Method, system and computer program product for creating collages that visually resemble a particular shape or group of shapes

A system for creating a shape collage, the system comprising:

• means for receiving a shape specification signal which specifies at least one desired shape, each desired shape having at least one shape boundary a shape area;
• means for receiving image data which represents a plurality of images;
• and
• at least one processor for processing the signal and the image data to obtain a shape collage of the images which at least partially covers and conforms to the area of the at least one desired shape so that the collage resembles the at least one desired shape, wherein the at least one processor creates a tree structure of the images wherein images are represented by tree nodes the tree nodes corresponding to sub-areas in or near the shape area;
• the at least one processor processes the tree structure to determine locations for the images based on their position in the tree structure;
• the at least one processor evaluates whether each image is to be treated as within or outside the shape area based on its determined location utilizing at least one coverage predicate and either removes or hides at least one image that is evaluated to be outside the shape area and leaves a placeholder node at the location of the at least one removed or hidden image to preserve the tree structure;
• and
• the at least one processor inserts the at least one removed or hidden image into a portion of the area evaluated as being within the area by finding a tree node in the tree structure that is within the shape area and inserting the at least one removed or hidden image into an adjacent position in the tree structure.

A computer-readable, non-transitory storage medium that stores a set of instructions including instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform steps comprising:

• receiving a shape specification signal which specifies at least one desired shape, each desired shape having at least one shape boundary a shape area;
• receiving image data which represents a plurality of images;
• and
• processing the shape specification signal and the image data to obtain a shape collage of the images which at least partially cover and conform to the area of the at least one desired shape so that the collage resembles the at least one desired shape, wherein the step of processing includes the steps of:
• creating a tree structure of the images wherein images are represented by tree nodes, the tree nodes corresponding to sub-areas in or near the shape area;
• processing the tree structure to determine locations for the images based on their position in the tree structure;
• evaluating utilizing at least one coverage predicate whether each image is to be treated as within or outside the shape area based on its determined location, removing or hiding at least one image that is evaluated to be outside the shape area and leaving a placeholder node at the location of the at least one removed or hidden image to preserve the tree structure;
• and
• inserting at least one removed or hidden image back into a portion of the area evaluated as being within the area by finding a tree node in the tree structure that is within the shape area and inserting the at least one removed or hidden image into an adjacent position in the tree structure.