Interactive system for automatically synthesizing a content-aware fill

One or more computer storage media storing computer-useable instructions that, when used by one or more computing devices, cause the one or more computing devices to perform operations comprising:

• accessing a constraint mask specifying a customizable sampling region of an original image from which pixels can be sampled, the sampling region excluding a user-specified hole in the original image, the hole leaving a remaining portion of the original image, the customizable sampling region being a subset of the remaining portion;
• synthesizing a target image to fill the hole from patches sampled from the sampling region specified by the constraint mask;
• and
• providing the synthesized target image for presentation of the original image with the synthesized target image filling the hole.

A computer system comprising:

• one or more hardware processors and memory configured to provide computer program instructions to the one or more hardware processors;
• an interface component configured to:
• receive a first user input specifying a hole in an original image to be filled leaving a remaining portion of the original image;
• and
• receive a second user input customizing a sampling region of the remaining portion of the original image from which pixels can be sampled, the sampling region excluding the hole;
• and
• a means for synthesizing a gradually updating target image to fill the hole using patches sampled from the sampling region;
• wherein the interface component is configured to present the original image with the gradually updating target image filling the hole.