Method of determining an exposure amount using optical recognition of facial features

A method of determining an exposure amount, comprising the steps of:

• searching a plurality of kinds of shape patterns which are present in an original image and are peculiar to particular portions of a human figure;
• setting a plurality of regions estimated to correspond to a face of the human figure, in accordance with a size and a direction of each of the searched shape patterns and a positional relationship between the face of the human figure and each of the particular portions;
• weighting the set regions by using as subjects of search the plurality of shape patterns peculiar to the particular portions of the human figure;
• determining a region having a highest probability of being a region corresponding to the face of the human figure in the original image, on the basis of ranges of the plurality of regions set as regions to be estimated to correspond to the face of the human figure and weighting factors imparted to the respective regions;
• and
• determining an exposure amount for printing the original image onto a printing material on the basis of at least one of a color and a density of the determined region.

A method of extracting a figure, comprising the steps of:

• setting in advance a plurality of partial shape patterns on the basis of a plurality of characteristic partial shapes constituting a figure subject to extraction;
• effecting for each of the plurality of partial shape patterns the searching of the partial shape pattern which is present in an image and the setting of a candidate region in which a particular portion or the whole of the figure subject to extraction is estimated to be present in the image, in accordance with a size and a direction of the searched partial shape pattern and a position of the partial shape represented by the partial shape pattern in the figure subject to extraction;
• determining for each of the set candidate regions the consistency as a region in which the particular portion or the whole of the figure subject to extraction is present, on the basis of a relationship with each of the detected partial shape patterns;
• determining a candidate region having a high probability of the particular portion or the whole of the figure subject to extraction being present, on the basis of the consistency determined for each of the candidate regions;
• and
• extracting the candidate region determined to have the high probability of the particular portion or the whole of the figure subject to extraction being present.