Image editing using selective editing tools

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9811933-B2
Application number	US-201514744332-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 19, 2015
Priority date	Jun 20, 2014
Publication date	Nov 7, 2017
Grant date	Nov 7, 2017

Abstract

Implementations relate to editing images with selective editing tools. In some implementations, a computer-implemented method for an image editing program causes a display of an image and receives user input from a user to the image editing program, the user input indicative of selection of a selective editing tool. The method restores the image to a previous state in which a first modification to one or more pixel values of the image is omitted, where the first modification resulted from previous application of a first edit operation to the image. The method applies a second edit operation to one or more local areas of the image as indicated by selection of the selective editing tool by the user input, and the applying causes a second modification to the image.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method for an image editing program, the method comprising:
causing an image to be displayed;
receiving user input to the image editing program, the user input indicative of selection of a first selective editing tool;
in response to receiving the user input, determining that a first edit operation was previously applied to the image to cause a first modification to a first set of pixels of the image;
determining whether the first edit operation was based on use of at least one of the first selective editing tool and a second selective editing tool, wherein the first selective editing tool and the second selective editing tool are configured to modify at least one pixel in at least one particular area of the image, wherein the at least one particular area excludes one or more other pixels of the image;
in response to determining that the first edit operation was not based on use of the first selective editing tool and the second selective editing tool, restoring the image to a previous state in which the first modification to the first set of pixels of the image is omitted; and
in response to restoring the image to the previous state, applying a second edit operation to one or more selected areas of the image exclusive of one or more unselected pixels of the image as indicated by manipulation of the first selective editing tool by the user input, wherein the applying causes a second modification to a second set of pixels in the one or more selected areas of the image.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising causing the image to be displayed after applying the second edit operation to the one or more selected areas.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the first edit operation is the same as the second edit operation, and wherein the first set of pixels is different than the second set of pixels.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising, prior to the receiving, restoring, and applying:
applying the first edit operation to the image to cause the first modification to the first set of pixels of the image.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the first edit operation is
a last edit operation applied to the image prior to the applying of the second edit operation to the one or more selected areas of the image.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising causing a menu to be displayed, the menu including one or more options to select a particular edit operation of a plurality of edit operations for use with the first selective editing tool, wherein the plurality of edit operations were previously applied to the image,
wherein the first edit operation is the particular edit operation applied to the image prior to the applying of the second edit operation and prior to applying one or more other edit operations of the plurality of edit operations.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein in response to determining that the first edit operation was based on use of at least one of the first selective editing tool and the second selective editing tool, maintaining the first modification in the image and applying the second edit operation to the one or more selected areas of the image as indicated by the manipulation of the first selective editing tool by the user input.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising causing a menu to be displayed, wherein the menu includes one or more options, the one or more options including:
a first option to apply a default edit operation using the first selective editing tool; and
a second option to selectively apply the first modification of the first edit operation using the first selective editing tool,
wherein the restoring the image to the previous state and the applying the second edit operation are performed in response to a selection of the second option by the user input indicative of the selection of the first selective editing tool.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the user input manipulating the first selective editing tool is received while the first selective editing tool is active, wherein the user input identifies the one or more selected areas of the image.

10. The method of claim 8 further comprising causing one or more options to be displayed, the one or more options including a first option to select multiple edit operations that were previously applied to the image in a sequence,
wherein a selection of the first option causes the restoring the image to the previous state and causes the second edit operation to selectively apply the multiple edit operations to the one or more selected areas based on the manipulation of the first selective editing tool.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the first selective editing tool and the second selective editing tool each include at least one of: a brush tool, an image gradient tool, a control point tool, and a smart selection tool.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the first selective editing tool includes a brush tool, wherein a number of pixels of the image in the one or more selected areas are identified by the user input using the brush tool and are modified based on the second edit operation applied to the one or more selected areas.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the first selective editing tool includes a control point tool causing a control point to be located on the image based on the user input using the first selective editing tool, wherein applying the second edit operation to the one or more selected areas includes modifying pixels of the image around the control point within a predetermined distance of the control point.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the first edit operation and the second edit operation include at least one of: a color modifier, a brightness modifier, a contrast modifier, a saturation modifier, a blur, a sharpness modifier, a noise modifier, and a special effect filter.

15. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
displaying an indication of a sequence of multiple edit operations applied to the image prior to the applying of the second edit operation to the one or more selected areas, wherein the user input selects the second edit operation from the sequence of multiple edit operations prior to the restoring and the applying.

16. A system to provide an image editing program, the system comprising:
a storage device; and
at least one processor operative to access the storage device and configured to:
receive first user input to the image editing program, the user input selecting a selective editing tool;
in response to the selecting of the selective editing tool, cause an indication to be displayed of a sequence of multiple edit operations previously applied to an image, wherein each of the multiple edit operations caused a respective modification to one or more pixels of the image based on previous user input;
receive a selection of a selected edit operation from the indication of the sequence of multiple edit operations based on second user input;
in response to receiving the selection of the selected edit operation, restore the image to a state in which the modification resulting from the previous applying of the selected edit operation to the image is omitted;
apply a second edit operation to one or more selected areas of the image as indicated by manipulation of the selective editing tool by third user input, wherein the one or more selected areas exclude at least one pixel of the image, wherein the second edit operation selectively applies the modification of the selected edit operation to the one or more selected areas of the image; and
cause the image to be displayed, the image modified by the seco

Assignees

• Google Inc

Inventors

• Kokemohr Nils

Classifications

• G06T5/00

  Image enhancement or restoration · CPC title

• G06K9/033

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06T11/60 Primary

  Creating or editing images; Combining images with text · CPC title