Patent Application
20070291338
Photo editing menu systems for digital cameras are disclosed for adding creative effects to a user's digital images while still on the user's camera. Exemplary photo editing menu systems may be implemented as an easy-to-use user interface displayed on the digital camera and navigated by the user with conventional camera controls (e.g., arrow buttons and zoom levers already provided on the camera). The user needs little, if any, knowledge about photo editing, and does not need special software for their PC to add creative effects to their digital images. The digital images can be edited on the camera and can then be transferred directly to the user's PC (e.g., for sharing via email), printer, and/or photo processing station (e.g., Internet or store-based) to generate prints without needing any additional editing by the user.
Exemplary digital cameras implementing photo editing menu systems are portable. That is, the user can generate digital images, edit/add effects to their digital images, and export the digital images without the need for a PC using only the digital camera.
Exemplary image sensor 130 may be implemented as a plurality of photosensitive cells, each of which builds-up or accumulates an electrical charge in response to exposure to light. The accumulated electrical charge for any given pixel is proportional to the intensity and duration of the light exposure. Exemplary image sensor 130 may include, but is not limited to, a charge-coupled device (CCD), or a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) sensor.
Camera system 100 may also include image processing logic 140. In digital cameras, the image processing logic 140 receives electrical signals from the image sensor 130 representative of the light 120 captured by the image sensor 130 during exposure to generate a digital image of the scene 125. The digital image may be stored in the camera's memory 150 (e.g., a removable memory card).
Shutters, image sensors, memory 150, and image processing logic, such as those illustrated in
Digital camera 100 may also include a photo editing menu system 160. In an exemplary embodiment, photo editing menu system 160 is implemented in program code (e.g., firmware and/or software) residing in memory on the digital camera 100 and executable by a processor in the digital camera 100, such as the memory and processor typically provided with commercially available digital cameras. The photo editing menu system 160 may include user interface logic 162 and photo editing logic 164.
The photo editing logic 164 may be operatively associated with the memory 150 for accessing digital images (e.g., reading the images stored in memory 150 by image processing logic 140 or writing the images generated by the photo editing logic 164). Photo editing logic 164 may include program code for applying various photo creative effects to the digital images stored on the camera 100. The photo editing logic may also be operatively associated with the user interface logic 162.
User interface logic 162 may be operatively associated with a user input/output (IO) subsystem. In an exemplary embodiment, the user 10 subsystem includes a display 170 and one or more camera controls 175 already provided on many commercially available digital cameras. Such an embodiment reduces manufacturing costs (e.g., by not having to provide additional hardware for implementing the menu system 160), and enhances usability (e.g., by not overwhelming the user with another IO subsystem).
During operation, the user interface logic 162 displays an image editing menu on the digital camera (e.g., on display 170). User interface logic 162 also receives input (e.g., via one or more of the camera controls 175) identifying user selection(s) from the image editing menu. The photo editing logic 164 may apply one or more creative effects to a digital image stored in the digital camera (e.g., in memory 150) based on selection(s) from the image editing menu.
Optionally, a copy of the original image is used for adding creative effects to a digital image stored on the camera. For example, the new image may be viewed by the user directly after the original image so that the user can readily see both the original image and the modified image. Exemplary photo editing menus and creative effects are described in more detail below.
Before continuing, it is noted that the digital camera 100 shown and described above with reference to
In an exemplary embodiment, the photo editing menu system 200 includes a first-level menu 220 which may be accessed by selecting the design gallery menu option 210. Photo editing menu system 200 also includes a second-level menu 230 and third level menu 240 which may be accessed by selecting various menu options in the higher level menus. For example, the second-level menu 230 is illustrated in
In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in
It is noted that photo editing menu systems are not limited to use with any number of menu levels. That is, the photo editing menu system may include more menu levels (not shown in
In an exemplary embodiment, the user may access the design gallery menu 310 from a display on the digital camera by pressing the Menu/OK button while in Playback mode. One of the options in the camera menu is the design gallery menu 310. The design gallery menu is displayed as a layer overlaid on the current digital image 330 being displayed, as shown in
The user may select the digital image before entering the design gallery menu 310. Optionally, the user may also scroll through digital images stored on the camera (e.g., using the left right arrow buttons on the digital camera) after entering the design gallery menu 310. In any event, the creative effect is typically applied to the selected (displayed) digital image.
Icons 340a-e representing each menu item appear down the left hand side of the design gallery menu 310. The design gallery menu 310 may include the following exemplary menu options: Apply Artistic Effects 340a, Modify Color 340b, Add Borders 340c. Other menu options such as Remove Red Eye 340d, Rotate Image 340e, and More Options 340f may also be displayed for the user.
The menu item title 320 may be displayed to the right of each menu icon 340a-e when the menu icon is selected by the user to identify the menu options for the user, as illustrated in
While the design gallery menu 310 is displayed, the camera controls may be dynamically assigned various functions. Exemplary camera buttons and the corresponding functions that may be assigned to those camera controls are provided for purposes of illustration in Table 1.
As discussed above with reference to
The exemplary apply artistic effects menu 410 is shown in
Exemplary creative effects 412 available from the apply artistic effects menu 410 may include: ink dots, cartoon, watercolor, center focus, posterize, retro, soft glow, vintage, slimming, sky color, ground color, kaleidoscope, and solarize, to name only a few examples. The user may use the up/down arrow buttons on the camera to scroll through the available creative effects 412.
The user may press the Menu/OK button on the camera to select the desired creative effect 412. The user's selection may advance the menu to a lower-level menu having further settings for the selected creative effect 412. Exemplary camera controls for applying artistic effects to the digital image, and the corresponding artistic effects are provided in Table 2 for purposes of illustration.
After the user selects a creative effect 412 from the apply artistic effects menu 410, the user may press Menu/OK to advance to the creative submenu (see, e.g.,
The exemplary modify color menu 420 is shown in
Exemplary creative effects 422 available from the modify color menu 420 may include: change color to black & white, sepia, or another color tone. Selecting a color may display a third-level menu for the selected color option. Exemplary camera controls for applying creative effects 432 to the digital image, and the corresponding color effects are provided in Table 3 for purposes of illustration.
After the user selects a creative effect 422 from the modify color menu 420, the user may press Menu/OK to advance to the creative submenu (see, e.g.,
The exemplary add borders menu 430 is shown in
Exemplary creative effects 432 available from the add borders menu 430 may include: soft edge, inset border, torn edge, burn edge, spatter, oval, circle, rectangle, rounded rectangle, square, to name only a few examples. The user may use the up/down arrow controls on the camera to scroll through the available creative effects 432.
The user may press the Menu/OK button on the camera to select the desired creative effect 432. The user's selection may advance the menu to a lower-level menu having further setting for the selected creative effect 432. Exemplary camera controls for adding border effects to the digital image, and the corresponding border effects are provided in Table 4 for purposes of illustration.
After the user selects a creative effect 432 from the add border 430, the user may press Menu/OK to advance to the creative submenu (see, e.g.,
The user may operate camera controls (e.g., as indicated by the instructive text 525) to modify the border 515. For example, the user may press the left/right arrow buttons on the camera to change color, up/down arrow buttons on the camera to change saturation, and zoom button on the camera to increase or decrease the border width.
Other camera controls for various menus (e.g., menus 410, 420, and 430 shown in
In operation 610, a digital image stored on the camera is retrieved, e.g., from memory. In operation 620, an image editing menu is displayed on the camera. In operation 630, input identifying one or more user selections from the image editing menu are received. For example, user interface logic may receive electrical signals from a user operating a camera control.
In operation 640, a creative effect may be applied to the digital image stored on the camera, based at least in part on the user selection(s). For example, photo editing logic may be executed in response to the user interface logic receiving user selection(s) to apply one or more of the exemplary creative effects described above. In operation 650, a preview image may be displayed for the user showing the creative effect(s) applied during operation 640.
The operations shown and described herein are provided to illustrate exemplary embodiments for implementing photo editing menu systems in cameras. The operations are not limited to the ordering shown. Still other operations may also be implemented.
In an exemplary embodiment, a digital image selected by the user may be analyzed by the photo editing logic to automatically determine an effect that complements the selected digital image. For purposes of illustration, the photo editing logic (or other logic) may analyze the digital image, and based on colors in the digital image automatically apply sepia tones. The image may be displayed with sepia tones for the user and the user may then be prompted to accept/reject the automatic selection. Other examples are also contemplated, as will be readily appreciated by those having ordinary skill in the art after becoming familiar with the teachings herein.
In another exemplary embodiment, the photo editing logic (or other logic) may store a separate copy of the digital image before applying creative effects to the selected digital image. Accordingly, the user can revert back to the original digital image if the user decides that they do not like the creative effects they have chosen without having to undo all of the changes.
It is noted that the exemplary embodiments shown and described are provided for purposes of illustration and are not intended to be limiting. Still other embodiments of photo editing menu systems for cameras are also contemplated.
