Patent ID: 7382378

Claim:
A method of protecting a selected region of an image from subsequent editing, the method comprising the steps of: (a) creating a first texture comprising a plurality of pixels each with an assigned scalar value indicating a level of protection for a corresponding pixel of a protected image; (b) following a first user signal, directing graphical input representing a plurality of brush strokes performed by the user into a second texture, wherein the protected image is at least initially unedited by the graphical input and wherein the plurality of brush strokes comprises at least one overlapping portion; (c) modifying a value of at least one pixel of the second texture using the first texture; (d) only following completion of step (b) and following a second user signal subsequent to the first user signal, blending at least one pixel of the second texture into the protected image; and (e) displaying an image based on the result of step (d).