JP3134827B2 - Image layout system, method and recording medium - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image layout system, a method and a recording medium, and more particularly to an image layout system and a method for arranging a plurality of images of the same type side by side, and a recording storing a program for realizing the method. Regarding the medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In newspapers, for example, a large number of face photographs, such as those of elected winners, may be displayed side by side. Since these face photographs are taken under different circumstances, the position and size of the face, the brightness and color of the photograph, and the image quality are different. For this reason, if such a plurality of photographs are posted on newspapers as they are, the position, size, brightness, color,
The image quality varies, and the balance between the face photos is poor, making the design unsightly.

[0003]

In order to avoid such visual problems on newspapers, newspaper companies have manually adjusted the positions and sizes of faces by hand. For this reason, when publishing a large number of face photographs on newspapers, the editing work requires a great deal of labor. Further, it is very difficult to unify the image state such as brightness, color, image quality, and the like of the face photograph by such manual work.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art. When laying out the same type of image such as a face image, the position, size or brightness between the images is reduced. It is an object to provide an image layout system and method capable of visually unifying image states such as color, image quality, and the like, and a computer-readable recording medium storing a program for realizing the method.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, an image layout system according to a first aspect of the present invention comprises: an image capturing means for capturing a plurality of images whose target portions are of the same kind; For each of the plurality of images captured by the means, a position / size detecting means for detecting a position and a size of a target portion, and the image capturing means captures the image based on a detection result of the position / size detecting means. A normalizing unit that generates a plurality of normalized images in which the positions and sizes of respective target portions in the plurality of images are aligned, a layout specifying unit that specifies a layout of the plurality of images, and the normalizing unit Layout means for laying out the plurality of normalized images generated according to the layout specified by the layout specifying means. An image state adjusting unit that adjusts the image state of each of the plurality of normalized images laid out by the layout unit; and an output that outputs the plurality of adjusted images whose image states have been adjusted by the image state adjusting unit. Means.

In order to achieve the above object, an image layout system according to a second aspect of the present invention comprises: an image capturing means for capturing a plurality of images whose target portions are of the same type;
For each of the plurality of images captured by the image capturing means, a position / size detecting means for detecting a position and a size of a target portion, and the plurality of images based on a detection result of the position / size detecting means. Normalizing means for generating a plurality of normalized images having the same position and size of each target portion in the image, and adjusting the image state of each of the plurality of normalized images generated by the normalizing means Image state adjusting means for generating a plurality of adjusted images, layout specifying means for specifying a layout of the plurality of images, and the plurality of adjusted images generated by the image state adjusting means are specified by the layout specifying means. Layout means for laying out according to the layout, and the plurality of adjustment images laid out by the layout means. And output means for force, characterized in that.

In the image layout systems according to the first and second aspects, the positions and sizes of the respective target portions of the plurality of images output from the output means are aligned by normalization by the normalization means. It will be.
Further, the image states of the plurality of images output from the output unit are also adjusted (for example, unified) by the image state adjustment unit. For this reason, visual unification between each image is achieved, and the output image is excellent in design. Moreover, since such processing is automatically executed, for example, when the image layout system according to the first and second aspects is applied to newspaper or magazine editing, a plurality of images of the same type are posted. Editing work in such a case is facilitated.

In the image layout systems according to the first and second aspects, the same type of image refers to an image that is unified in categories such as a person image and a car image. The target portion refers to, for example, a face portion of a person image in the case of a human image.

In the above-mentioned image layout system, the image state adjusting means may include means for adjusting each of the plurality of normalized images to a predetermined image state specified from the outside.

In the above image layout system, the image state adjusting means statistically processes the plurality of normalized images and a statistical processing result by the means.
Means for adjusting the image state of the plurality of normalized images.

In the above-described image layout system, the image state adjusting means may be, for example, one of a means for correcting brightness of each of the plurality of normalized images, a means for correcting color, and a means for correcting image quality. one or more can be made to obtain Bei <br/>.

[0012]

[0013] To achieve the above object, an image layout method according to a third aspect of the present invention includes an image capturing step of capturing a plurality of images having the same type of target portion;
For each of the plurality of images captured in the image capturing step, a position / size detection step of detecting a position and a size of a target portion, and the image based on a detection result in the position / size detection step. Each pair in the plurality of images captured in the capturing step
A normalization step of generating a plurality of normalized images having the same position and size of the elephant part , and a plurality of adjustment images obtained by adjusting respective image states of the plurality of normalized images normalized in the normalization step Generating an image state adjusting step, specifying a layout of the plurality of images, and laying out the plurality of adjusted images generated in the image state adjusting step in accordance with the layout specified in the layout specifying step And a layout step.

[0014]

[0015] To achieve the above object, a computer-readable recording medium according to a fourth aspect of the present invention comprises:
An image capturing step of capturing a plurality of images of the same type as the target portion, and a position / size detection step of detecting a position and a size of the target portion for each of the plurality of images captured in the image capturing step; Based on the detection result in the position / size detection step,
A normalization step of generating a plurality of normalized images in which the positions and sizes of the respective target parts in the plurality of images captured in the image capturing step are aligned, and the plurality of normalized images normalized in the normalization step An image state adjusting step of generating a plurality of adjusted images obtained by adjusting the respective image states of the normalized images; a layout specifying step of specifying a layout of the plurality of images; and the plurality of image files generated in the image state adjusting step And a layout step of laying out the adjusted image in accordance with the layout specified in the layout specifying step.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[First Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a printing system applied to this embodiment. As shown in FIG.
CPU 1 and storage device 2 mutually connected via
It comprises an input device 3, a scanner 4, a still camera 5, and a printing device 6.

The CPU 1 realizes functions to be described later by executing a predetermined processing program stored in the storage device 2, and controls each unit of the printing system. The storage device 2 includes a main storage device and an auxiliary storage device, and stores a processing program and processing data of the CPU 1 and is used as a work area of the CPU 1. The input device 3 includes a keyboard, a mouse, and the like, and inputs various instructions to be described later to the CPU 1. The scanner 4 captures an image of a photograph taken by a silver halide camera as digital data. The still camera 5 captures a still image, and stores digital data of the captured still image in an internal memory. The printing device 6 prints the layout image processed by the CPU 1 on a sheet as described later.

In the printing system of FIG. 1, when the CPU 1 executes a predetermined processing program stored in the storage device 2, the function of the face image layout system shown in FIG. 2 is realized. As shown in the figure, the function of this face image layout system is that the face position / size detecting means 20
A face template storage unit 21, a face position / size normalization unit 22, a normalized image storage unit 23, a normalized image layout unit 24, a brightness / color correction unit 25,
And an image quality correcting means 26.

The face position / size detecting means 20 compares the plurality of face templates stored in the face template storing means 21 with the face images sequentially taken from the scanner 4 or the still camera 5 while shifting the positions. Then, the position and size of the template having the smallest difference from the face image are detected as the position and size of the face in the captured image. The face template storage unit 21 stores a plurality of face templates having similar shapes. The face templates stored in the face template storage unit 21 correspond to the most standard faces obtained by analyzing many human face images in advance.

The face position / size normalizing means 22 receives the face captured from the scanner 4 or the still camera 5 based on the size of the output image and the face position / size specified by the operation input of the input device 3. The image is moved or enlarged / reduced, and normalized such that the positions and sizes of the faces in the plurality of images are uniform. The normalized image storage means 23
A plurality of normalized images normalized by the face position / size normalizing means 22 are sequentially stored.

The normalized image layout means 24 lays out a layout image (1) in which a plurality of normalized images stored in the normalized image storage means 23 are laid out based on the layout specified by the operation input of the input device 3. Generate.

The brightness / color correction means 25 checks the brightness and color of each image in the layout image (1) laid out by the normalized image layout means 24, and performs statistical processing on the brightness and color. Then, for example, a layout image (2) in which the brightness and the color of each image in the layout image (1) are corrected so that the brightness and the color become the average values of the results obtained by the statistical processing is generated. I do. However, in the case of a monochrome image, only the brightness needs to be corrected.

The image quality correcting means 25 checks the image quality (eg, resolution) of each image in the layout image (2) whose brightness and color have been corrected by the brightness / color correcting means 25, and performs statistical processing on the image quality. Then, for example, a layout image obtained by correcting the image quality of each image in the layout image (2) in consideration of the resolution of the image printable by the printing device 6 and the resolution that can be corrected from the result obtained by the statistical processing (3) is generated.

Hereinafter, the operation of the face image layout system according to this embodiment will be described with reference to examples of images shown in FIGS. At the start of the process, a plurality of face images as shown in FIG. 3 are sequentially fetched one by one as digital data from the scanner 4 or the still camera 5.

Then, the processing of the face position / size detecting means 20 is executed. In the processing of the face position / size detecting means 20, first, as shown in FIG.
Then, the plurality of face templates stored in 1 are sequentially read one by one. Next, in the processing of the face position / size detecting means 20, the position of the read template is superimposed on the captured image while being shifted little by little, as shown in FIG. Such processing is performed for all face templates, and the position and size of the template having the smallest difference from the captured face image are detected as the position and size of the face in the captured image. Then, the detected face position and size data are passed as parameters, and the process proceeds to the face position / size normalizing means 22.

In the processing of the face position / size normalizing means 22, as shown in FIG. 6, the face / size passed to the frame Fr and the face position Ps of the image size specified by the input device 3 are passed as parameters. The image captured from the scanner 4 or the still camera 5 is moved or enlarged / reduced and normalized so that the face image of the position size can be accommodated. And
The normalized images normalized by the processing by the above means are sequentially stored in the normalized image storage means 23.

A desired number of face images are stored in the normalized image storage means 2.
3, the processing by the normalized image layout means 24 is executed. In the processing by the normalized image layout means 24, a layout image (1) in which an image is laid out is generated according to the layout specified by the input device 3, as shown in FIG. The layout images generated by the normalized image layout unit 24 vary in brightness, color, and image quality of each image.

Then, first, the processing shifts to the processing of the brightness / color correcting means 25, where the brightness and the color of each image in the layout image (1) are statistically processed, and as shown in FIG. And the layout image corrected so that the colors are aligned (2)
Is generated. Further, the processing proceeds to the image quality correcting means 26, and the image quality (resolution) of each image in the layout image (2) is changed.
Is statistically processed, and in consideration of the resolution of the image that can be printed by the printing device 6 and the resolution of the image that can be improved as a result of the statistical processing, a layout image (3) corrected so that the image quality of each image is uniform is generated. You.

The layout image (3) in which the position and size of the face in the image and the brightness, color and image quality of the plurality of laid-out images are made uniform by the above processing is
The image data is sent to the printing device 6, printed on paper by the printing device 6, and output.

As described above, according to the face image layout system of this embodiment, when laying out a plurality of face images, the face position, size or brightness, color, image quality between the face images And the like can be visually unified. Therefore, it is possible to output a layout image that is very excellent in design. In addition, since the above processing can be executed in an automated manner, the editing operation when posting a plurality of face photographs in a newspaper or magazine becomes easy.

[Second Embodiment] The configuration of a printing system applied to this embodiment is substantially the same as that of the first embodiment (FIG. 1). However, in this embodiment, the processing program of the CPU 1 stored in the storage device 2 is different from that of the first embodiment, and when the CPU 1 executes a predetermined processing program, the face program as shown in FIG. The function of the image layout system is realized.

As shown in FIG. 10, the face image layout system comprises a face position / size detection means 20, a face template storage means 21, and a face position / size normalization means 2.
2, brightness / color correction means 35, and image quality correction means 36
, A corrected image storage means 33, and a corrected image layout means 34.

In this face image layout system,
The functions of the face position / size detection unit 20, the face template storage unit 21, and the face position / size normalization unit 22 are as follows.
This is substantially the same as that in the face image layout system of the embodiment.

The brightness / color correction means 35 corrects the normalized image normalized by the face position / size normalization means 22 so that the brightness and the color are designated by the operation input of the input device 3. The corrected images (1) are sequentially generated. The image quality correcting unit 36 controls the brightness / color correcting unit 3 so that the image quality specified by the operation input of the input device 3 is obtained.
5 generates a corrected image (2) obtained by correcting the corrected image (1).

The corrected image storage means 33 has a plurality of corrected images (2) whose brightness and color have been corrected by the brightness / color correction means 35 and whose image quality has been corrected by the image quality correction means 36.
Are sequentially stored. The corrected image layout unit 34 generates a layout image in which the plurality of corrected images (2) stored in the corrected image storage unit 33 are laid out based on the layout specified by the operation input of the input device 3.

The operation of the image layout system according to this embodiment will be described below. In this embodiment, the operation up to the operation by the face position / size normalizing means 22 is substantially the same as that of the first embodiment.

When the face image is normalized by the face position / size normalizing means 22, the normalized images are sequentially processed by the brightness / color correcting means 35. In the processing of the brightness / color correcting means 35, the face position / size normalizing means 22 is controlled so that the brightness and color specified by the input device 3 are obtained.
The corrected image (1) in which the brightness and the color of the normalized image normalized by the correction are corrected. In addition, brightness
The corrected image (1) whose brightness and color have been corrected by the processing of the color correcting unit 35 is corrected by the image quality correcting unit 36 to have the image quality specified by the input device 3, and the corrected image (2) is generated. You.

The corrected image (2) processed by the image quality correcting means 36 is sequentially stored in the corrected image storing means 33. The plurality of corrected images (2) stored in the corrected image storage unit 33 have the same position, size or brightness, color, and image quality. When a desired number of face images are stored in the corrected image storage unit 33, processing by the corrected image layout unit 34 is performed. In the processing by the corrected image layout means 34, a layout image in which a plurality of corrected images (2) are laid out is generated in accordance with the layout specified by the input device 3.

The layout image laid out by aligning the face position and size, brightness, color, and image quality of the face in the image by the above processing is sent to the printing device 6 and printed on paper by the printing device 6. Printed and output.

As described above, even in the face image layout system according to this embodiment, when laying out a plurality of face images, the face position, size or brightness, color, image quality, etc., between the face images are determined. The image state can be visually unified. Therefore, it is possible to output a layout image that is very excellent in design. In addition, since the above processing can be executed in an automated manner, the editing operation when posting a plurality of face photographs in a newspaper or magazine becomes easy.

[Modification of Embodiment] In the first and second embodiments described above, the face template storage unit 21 stores a plurality of face templates having different sizes for one type of standard face shape. I just remembered. However, there are various types of face shapes such as a round face and a face length. Therefore, a plurality of face templates having different sizes for each type of face may be stored. In this case, the face position / size detection means 20 may detect the position and size of the face based on the template that matches both the type and size of the face most. The face position / size normalizing means 22
Changes the position where the face image is pasted for each type of face,
What is necessary is just to normalize the position and the size of the face.

In the above-described first and second embodiments, the face position / size detecting means 20 comprises the face template storing means 2
1, the face image signal S
The position and size of the face image sent as a have been detected. On the other hand, the position and size of the face may be detected by detecting the coordinates of the reference point of the face. In this case, the position and size of the face can be obtained as follows.

In FIG. 11, the coordinates of the extracted right eye position are (x _re , y _re ), the coordinates of the left eye position are (x _le , y _le ),
Assuming that the coordinates of the mouth position are (x _m , y _m ), the vector from the right eye position to the left eye position is as shown in Expression 1, and a vector having the same size and a direction different by 90 ° is Expression 2
It becomes what is shown in.

(Equation 1)

(Equation 2)

Based on these vectors, the coordinates (x _A , y _A ) of the left corner position A of the face are obtained as in Equation 3, and the coordinates (x _B , y _B ) of the right corner position B of the face are obtained. Is obtained as in Expression 4.

(Equation 3)

(Equation 4) Where α is the distance a from the right eye position to the right end of the face, and β is the distance b from the right eye position to the top end of the face.
γ is a parameter obtained by the distance e from the mouth position to the lower end of the face. The third term in Expression 2 is a component parallel to the vector shown in Expression 2 in the distance between the center position of both eyes and the mouth position.

By performing such calculations, the position and size of the face can be detected without the face template storage means 21. The position and size of the face can be detected by various other methods.

In the first and second embodiments, the face position / size detecting means 20 and the face position / size normalizing means 2
2, an image captured by the scanner 4 or an image captured by the still camera 5 was captured. On the other hand, the face position / size detecting means and the face position normalizing means 22
May capture an image stored in the storage device 2 or an image transmitted from another computer via a communication line.

In the above-described first and second embodiments, the face image normalized by the face position / size normalizing means 22 is subjected to brightness / color correction or image quality correction to adjust the background image. I didn't particularly go. On the other hand, the background images may be adjusted so that all of the face images have the same background image. In the case where the face image is statistically processed as in the first embodiment, such adjustment of the background image may be performed based on the processing result.

In the first and second embodiments, after the layout is performed by the normalized image layout unit 24, the layout image is corrected in brightness, color, and image quality, or the corrected image layout unit 34 The layout image thus printed has been printed on paper by the printing device 3. However, according to the present invention, when these layout images are displayed on a display device such as a CRT,
The present invention can also be applied to a case where data is transmitted to another computer via a communication line.

In the first and second embodiments, the case where the face image is laid out has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the present invention can also be applied to a case where images of a plurality of cars are arranged side by side as used in a used car information magazine or the like. In this case, in order to detect the position and size of the vehicle, for example, a plurality of templates having different sizes for each type of vehicle (sedan, coupe, hatchback, etc.) may be prepared.
In the case of using the coordinates of the reference point, for example, the position of the tire may be used as the reference point. Further, the orientation of the vehicle may be detected based on the shape of the tire on the image, and the image may be normalized based on the detected orientation in addition to the position and size.

In the first and second embodiments, the program for realizing the face image layout system is as follows:
It was stored in the storage device 2. However, the program may be provided in the form of a floppy disk, a CD-ROM, or the like, and may be installed in the storage device 2.

[0052]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When laying out the same type of image, the position of each image,
The size and the state of the image can be visually unified, which is very excellent in design. In addition, since such processing is automatically performed, for example, an editing operation when a large number of photographs are published in a newspaper or a magazine is facilitated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image printing system applied to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing a functional configuration of the face image layout system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a face image captured in the face image layout system of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a face template stored in a face template storage unit of the face image layout system of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a method for detecting a face position / size by a face position / size detection unit of the face image layout system of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a method of normalizing a face position / size by a face position / size normalizing means of the face image layout system of FIG. 2;

7 is a diagram showing an example of a layout image (1) laid out by a normalized image layout unit of the face image layout system of FIG. 2;

8 is a diagram showing an example of a layout image (2) in which the brightness and color of the image have been corrected by the brightness / color correction means of the face image layout system of FIG. 2;

9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a layout image (3) whose image quality has been corrected by the image quality correcting unit of the face image layout system of FIG. 2;

FIG. 10 is a functional block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a face image layout system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 shows a face position and a position in a modification of the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a method of extracting a face reference point by a size detection unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 CPU 2 Storage device 3 Input device 4 Scanner 5 Still camera 6 Printing device 20 Face position / size detection means 21 Face template storage means 22 Face position / size normalization means 23 Normalized image storage means 24 Normalized image layout means 25, 35 brightness / color correction means 26, 36 image quality correction means 33 corrected image storage means 34 corrected image layout means

Claims (7)

(57) [Claims] 1. An image capturing means for capturing a plurality of images having the same type of target portion, and a position and size for detecting a position and a size of the target portion for each of the plurality of images captured by the image capturing means. Based on the detection result of the position and size detecting means, a plurality of normalized images in which the position and size of each target portion in the plurality of images captured by the image capturing means are aligned. A normalizing means for generating; a layout specifying means for specifying a layout of the plurality of images; and a layout for laying out the plurality of normalized images generated by the normalizing means in accordance with the layout specified by the layout specifying means. Means, and an image state of each of the plurality of normalized images laid out by the layout means Image layout system comprising: the image condition adjusting means for adjusting, and an output means for outputting the plurality of adjustment images image state is adjusted by the image conditioning unit. 2. An image capturing means for capturing a plurality of images having the same type of target portion, and a position and size for detecting the position and size of the target portion for each of the plurality of images captured by the image capturing means. And a normalization unit that generates a plurality of normalized images in which the positions and sizes of the respective target parts in the plurality of images are aligned based on the detection result of the position / size detection unit. An image state adjusting unit that generates a plurality of adjusted images by adjusting respective image states of the plurality of normalized images generated by the normalizing unit; a layout specifying unit that specifies a layout of the plurality of images; A layout in which the plurality of adjusted images generated by the image state adjusting means are laid out in accordance with the layout specified by the layout specifying means. Out means and, and an output means for outputting the plurality of adjustment images laid out by said layout means, image layout system, characterized in that. 3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said image state adjusting means includes means for adjusting each of said plurality of normalized images to a predetermined image state specified from the outside. Image layout system. 4. The image condition adjusting means includes a means for statistically processing the plurality of normalized images, and a means for adjusting image states of the plurality of normalized images according to a result of the statistical processing by the means. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein
The image layout system according to 1. Wherein the image conditioning unit, for example, means for correcting the respective brightness of the plurality of normalized image, any one or more of the means for correcting means and the image quality correcting color The image layout system according to claim 1, further comprising: 6. An image capturing step for capturing a plurality of images having the same type of target portion, and a position and size for detecting a position and a size of the target portion for each of the plurality of images captured in the image capturing step. A plurality of normalized images in which the positions and the sizes of the respective target parts in the plurality of images captured in the image capturing step are aligned based on the detection result in the position / size detection step. A normalization step of generating a plurality of adjusted images obtained by adjusting respective image states of the plurality of normalized images normalized in the normalization step; and a layout of the plurality of images. A plurality of adjustment images generated in the image state adjustment step. And layout step of laying according to the specified in the specified step layout,
An image layout method comprising: 7. An image capturing step for capturing a plurality of images having the same type of target portion, and a position and size for detecting a position and a size of the target portion for each of the plurality of images captured in the image capturing step. A plurality of normalized images in which the positions and the sizes of the respective target parts in the plurality of images captured in the image capturing step are aligned based on the detection result in the position / size detection step. A normalization step of generating a plurality of adjusted images obtained by adjusting respective image states of the plurality of normalized images normalized in the normalization step; and a layout of the plurality of images. A plurality of adjustment images generated in the image state adjustment step. And layout step of laying according to the specified in the specified step layout,
A computer-readable recording medium storing a program for realizing the above.