System and method of constructing a photo album

[0002] Reference is made to commonly assigned copending application Ser. No. 09/178,096 entitled “System and Method of Constructing a Photo Collage” and filed herewith in the names of John R. Squilla, Stephen L. Shaffer, and John K. McBride, which is assigned to the assignee of this application mow U.S. Pat. No. 6,123,362.

[0003] The invention relates generally to the field of photography, and in particular to photo collections. More specifically, the invention relates to a method of generating a photo album using reduced resolution sticker versions of a customer's photographs.

[0004] Photographs, videos, and memorabilia collections are very commonly used to maintain memories and events that formed a part of a person's life. These collections serve to augment the human memory and enrich the process of sharing stories related to the memories. When organized, viewed and shared on a regular basis a collection of memory artifacts generates a large reward, enriching the lives of all involved. The nature of these collections is such that they grow steadily, event by event, year by year, and soon become large and difficult to manage. Collections of photos and memorabilia are considered one of the most important and valued possessions by most people. They are the first things that people think of when forced to flee their homes due to fire, flood or other natural disaster. These collections possess emotional value, even if they are rarely viewed, because the intrinsic need to preserve lives memories is strong and universal. Because of the relative importance of these memories to the persons involved, the prior art is replete with teachings that disclose organizational methods.

[0005] The most common manner of organizing these collections within the prior art is to place the photos, videos or memorabilia into either an album or a box.

[0006] Common vinyl album pages provide the means to store and view between one and five standard sized photos per page. Creative people often spend hours carefully selecting and arranging photos, writing captions, clipping newspaper articles, and other memorabilia to create visual stories or scrapbooks. Once organized into groups or pages these photocollages greatly enhance a person's ability to remember and share the story surrounding the depicted events. These simple organization tools allow the collections to be easily viewed and also serves to protect the artifacts themselves. There are numerous types of albums and boxes available in the market today, ranging from simple vinyl sleeves to boxes manufactured from specialized materials designed to preserve the artifacts. Album vendors include Pioneer Photo Albums, Design Vinyl and Cason-Talens. Box vendors include Exposures. None of these prior art disclosures provide a means by which a photocollage of these memorable events can be easily constructed by persons to who these event means so much.

[0007] As used herein photocollage refers to a single page having a plurality of images, such as a page in a photo album, or a composite image having a number of images relating to a single theme such as a vacation, wedding, birthday party or the like. The concept of photocollage as used herein also includes the concept of a bound photo album having a plurality of pages, one or more of which is a photocollage.

[0008] Despite the fact that many people are engaged in collecting these memorable artifacts, few people have the free time available to invest on a regular basis to organize and maintain them. Before long, the amount of unorganized material becomes a significant psychological barrier to getting organized. Other barriers exist which prevent people from actively maintaining these memorabilia collections such as confidence in their process, access to the materials, or remembering the details about the event. Often, once people get started on this organizational task they find it rewarding and fun, but still a significant amount of work.

[0009] Many attempts have been made to provide tools for working with or organizing photo and memorabilia collections. Computer software programs such as Picture-It™, by Microsoft, or Creative Photo Albums™, by Dog Byte Development, allow people to work with digital versions of their photos and create digital versions of an album or print them on a home printer. Software products such as these require that each photo or artifact exist in digital form before they can be used. Although these products increase the ability to change and enhance photos and scanned memorabilia they do not reduce the amount of work needed to organize collections or create visual stories. Other services such as Photo-Net™ by PictureVision™ will scan photographs in a high-quality format at the time of photo processing and provide a thumbnail image of the scanned images via the Internet. A customer, using these scanned images can create collections of photos which can be viewed on the Internet or have prints generated.

[0010] Currently some of these services do not allow for the arrangement of several photos on a page and are limited to consumers who have a collection of digital images and a computer connected to the Internet and who are both computer and web literate.

[0011] Prior art disclosures as represented by previously filed applications under Ser. No. 09/136,395 for “A SYSTEM AND METHOD OF CONSTRUCTING PHOTO ALBUMS WITH STICKERS” and Ser. No. 09/120,648 for “A SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONSTRUCTING PHOTO ALBUMS” assigned commonly with the present invention have taught the creation of photo albums by using, as a selection device, reduced resolution versions of images requiring less storage space than the full resolution versions. The prior art has also taught the use of these reduced resolution images in generation of photo albums and photocollages via thumbnail sketches and stickers that are uniquely identified with their high resolution counterparts that are contained in a data base. However, these prior art disclosures did not provide a methodology whereby, the photo albums to be created can have their entire layout selected and previewed by the customer.

[0012] It should be apparent from the foregoing discussion that there remains a need within the art for a method by which consumers can create photo albums and have them made for them in a previously selected manner that is as simple as ordering prints

[0013] The present invention addresses the foregoing discussed shortcomings in the prior art by providing a method for creating photo albums wherein the customers can select and preview the entire layout of the photoalbum. The individual pages are created as a series of photocollages from sticker layout forms that are filled with index stickers. Each of the index stickers has a low resolution version of an image with a unique identifier correlating the index sticker to a high resolution version of the image that can be quickly accessed from a database file. The index stickers fit on individual layout sticker sheets, the layout sticker sheets are stickers that are used to form the individual pages of the photoalbum. Accordingly, the present invention addresses the need for an improved method of generating photo albums from consumer photographs whereby, the customer selects that exact orientation of the images that will comprise the photoalbum and that requires a minimum amount of effort but yields a high-quality product and is reasonably priced.

[0014] The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above. Briefly summarized, according to one aspect of the present invention, a method of constructing a photo album includes the steps of providing a plurality of images; generating a sticker sheet of reduced resolution images from the full resolution digital images, the sticker sheet including a machine readable means for identifying the high resolution images to be included in the photo album represented by the reduced resolution stickers; selecting one or more of the reduced resolution images on the sticker sheet; placing the reduced resolution stickers onto a page layout sheet which indicates size of the image on the page, number of images per page, and textual additions, reading the selected reduced resolution images on the page layout sheet with a scanner; and constructing a photo album, or a photocollage from the digital images represented by the selected reduced resolution images and layout sheets.

[0015] These and other aspects, objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood and appreciated from a review of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and appended claims, and by reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0016] The present invention has the following advantages: Allows the user to have (1) an easy method of choosing photos and laying them out as photocollages on pages for creating professional looking photo albums which can be previewed instantly, (2) duplication of the photo albums, and (3) keeping the photo albums as files for later use.

[0017] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the basic system elements to generate the sticker sheet useful for practicing the present invention; and

[0018] FIG. 2 is a system diagram showing a digital image processing system envisioned by the present invention;

[0019] FIG. 3 is a drawing of a sticker sheet of reduced resolution images to be used with the present invention;

[0020] FIG. 4 is a drawing showing some of the layout styles available for a photocollage page within the photoalbum;

[0021] FIG. 5 is a drawing showing the layout of a cover page for the photo album;

[0022] FIG. 6ais a page layout form for the photo album as envisioned by the present invention;

[0023] FIG. 6bis an illustration of the cover page to similar to that shown in shown in FIG. 5 to be used in conjunction with the page layout form of FIG. 6a;

[0024] FIG. 7ais a box of stickers similar to those shown in FIG. 3 only arranged in pads of stickers;

[0025] FIG. 7bis sheet of page layout sheet stickers each having a plurality of positions to accept stickers from the box of sticker pads shown in FIG. 7a;

[0026] FIG. 8ais a sticker sheet similar to that shown in FIG. 3;

[0027] FIG. 8bis an illustration of page layout stickers similar to those shown in FIG. 7b;

[0028] FIG. 8cis a page layout form as shown in FIG. 6a;

[0029] FIG. 9 is one of the preferred embodiments of the present invention illustrating a game box approach to making photo albums.

[0030] To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have been used, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common to the figures.

[0031] It has been discovered that a photo album or photocollage can be created in a simple and effective manner by supplying a reduced resolution sticker version of the developed pictures and a simple page/album ordering system. Referring to FIG. 1, a consumer sends their roll of exposed film 10 or Digital Still Camera memory cards 12 to a photofinisher 14, and the customer receives a set of prints 16 and a sticker sheet 18 that is to be used as a photocollage creation tool. The sticker sheet 18 contains reduced resolution versions of each of the photographs from the roll 10 or the memory card 12.

[0032] Referring to FIG. 2, which is the system as envisioned by the present invention, viewed in conjunction with FIG. 1, conventional film processing takes place with potential correction of exposed photographs via operator interface 31. Operator intervention typically takes place once exposed photographs are seen as having incorrect brightness or color content. A preferred system will have, in addition to the printing apparatus typically employed by a photofinisher, a film scanner 20. At the photofinisher 14, exposed film images are chemically processed to generate an optical image. These optical images are then scanned using the digital film scanner 20 to produce a high resolution digital file that is archived in an image store 24. In general, to produce a high resolution printed image of 8x10 inch size a resolution of 1538×1024 pixels is required. The Digital Still Camera images from Digital Still Camera memory cards 12 are digitally processed to produce an equivalent digital image file of similar size. Once in usable digital form, both the film captured images and the Digital Camera captured images are then processed using a low-pass frequency filter and spatial sub-sampling to generate a reduced resolution version of the image. This processing technique is similar to that shown in the FlashPix toolkit on the Eastman Kodak World Wide Web site (www.kodak.com). These reduced resolution images are used to form a sticker sheet 29 and printed on a adhesive backed media.

[0033] The original high-resolution images are archived in image storage 24 for future use. This archive of digital images would, in most cases, comprise a software database application and a large collection of optical or magnetic storage media. In order to allow for the future association of the high-resolution images with their corresponding reduced resolution thumbnail images, each image is assigned a unique identifier. There are a variety of means, known in the art, for the generation of this unique identification. One such means is disclosed in Townsend and Shaffer, U.S. Pat. No. 5,784,461, in which a combination of the customer identification information and the photofinishing location, equipment, and date and time are combined. Other means of unique identification could be employed so long as they provide a one-to-one association of a person to a single image. The assigned unique image identification is associated with both the high and reduced resolution versions of the image. The unique identifier embodiment can be any of either: embedded data contained within the pixels themselves, invisible ink, visible codes, histogram, color information, or the like. The reduced resolution images are further processed to generate a formatted array or sticker sheet 18.

[0034] Referring to FIG. 3, the sticker sheet 18 has a plurality of index stickers 17, each of the index stickers 17 includes an alpha numeric human readable image identifier 19 which allows the user to locate the corresponding photographic print of the index sticker 17 image. In addition each of the index stickers 17 has a unique machine-readable image identification is also included in the printed sticker sheet. The machine readable image identification could take the form of a bar code, machine readable characters or any one of a number of data-encoding patterns. A preferred implementation of this unique machine readable image identification is to embed it directly into the pixels of the thumbnail image using signal processing techniques. An example of such techniques can be seen in Daly et al. (U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/565,804).

[0035] The method of embedding digital data in an image can be best considered in two stages; an encoding process and a decoding process. First, a multilevel data image is generated from digital data. The multi-level data image as described in detail below is an image having a constant background value and an array of spots on the background representing the digital data. The data image may be produced using digital image processing techniques, or may be produced optically for example by exposing spots on a photographic film. Next, the data image is convolved with an encoding carrier image to form a frequency dispersed data image. The encoding carrier image is preferably a rotationally symmetric, low amplitude, high frequency pattern employed to spatially disperse the data image to mask its visibility when added to the source image. Preferably the convolution is performed on a digital computer using a well known Fourier Transform method and digital versions of the data image and the encoding carrier image. The convolution may also be performed using a direct convolution algorithm on the digital computer. Alternatively, the convolution may be performed optically using well known optical convolution techniques and optical versions of the data image and the encoding carrier image. The frequency dispersed data image is then added to the source image to form a source image with embedded data. As described in more detail below, the addition may be performed either optically using traditional photographic processes, or digitally using a digital computer and digital versions of the source image and the frequency dispersed data image. If the addition is performed digitally, a hard copy version of the digital source image having embedded data may be produced using a digital printer such as a thermal, ink-jet, electrophotographic, or silver halide printer.

[0036] The digital data is recovered from the source image having embedded data by first cross correlating the source image having embedded data with a decoding carrier image to produce a recovered data image. Preferably, the decoding carrier image is identical to the encoding carrier image and the cross correlation is performed by a digital computer on digital versions of the source image having embedded data and the decoding carrier image. If a hard copy of the source image having embedded data is used, the hard copy is first scanned as described in detail below to produce a digital version. Alternatively, the cross correlation may be performed using well known optical techniques and optical versions of the source image having embedded data and the decoding carrier image. Finally, the digital data is extracted from the recovered data image. Preferably, the digital data is extracted from a digital version of the recovered data image using a pattern recognition process in a digital computer. Alternative methods for encoding data within an image can be found in issued U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,636,292; 5,128,525; 5,285,438; and 5,126,779 which can also be used with the present invention.

[0037] A customer wishing to construct a photocollage selects one or more images by peeling the individual index stickers 17 from the images contained on the sticker sheet 18 and placing the selected index stickers 17 on any of the page layout stickers 61 selected from the layout options page 69 as shown in FIG. 4. The layout options page 69 includes page layout stickers 61 each showing a scaled graphic depictions of the final page and each comprising a unique page layout. In one embodiment each scaled page representation includes one or more graphic image boxes each of which is an allowable location to place an index sticker 17. Different page layout sticker 61 representations depict the available album page layouts that are available by the embodiment shown in FIG. 4. Different page layout choices allows variety in: the dimensions of the image; the number of images per page; the arrangements and accommodation of both portrait (vertical) and landscape (horizontal) captured original images; the provision for annotation text; and different size original images including standard 35 mm, Advanced Photo System classic, HDTV and Panoramic images and, Digital Still Camera formats. Special page layout stickers are also provided for cover pages 67 as shown in FIG. 5. The scale of the index sticker images 17 and the scale of the sticker position 62 on the page layout sticker do not have to be the same. If the page layout sticker has a sticker position 62 that is larger than the index sticker 17, the image is enlarged to fill the box when producing the final printed album page. If the page layout sticker has a sticker position 62 that is smaller than the index sticker 17, the image is reduced to fill the box when producing the final printed album page. In this way a variety of final output sized images can be made available to the user without the need to produce multiple sizes of sticker images. The page layout stickers 61 can be arranged in a variety of ways by rotating the page layout stickers 61 to different orientations when placing them on the page positioning form 60.

[0038] Once the images and the layout have been selected and the preview album constructed, the consumer sends the completed page positioning form 60 to the photofinisher to have the photo album. The method of communicating the selection of the index stickers 17 within the page positioning form 60 by the further comprise the provision of electronic communication means for transmitting the contents of the index stickers 17 and the page position form 60 including: a touch-tone phone, a facsimile transmission, or a touchpad connected to a computer.

[0039] The photo album is created when the customer sends in the index stickers 17 on the page layout stickers 61 as arranged within the page positioning form 60 representing the desired images for the photocollage. The roll information, and the images to be used in the photocollage are identified by scanning the images and layouts within the page positioning form 60 cover and layout sheet scanner 26. Information about orders such as customer name, quantity, etc., are entered into the system via the operator interface 31.

[0040] Using the generated list of images the photocollage processor 33 finds and retrieves the corresponding high resolution images that were previously stored in the image storage 24 which are associated with the unique image identification numbers that were supplied by the scanned page positioning form 60. These high-resolution images are then assembled into a photocollage using the layouts as described in the page layout stickers 61 and the page positioning form 60. Customer preferences such as size of the pages, background styles and colors, etc are entered through the operator interface 31 or via a customer preference sheet. In this page layout process it may be necessary to zoom and crop the images to optimize the layout or to match customer preferences.

[0041] FIG. 2 illustrates the preferred embodiment of the present invention wherein each of the components has an interface to a common network 5. Certain components will exist at the photofinishers such as the sticker sheet printer/cutter 29, the film scanner 20. Other subsets of the system would exist at multiple locations such as having a print shop with the page/album printer finisher 35 and a remote processing site providing services for the digital image processor 32.

[0042] Depending upon the method employed for rendering the image identification number within the index sticker 17, a variety of image processing techniques would be employed. In the case of human readable image identification -numbers optical character recognition software is employed that translates the scanned image of the characters to a digital number representation. In the case where the image identification was hidden within the pixels of the reduced resolution image, a reverse of the data embedding signal processing technique is employed. The images are processed to remove any rotation and scale variations introduced in the printing and scanning steps. The result of this processing is to generate a list of the identification numbers of the images which the customer desires to have placed into the photocollage.

[0043] FIG. 6aillustrates a page positioning form 60 that is used in conjunction with the page layout sticker forms 61 within the method of constructing a photo album as envisioned by the present invention. The page positioning form 60 provides a plurality of blank pages 64 each of which can hold at least one page layout sticker 61. Each of the page layout stickers 61 in turn has at least one index sticker 17 position 62 that is used to provide a place within the final photo album for the index stickers 17 previously described. These index stickers 17 each have a low resolution image with a unique identifier that cross references each of the stickers to a high resolution version of the low resolution image contained on the index stickers 17. FIG. 6bis an illustration of the cover page sticker 67 which is similar to that shown in shown in FIG. 5 to be used in conjunction with the page positioning form 60 of FIG. 6a. The page positioning form 60 has an initial page 65 that is used with the cover page sticker 67.

[0044] FIG. 7aillustrates a box 70 of page layout stickers 61 arranged in stacks 72 that have reusable adhesives as conventionally known. Here, it is envisioned that each of the stacks 72 will have duplicate copies of the page layout stickers 61, and that different stacks 72 typically contain different layouts enabling the greater variety in the generation of photo albums. FIG. 7bis an example of one arrangement layout possibilities of the page layout stickers 61 each having a plurality of sticker positions 62. The individual stickers 17 are placed in the individual positions 62 as desired by the user. The page layout stickers 61 containing the index stickers 17 are then removed and placed on the page positioning form 60 as shown if FIG. 6ato created a miniature representation of the photo album to be generated. The placing the index stickers 17 on the page layout sheets 61 and arranging the page layout sheets 61 on the page positioning form 60, illustrate the preferred method of practicing the invention, especially when the page position form 60 is provided as a booklet. By providing the page position form 60 as a booklet made from a single piece with folds to separate the pages, a simple and economical method of making a miniature version of the intended photocollage is disclosed that allows users to view a representation of the photocollages that they themselves have created. This miniature photo album can then be sent to a service provider to have a full sized version made using the high resolution version of the images to generate a high resolution, full sized photo album. This provides an album which results in a very professional looking final product at a fraction of the cost typically incurred having a professional photo album made.

[0045] Referring now to FIG. 8athrough FIG. 8cto quickly surmise the present invention, a sticker sheet similar to that shown in FIG. 3 having a plurality of stickers 17 each with an individual low resolution image is used to provide the images that will be arranged within the sticker positions 62 on the page layout stickers 61 as shown in FIG. 8b. The page layout stickers 61 having the desired images placed on them are removed as individual stickers themselves and placed in desired positions on the page positioning form 60, as indicated by the arrows pointing from FIG. 8ato FIG. 8b.

[0046] FIG. 8bis an illustration of page layout stickers 61 similar to those shown in FIG. 7b. These page layout stickers 61 are placed in the page positioning form 60 seen in FIG. 8cto create a representative photo album that is desired by the user.

[0047] FIG. 9 is an illustration of one of the preferred embodiments of the present invention wherein a typical game box approach is used in making photo albums. The game box 90 includes numerous album layout books 92 each similar to the page positioning forms 60 previously discussed, sticker pads 94, professional pictures 96 and professional art work 98. The inclusion of these items within Game Box 90 makes the generation of photo albums less tedious and more like playing a game. Photographs, or any pictures and artwork, can be stored in a safe, easy to use place. The set of graphic arts to be used as part of the cover page or simply to decorate the photo album in various places.

[0048] Additional stickers are provided representing stock images from, theme parks, national monuments and other popular topics that can be incorporated within the photocollage via the layout sheets. This allows the customer to use professional content to augment the appearance and value of the photocollages. High resolution representations of these additional content stickers would also have to be contained within an image database and would require unique identifiers similar to the personal images. There can be a variety of boxes provided, each themed at a particular event or location with stickers containing professional content aimed at that particular event or location.

[0049] The invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment. However, it will be appreciated that variations and modifications can be effected by a person of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope of the invention.

[0050] 5 internet or network

[0051] 10 exposed film

[0052] 12 memory cards

[0053] 14 photofinisher

[0054] 16 prints

[0055] 18 sticker sheets

[0056] 19 numeric identifier on stickers

[0057] 20 film scanner

[0058] 24 image storage

[0059] 26 sticker sheet scanner

[0060] 39 sticker printer/cutter

[0061] 31 operator interface

[0062] 32 digital image processor

[0063] 33 photocollage processor

[0064] 34 box

[0065] 35 printer finisher

[0066] 42 exposed film

[0067] 43 digital camera

[0068] 44 Film processed

[0069] 45 film digitization

[0070] 46 prints returned

[0071] 48 materials for photocollages returned to customer

[0072] 49 unique ID

[0073] 50 digital storage

[0074] 51 image selection and placement

[0075] 52 high resolution mage retrieval

[0076] 53 product decision

[0077] 54 photocollage printing

[0078] 55 return of materials

[0079] 56 finished product sent out

[0080] 57 layouts scanned

[0081] 60 page positioning form

[0082] 61 page layout sticker form

[0083] 62 sticker position

[0084] 64 pages

[0085] 65 cover page position

[0086] 67 cover page sticker

[0087] 69 layout options page

[0088] 70 stickers

[0089] 72 stacks

[0090] 90 game box

[0091] 92 album layouts books

[0092] 94 sticker pads

[0093] 96 professional pictures

[0094] 98 professional art work