Patent ID: 6895127

Claim:
A method for generating a composite image of a source image, comprising: selecting a first area on the source image; selecting a first image from a plurality of images stored in a database, the first image having color similar to the first area on the source image, the first image comprising at least one transparent region and one non-transparent region; generating the composite image by at least partially filling a first area on the composite image that corresponds to the first area on the source image with a non-transparent region of the first image so that the first area on the composite image has at least one filled region and one unfilled region; and wherein said selecting a first image comprises choosing an image from the plurality of images with the smallest total adjusted color difference when compared to the first area on the source image, the first image being divided into parts, the total adjusted color difference being the sum of each, adjusted color difference between a part of the first image and a corresponding part of the first area on the source image, the adjusted color difference being defined as: Adjusted color difference= A 2 ( R−R 0+avg R 0−avg R ) 2 +A 2 ( G−G 0+avg G 0−avg G ) 2 +A 2 ( B−B 0+avg B 0−avg B ) 2 wherein R, G, B, and A are red, green, blue, and alpha values of a part of the first image; R0, G0, and B0 are red, green, and blue values of a part of the first area on source image that corresponds to the part of the first image; avgR0, avgG0, and avgB0 are average red, green, and blue values of the first area on the source image; and avgR, avgG, and avgB are average red, green, and blue values of the first image.