System and method of cropping an image

A method for providing a user on a client computer an interface for cropping an image incorporated in an image-based product to identify selected and cropped portions of the image, the client computer being in communication with a server and having a display and a pointing device operatively coupled to a cursor displayed on the display, the method comprising:

• receiving the image from the server;
• displaying the image;
• receiving a crop mask generated by the sever based on a cropping product attribute of the image-based product, the crop mask having a selected portion corresponding to the selected portion of the image and a cropped portion corresponding to the cropped portion of the image;
• displaying the crop mask over the image to visually indicate the selected portion of the image;
• and
• displaying a control that, when actuated, causes a crop command to be sent to the server.

A method of providing an interface for cropping an image, the method comprising:

• generating a crop mask based on cropping product attributes, the crop mask having a selected portion corresponding to a selected portion of the image and a cropped portion corresponding to a cropped portion of the image;
• generating data, at least a portion of which is displayable by a client computer in order to provide an interface allowing the user of the client computer to crop the image;
• and
• providing the image, the crop mask, and the data to the client computer;
• wherein the data includes instructions operable to cause the client computer to display the crop mask over the image to visually indicate the selected portion of the image.

A server in communication with a client computer, comprising:

• a web front end that communicates with the client computer;
• and
• server software tangibly embodied on a computer-readable medium comprising instructions operable to cause the server to:
• generate a crop mask based on cropping product attributes, the crop mask having a selected portion corresponding to a selected portion of the image and a cropped portion corresponding to a cropped portion of the image;
• generate data, at least a portion of which is displayable by a client computer in order to provide an interface allowing the user of the client computer to crop the image;
• and
• provide the image, the crop mask, and the data to the client computer;
• wherein the data includes instructions operable to cause the client computer to display the crop mask over the image to visually indicate the selected portion of the image.