Patent ID: 7593020

Claim:
A computer-implemented process for editing an image that has been decomposed into a layered representation comprising, a main color layer comprising a pixel value for each pixel location of the image, wherein each main color layer pixel value specifies a pixel color deemed to be a majority contributor to the associated pixel location; a secondary color layer comprising a pixel value for each pixel location of the image, wherein each secondary color layer pixel value specifies a pixel color deemed to be a minority contributor to the associated pixel location; an alpha layer comprising a pixel value for each pixel location of the image, wherein each alpha layer pixel value specifies a proportion of the contribution of the majority contributor pixel color to the associated pixel location; and a noise layer comprising, for each pixel location of the image, a pixel value which specifies the difference in color between an alpha weighted sum of the majority and minority contributor colors of the pixel location under consideration, and an observed color of that pixel location, said process comprising using a computer to perform the following process actions: manipulating the pixel values of one or more pixel locations of one or more of said layers to effect a change therein; and combining the layers such that every pixel location in the image is assigned a value based on an alpha weighted sum of the main and secondary layer color values, with the noise layer value added in, using the pixel values of the layers assigned to the pixel location under consideration.