JPH0146904B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an image composition method for an image editing device.

(Prior Art) Electronic image editing devices that have recently become available edit multiple images input using an image input means such as a television camera using coordinate input means such as a light pen, digitizer, or digital camera. By doing this work, it became possible to create screens. This device is characterized in that it does not require paint or the like to create an image, and it is very easy to save, partially modify, copy, etc. the image. For this reason, it is thought that it will spread to various fields, including the design field, in the future.

By the way, conventional image synthesis methods generally involve enclosing a portion of a source image to be extracted with a closed curve, cutting it out, and transferring it to another background. To explain this using Figs. 1 a to d, enclose the part (snowman) of the source image a that you want to extract with a closed curve 1 (see b),
Combine with background c. The composite image is shown in d.

However, with the conventional method of setting the part to be cut out by surrounding it with a closed curve, it is difficult to accurately cut out and synthesize complex or detailed shapes. For example, in the case of grass with thin leaves or fine water droplets as shown in FIGS. 2a and 2b, it is very difficult to surround these thin lines and points with a closed curve.

(Object of the Invention) An object of the present invention is to provide an image synthesis method that allows complex and detailed images to be synthesized with simple operations.

(Structure of the Invention) The present inventors have discovered that it is possible to synthesize complex and detailed images by transferring each point from an image to be cut out to a background image.

FIG. 3 is an overall configuration diagram for clearly showing the configuration of the present invention.

The electronic image compositing device according to the present invention includes a background image storage means a for storing a background image equivalent to one screen, an image storage means b for storing an image to be combined with this background image, and this image storage means. image input means c for inputting an image and a background picture into the image storage means b and background image storage means a, respectively, a display means d for displaying the image stored in the image storage means b on a screen, and a cursor placed at any point on the screen. The color information stored in the cursor display means e that displays , and the image storage means b corresponding to the point displayed by the cursor on the screen is read out, and this color information is stored in the corresponding point of the background image storage means a. an image compositing means f to perform image compositing, and a compositing command that instructs the cursor display means e to a position at which image compositing is to be performed, and instructs the image compositing means f to synthesize images when the cursor is at the designated point. The apparatus is characterized in that it cuts out an image for each point indicated by a cursor on the screen and synthesizes it with the background image on the background image storage means a.

(Embodiment) The image composition method according to the present invention differs from conventional image composition methods in that it is based on a process of transferring points to be combined to a background image one by one. This will be explained using FIG. 4. FIG. 4a shows thin tree branches and leaves, which are difficult to synthesize using conventional compositing methods, as an example of the original image stored in the image memory. When cutting out this tree and combining it with the background image (background image memory) in Figure 4b, first,
A coordinate point P where the tree is located is input using a coordinate input means. Then, through processing by the microprocessor, the color information, that is, the color of the tree, from the memory corresponding to point P in the image memory is extracted and written into the memory corresponding to point P in the background image memory. In the processing up to this point, composition from the image memory to the background image memory has been performed at one point P. By repeating this process and inputting coordinate points by tracing the top of the tree using the coordinate input means, it is possible to cut out the tree and combine it with the background image. This situation is shown in Figures 4c and d. Figure 4c shows the input coordinates, and
Figure d is a composite image.

With the method of the present invention, it is possible in principle to extract and synthesize only one point. Furthermore, there is no problem even if the points to be synthesized are scattered. As a result, it is possible to cut out even the thinnest lines and dots and combine them with the background image.

In order to correctly input the point to be synthesized, it is sufficient to display the image in the image memory on the display and display a cursor on the display to indicate which point is to be input from the coordinate input means. This makes the operation extremely easy, as all you have to do is move the cursor to the point you want to combine.

Furthermore, if the location of the image you want to cut out and the location you want to insert it into are different, another method may be used. That is, it is sufficient to move the image to be cut out on the image memory in advance and align it with the desired position to be fitted. In this case, there is no need to accurately crop and move the image you want to crop.
This is easy because it can be moved in a wide range, for example, in units of rectangles that include the entire image that you want to cut out. After aligning the positions in this manner, synthesis may be performed using the method according to the present invention. In a similar manner, cases involving rotation, reduction, enlargement, reversal, etc. can also be processed.

An electronic image composition apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. In this device, in order to control image composition, a control microprocessor 1, a ROM 2 for storing control programs, etc., a RAM 3 for storing variables, etc. used during control, and a control command are provided. A keyboard 4 for inputting data is connected to each other via a bus. This bus further includes a background image memory 5 for storing one background image, an image memory 6 for storing an image to be combined with this background image, and a cassette tape/floppy disk via an interface 7. An external storage device 8 that stores image data using a storage medium such as a disk or hard disk is connected to a coordinate input means 9 such as a light pen or digitizer for inputting cursor coordinates. Image memory 6
A display device 10 such as a CRT that displays color information stored in the image storage device 10 is connected to the image storage memory 6 via an interface 11. In this embodiment, images are input from the external storage device 8, but it is also conceivable to adopt a configuration in which images can be directly input, such as from a television camera. Furthermore, with this configuration, the contents of the background image memory can be displayed on the display 10 by exchanging the contents of the background image memory and the contents of the image memory.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show examples of flowcharts for performing image composition processing.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a basic subroutine for transferring information from the image memory to the background image memory at a given coordinate point P. A coordinate value P is given as an input. First, calculate the address on the image memory corresponding to the coordinate value P,
Information Cp at that point is extracted (step P1). Next, the address on the background image memory corresponding to the coordinate value P is calculated, and the information obtained in step P1 is written into the memory (step P2). Then, return to the main routine (step P3).

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a subroutine that continuously performs image synthesis using basic subroutines. First, the coordinate point P to be synthesized is input, and at the same time a cursor is displayed on the point P (step P11). Next, the basic subroutine is used to transfer the image to point P in the background image memory (step P12). Next, it is determined whether to end the compositing process (step P13). This determination is made, for example, by detecting whether a termination command has been input by the command input means. If the synthesis process does not end, the process returns to step P11. When finished, return to the main program at the next step P14.

(Effects of the Invention) When the electronic image composition device according to the present invention is used, 1
Dot-by-dot image synthesis is possible, and therefore it is possible to accurately cut out complex shapes and inset them into the background image, which was impossible with conventional closed curve cutting.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIGS. 1A to 1D are diagrams for explaining a conventional image composition method. Figures 2a and 2b are examples of figures that are difficult to synthesize using conventional image synthesis methods. FIG. 3 is an overall configuration diagram for clearly showing the configuration of the present invention. FIGS. 4a to 4d are diagrams for explaining an example of image composition according to the present invention. FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an electronic image composition apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a basic subroutine for transferring information from the image memory to the background image memory at a coordinate point P on a given screen. FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a subroutine for continuously performing image synthesis.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A background image storage means for storing a background image equivalent to one screen, an image storage means for storing an image to be synthesized with this background image, and an image and a background image are stored in the image storage means and the background image storage means, respectively. An image input means for inputting an image, a display means for displaying an image stored in an image storage means on a screen, a cursor display means for displaying a cursor at an arbitrary point on the screen, and a point displayed by the cursor on the screen. reads the color information stored in the image storage means corresponding to the
An image compositing means stores this color information at a corresponding point in the background image storage means, and an image compositing means instructs the cursor display means as to the position where image compositing is to be performed, and when the cursor is at the designated point, the above image is displayed. What is claimed is: 1. An electronic image compositing device comprising a compositing command means for instructing a compositing method to compose images, the electronic image composing device cutting out an image at each point indicated by a cursor on a screen and compositing it with a background image on a background image storage means.