Systems, methods, and computer-readable media for manipulating images using metadata

Abstract

Many cameras have the ability to capture an image and generate metadata associated with the image. Such image metadata may include focus point metadata information that may be indicative of the potential focus points available to the camera as well as which one or more of those potential focus points were utilized to capture the image. As the location of a focus point used during image capture is generally intended to coincide with the location of the photographer's main area of interest within the image, such focus point metadata can be accessed during image editing and used to zoom in to the captured image at that focus point location. Performing a “smart-zoom” based on an image's focus point metadata may save time and reduce frustration during the image editing process.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]This can relate to systems, methods, and computer-readable media for manipulating images and, more particularly, to systems, methods, and computer-readable media for manipulating images using metadata.BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE[0002]The advent of high quality digital cameras has enabled professional and novice photographers alike to capture and edit images in ways that were unthinkable just a short time ago. Modern day cameras abound with features, including autofocus, image stabilization, and face detection, that are designed to make every shot picture-perfect. As photographers working with digital cameras no longer need to have each picture developed, there can be a tendency to take far more pictures than one would have previously taken with a conventional film camera, where every picture taken costs a specific amount of money to develop.[0003]One of the results of all these trends is that a user (e.g., an image editor) may often have to interact with...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0006]An image may be displayed as zoomed-in about a particular smart-zoom point automatically or at the request of a user. A smart-zoom point may be the position of a particular focus point utilized by the camera when capturing the image, as may be indicated by the focus point metadata information associated with the image. The smart-zoom point may also, in some embodiments, be chosen from among several utilized focus points or otherwise calculated based upon the focus point metadata. By displaying a zoomed-in portion of a captured image based on the focus point metadata associated with the image, a user may more easily determine whether or not the captured image is worth retaining or editing in some way.

[0007]In some embodiments, a user can start with a scaled-to-fit view of an image captured by a camera. In these and other embodiments, a number of features may be provided by the image processing system for purposes of enhancing the viewing and editing process of the user. For example, a representation of the array of potential focus points available to the imager that captured the image may be overlaid on the displayed image, and the one or more particular focus points of the array actually used by the imager to capture the image can be highlighted in the overlaid representation in order to quickly and clearly display the position of the one or more focus points of the captured image to the user. In this way, a user may easily determine both whether the content of the entire image is desirable and whether the in-focus portion of the image is positioned correctly with respect to a particular subject of the image. The user may then zoom-in to the focus point for a more detailed view of the subject. Alternatively, the image may initially be presented to the user as smart-zoomed in to a point based on the focus point metadata associated with the image, such that the user may immediately determine whether or not the in-focus portion of the image is positioned correctly with respect to the content of the image. In some embodiments, a user may also view a thumbnail of the full image while in a zoomed-in mode. The thumbnail view option may be beneficial, for instance, to give the user the full context of the image while in a zoomed-in mode. The focus point overlay, zoom, and thumbnail view options can, in some embodiments, be implemented as buttons or keyboard shortcuts to allow the user to efficiently proceed through a set of captured images.

Problems solved by technology

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