Hand-Drawn Image Exaggeration and Reduction for Pictograph Clarity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for creating pictographic images using a limited number of dots are time-consuming and difficult to produce balanced, well-defined images, often resulting in visibility degradation during reduction, with lines becoming indistinct and inconsistent image sizes in e-mail documents.
Innovation Solution
An image processing apparatus and method that includes an exaggeration unit to expand hand-drawn elements and a reduction unit to generate a reduced image of a predetermined size, preventing line loss and ensuring consistent image quality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If a simple reduction process is performed on a large original image to create a small pictographic image, then the image size is reduced to fit display requirements, but the reduced image becomes indistinct with lines dropping out and visibility degrading
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by performing the exaggeration process before the reduction process. The hand-drawn elements are expanded in advance to ensure they maintain sufficient thickness and visibility even after subsequent reduction to the target small size (e.g., 20x20 dots). This pre-expansion compensates for the upcoming size reduction and prevents line dropout.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter of line thickness by applying an exaggeration process that specifically increases the thickness of hand-drawn elements. This parameter change ensures that when the image is reduced, the lines remain visible and distinct rather than becoming too thin to detect in the reduced pictographic image.
2Manufacturing precision
If individual cell operations are performed to create a pictographic image with a limited number of dots, then the image can be created with precise control over each dot, but the creation process becomes extremely time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses copying by taking an original hand-drawn image and creating a reduced version through automated processing rather than manually recreating each dot. The system copies the essential features of the original drawing and reproduces them in the reduced pictographic format, dramatically reducing creation time while maintaining recognizability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical manual operation of setting each individual dot with an automated image processing system. The computer-executed program automatically performs exaggeration and reduction operations, substituting manual cell-by-cell work with automated mechanical processing that is both faster and more consistent.
3Manufacturing precision
If hand-drawn images are written directly to an e-mail document without reduction, then the images maintain their original quality, but the text and images are displayed in uneven sizes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by systematically adjusting the size parameter of hand-drawn images through an automated reduction process. The system transforms images of various original sizes into a unified reduced format (e.g., 20x20 dots), ensuring consistent display dimensions while preserving essential visual characteristics through the exaggeration-preparation step.
Data Source
AI summary
An image processing apparatus includes an exaggeration unit configured to perform on an original image including a hand-drawn element an exaggeration process that expands the hand-drawn element to generate an exaggerated image; and a reduction unit configured to reduce the exaggerated image to generate a reduced image of a predetermined size smaller than a size of the original image.