Patent ID: 6925205

Claim:
A method of image processing on a computer, comprising the steps of: (i) importing a digital image of an article, the image further including a representation of a reference object having a predetermined colour; (ii) colour-correcting the digital image on the basis of the reference object so as to generate a true-colour digital image; (iii) selecting at least a portion of the true-colour digital image containing a representation of the article; (iv) determining true-colour attributes of pixels within the selected portion of the true-colour digital image; (v) generating a second digital image corresponding to the selected portion of the true-colour digital image, but replacing true-colour attributes of each pixel with colour attributes selected from a database of predetermined colour attributes, for each pixel selecting predetermined colour attributes from the database closest to the true-colour attributes as determined by a predetermined algorithm; and (vi) generating a third digital image corresponding to the second digital image, but replacing the colour attributes selected from the database for each pixel with mutually distinguishable false-colour attributes so as to form a contour image clearly distinguishing respective sets of pixels sharing the same predetermined colour attributes; wherein the article is a tooth, the database is a database of ceramics colours or the like used for manufacturing dental prostheses, and the third digital image is a template for manufacturing a dental prosthesis.