Patent ID: 7912254

Claim:
An automatic trimming method comprising the steps of: detecting a facial image in a whole image; judging the vertical direction of the whole image; discriminating whether the composition of the whole image is composition of which the vertical dimension is longer than the horizontal dimension thereof (portrait-mode composition) or composition of which the horizontal dimension is longer than the vertical dimension thereof (landscape-mode composition); judging whether the detected facial image is positioned on an upper side or on a lower side in the discriminated composition; if it is judged that the facial image is positioned on the upper side of the whole image, generating a trimmed image by performing trimming by determining the size and the position of a trimming frame based on the size and the position of the facial image; and if it is judged that the facial image is positioned on the lower side of the whole image, and if it is discriminated that the composition of the whole image is landscape-mode composition, generating a trimmed image by performing trimming by setting a trimming frame of portrait-mode composition based on the position of the facial image.