Interactive Image Container Integrated as an Image or Photo Cropping Tool in an Online Collage-Based Editor

Abstract

In a system for creating and editing image and or text-based projects including a server connected to a data network, the server having access to a digital medium containing an executable graphics user interface (GUI) for contributing and for editing content, the GUI accessible by computer browser, an interactive image container integrated as an image or photo cropping tool in the GUI includes an image display window of a predefined geometric configuration disposed on a project page for containing and displaying an image that has been placed thereon, and an image handle associated with the image container, the image handle visible on highlight or selection of the image within the image container.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED DOCUMENTS[0001]The present application is a divisional application of co-pending application Ser. No. 12 / 838,347, filed Jul. 16, 2010, which is a non-provisional application to provisional application 61 / 227,042, filed Jul. 20, 2009. Priority is claimed to the priority date of the parent application, and the entire disclosure of the parent application is incorporated herein at least by reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]1. Field of the Invention[0003]The present invention is in the field of electronic commerce and pertains particularly to a photo-panning interface for placing and cropping images placed into an online collage-based editor.[0004]2. Discussion of the State of the Art[0005]In the field of electronic commerce also known as ecommerce, there are project-oriented Websites where users may create and edit works including models, poems, art, and photo-based products. Websites catering to photo-based editing promote online publishing and onlin...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0011]The present inventor realized in an inventive moment that if, at the point of project initiation and during editing, work could be reduced by providing an interactive image display window that could double as a photo-cropping tool, a significant increase in efficiency and reductions in print errors might result. The inventor therefore constructed a unique interactive image container integrated as an image or photo cropping tool in the GUI for photo-based projects that allowed users to quickly crop an image placed into the editor. A significant improvement in the user experience results, with no impediment to the overall process created.

[0013]If one or more dimensions of the image exceed the dimensions of the image container, a user may grab the contained image by the image handle and may move the image about within the container in any direction to present the best view of the image and wherein the parts of the image that are hidden behind the page canvas become visible to the user when the image is grabbed enabling the user to see what parts of the image are cropped by the predefined geometry of the image container.

Problems solved by technology

The problem stated above is that efficiency and flexibility are desirable in creating and editing photo-based projects over a data network, but many of the conventional means for photo editing, such as Photoshop type editors, also create inefficiencies and can result in error-prone finished products.

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