Accurate and discernible photocollages

There currently exist several techniques for selecting and combining images from a digital image library into a single image so that the result meets certain prespecified visual criteria. Image mosaic methods, first explored by Connors and Trivedi[18], arrange library images according to some tiling arrangement, often a regular grid, so that the combination of images, when viewed as a whole, resembles some input target image. Other techniques, such as Autocollage of Rother et al.[78], seek only to combine images in an interesting and visually pleasing manner, according to certain composition principles, without attempting to approximate any target image. Each of these techniques provide a myriad of creative options for artists who wish to combine several levels of meaning into a single image or who wish to exploit the meaning and symbolism contained in each of a large set of images through an efficient and easy process. We first examine the most notable and successful of these methods, and summarize the advantages and limitations of each. We then formulate a set of goals for an image collage system that combines the advantages of these methods while addressing and mitigating the drawbacks. Particularly, we propose a system for creating photocollages that approximate a target image as an aggregation of smaller images, chosen from a large library, so that interesting visual correspondences between images are exploited. In this way, we allow users to create collages in which multiple layers of meaning are encoded, with meaningful visual links between each layer. In service of this goal, we ensure that the images used are as large as possible and are combined in such a way that boundaries between images are not immediately apparent, as in Autocollage. This has required us to apply a multiscale approach to searching and comparing images from a large database, which achieves both speed and accuracy. We also propose a new framework for color post-processing, and propose novel techniques for decomposing images according to object and texture information.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science (M.Sc.)

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Computer Science

Grantor

University of Saskatchewan

Year dc:date.issued

2010

Author dc:creator

• Miller, Jordan William

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Mould, David

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Dick, Rainer
• Kim, Ted
• Keil, Mark
• Eramian, Mark

• computer graphics
• art
• collage
• non-photorealistic rendering
• mosaic

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10388/etd-02282010-235736

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:harvest.usask.ca:10388/etd-02282010-235736