Patent Publication Number: US-11651406-B2

Title: Method, medium, and system for automatically generating a new portion of a photo product design based on user input portion

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S) 
     This application is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 15/810,373, filed on Nov. 13, 2017, which claims priority to U.S. Application No. 62/549,889, filed Aug. 24, 2017, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     This application relates to digital imaging technologies and photo products, and in particular, to technologies that can enable photo product designs with minimal user input. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     With the advancement of consumer electronic devices, a vast number of pictures are taken by mobile devices and digital cameras. Digital images can be incorporated into product designs for products such as photo books, photo calendars, photo greeting cards, posters, photo decor, photo mugs, photo T-shirts, photo magnets, photo coasters, photo aprons, and so on. 
     A photo product can include one or more pages and involve many design elements. Designing a photo product can include many iterative steps such as selecting an overall style, selecting suitable images, selecting a layout for each page, assigning images to each page, inputting text, adding embellishments, rearranging pages, the images and the text. The product creation process can be quite time consuming. Increasingly, photo products are designed using mobile devices. 
     There continues to be a need for a method to enable users to design photo products in a convenient and time efficient manner. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present application discloses system and method that can significantly enhance users&#39; experiences associated with designing personalized photo products. Automated tools have been developed to automatically increasing or finish up the design of a photo product after a user has provided input to a portion of the photo product design. An advantageous feature of the presently disclosed invention is that while a user remains in control of design elements he or she prefers to have in a photo product, but the amount of time and effort spent by users are minimized. 
     In another perspective, a semi-manual and semi-automatic method is provided to leverage both sophisticated automated product design capabilities and the knowledge of user&#39;s preferences to make each design iteration efficient. A user design learning module automatically determines the event, the product style, and the page layout from the user input to a portion of a photo product. Based on the learning by the user design learning module, an intelligent product design module automatically creates the rest of the photo product design without taking additional effort from the user. 
     In one general aspect, the present invention relates to a computer-implemented method for creating a photo product design with minimal user inputs, including: generating a first portion of a photo product design by a product design module in response to user input; determining one or more layout parameters from the user input to the first portion of the photo product design by a user design learning module; automatically creating a second portion of the photo product design by an intelligent product creation engine at least in part in response to the one or more layout parameters, wherein the product design module, the user design learning module, and the intelligent product creation engine are in communication in a computer system; and automatically making a physical photo product based on at least the first portion and the second portion of the photo product design. 
     Implementations of the system may include one or more of the following. The computer-implemented method can further include: automatically determining one or more style parameters from the user input to the first portion of the photo product design by the user design learning module; and automatically creating the second portion of the photo product design by the intelligent product creation engine at least in part in response to the one or more style parameters. The one or more style parameters can include a background pattern, a background photo, a background color, an embellishment, or a tilt angle of a photos or a photo well. The one or more style parameters can include a curation level that relates to a degree of selection of photos in a photo collection. The one or more style parameters can include a level of design in the photo product design. The one or more layout parameters can include a density, sizes, or positions of photos on a page. The one or more layout parameters can include gaps between photos or the margins between photos and the edges of a page. The one or more layout parameters can include presence or absence, positions sizes, or font types of text. The computer-implemented method can further include automatically determining an event associated with the photo product design from the user input to the first portion of the photo product design by the user design learning module; and automatically creating the second portion of the photo product design by the intelligent product creation engine at least in part in accordance to the event. The computer-implemented method can further include automatically selecting photos incorporated in the second portion of the photo product design by the intelligent product creation engine at least in part in accordance to the event. The computer-implemented method can further include receiving user&#39;s edit command to or user selection in the second portion of the photo product design by the product design module; and automatically creating a third portion of the photo product design by the intelligent product creation engine based on the user&#39;s edit commands to or user&#39;s selection in the second portion of the photo product design. The first portion can include one or more pages in the photo product, wherein the second portion comprises one or more pages in the photo product. The first portion can include a portion of a page in the photo product. 
     In another general aspect, the present invention relates to a photo product design smart assistant system for creating a photo product design with minimal user inputs, includes: a product design module that can generate a first portion of a photo product design by a product design module in response to user input; a user design learning module that can determine one or more layout parameters from the user input to the first portion of the photo product design by a user design learning module; an intelligent product design creation engine that can automatically create a second portion of the photo product design by an intelligent product creation engine at least in part in response to the one or more layout parameters, wherein the product design module, the user design learning module, and the intelligent product creation engine are in communication with each other; and a printing and finishing facility that can make a physical photo product based on at least the first portion and the second portion of the photo product design. 
     These and other aspects, their implementations and other features are described in detail in the drawings, the description and the claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    is a block diagram of a network-based system for creating personalized photo product designs and making associated photo products in accordance with the present invention. 
         FIG.  2    is a block diagram of a smart assistant system for assisting users in creating photo product designs in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. 
         FIG.  3    is a flow diagram for automatically increasing or finishing up a photo product design based on user input to a portion of the photo product design in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. 
         FIG.  4    illustrates user input to a portion of an exemplified photo product in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. 
         FIG.  5    illustrates an example of user input to product layout parameters in a first portion of an exemplified photo product and an automatically created second portion of the photo product in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. 
         FIG.  6    illustrates another example of user input to product layout parameters in a first portion of an exemplified photo product and an automatically created a second portion of the photo product in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. 
         FIG.  7    illustrates another example of user input to product layout parameters in a first portion of an exemplified photo product and an automatically created a second portion of the photo product in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. 
         FIG.  8    illustrates an example of user input to product style parameters in a first portion of an exemplified photo product and an automatically created a second portion of the photo product in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to  FIG.  1   , a network-based imaging service system  10 , which can be operated by an image service provider such as Shutterfly, Inc., includes a data center  30  and one or more product fulfillment centers  40 ,  41  in communication with the data center  30  over a computer network  80 . The network-based imaging service system  10  allows users  70 ,  71  to organize and share images via a wired network or a wireless network  51 , create photo product designs, and order personalized photo products. The product fulfillment centers  40 ,  41  can fulfill the ordered photo products. 
     The data center  30  includes one or more servers  32  configured to communicate with user devices ( 60 ,  61 ) operated by users  70 ,  71  on the web or via mobile applications, a data storage  34  for storing user data, image and design data, and product information, and computer processor(s)  36  for rendering images and product designs, analyzing and organizing images, and analyzing and understanding user behaviors and preferences. The user data includes account information, discount information, order information, relationship, and important dates associated with each user. 
     The users  70 ,  71  can view, edit, organize, and share images, and create designs and order personalized photo products using a mobile application or a browser by accessing the website. Images can also be uploaded from the mobile device  61  or the computer device  60  to the server  32  to allow the user  70  and stored at the data center  30 . The images or videos stored in the data storage  34 , the computer device  60 , or the mobile device  61  usually include groups of photos or videos taken at different events and occasions. If users  70 ,  71  are members of a family or a group (e.g. a soccer team), the images from the cameras  62 ,  63  and the mobile device  61  can be grouped together to be incorporated into a photo product such as a photobook, or used in a blog page for an event such as a soccer game. 
     The users  70 ,  71  can order physical products based on the photo product designs, which can be manufactured by the printing and finishing facilities  40  and  41 . The recipients receive the physical product with messages from the users at locations  90 ,  95 . The recipients can also receive digital versions of the photo product designs over the Internet  50  and/or a wireless network  51 . 
     The printing and finishing facilities  40 ,  41  can include one or more printers  45  for printing images, finishing equipment  46  for operations such as cutting, folding, binding the printed image sheets, and shipping stations  48  for verifying the orders and shipping the orders to recipients  90  and  95 . Examples of the printers  45  include can be digital photographic printers, offset digital printers, digital printing presses, and inkjet printers. The finishing equipment  46  can perform operations for finishing a complete image-based product other than printing, for example, cutting, folding, adding a cover to photo book, punching, stapling, gluing, binding, and envelope printing and sealing. The shipping stations  48  may perform tasks such as consolidating packages, packaging, labeling, package weighing, and postage metering. 
     In the present disclosure, the term “personalized” (or “individualized” or “customized”) refers to content such as photos, text, design elements, layouts, or styles that is specific to a user, a recipient, a gift product, or an occasion. A photo product can include a single page or multiple pages. Each page can include one or more images, text, and design elements positioned in proportions in a particular layout. Examples of personalized photo products include photobooks, personalized greeting cards, photo stationeries, photographic prints, photo posters and photo banners, photo banners, photos on canvas, art prints, framed prints, photo decor, duvet, photo bags, photo playing cards, photo T-shirts, photo mugs, photo aprons, photo magnets, photo mouse pads, photo phone cases, tablet computer cases, photo key-chains, photo collectors, photo coasters, or other types of photo gifts or novelty items. Photobooks can be in the forms of image albums, scrapbooks, bound photo calendars, or photo snap books, etc. 
     In some embodiments, referring to  FIGS.  1  and  2   , a photo product design smart assistant system  200  is provided to save users&#39; time and effort in creating photo product designs to better preserve memories and tell stories. The photo product design smart assistant system  200  includes a product design module  210 , a user design learning module  220 , and an intelligent product design creation engine  230 . The product design module  210  takes input form a user to put together design elements of a photo product. The user design learning module  220  learns the user input and identifies user intention, patterns and themes such as the event the photo product is about, product style parameters, product layout parameters, etc. The intelligent product design creation engine  230  can automatically create a new portion of a photo product design, or automatically finish a partial photo product design in response to the learning by the user design learning module  220 . The photo product design smart assistant system  200  also includes an event library  224 , a product style library  226 , and a product layout library  228 , which respectively stores types of events, product styles, and product layouts for personalized photo products and for electronic shares. 
     The photo design smart assistant system  200  can be implemented the components in the data center  30  shown in  FIG.  1    and may employ distributed computing equipment. In some embodiments, the photo design smart assistant system  200  can be implemented in the cloud or with dedicated physical network equipment. 
     Examples of the types of events include birthday parties, anniversaries, graduations, trips, vacations, sports games, charity events, corporate events, and so on. Another type of event may include a period of time such as Year 2016, Melissa from 1 to 18 years old. Events can be defined and stored in the event library  224 . Events can also be related to time, location, keyword, the title of a photo album, text caption, and other metadata stored in association with the photos in the image store  250 , and information stored in the user database  240  and the social database  260 , which can be learned by the user design learning module  220 . The user design learning module  220  can also detect event types from the content of the photos. For example, the user design learning module  220  can identify a birthday cake or a soccer ball in photos to interpret a birthday party and a soccer game as a result. 
     Product styles and product layouts include lists of pre-stored styles and layouts, and can also include those styles and layouts that are dynamically generated by the photo product design smart assistant system  200 . 
     In the present disclosure, “product style” refers to product style parameters such as a background pattern, a background photo, or a background color, embellishments, tilt angles of the photos or photo wells, the color scheme, or other design themes, characteristics, topics or elements of a photo product. For photo products, product style parameters also include the level of designs and curation levels. The level of designs refers to the extra design elements beyond photos incorporated in a photo product. For example, at a low level of design, a photo book may include mostly pictures and not much other design elements (e.g. a plain photo book or photo card). The curation level refers to the degree of selection and trimming of available photos in a photo collection related to the photo product. At a low curation level, all or most of the photos taken at an event can be used in a photo product such as a photo book. At a high curation level, only a small fraction of photos taken at an event are selected to be incorporated by a photo product. Sometimes a set of style parameters can be formulated together to present a theme such as fun, summer, modern, romantic, etc. Product style parameters are defined and stored in the product style library  226 . 
     In the present disclosure, “product layout” (including page layout) refers to product layout parameters such as the number or the density, the sizes, the positions of photos on one or two opposing pages, the gaps between the photos, and the margins between photos and the edges of a page. The product layout parameters can also include the presence or absence of text and other design elements, positions and sizes of the text and other design elements, and font types of the text. Product layout parameters are defined and stored in the product layout library  228 . 
     The photo product design smart assistant system  200  can also include a user database  240 , an image store  250 , and a social database  260 . The user database  240  stores user data such as account information, discount information, and order information associated with users. The image store  250  stores users&#39; photos or stock photos managed by the online image service provider. The social database  260  stores relationships (family members and friends) of a user, and face images and face models for the family members and the friends of the user. 
     The photo product design smart assistant system  200  can be formed by processors and memory on a user device ( 60 ,  61 ), or servers  32  and data storage  34  in the data center  30 , or a combination of the computing components on user device(s) and at the data center. 
     Referring next to  FIGS.  1 - 4   , a first portion of a photo product design  400  is generated at a user interface  410  in response to user input using tools provided by the product design module  210  on a computer device (e.g.  60 ,  61 ) (step  310 ). The first portion can be one or more pages, or a portion of a page in a photo product. A user has selected one or more photos  420  from a photo collection  430 , and placed them over one or pages of the photo product design  400 . The user may choose to tilt the one or more photos  420  or leave them leveled. The one or more photos  420  have certain desired density and number on the pages as designed by the user. Gaps between the photos  420  and the margins along the page edges can also be selected by the user. The user may have selected or created a background design  440  (a color, a pattern, or a photo) suitable for the photo product design  400 . 
     In general, the user can select photos, pick event, design elements, styles, and layouts from the image store  250 , the event library  224 , the product style library  226 , the product layout library  228 , and the social database  260 . The user can also dynamically generate any of the design elements during the product design creation process. 
     Challenges to Photo Product Design Creation and Solution. 
     It should be noted that the design and creation process of a photo product often takes a considerable period of time (often taking hours). The user may be distracted or interrupted by other daily activities during the process before a photo product design is finished. While the user has only provided input to the first portion of the photo product design  400  and the design for the rest of the photo product has not been created by the user yet, the user design learning module  220  can automatically use machine learning to understand the user&#39;s intentions from the already finished portion of the photo product. 
     The user design learning module  220  can automatically determine an event from the user input to the first portion of the photo product design  400  (step  320 ). For example, the user design learning module  220  can automatically determine an event (e.g. a ski trip) from the content in the photos  440  (e.g. by identifying a snow field and ski gears in the pictures), or from the metadata, key words, annotation, or an album title associated with the photos  440 . 
     The user design learning module  220  can also automatically determine one or more layout parameters from the user input to the first portion of the photo product design (step  330 ). The user design learning module  220  can obtain the sizes, the positions of photos, the presence or lack of text, and the font sizes and the locations of text (or captions). The user design learning module  220  can also obtain product layout parameters such as the average density and the number of photos on each page, gaps between the photos  420  and the margins along the page edges as shown in the photo product design  400 . 
     Moreover, the user design learning module  220  can also automatically determine one or more style parameters from the user input to the first portion of the photo product design (step  340 ). The user design learning module  220  can obtain product style parameters such as the color, the pattern, or the background photo the background design  440  in the photo product design  400 . The user design learning module  220  can determine if the photos  420  are tilted and their tilt angles. By comparing the photos  420  placed in the photo product design  400  to photos in the photo collection  430 , the user design learning module  220  can determine a curation level that the user prefers for the photo product (and for the particular event), that is, the fraction of photos taken during the event that are selected to be incorporated into the photo product. The user design learning module  220  can also calculate the number of design elements (graphics, embellishments, background patterns, text, text colors, photo tilt angle, uniformity in photo dimensions, etc.) to obtain an overall level of design for the first portion of the photo product. Based on the learning about the event, product layout parameters, the product style parameters obtained by the user design learning module  220 , the intelligent product creation engine  230  can a design theme (e.g. fun, summer, modern, romantic, etc.) and user&#39;s intention and design preference for the design of the particular photo product in process. To save the user&#39;s time and to provide more design options for the user, the intelligent product creation engine  230  can automatically create a second portion of the photo product design in accordance to the event, the one or more layout parameters, and/or the one or more style parameters (step  350 ). The second portion of the photo product design can include additional pages or portion of a page for the photo product design. The second portion, in conjunction of the first portion, can also provide a complete version for the photo product design (a full photo book, a fully design greeting card, a photo calendar with all the months finished for the period covered by the calendar). The intelligent product creation engine  230  can automatically selecting photos to incorporate in the second portion of the photo product design in part in accordance to the event identified by the user design learning module  220 . 
     Referring to  FIG.  5   , at a user interface  510 , a first portion  520  of a photo product design is produced by a user using tools provided by the product design module  210 . Based on the learning (the number and density of photos on each page) by the user design learning module  220  from the first portion  520 , the intelligent product creation engine  230  automatically creates a second portion  550  of the photo product design, which may include one or multiple pages of the photo product. In fact, the additional second portion of design may finish the photo product design (e.g. photobook) for the identified event (a vacation trip). 
     Referring to  FIG.  6   , at a user interface  610 , a first portion  620  of a photo product design is produced by a user using tools provided by the product design module  210 . Based on the learning (the layout including gaps and margins, the style including curation level and the design level, and the presence of lack of text) by the user design learning module  220  from the first portion  620 , the intelligent product creation engine  230  automatically creates a second portion  650  of the photo product design, which may include one or multiple pages of the photo product. In fact, the additional second portion of design may finish the photo product design (e.g. a photobook) for the identified event (a vacation trip). 
     Referring to  FIG.  7   , at a user interface  710 , a first portion  720  of a photo product design is produced by a user using tools provided by the product design module  210 . Based on the learning (the layout including gaps and margins, the number of photos per page, the style including tilt angles of the photos, and the presence of lack of text, etc.) by the user design learning module  220  from the first portion  720 , the intelligent product creation engine  230  automatically creates a second portion  750  of the photo product design, which may include one or multiple pages of the photo product. In fact, the additional second portion of design may finish the photo product design (e.g. a photobook) for the identified event (a vacation trip). 
     Referring to  FIG.  8   , at a user interface  810 , a left page  820  of a photo book design is produced by a user using tools provided by the product design module  210 . A right page  830  opposing the left page  820  is blank and is yet designed. Based on the learning (the product layout including gaps and margins, the product style including the curation level and the design level, and the presence of lack of text) by the user design learning module  220  from the left page  820 , the intelligent product creation engine  230  automatically creates multiple design choices  850  for the right page  830 . 
     The product design module  210  can receive user&#39;s edit command in the second portion ( 550 ,  650 ,  750 , and  850  in  FIGS.  5 - 8   ) of the photo product design (step  360 ). The user can also select a section or the whole of the second portion ( 550 ,  650 ,  750 , and  850  in  FIGS.  5 - 8   ) to be included in the photo product design. For example, the user can select one, a few, or all the pages ( 550 ,  650 , and  750  in  FIGS.  5 - 7   ) created by the intelligent product creation engine  230 . The user can also select one of the design options  850  ( FIG.  8   ) to be used for the right page  830  in the photo book design. 
     The user design learning module  220  can learn about additional user preferences in product layout, product style, or event from the user&#39;s edit commands or selection in the second portion of the photo product design. Based on the input, change, or selection in the second portion by the user, the intelligent product creation engine  230  can automatically create a third portion of the photo product design (step  370 ). For examples, after a user created designs for 1-2 pages of a photobook, the disclosed system and method can automatically learn from the first 1-2 pages and automatically create 20 additional pages for the photobook. A user is given a chance to edit the 20 additional pages. In return, the disclosed system and method can automatically learn from the first 21-22 pages and automatically create 10 more pages for the photobook, which may complete the design of the photobook. In other words, the intelligent product creation engine  230  can incrementally improve its automatically created designs from the addition user inputs in the second portion. Indeed, the user design learning module  220  and the intelligent product creation engine  230  can work in tandem to alternately improve the photo product design as the user finds more time to work on and add input to the product design. 
     Once a photo product design is finalized, the design can be sent to the product fulfillment centers  40 ,  41  ( FIG.  1   ), wherein a physical photo product can be automatically made based on at least the first portion and the second portion of the product design (step  380 ). 
     The presently disclosed method and system can include one or more the following advantages. The disclosed system and method can significantly enhance users&#39; experiences associated with designing personalized photo products. Automated tools have been developed to automatically increasing or finish up the design of a photo product after a user has provided input to a portion of the photo product design. An advantageous feature of the presently disclosed invention is that while a user remains in control of design elements he or she prefers to have in a photo product, but the amount of time and effort spent by users are minimized. 
     In another perspective, a semi-manual and semi-automatic method is described to leverage both sophisticated automated product design capabilities and the knowledge of user&#39;s preferences to make each design iteration efficient. A user design learning module automatically determines the event, the product style, and the page layout from the user input to a portion of a photo product. Based on the learning by the user design learning module, an intelligent product design module automatically creates the rest of the photo product design without taking additional effort from the user. 
     It should be understood that the presently disclosed systems and methods can be compatible with different devices or applications other than the examples described above. For example, the disclosed method is suitable for desktop, tablet computers, mobile phones and other types of network connectable computer devices. The photo products compatible with the present invention are not limited to the examples described above. 
     It should also be noted that the above described method are system are applicable not only to the design of physical photo products, but also to designs of photo projects such as electronically shared photo stories, posts, blogs, emails, and messages comprising photos and text.