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer program products, for evaluating image data. In one aspect, a method includes accessing an image that includes a candidate face, such as a face detected during a face detection operation. The method further includes generating a sharpness measure based on image data corresponding to the candidate face, evaluating the sharpness measure to determine a confidence score representing a likelihood that the candidate face corresponds to a human face, and accepting the candidate face when the confidence score compares in a predetermined manner to a confidence threshold. Additionally, the method can be implemented to include generating a skin tone measure based on image data corresponding to the candidate face and evaluating the sharpness measure in combination with the skin tone measure to determine the confidence score.

Distinguishing between faces and non-faces

Some embodiments provide an image editing application that utilizes at least two processing units to efficiently process an image with multiple effects after at least one of the effects modified from the image. Some such embodiments maintain a queue for identifying each of the effects to reprocess. Some embodiments determine a modified ordering for the effects in the queue based on criteria that is related to reducing data exchanges between the processing units when applying the effects. From the modified ordering, a first processing unit applies a first set of the effects before passing resulting data to a second processing unit for application of a second set of the effects. The second processing unit applies a second set of effects to produce the image with the multiple effects and the at least one effect removed or modified.

Optimization of image processing using multiple processing units

One aspect of the subject matter described in this specification can be implemented in a method for detecting a detail level of an image including receiving an original image, transforming the original image to generate one or more blurred images, deriving image differences corresponding to ranges of detail frequency of the original image based, at least in part, on the one or more blurred images and the original image, determining, based on the image differences, a detail level value corresponding to the original image, and providing the detail level value to an image management application.

Detecting image detail level

A method of removing blemishes from an image. The method receives a selection of an area of an image, divides the area into at least two interior sub-areas, and replaces the colors of each sub-area independently from each other sub-area.

Blemish removal

The present invention is a method and system for deriving histograms for neighborhoods of pixels in an image that uses subtractive image regions to increase the size of overlapping regions of regions of series of adjacent image pixels to a size equal to the size of a full neighborhood. Each neighborhood (except for a central neighborhood) is viewed as a combination of the central overlapping neighborhood and one or more additional regions, at least one of which comprises a 'subtractive' region, and which vary in size depending on the distance of a pixel from the pixel that is the basis for the central neighborhood. The histogram for each neighborhood is derived by adding the histograms of the central neighborhood and the histograms for the relevant additional region or regions, which may have one or more negative element values. The method and system of the invention allows the processing time for implementing a median filter to be improved to approximately the order of log(r), where r is the 'radius' of the median filter being applied.

Method and system for improved processing of image data

The invention is a method and apparatus for improving image-processing applications. Embodiments of the invention provide methods for preserving computation results and offer intermediary computation steps to allow the processing of images at any location to take advantage of previously processed image areas. The preferred embodiment offers a method for building a median filter that significantly improves the processing speed over basic techniques. By building a histogram hierarchy, image data statistics are added and subtracted using a multiplicity of histograms from the histogram hierarchy, where each histogram describes an image area. Furthermore, a histogram hierarchy is built using multiple layers, each layer defining a level of statistical resolution.

Method and apparatus for processing image data

Embodiments of the invention allow for cloning texture from one image location to another. The two locations may belong to the same image, or to two different images. Embodiments of the invention use a median filter to filter a source image and a target image. The filtered source image and the original source image are combined to extract texture information. Texture information is then combined with the filtered target image to generate a destination image. Embodiments of the invention may be utilized to retouch photographs, in order to correct, improve or change localized flaws or problems in images. An example is the removal of wrinkles and blemishes on a person's face. Embodiments of the invention allow for cloning the texture from a smooth skin area into a region of wrinkles, while preserving the colors and shadings of the target image.

Method and apparatus for texture cloning

A method and an apparatus for saving prior versions of a document so that the user has complete control of which versions of the document are saved, while providing a mechanism for easy retrieval of saved versions. The invention utilizes a set of icons on a screen display which when selected by a pointer device perform an action depending upon the state of the selected icon which may be one of three states.

Growing community of inventors

Carpinteria, CA, United States of America

Ben Weiss