JP2010244330A - Image performance program and image performance device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To generate an image from for which a user does not have a sense of incongruity. <P>SOLUTION: This image performance program is provided to make a computer 6a execute an image analysis procedure 6c for extracting features by analyzing an image; a character expression procedure 6e for determining the expression configurations of a character string to be overwritten on the image according to the features of the image; and an image performance procedure 6d for overwriting the character string, in a determined expression configurations on the image. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image effect program and an image effect device.

  A haiku generation system that analyzes the characteristics of an image and generates an optimal haiku is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2004-133721 A

  However, when a character is overwritten on an image, there is a problem that the user feels uncomfortable if the character expression form such as the character size, color, and typeface does not match the characteristics of the image.

(1) The invention of claim 1 determines an image analysis procedure for extracting an image by analyzing an image and a character string expression form overwritten on the image according to the feature of the image extracted by the image analysis procedure. An image effect program for causing a computer to execute a character expression procedure and an image effect procedure for overwriting an image with a character string in an expression form determined by the character expression procedure.
(2) The invention of claim 2 further includes a position determination procedure for determining a position to overwrite a character string on the image in accordance with the feature of the image in the image effect program according to claim 1, and a character expression procedure Then, the expression form of the character string is determined according to the feature of the image at the overwrite position determined by the position determination procedure in the image.
(3) According to the invention of claim 3, in the image effect program according to claim 1 or 2, in the image analysis procedure, the edge direction of the entire image is detected, the aspect ratio of the image is detected, and the character is In the expression procedure, the arrangement direction of the character strings is determined according to the edge direction of the entire image and the aspect ratio of the image.
(4) The invention of claim 4 is the image effect program according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the luminance of the image is detected in the image analysis procedure, and according to the luminance of the image in the character expression procedure. Determine the color of the string.
(5) According to the invention of claim 5, in the image effect program according to any one of claims 1 to 4, the color of the image is detected in the image analysis procedure, and according to the color of the image in the character expression procedure. Determine the color or decoration of the text.
(6) The invention of claim 6 is an image acquisition circuit for acquiring an image, a character acquisition circuit for acquiring a character string, and a computer that executes the image effect program according to any one of claims 1 to 5; And an image effect device including a display device for displaying an image in which a character string is overwritten.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to overwrite an image with characters in an expression form that matches the characteristics of the image, and it is possible to generate an image that does not feel uncomfortable for the user.

The figure which shows the structure of the image production apparatus of one Embodiment. The flowchart which shows the image production program of one embodiment The figure which shows an example which created the New Year's card with the image production apparatus of one embodiment The figure which shows another example which created the New Year's card with the image production apparatus of one embodiment The figure which shows another example which created the New Year's card with the image production apparatus of one embodiment The figure which shows another example which created the New Year's card with the image production apparatus of one embodiment

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an image effect device according to an embodiment. The storage device 1 is a storage device such as a hard disk that stores a plurality of image data. The storage device 1 includes a slot for inserting a recording medium 1a such as a memory card, and reads and stores image data from the recording medium 1a. The image input circuit 2 is a circuit for inputting image data from an external digital camera, video camera, scanner, or the like, and the input image data is stored in the storage device 1. Further, the communication circuit 3 is a circuit for inputting image data via the Internet or outputting an image of the effect result via the Internet, and the inputted image data is stored in the storage device 1.

  In this specification, image data includes frame image data constituting a moving image in addition to still image data. In addition to data of the image itself, the image data includes the date, time of shooting, and location (GPS information). ), Imaging conditions (focal length, F number, etc.) of the imaging apparatus, and autofocus information (information on main subjects in the image, depth of field information, etc.).

  The microphone 4 is a microphone that collects the voice of the user of the image rendering device, and enables the operation of the image rendering device by voice. The keyboard / mouse 5 is used to input a character to be displayed over the image by the user, or from an image stored in the storage device 1 or an image input via the image input circuit 2 or the communication circuit 3. This is an operation member for selecting an image to be rendered by overwriting, and for performing various other operations of the image rendering device.

  The computer 6 includes hardware such as a CPU 6a and a memory 6b, and also includes an image analysis unit 6c, an image processing unit 6d, a character processing unit 6e, and the like configured by a software form of the CPU 6a. The CPU 6a executes an image effect program according to an embodiment to be described later, and effects the characters overwritten on the image and effects the image as necessary. The memory 6b is a temporary storage memory for image data and character data.

  The image analysis unit 6c analyzes the effect target image and detects the feature amount of the image. The image feature amount includes the shooting date and time, shooting location (GPS latitude / longitude information), shooting conditions (imaging device settings), shooting scene (event), subject type, size and configuration, Main subject (autofocus information), subject distance, overall image and main subject brightness, hue, saturation, brightness, spatial frequency, edge amount and direction, and the like are included. The image processing unit 6d performs an effect suitable for the overwritten character, such as performing a low pass filter process on a part of the image or trimming the image according to the content of the overwritten character.

  The character processing unit 6e sets the expression form of characters to be overwritten on the image to an expression form that matches the characteristics of the image. In this specification, the expression form of a character is the typeface of the character (font, font, cursive, gothic, etc., italic, bold, etc.), size (character height, etc.), spacing, number of lines, This refers to all forms of character representation, such as the number of characters per line / column, vertical writing / horizontal writing, paragraph width, hue, saturation, brightness, character decoration (such as bordering, edge emphasis, shadowing, etc.).

  The character processing unit 6e also analyzes the contents of characters or character strings as necessary. If the character or character string is selected by the user from among those stored in the memory 6b, the contents of those characters or character strings, that is, greetings, condolences, recent reports, haikus, etc. are recognized. Yes. On the other hand, when the character or character string is input from the keyboard / mouse 5 by the user or input from the microphone 4, the character or character string is decomposed into words and stored in the memory 6b in advance. The contents are checked against words in the dictionary.

  The display 7 is a color LCD for displaying images and characters. The speaker 8 broadcasts voice guidance on usage and operation, and broadcasts various information and music. The image output circuit 9 is a circuit for outputting image data of an effect result in which characters are overwritten to an external device such as a printer.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an image effect program according to an embodiment. Here, when creating a New Year's card by overwriting characters on the image, an example of performing the rendering according to the image on the overwritten characters and also performing the rendering on the image according to the characters as necessary explain. When the image rendering apparatus according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is turned on and the image rendering mode is selected from the menu screen displayed on the display 7 using the keyboard / mouse 5, the CPU 6a of the computer 6 is shown in FIG. The execution of the image production program is started.

  In step (S) 1, a menu screen for image effect purpose is displayed on the display 7, and the user is made to select the image effect purpose. Image production purposes include, for example, creation of various letters including New Year's cards, creation of a photo diary, creation of a photo album, creation of images for a slide show, and the like. From these image effect purpose menus, the user can operate the keyboard / mouse 5 to select an image effect purpose, or utter “Create New Year's card” and select an image effect purpose by voice input. . Here, the explanation is continued assuming that the creation of a New Year's card is selected.

  In step 2 after the creation of a New Year's card is selected for the purpose of image production, the user is made to select an image to be produced. The images to be produced are displayed in the images stored in the storage device 1 by the user specifying the shooting date, shooting location, etc. with the keyboard / mouse 5. 7 are displayed as thumbnails, and the user selects a desired image by using the keyboard / mouse 5 from among them. Alternatively, it may be input from a digital camera, a video camera, a scanner, or the like via the image input circuit 2, or may be downloaded from the Internet via the communication circuit 3. The data of the selected image is read from the storage device 1 or input via the image input circuit 2 or the communication circuit 3 and temporarily stored in the memory 6b of the computer 6.

  In step 3 after image selection, the user is caused to select characters to be overwritten on the image. A menu screen of fixed phrases corresponding to the above-described image production purpose is displayed on the display 7, and the user selects an arbitrary character string from the fixed phrases. Alternatively, the user can manually input a character string from the keyboard / mouse 5, or utter the character string via the microphone 4 and input the voice. Here, an example is shown in which “Tsuruga New Year, thank you this year. New Year's Day 2009” is selected as the character string to be overwritten on the New Year's card image. In addition, although the example of selection of a character string is shown here, for example, only one character such as “Shou” is selected and overwritten on the image, or a character or character string is added with a symbol or a code to be overwritten on the image. You can also.

  In step 4 after selecting an effect target image and a character string to be overwritten on the image, the character processing unit 6e of the computer 6 determines a position to overwrite the character string on the image. In this embodiment, basically, the direction of the character string, that is, horizontal writing or vertical writing is determined based on the edge direction of the entire image, and further, the character string on the image is determined according to whether horizontal writing or vertical writing. The overwrite position is determined. The image analysis unit 6c of the computer 6 analyzes the effect target image stored in the memory 6b, extracts edge components, and totals the edge amounts according to the edge directions (horizontal and vertical).

  Specifically, if the edge direction of the entire image is horizontal, that is, if the horizontal edge amount of the entire image is larger than the vertical edge amount, it is more natural to write the character string horizontally according to the edge direction. Give a feeling. Furthermore, when the character string is written horizontally, it is more natural to set the character string overwrite position on the image to the upper left. On the other hand, if the edge direction of the entire image is vertical, that is, if the vertical edge amount of the entire image is larger than the horizontal edge amount, it is more natural to write the character string vertically according to the edge direction. Give a feeling. Further, when the character string is vertically written, it is more natural to place the character string on the image at the upper right position.

  When a character string other than Japanese text is overwritten on the image, an optimum character string direction corresponding to the type of character string is determined. For example, when an English character string is selected, horizontal writing is basically selected. In addition, when a symbol or code other than a character or character string is overwritten on an image, an overwriting direction corresponding to the symbol or code is determined. Furthermore, the direction of the character string is not limited to horizontal writing and vertical writing. The character processing unit 6e of the computer 6 may select a direction other than horizontal writing and vertical writing, such as a diagonally upward direction or a diagonally upward direction, depending on the purpose of the image production, the image to be produced, or the contents of the character string. . When the character string is arranged in an oblique direction, an oblique direction close to the edge direction of the image is selected.

  By the way, when it is difficult to determine whether the edge direction of the entire image is horizontal or vertical, for example, when the horizontal edge amount and the vertical edge amount are substantially equal, the aspect ratio of the image to be produced itself, That is, the character overwriting position is determined according to whether the image is horizontally long or vertically long. That is, if the image is horizontally long, it is more natural to write the character string horizontally, so the character string is written horizontally, and the character string overwrite position on the image is set to the upper left as described above. On the other hand, when the image is vertically long, it is more natural to write the character string vertically, so the character string is written vertically, and the overwriting position of the character string on the image is set to the upper right as described above. The

  In this way, the horizontal edge amount and the vertical edge amount of the entire image are weighted and compared depending on whether the image is horizontally long or vertically long, and the character string arrangement direction (horizontal writing, vertical writing) ) And the overwriting position of the character string on the image is determined according to the arrangement direction of the character string. The overwriting position of the character string on the image is not limited to the upper right and upper left, but can be overwritten at the four corners, upper, lower, left, right, center, etc. of the image, and overwritten in multiple places. In any case, it is determined according to the default position corresponding to the image effect purpose, the analysis result of the effect target image, the contents of the character string, etc. stored in advance in the memory 6b. For example, in the image production for the purpose of overwriting haiku character strings on the image, the character strings can be arranged in five rows of five, seven, five, seven, seven in the center, upper right, upper left, etc. of the image. In this case, the final overwrite position is determined with emphasis on the image analysis result.

  After determining the character string overwriting position on the image and the direction of the character string (horizontal writing, vertical writing, diagonal writing, etc.), in step 5, the character processing unit 6e of the computer 6 determines the character string overwriting area. Here, among the expression forms of characters to be overwritten on the image, the default values corresponding to the above-described image effect purposes are set in advance for the character size, spacing, the number of rows (horizontal writing) / number of columns (vertical writing), and the like. It is stored in the memory 6b of the computer 6. For example, if the purpose of the image production is the creation of a New Year's card and the overwrite string is “Tsuruga New Year, thank you again this year. New Year's Day 2009”, “Tsuruga New Year” In addition to wide intervals, “Please give me this year. New Year's Day 2009” is a little smaller and narrower, and “Tsuruga New Year”, “Thank you this year”, “New Year's Day 2009” Default values such as arranging in three columns are stored.

  When determining the character string overwrite area, the character processing unit 6e of the computer 6 first needs the character string overwrite area when the character size, interval, number of lines / columns, etc. are set as default values. Large dimensions (vertical and horizontal dimensions). Next, it is determined whether or not the necessary size can be secured at the character string overwrite position determined in step 4. In order to make the character string clearly visible when the character string is overwritten on the image, the area where the character string is overwritten is an area where there is no main subject, an area where the spatial frequency is low, or the brightness is below a predetermined value or An area that is equal to or greater than a predetermined value and an area where the hue and saturation of the image are uniform are desirable.

  The memory 6b of the computer 6 stores image conditions (hue, saturation, luminance, spatial frequency, etc.) of an area in which a character string is overwritten. Assuming that the overwriting area of the necessary size described above is set at the overwriting position determined in step 4, the hue, saturation, luminance, spatial frequency, etc. of the image in the temporary setting area on the rendering target image are set as follows: It is compared with the image condition of the overwrite area stored in the memory 6b, and it is determined whether or not the image in the temporary setting area on the effect target image satisfies the above condition. If the condition is satisfied, the overwrite area having the necessary size described above is set at the overwrite position determined in step 4.

  On the other hand, when the image of the temporary setting area does not satisfy the above-described conditions, the character processing unit 6e of the computer 6 first changes the number of columns / lines of characters, the size of characters, etc. The necessary size of the overwriting area is recalculated, and the overwriting area having the necessary size is temporarily set at the overwriting position determined in step 4. Thereafter, it is determined whether or not the image of the temporary setting area satisfies the above-described condition by the above-described procedure. Note that changes in the number of columns / lines of character strings, the size of characters, and the like are appropriately performed in accordance with the above-described image production purpose. For example, in the creation of a New Year's card, the character string is arranged in two or more rows and the size of the character is set to a predetermined value or more, and the change is permitted only within a range set in advance as a New Year's card.

  If the image of the temporary setting area at the overwrite position determined in step 4 does not satisfy the above-described condition even if the number of columns / lines of characters or the size of characters is changed, the character processing unit of the computer 6 6e warns the user by the display 7 and the speaker 8. At this time, the character processing unit 6e presents several alternatives to the user through the display 7 and the speaker 8. For example, an overwritable area other than the overwriting position determined in step 4 is recalculated by the above method, and presented to the user as an alternative to the overwriting position.

  Further, when it is determined from the image analysis result by the image analysis unit 6c of the computer 6 that the portion of the image of the temporarily set area at the overwrite position that does not satisfy the above-described condition is, for example, 20% or less of the entire temporarily set area. The image processing unit 6d performs low-pass filter processing on the portion of the image that does not satisfy the condition, forcibly performs image processing so that the condition is satisfied, and overwrites the character string on the processing result image to display on the display 7. Present it to the user as an alternative.

  Further, when the image of the temporary setting area at the overwrite position does not satisfy the above-described conditions, an image in which the character string is overwritten at the position is displayed on the display 7 to ask whether the user can accept it. Furthermore, alternatives are presented as much as possible, such as proposing to change to an image other than the image selected in step 2.

  As described above, information about the main subject in the image is recorded in each image from autofocus information or the like. When overwriting a character string on an image, it is necessary to prevent the character string from overlapping the main subject. Regardless of how the character string overwrite position and area are set, if the character string hits the main subject on the image, the character string is re-appropriated by avoiding at least the center of the main subject, for example, the center of the flower. Be placed.

  When the overwriting position and overwriting area of the character string are determined, the process proceeds to step 6, and the character processing unit 6e of the computer 6 determines the color of the character. First, the average luminance Y or the average brightness L in the overwriting area of the character string on the image is calculated by the image analysis unit 6c. When the average luminance Y exceeds 200, or when the average brightness L exceeds 80, the characters are black. On the other hand, when the average luminance Y is less than 80, or when the average brightness L is less than 30, the characters are white. When the average brightness Y in the character string overwrite area is 80 or more and 200 or less, or when the average brightness L is 30 or more and 80 or less, the average brightness Y0 of the entire image is calculated. When the average luminance Y0 of the entire image is 128 or more, the character is black, and when it is less than 128, the character is white.

  When the luminance distribution of the overwriting area of the character string is bipolar, that is, when the contrast is high, it becomes difficult to visually recognize if the achromatic character is overwritten, so the character color is chromatic. In this case, the procedure for determining the character color is stored in advance in the memory 6b of the computer 6 in accordance with the image production purpose, the production target image, and the like, and is decided according to each procedure. When creating a New Year's card, the character string “Tsuruga New Year” is particularly conspicuous, so the image analysis unit 6c analyzes the hue distribution of the entire image, and the color of the character is the complementary color of the center of gravity of the hue. For example, when the entire image is close to green, the character color is a complementary red color. In addition, when creating a photo diary or overwriting haiku on an image, the harmony between the image and the text is an important factor. Is desirable. For example, if the main subject of the image is a red flower, the color of the character is red or a color close thereto.

  Note that the color information of the main subject portion of the image is analyzed by the image analysis unit 6c. When the main subject has high saturation, the character saturation is reduced, and conversely, when the main subject has low saturation, the character saturation is reduced. The degree is raised. Further, the saturation of the entire image is analyzed by the image analysis unit 6c. When the saturation of the image is high, the saturation of the character is lowered. Conversely, when the saturation of the image is low, the saturation of the character is increased. Further, as a result of analyzing the entire image by the image analysis unit 6c, when it is determined that the image is composed of a plurality of subjects having similar colors, the color of the character is set to be similar to that of the subject, and the image is pastel-toned. When it is determined that the subject is composed of a plurality of subjects, the character color is achromatic.

  After the character color is determined, the process proceeds to step 7, and the character processing unit 6e of the computer 6 determines the character font. The typefaces of characters include fonts, cursive, gothic, italic and bold. The determination method according to the image production purpose, the analysis result of the image to be produced, the contents of the character string, etc. is stored in the memory 6b of the computer 6 in advance, and the optimum method according to the production purpose, the production image, the character string content, etc. The typeface is determined. For example, when creating a New Year's card, the character is a typeface and appropriate bold. Also, when creating a photo diary for a wedding or travel event, it is a pop-type font, and when creating a photo diary for an entrance ceremony or a graduation ceremony event, it is a line font. A plurality of fonts may be presented on the display 7 according to the production purpose, the analysis result of the production image, the contents of the character string, and the user may select them.

  In subsequent step 8, the character processing unit 6e of the computer 6 determines a character decoration. Text decorations include borders, edge emphasis, shadowing, etc. In addition, there are general symbols such as quotes and notes, and descriptive symbols such as exclamation marks and question marks. The memory 6b of the computer 6 stores in advance a method for determining the character decoration according to the purpose of the image production, the analysis result of the image to be produced, the contents of the character string, and the like. The optimum character decoration according to the content of is determined. For example, if the character color is similar to the color of the image in the overwrite area, the character is outlined. Further, when the area overwriting the character string is bright, the edge of the character is made thicker and the character is shaded. It should be noted that a plurality of character decorations may be presented on the display 7 in accordance with the production purpose, production image, contents of the character string, etc., and allowed to be selected by the user.

  When the expression form of the character string to be overwritten on the image is determined, the process proceeds to step 9, and the character string in the determined expression form is overwritten on the image and displayed on the display 7 and stored in the storage device 1. Further, it is output from the image output circuit 9 to an external device such as a printer as necessary.

  3 to 6 show an example of creating a New Year's card by the image rendering device of the embodiment. In each figure, (a) is an image before overwriting the character string, and (b) is overwriting the character string. It is an image. 3 to 6, since photographs taken with an imaging device (digital camera) cannot be directly shown on this paper, images obtained by sketching these photographs are shown. FIG. 3A is an image of a commemorative photograph with a castle in the background at a tourist spot. When the user selects the image of this photograph as the image to be used for the New Year's card, the image analysis unit 6c of the computer 6 performs image analysis. First, people and castles are recognized as main subjects in the image, and the image is a vertically long image based on the direction of the top or bottom of these main subjects or the shooting posture of the camera (normal position shooting or vertical position shooting). Determined. Next, the edge direction of the entire image is determined by the image analysis unit 6c. As a result of totaling the horizontal edge amount and the vertical edge amount of this image, the vertical edge amount is larger than the horizontal edge amount, and the image is vertically long. It is determined that the orientation is vertical. Therefore, the character string to be overwritten on the image in accordance with the direction of the edge is vertically written, and the overwrite position of the character string is set to the upper right.

  Next, the computer 6 determines a character string overwrite area by the character processing unit 6e. In accordance with the character representation format for New Year's cards stored in the memory 6b in advance, that is, according to the default values such as the character size, spacing, and number of columns, the character string of “Tsuruga New Year, thank you again this year. Calculate the size required for the overwrite area. Then, it is determined whether or not an area necessary as the overwrite area can be secured at the upper right overwrite position of the image. In FIG. 3A, an area 21 indicates an area having a size necessary for overwriting the character string. In this case, the lower end portion of the area 21 approaches the roof portion of the castle, which is the main subject, and the spatial frequency of this portion is higher than that of the other portions. Since it is a part, it is determined that the character string is not difficult to see even if it interferes with a part of the character string. From the above determination results, in this case, the character string overwrite area is set in the upper right area 21 of the image, and the default value as a New Year's card is adopted as the character expression form such as the character size, interval, and number of columns. The

  Next, the computer 6 detects the average luminance of the image in the character overwrite area 21 by the image analysis unit 6c. Assuming that the blue sky in fine weather is reflected in most of the area 21 and the average luminance 239 is detected, the character processing unit 6e determines the character color to black according to the character color determination procedure described above. . Further, the character processing unit 6e searches the character font for the New Year's card stored in the memory 6b and determines the character as a font. As for the text decoration, since the color of the overwrite area 21 is a uniform blue sky color and the black text is overwritten thereon, it is determined that text decoration such as bordering, edge emphasis, and shadowing is not necessary. The As a result of overwriting the character string of the expression form thus determined in the upper right area 21 of the image of FIG. 3A, a New Year's card image as shown in FIG. 3B is created.

  Next, FIG. 4A is a photograph of a sand dune in fine weather. When the user selects the image of this photograph as the image to be used for the New Year's card, the computer 6 analyzes the image by the image analysis unit 6c. First, a blue sky is recognized as a subject in the image, and it is determined that the image is a horizontally long image from the top and bottom direction of the subject. Next, the image analysis unit 6c determines the direction of the edge of the entire image. As a result of totaling the horizontal edge amount and the vertical edge amount of this image, the horizontal edge amount is larger than the vertical edge amount, and the image is horizontally long. Judged to be in landscape orientation. Based on such a determination result, the character string to be overwritten on the image is horizontally written in accordance with the direction of the edge, and the overwriting position of the character string is at the upper left of the image.

  Next, the computer 6 determines a character string overwrite area by the character processing unit 6e. In accordance with the default value of the character expression format for the New Year's card stored in the memory 6b in advance, the size required for the overwriting area of the character string of “Thank you for the New Year, 2009 New Year's Day” is calculated. Then, it is determined whether or not an area required as the overwrite area can be secured at the upper left overwrite position of the image. In FIG. 4A, an area 22 indicates an area having a size necessary for overwriting the character string. In this case, a blue sky is reflected in the region 22, there is no special main subject, and the spatial frequency in the region is low. Therefore, in this case, a character string overwrite area is set in the upper left area 22 of the image, and the default value as a New Year's card is adopted as the character expression form such as character size, spacing, and number of columns.

  Next, the computer 6 detects the average luminance of the image in the character overwrite area 22 by the image analysis unit 6c. It is assumed that a blue sky is reflected in the region 22 and an average luminance 185 is detected. Since this is lower than the luminance 200, it is assumed that the average luminance of the entire image is further detected by the image analysis unit 6c, and the average luminance 193 is detected. The character processing unit 6e determines the character color to black according to the character color determination procedure described above. Furthermore, as described above, the character processing unit 6e determines that the character font for the New Year's card is a font font, and determines that no character decoration is necessary. As a result of overwriting the character string of the expression form thus determined in the upper right area 22 of the image of FIG. 4A, a New Year's card image as shown in FIG. 4B is created.

  FIG. 5A is a close-up photograph of a thistle flower blooming in a field. The flower in the center is red, and the sharp and focused image is an image. However, the background of thistle flowers is a green wildflower, but these wildflowers are not in focus. When such an image is selected as an image to be used for a New Year's card, the image analysis unit 6c of the computer 6 determines that the image is horizontally long and the edge direction is vertical. A writing character string overwrite area 23 is determined. Further, if the average luminance 122 of the region 23 and the average luminance 95 of the entire image are detected in the analysis by the image analysis unit 6c for this image, the character processing unit 6e changes the character color to white according to the above-described procedure. To decide. FIG. 5B shows a New Year's card image in which a white character string is overwritten in the area 23 (Note; the character string is expressed in black on this paper). The region 23 has a uniform green color, and the character string is clearly visible as if white characters are arranged.

  FIG. 6A is a commemorative photo of a person against the background of a building. A person appears behind the signboard in the center of the image, and a building appears at the top of the image. When such an image is selected as an image to be used for a New Year's card, it is determined that the image is horizontally long and the direction of the edge is horizontal by analysis by the image analysis unit 6c of the computer 6. The character string overwrite area 24 is determined. However, since the roof of the building and the sky are reflected in the region 24, it is determined by the analysis by the image analysis unit 6c for this image that the luminance distribution in the region 24 is bipolar, that is, the contrast is high. In such a case, as described above, it becomes difficult to see if the character color is achromatic, so the character color is chromatic. Here, a blue roof is reflected in the area 24, and red autumn leaves are reflected in the image. Therefore, the color that is present in the image and that stands out when overwritten on the blue roof is a character. Is determined to be red. FIG. 6B shows a New Year's card image in which a red character string is overwritten in the region 24 (Note; the character string is expressed in black on this paper). The red character string is overwritten on the blue roof in the region 24, and the character string is clearly visible.

  It should be noted that the content of the character string selected by the user in step 3 may be analyzed by the computer 6 so that the wording or wording in the character string is changed according to the content of the character string. For example, in the creation of the above-mentioned New Year's cards, it is a string of words and words that are stiff, and in the creation of a photo diary, it is a string of words and words that are straightforward. Alternatively, the computer 6 may analyze the feature amount of the image to be produced, and change the wording or wording in the character string according to the feature amount. For example, when the image has a bright color and saturation, a character string with a bright wording or wording is used, and when the image has a dark color and saturation, a character word with a quiet wording or wording is used. Furthermore, the user may be specified, and the wording and wording of the character string may be changed according to the age and sex of the user. For example, when the user is a child, the wording is a close wording, and when the user is a woman, the wording is a gentle wording.

  In the above-described embodiment, the image rendering apparatus including the computer 6 that executes the image rendering program has been described as an example. However, the image rendering program according to the embodiment is provided by being recorded on various recording media. The image rendering function according to the embodiment may be realized by being executed by a personal computer. Or you may make it provide the image production program of one Embodiment as a form which can be downloaded via the internet. Furthermore, an image effect device or an image effect program according to the present invention may be provided by being incorporated in a photo frame to realize the image effect function of the above-described embodiment.

  Furthermore, it is also possible to incorporate the image effect device and the image effect program according to the present invention into a digital camera or a mobile phone with a digital camera so that the above-described image effect function can be realized by a single digital camera or a single mobile phone. .

  In the above-described embodiments and their modifications, all combinations of the embodiments and the modifications are possible.

  According to the above-described embodiment and its modifications, the following operational effects can be achieved. First, the image is analyzed to extract features, the character string representation form to be overwritten on the image is determined according to the image feature, and the character string in the determined expression form is overwritten on the image. It is possible to overwrite the image with characters in an expression form that suits the above characteristics, and to generate an impressive image that is easy to read and has no sense of incongruity.

  Also, according to one embodiment and its modification, a position for overwriting the character string on the image is determined according to the feature of the image, and the character string is represented according to the feature of the image at the overwrite position in the image. Since the form is determined, the character string can be arranged avoiding the main subject, and the characters can be read more easily.

  Furthermore, according to one embodiment and its modification, the edge direction of the entire image is detected, whether the image is horizontally long or vertically long, and depending on the edge direction of the entire image and whether the image is horizontally long or vertically long Thus, the arrangement direction of the character strings is determined, so that the character strings can be arranged in a natural and uncomfortable direction.

  According to one embodiment and its modification, the color of the character string is determined according to the brightness of the image and the character decoration of the character string is determined according to the color of the image. Can be produced more easily.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1; Memory | storage device, 2; Image input circuit, 3; Communication circuit, 4; Microphone, 5; Keyboard / mouse, 6: Computer, 6a; CPU, 6b; Memory, 6c: Image analysis part, 6d; 6e; character processing unit, 7; display

Claims (6)

Image analysis procedure for analyzing the image and extracting features;
A character representation procedure for determining a representation form of a character string to be overwritten on the image according to a feature of the image extracted in the image analysis procedure;
An image effect program for causing a computer to execute an image effect procedure for overwriting the image with the character string in the expression form determined by the character expression procedure. In the image effect program according to claim 1,
A position determination procedure for determining a position to overwrite the character string on the image according to the characteristics of the image;
In the character expression procedure, the expression form of the character string is determined according to the feature of the image at the overwrite position determined in the position determination procedure in the image. In the image effect program according to claim 1 or 2,
In the image analysis procedure, the edge direction of the entire image is detected, the aspect ratio of the image is detected,
In the character expression procedure, the image rendering program is characterized in that the arrangement direction of the character strings is determined according to the edge direction of the entire image and the aspect ratio of the image. In the image effect program according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
In the image analysis procedure, the brightness of the image is detected,
In the character expression procedure, the color of the character string is determined according to the luminance of the image. In the image effect program according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
In the image analysis procedure, the color of the image is detected,
In the character expression procedure, a color or character decoration of the character string is determined according to the color of the image. An image acquisition circuit for acquiring an image;
A character acquisition circuit for acquiring a character string;
A computer that executes the image effect program according to any one of claims 1 to 5;
An image rendering device comprising: a display device that displays the image overwritten with the character string.

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