A new way of resizing images.

[Serval]

Ariel Shamir and Shai Avidan have presented "Seam carving". This new algorithm allows an image to be resized non-uniformly. So, you can change the height and width of an image independantly, but the main properties of an image remain undistorted.
The algorithm detects parts of the image with least information, like a blue sky and other almost equal colored parts. When resizing an image, the pixels in these areas are stretched or removed, leaving the rest of the image untouched. Areas of an image that absolutely need to be preserved can be manually excluded, and the seam generating function will negotiate paths around those pixels.
This technique can also be used to remove whole portions of an image without noticable artifacts. You could cut a person or object out of photographs and the image will be distorted in an unnoticable way to fill the gap. Watch the video to see it in action.



http://www.faculty.idc.ac.il/arik/imret.pdf

[adlabs6]

Well that is some interesting technology. I think most impressive is the content weighting tools, though I can think of potential issues. We expect images from news providers to be factual and unedited, while this might lead to the browser device making edits that are not immediately obvious.

[1.JaVA_Platypus]

Defnitly a great help for editing your photo's!!

[BLOWHARD]

I've watched this video 3 times since you posted the link here. Something about is really bothered me right off but I couldn't really say what it was. Maybe I'm just slow on the uptake but I've figured out why this seemed bad to me. Don't get me wrong, it's a powerful tool and really cool that it can be done. But, and there's always a but...
It really makes the image and the composition seem unimportant, like an after though. As if the picture or photo itself was only icing on a cake, the cake is the important part, what's on the cake is secondary.
Who cares if someone takes a really nice photo of a landscape, you can revise that landscape anyway you want :P
Again, it does seem useful and I'd probably wouldn't be against using it in some places. But it does make my heart sink thinking of how little value is placed on the image as art :P
Someday maybe the whole world will be resizable...
Maybe I was a Luddite in a past life?

[Serval]

You are right. The technology is interesting, but you can correct composition more easily then now it seems.
I've been hanging around on some photography forums, and it seems to me that now with digital photography there are quite some people who don't mind to "help the truth".
If you post a picture there with a disturbing roadsign or other object in the picture, then they immediately point out that you should remove it.

[1.JaVA_Platypus]

How can this utility be obtained I must ask...

[Christopher]

Ok I have a question about reduction.
Lets say for example RAF Loki's Special German markings.
I'm able to use photoshop reasonably well and am starting to get what I think are pretty fair results skinning IL-2 aircraft.
On loki's sheet are some great markings such as ZU fastener info and the like.
I havent been able to figure out how to reduce them and use them without running into a pixil problem ie when reducing the image and placing it on the template it just blurs out at that reduction.
I figure there must have been a reason for Loki to have made these decals,so there must be a way to reduce this info so that its visually ledgible.
Can anyone give me a heads up on this one?

[Serval]

Getting real clear images at small size is allways hard.
But I use the Sharpen - Unsharp mask filter after resizing the image.
That helps to get a sharper image.
Most of the time I set the second slider around 0.3 and play with the other slider (preview on) to get the best result. I started to use this trick after I learned to work with it for sharpening photo's

[BLOWHARD]

Christopher, one thing to keep in mind is the size of what you're reducing and the pixel size it will be reduced too. Imaging a 1 pixel line. You want to reduce it to 1/3rd it's size. It will always be fuzzy no matter what you do, it is now 1/3rd of a pixel and that will always be blurred. Also remember about split pixels. When you reduce something like a line, even if it's reduced from 4 pixels to 1 pixels, that line may in up between pixels and still be fuzzy.
There is only so much you can do with any case like this :P
Most ZU stencils I've done end up being little red blurs. It's just how it is. I've even stooped to making them over-sized in some cases

Notice that I kept the red lines right on the pixel so they would be sharp.

[Christopher]

Thanks to you both for your input.
I have being using the Sharpen feature Serval, but as both of you have said, its really a touch and go to be able to land right on the pixil.
I'll keep experimenting.