Patent ID: 8620085

Claim:
An image processing apparatus, comprising: a reference image setting unit configured to set a reference image to become a reference from among a plurality of images; a detecting unit configured to detect a specific subject from within the reference image set by the reference image setting unit; a feature point extracting unit configured to extract a plurality of feature points from within the reference image such that the average density of number of the feature points become higher in the vicinity of the outline of the specific subject detected by the detecting unit than the average density of number of feature points at other regions; a corresponding point obtaining unit configured to obtain corresponding points within the plurality of images other than the reference image that correspond to the feature points extracted by the feature point extracting unit; and a coordinate converting unit configured to convert the coordinates of the positions of each pixel within at least one of the reference image and the other images such that the positions of the feature points and the positions of the corresponding points that correspond to the feature points match, and wherein: the specific subject is a face; at least one of the above units are implemented by a processor; the detecting unit functions to discriminate whether an image representing the specific subject is within a detection frame and performs detection by scanning the detection frame within the reference image; and the vicinity of the outline is at least one of a region inside and a region outside the detection frame having a predetermined width, at a position where the image within the detection frame is discriminated to be an image of the specific subject.