Thumbnail Border Image Resizing for Personalized Print Layouts

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current digital printing technologies lack the ability to create unique and personalized print formats with enhanced borders around selected images, limiting user creativity and output options.

Innovation Solution

A system and method that allows users to select and resize multiple digital images to form a thumbnail image border around a main image, enabling the creation of a pictorial border during printing, using a digital camera and printer with a menu option for thumbnail border image printing.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If traditional digital printing is used, then printing process is simple, but output format options are limited

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveoutput format optionsVSAvoidprinting process complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The printing process is segmented into distinct functional modules: image selection module, border generation module (with thumbnail creation and arrangement), and printing module. This allows the system to offer complex border formatting options while keeping each individual module manageable, thus increasing versatility without proportionally increasing overall system complexity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

Thumbnail images are generated and prepared in advance before the actual printing process. The system pre-processes multiple source images into standardized thumbnail formats and pre-arranges them into border patterns, so that during printing only the final assembly and output steps are needed. This preliminary preparation enables diverse output formats without significantly complicating the printing execution.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

2Adaptability or versatility

If multiple images are processed to create borders, then print personalization is enhanced, but processing time increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveprint personalizationVSAvoidimage processing time

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system creates standardized thumbnail copies of source images with uniform dimensions and formatting. These pre-formatted thumbnail copies can be quickly assembled into various border configurations without requiring extensive processing during the printing phase. The copying process establishes a reusable template that reduces subsequent processing time while maintaining high personalization capability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #26Copying

Solution Approach 2:

The system automatically adjusts key parameters of source images (dimensions, resolution, format) to create standardized thumbnails. By pre-normalizing these parameters, the system reduces the computational burden during border assembly and printing. The parameter transformation is performed once during thumbnail generation rather than repeatedly during border creation, thus minimizing overall processing time while enabling diverse personalized outputs.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

Data Source

PatentUS7868932B2System and method for forming a border print

Publication Date: 2011.01.11 KODAK ALARIS LLC

AI summary

An imaging method and system enables the use of available images to form a pictorial type border around a specific image that a user has selected to be printed. With the method and system of the invention, images from an order or from an electronic storage mechanism can be analyzed to determine which of the images are to be border images for a selected image. These images are then resized to form border images for the selected image.