Patent ID: 7103228

Claim:
A method for changing local sharpness of a photographic image having a multitude of image elements, comprising: applying a downsampling process to the photographic image to be sharpened, such that coarse image data resulting therefrom represents a coarse image with less detail than the photographic image to be sharpened, wherein the coarse image includes a multitude of coarse image elements; recognizing at least one region in the coarse image, each such region containing an image of skin, sky or vegetation, wherein the recognition is based at least on a characteristic color in the respective region; determining a coarse correction mask, elements of the coarse correction mask describing changes of sharpness or local sharpness to be made to respective corresponding image elements of the coarse image, comprising: using information related the coarse image, including at least local contrast in the coarse image, to determine at least some of the elements of the coarse correction mask; and wherein: the sharpness of at least some image elements in regions of the coarse image that contain images of skin or sky are to be decreased, according to information related to the respective regions; and the sharpness of at least some image elements in regions of the coarse image that contain images of vegetation are to be increased, according to information related to the respective regions; applying the coarse correction mask to the coarse image; and determining a correction mask, elements of the correction mask describing changes of sharpness or local sharpness to be made to respective corresponding image elements of the photographic image; wherein determining the correction mask comprises using the corrected coarse correction mask.