System and method for image color transfer based on target concepts

#Cross reference is made to the following co-pending applications, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein in their entireties, by reference:

#U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/693,795, filed on Jan. 26, 2010, entitled A SYSTEM FOR CREATIVE IMAGE NAVIGATION AND EXPLORATION, by Sandra Skaff, et al.

#U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/632,107, filed Dec. 7, 2009, entitled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CLASSIFICATION AND SELECTION OF COLOR PALETTES, by Luca Marchesotti, et al.

#FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating aspects of a system and method for color transfer in accordance with the exemplary embodiment;

#FIG. 2 is a screen shot illustrating a graphical user interface displaying an image, image palette, concept selector, and concept palette for a selected concept;

#FIG. 3 is a screen shot illustrating the graphical user interface of FIG. 2 displaying a transferred image and modified image palette;

#Aspects of the exemplary embodiment relate to a system and a method for concept-based color transfer. Concept-based transfer is an alteration of the colors of an input image. This operation is performed taking as a reference, a pre-computed color model related to the target concept. The term “concept” is used to refer to emotions, moods, and any other aesthetic concepts. A concept can be, for example, “romantic”, “adult”, “serene”, etc.

#The exemplary method is particularly useful for unskilled users which have to design graphic-rich documents while adhering to a particular theme. A user may be fully aware of the message he or she wants to convey, but uncertain about the colors to use for a document or image. The exemplary system and method provide for a change in the chromatic appearance of an image or document according to a specific concept. The concepts are represented through color models in the form of color palettes.

#A “color palette,” as used herein, is a limited set of different colors, which may be displayed as an ordered or unordered sequence of swatches, one for each color in the set. A “predefined color palette” is a color palette stored in memory. The colors in a predefined color palette may have been selected by a graphic designer, or other skilled artisan working with color, to harmonize with each other, when used in various combinations. Each predefined color palette may have the same number (or different numbers) of visually distinguishable colors. In general, the predefined color palettes each include at least two colors, such as at least three colors, e.g., up to ten colors, such as three, four, five, or six different colors. These colors are manually selected, in combination, to express a particular aesthetic concept. It is not necessary for the predefined color palettes to all have the same number of swatches. Predefined color palettes of interest herein are generally those which are tagged with a corresponding label related to a concept.