Persistent Tool Settings for Image Editing Layers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional image editing applications fail to save and restore the identities of tools and corresponding tool settings used to edit digital images, making it difficult to recreate visual effects in subsequent user sessions, especially in complex projects shared between different editors.
Innovation Solution
Implementing persistent tool settings by storing tool identifiers and settings with the image file, allowing them to be retrieved and reused in subsequent user sessions, facilitating the re-application of visual effects and improving editing consistency and quality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If conventional image editing applications save only pixel data without tool identities and settings, then the image file size remains manageable, but the ability to recreate visual effects in subsequent sessions is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the image file data structure into distinct components: pixel data, layer information, and tool setting metadata. Each layer's tool settings are stored as separate key-value pairs associated with that specific layer, allowing selective storage and retrieval without overwhelming the entire file structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a metadata layer as an intermediary between the pixel data and the tool settings. This metadata structure acts as a bridge, storing tool identities and settings in a standardized format that can be easily retrieved and reapplied without directly modifying the core pixel data or requiring complex reconstruction logic.
2Reliability
If tool settings are stored with each layer, then visual effects can be precisely recreated, but the file processing and storage requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by storing tool settings specifically at the layer level where they are needed, rather than globally for the entire image. Each layer maintains its own tool setting metadata, allowing precise recreation of effects only where applicable and reducing unnecessary data storage for layers without specific tool applications.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter representation by storing tool settings as structured key-value pairs with specific data types (strings, numbers, booleans) rather than raw binary data. This parameter transformation enables efficient serialization, compression, and selective retrieval of only the necessary setting parameters.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple tools with diverse settings are supported, then editing versatility increases, but the complexity of saving and managing all settings permutations grows
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal metadata structure that can accommodate multiple tool types and their diverse settings through a common key-value pair format. The standardized structure with string keys, value types, and default value support creates a multi-functional system that handles brushes, filters, adjustments, and other tools uniformly without requiring separate management mechanisms for each tool type.
Data Source
AI summary
Examples are directed to selective editing of digital images using editing tools having persistent tool settings. A source image is opened as a target image in an image editing application. Once opened in the image editing application, the target image includes a plurality of image layers. Visual elements of the target image file are then edited using tools in the image editing application. For each tool used, a tool identifier and the relevant tool settings are saved and associated with the corresponding layer in a target image file. Upon closing and later re-opening the target image file, the saved tool identifier and tool settings are presented for display for further image editing in subsequent user sessions.