System and method for automated layout of collaboratively selected images

• Main Authors: Jacobs, Lawrence, Nakhoda, Shehzaad, Liu, Xiang, Zhong, Tie, Goell, Fredric Scott
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 07.12.2010

A system and method for automated layout of collaboratively selected images within a compilation for printing, viewing, etc. The images may be drawn from any number of albums owned by various users, and have associated rankings reflecting the users' behavior regarding the images (e.g., viewing, printing, recommending). Some number of images is selected for the compilation (e.g., the highest ranked images) and the images are arranged into chapters that correspond to the albums in which they are located. Within each chapter, images are ordered by time and grouped into clusters of related images (e.g., close in time, same event, same subject). Page templates are used to determine how many images to place on a page, and may be designed or redesigned so that the prominence (e.g., size) of each image corresponds to its ranking. The chapters, pages and/or images may be augmented with titles or captions.