Abstract:
A method of detecting and indicating to a user of an application for image printing that an image is unsuitable for printing. Unsuitability for printing of an image typically will be triggered when print size and image resolution are mismatched. Novel user interface algorithms assist the user to correctly modify an image in order to satisfy suitability requirements.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention pertains to the field of image printing. More particularly, the present invention pertains to the resolution of a detected inadequate image resolution for a selected print size. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    For digital image printing there is a threshold print size which becomes unsuitable for an existing digital image file resolution. This is generally determined by the relative number of pixels used to capture the image. If a captured image has too few pixels for a selected print size, individual pixels appear in the digital image print, i.e. the image becomes “pixellated” by displaying geometric rectangular contours within the image. 
         [0003]    Once a selected image is placed in an image node and found to be unsuitable, it has been difficult to convey to the user what aspect of the image has made the image unsuitable or how to resolve this issue. It could be unsuitable due to either crop/zooming, or the original image could be unsuitable for a particular image node for another reason. Typically, the user receives a warning that the image is not recommended for the image node size it is in. Current software provides a warning indicating only that the digital image and node match is unsuitable. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    The present invention addresses the exact ratio when this inconsistency between capture resolution and requested image print size appears and provides a convenient user interface for handling adjustments to the user requested print size. Portions of the user interface methodology are automatically executed by computer system programming. The exact ratio that determines suitability for printing is a combination of requested print size, for example, print image width by print image height, and captured image size, for example, image pixel count, and is useful in printing both snapshot sized prints as well as collages, photobooks, etc. 
         [0005]    Two image adjustment factors that can change the effective printing suitability of a digitally stored image, relative to print size, include cropping and zooming the digital image. For the cropping aspect, the user typically can opt to print only a portion of a digital image. If a user crops a 0.6 megapixel (“MP”) image such that only 0.3 MP of the image is used for print data, then it may no longer be suitable for a 4×6″ print in order to avoid all pixellation of the printed image. 
         [0006]    Considering these two methods for adjusting a digital image for formatting a suitable 4×6″ print, it is fairly straightforward for the user, through use of the present invention, to understand what size image is acceptable for a certain size print. Matching captured image resolution to print size, or vice versa, can become complicated when, for example, a user is creating a 8×10″ book and the digital image is one of several digital images to be printed on a page, each image to be disposed at an image node. The present invention allows the user to monitor the suitability of the image&#39;s resolution after it is placed in the selected image node. 
         [0007]    Therefore, the present invention includes several methods for addressing existing problems in digital image and print size compatibility. First, a user interface that allows a user to visually see an exact point where crop/zoom becomes unacceptable and, therefore, a clear illustration of what is necessary to avoid an incompatibility issue. This is embodied in presenting to a user the original captured image and indicating on the original image the cropped or zoomed area in order to permit the user to reselect the cropped or zoomed area to the user&#39;s liking until sufficient resolution is obtained for printing purposes. 
         [0008]    A second embodiment is provided that allows a user the option to replace the unsuitable image with another image from a collection of digital images. A third embodiment allows a user to manually operate a cursor controlled sizing bar for adjusting an image size and indicating the point at which a resize becomes acceptable. A fourth embodiment provides a user with an option to reduce a size of an image node instead of reducing a digital image size, so that a current digital image can be disposed in an image node without changing the original image size. A combination of both reducing an image size and reducing the size of an image node can be performed. 
         [0009]    These, and other, aspects and objects of the present invention will be better appreciated and understood when considered in conjunction with the following description and the accompanying drawings. It should be understood, however, that the following description, while indicating preferred embodiments of the present invention and numerous specific details thereof, is given by way of illustration and not of limitation. Many changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the present invention without departing from the spirit thereof, and the invention includes all such modifications. The figures below are not intended to be drawn to any precise scale with respect to size, angular relationship, or relative position. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0010]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a computer system sufficient for practicing various embodiments of the present invention. 
           [0011]      FIG. 2  illustrates a flow chart of a method to avoid printing suitability mismatches. 
           [0012]      FIG. 3  illustrates a table of digital print sizes and recommended resolutions. 
           [0013]      FIG. 4  illustrates a template of image nodes and a current warning icon. 
           [0014]      FIG. 5  illustrates an image with a magnification box. 
           [0015]      FIG. 6  illustrates an image indicating that cropping has been performed.  FIGS. 7A-7B  illustrate an example of a continuous zoom control indicator for controlling and indicating when an image becomes suitable. 
           [0016]      FIG. 8  illustrates an example of a list display for indicating options to correct resolution mismatch. 
           [0017]      FIGS. 9A-9C  illustrate pull down windows of available user options. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0018]      FIG. 1  illustrates one example system for practicing an embodiment of the present invention. In this example, the system includes a computer  10  which typically comprises a keyboard  46  and mouse  44  as input devices communicatively connected to the computer&#39;s desktop interface device  28 . The term “computer” is intended to include any data processing device, such as a server, desktop computer, a laptop computer, a mainframe computer, a router, a personal digital assistant, a Blackberry, and/or any other device for computing, and/or classifying, and/or processing, and/or transmitting, and/or receiving, and or retrieving, and/or switching, and/or storing, and/or displaying, and/or measuring, and/or detecting, and/or recording, and/or reproducing, and/or utilizing any form of information, intelligence or data for any purpose whether implemented with electrical and/or magnetic and/or optical and/or biological components, and otherwise. The phrase “communicatively connected” is intended to include any type of connection, whether wired, wireless, or both, between devices, and/or computers, and/or programs in which data may be communicated. Further, the phrase “communicatively connected” is intended to include a connection between devices and/or programs within a single computer, a connection between devices and/or programs remotely located in different computers, and a connection between or within devices not located in computers at all. 
         [0019]    Output from the computer  10  is typically presented on a video display  52 , which may be communicatively connected to the computer  10  via the display interface device  24 . Internally, the computer  10  contains components such as CPU  14  and computer-accessible memories, such as read-only memory  16 , random access memory  22 , and a hard disk drive  20 , which may retain some or all of the digital objects referred to herein. The phrase “computer-accessible memory” is intended to include any computer-accessible data storage device, whether volatile or nonvolatile, electronic, magnetic, optical, or otherwise, including but not limited to, floppy disks, hard disks, Compact Discs, DVDs, flash memories, such as USB compliant thumb drives, for example, ROMs, and RAMs. 
         [0020]    The CPU  14  communicates with other devices over a data bus  12 . The CPU  14  executes software stored on, for example, hard disk drive  20 . In addition to fixed media such as a hard disk drive  20 , the computer  10  may also contain computer-accessible memory drives for reading and writing data from removable computer-accessible memories. This may include a CD-RW drive  30  for reading and writing various CD media  42  as well as a DVD drive  32  for reading and writing to various DVD media  40 . Audio can be input into the computer  10  through a microphone  48  communicatively connected to an audio interface device  26 . Audio playback can be heard via a speaker  50  also communicatively connected to an audio interface device  26 . A digital camera  6  or other image capture device can be communicatively connected to the computer  10  through, for example, the USB interface device  34  to transfer digital objects from the camera  6  to the computer&#39;s hard disk drive  20  and vice-versa. Finally, the computer  10  can be communicatively connected to an external network  60  via a network connection device  18 , thus allowing the computer to access digital objects and media assets from other computers, devices, or data-storage systems communicatively connected to the network. A “data-storage system” may include one or more computer-accessible memories, and may be a distributed data-storage system including multiple computer-accessible memories communicatively connected via a plurality of computers, a network, routers, and/or other devices. Alternatively, a data storage system need not be a distributed data-storage system and, consequently, may include one or more computer-accessible memories located within a single computer or device. 
         [0021]    A collection of digital objects and/or media assets can reside exclusively on the hard disk drive  20 , compact disc  42 , DVD  40 , or on remote data storage devices, such as a networked hard drive accessible via the network  60 . A collection of digital objects can also be distributed across any or all of these storage locations. 
         [0022]    A collection of digital objects may be represented by a database that uniquely identifies individual digital objects (e.g., such as a digital image file) and their corresponding location(s). It will be understood that these digital objects can be media objects or non-media objects. Media objects can be digital still images, such as those captured by digital cameras, audio data such as digital music or voice annotations, digital video clips with or without sound. Media objects could also include files produced by graphic or animation software such as those produced by Adobe Photoshop™ or Adobe Flash™. Non-media objects can be text documents such as those produced by word processing software or other office-related documents such as spreadsheets or email. A database of digital objects can be comprised of only one type of object or any combination of objects. Once a collection of digital objects is associated together, such as in a database or by another mechanism of associating data, the objects can be abstractly represented to the user in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         [0023]    In the case of a user employing a crop/zoom adjustment for a digital image to be printed, we propose the following programmed method of showing where the crop/zoom adjustment takes the image into a poor printing situation and programmed methods of modifying the adjustment to avoid poor printing. With reference to the flowchart of  FIG. 2 , in steps  210  and  202  the image and image node are selected. The image node is defined as part of a template, for example, such as illustrated in  FIG. 4 . Various other templates can be designed, such as photobooks, or other objects that can receive digital images to be printed.  FIG. 4  illustrates a template  401  having several image nodes, for example, image node  402 , for placing digital images. The user selects one of these templates and selects one of the nodes therein, step  201 , for placing a selected image, step  202 . At step  205  a user selected image is placed in the user selected node, e.g. the center image node of template  401 , and the template with the selected image is displayed on display  52 . In the example being described, the selected image will result in a poor printing condition being automatically detected by the computer system at step  206 , and will be indicated as such automatically, via icon  403 , shown in the center image node of template  401 , also by operation of the computer system, at step  208 , running the program code of the present invention. If the digital image selected for the image node is of sufficient resolution then no warning icon is displayed, step  209 . An example of a user selected digital image including the warning icon, is illustrated in  FIG. 8  via digital image  801  with displayed warning icon  802 . 
         [0024]    A preferred embodiment of the procedure employed at step  206 , to determine whether the selected digital image will result in a poor printing condition, is described with reference to the resolution table illustrated in  FIG. 3 . The first column of the table  301  illustrates increasing print sizes; the second column shows corresponding resolution requirements of a digital image in total megapixels; while column  3  illustrates recommended pixel by pixel sizes. The table of  FIG. 3  is an example table, whereas actual implemented tables can encompass many thousands of cells corresponding to a variety of image sizes and shapes. The upshot of this table is that a printed image will avoid pixellation problems if a selected digital image contains a sufficient number of pixels per unit of printed image area. These calculations can be stored in a table as illustrated, or can be calculated dynamically “on the fly” as users select images and image nodes. More sophisticated computer calculations may consider image content as well as pixel size and perform a more comprehensive evaluation. Regardless, the computer will be able to determine the acceptable image node sizes for selected images. A row of the table corresponding to a selected image node of dimensions 5×7 inches  304  recommends that a selected digital image should have a minimum required 0.7 megapixels of image data to avoid poor printing. This example embodiment will issue a warning icon, step  208 , if the selected digital image contains less image data than the recommended minimum amount. 
         [0025]    At step  207  a list of options is presented to a user that chooses to correct the detected poor printing condition. The list of options can include a wide variety of programmable options, however, as explained below, the illustrated options are examples. A user can elect to modify a digital image that has triggered a warning icon by clicking on the warning icon  802  using mouse  44  which results in the example drop down menu  803  providing the user with a range of options to address the resolution mismatch condition. The options provided to a user in a preferred embodiment of the present invention are illustrated in  FIG. 9A  at element  902 . The user can activate any of these options, at step  220 , by clicking on the list item with computer system mouse  44 . The option to “Remove Image” is activated by clicking on the selection  803 . This will allow the user to select another image for placement in the image node because the previously selected image will be deleted from the template, in step  204 . A second option presented to the user is “Move Image” (or “Move To Resolve”) as shown at step  207  and in list  902 . If the user activates this option by selecting it from the list, as above, “Move To Resolve”, is activated, the user selected image will be automatically moved, at step  219 , by program from, for example, the center image node of template  401  to an image node in the template that will not result in a mismatch condition, such as image node  402 . The new placement of the user selected image will be displayed on display  52 , and the program proceeds to step  218 , where further options are provided on the display to be selected by the user  903 . If the user accepts this new image node location the user can indicate acceptance, at step  216 , or the user can activate another move to another program acceptable image node in the template at step  217 . If a move to a new image node overwrites an image that was placed there previously, at step  215 , the user is notified of the overwrite at step  213 , as shown at  904 . If the new image node was empty then the image is placed in the new image node at step  214  and the template is displayed on display  52 . 
         [0026]    If the option “Skip” (or “Ignore”) is activated by the user, then the program will continue displaying the warning icon, at step  203 , while further digital image and image node selections are continued by the user or, if a particular template is already complete, then the user can print the completed template even if the warning icons are present. Of course, the warning icons will not appear in the printed product. 
         [0027]    If the option “Edit” (or “Limit Image Zoom”) or “Resize Node” is selected by the user, then, at step  211 , the user can un-zoom the image until sufficient resolution of image data for the selected image node size becomes available to avoid a poor printing condition or, conversely, at step  212 , the user can reduce the size of the image node until sufficient digital image data resolution for the resized image node is achieved. This editing option of resizing a digital image and/or the image node is described as follows. 
         [0028]    Upon clicking on the warning icon, at step  220 , which, in the illustrated examples herein, contains an exclamation point within a diamond or triangle,  403 ,  802 , the drop down list appears as exemplified in  FIG. 8  at  803  and in  FIGS. 9A-9C . 
         [0029]    In response to clicking on the image within the node the computer system display will show the digital image  501  as illustrated in  FIG. 5  (the example image has been changed from that displayed in  FIG. 8 ). The user then sees a magnifying box  502  displayed on the display, typically a computer monitor  52 , indicating that the editing option is available. By placing the cursor is over the image and clicking on, for example, the left mouse button, the rest of the picture is made visible, as shown in  FIG. 6 . This display  601  indicates that this picture has been cropped  602  to fit into this image node. 
         [0030]    By clicking on the magnifying box  502 , rather than on the image, the display changes to that shown in  FIG. 7A   701  and provides a zoom control including acceptable and unacceptable resolutions indicated by a color bar  703 .  FIG. 7B  illustrates that the color bar slid able cursor  706  has been moved from its position in  FIG. 7A , where the color bar slid able cursor was positioned in the sufficient resolution region of the color bar as indicated by its darker color, to a region of the color bar (lighter shaded region) where the level of zoom now makes this image unsuitable to print in this image node. If the image is zoomed to where the cursor is positioned in this lighter colored warning area and left there, the warning symbol  705  would remain on the image when viewed as a template, as exemplified in  FIG. 4 , indicating that print quality would be sub-optimal if the node size is not reduced. This directly addresses the issue where crop/zoom has made an image unsuitable for printing. The size of the image node can also be optionally adjusted by dragging any of the eight sizing boxes  707  surrounding the image, as is well known. The user can operate either the zoom or node resizing or both to correct a resolution mismatch condition. 
         [0031]    hi another preferred embodiment, when the user chooses “Move Image,” the selected digital image is moved to another image node, determined by the application to be a suitable image node, until a new location is accepted by the user. Once it moved to all possible nodes and was not accepted by the user, it would return to original location, where it would remain tagged with the warning symbol. If a user accepts a new location, the digital image would remain at the accepted image node. An optional embodiment includes swapping out the picture and requesting a user indication for approval, or to return the digital image to an image tray. 
         [0032]    In another preferred embodiment, if the user chooses Resize node, the image node is reduced in size to an acceptable size that eliminates the warning. Another preferred embodiment includes a Move option where the user could manually moves the photo to a suitable image node. In an optional embodiment, this feature will maintain crop/zoom assuming the user does not want this changed. 
         [0033]    The invention has been described in detail with particular reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, but it will be understood that variations and modifications can be effected within the spirit and scope of the invention. 
       PARTS LIST 
       [0000]    
       
           6  digital camera 
           10  personal computer 
           12  data bus 
           14  CPU 
           16  read-only memory 
           18  network connection device 
           20  hard disk drive 
           22  random access memory 
           24  display interface device 
           26  audio interface device 
           28  desktop interface device 
           30  CD-R/W drive 
           32  DVD drive 
           34  USB interface device 
           40  DVD-based removable media such as DVD R- or DVD R+ 
           42  CD-based removable media such as CD-ROM or CD-R/W 
           44  mouse 
           46  keyboard 
           48  microphone 
           50  speaker 
           52  video display 
           60  network 
           201  step 
           202  step 
           203  step 
           204  step 
           205  step 
           206  step 
           207  step 
           208  step 
           209  step 
           210  step 
           211  step 
           212  step 
           213  step 
           214  step 
           215  step 
           216  step 
           217  step 
           218  step 
           219  step 
           220  step 
           301  column 
           302  column 
           303  column 
           304  row 
           401  template 
           402  image node 
           403  icon 
           501  image 
           502  magnification box 
           503  sizing box 
           601  image 
           602  crop area 
           701  image 
           702  magnification box 
           703  zoom bar 
           704  image 
           705  icon 
           706  cursor 
           801  image 
           802  icon 
           803  list item 
           901  image node 
           902  list 
           903  list 
           904  list