Patent ID: 7106343

Claim:
A process for virtual paint application comprising: capturing an image in a digital form, said image containing one or more portions onto which virtual paint or graphics shall be applied; and utilizing a photo editing software program capable of utilizing layers having transparency properties with a computer to manipulate said image in a digital form; and creating a matte shape layer with said photo editing software, said matte shape layer having a copy of said original image and one or more matte outlines of said portions of said original image onto which said virtual paint or graphics shall be applied whereby layers below said matte shape layer are visible through an area bounded by said matte outline and an area of said original image of said matte shape layer outside of said matte outline is visible; and creating a shadow layer below said matte shape layer, said shadow layer comprising a black layer having a matte created from an inverted grayscale representation of said original image having at least said portions of said original image which fall within said matte outline; and saving said layers as described without said original image as a file in a format which is capable of carrying transparency; and reading said file with an authoring environment program; and utilizing said authoring environment program to place one or more virtual paint colors or one or more graphics or one or more basecoats or one or more topcoats or one or more fades or one or more masks below said layers whereby said virtual paint color or graphic or basecoat or topcoat or fade or mask is seen through said layers within one or more of said matte outlines.