Shutterfly Patent Grants

System and method for reducing similar photos for display and product design

Granted: September 1, 2020
Patent Number: 10762126
A photo design smart assistant system for reducing similar photos for display and product design includes a similarity distance computation module that can calculate hash values of images and to calculate similarity distances between the images using at least the hash values, a burst grouping module that can automatically group the images into a burst based at least in part on the similarity distances of the images, wherein at least one image is automatically selected from the burst of…

Proactive creation of image-based products

Granted: August 18, 2020
Patent Number: 10747806
A method for proactively creating an image product includes capturing an image of an object in a first environment by a device, storing a library of personalized products each characterized by a product type, automatically recognizing the object in the image as having a product type associated with the library of personalized products, automatically creating a design for the personalized product of the product type using personalized content, automatically displaying the design of the…

Intelligent prevention of spam emails at share sites

Granted: August 11, 2020
Patent Number: 10742580
A computer-implemented method for preventing spam emails from a share site includes providing a network-based computer system to enable users to set up share sites and to send emails from the share sites, detecting potential spam emails based on one or more spam detection rules, identifying false positive emails in the potential spam emails based on one or more false alarm reduction rules, removing false positive emails from the potential spam emails to produce a list of verified spam…

Background replacement system and methods

Granted: August 4, 2020
Patent Number: 10735636
A method of illuminating a subject during photography is disclosed. The method includes illuminating a background lighting system during a first image capture, illuminating a subject lighting system during a second image capture, and illuminating the background lighting system during a third image capture. The time from the first image capture to the third image capture is less than about 100 milliseconds. Also disclosed is a method for generating a composite mask of a subject, including…

Proactive creation of photo products

Granted: July 28, 2020
Patent Number: 10726600
A method for proactively creating a photo product includes storing a library of points of interest in a computer system, detecting one or more images from a user, automatically extracting image capture locations from the images, automatically comparing the image capture locations with the points of interest in the library to obtain one or more identified points of interest, automatically identifying an occasion based on the identified points of interest in the library, automatically…

Method for matching and tracking workpieces in laser etching operation

Granted: July 7, 2020
Patent Number: 10703122
A method for matching and tracking workpieces in laser etching operation includes generating by the computer a label image that uniquely identifies the workpiece, moving a laser head to the workpiece, setting the laser head to a first power level by a power controller, etching the product image on the workpiece using a laser beam emitted from the laser head, wherein the laser beam is modulated at the first power level in accordance with a product image in a pixel wise fashion across the…

Hybrid deep learning method for recognizing facial expressions

Granted: June 9, 2020
Patent Number: 10679041
A computer implemented method for recognizing facial expressions by applying feature learning and feature engineering to face images. The method includes conducting feature learning on a face image comprising feeding the face image into a first convolution neural network to obtain a first decision, conducting feature engineering on a face image, comprising the steps of automatically detecting facial landmarks in the face image, transforming the facial features into a two-dimensional…

Support vector machine prediction method

Granted: May 26, 2020
Patent Number: 10664724
A computer-implemented method includes selecting a kernel and kernel parameters for a first Support Vector Machine (SVM) model, testing the SVM model on a feature matrix T of n feature vectors of length m to produce false positive (FP) data set and false negative (FN) data set by a computer processor, wherein n and m are integer numbers, copying the feature matrix T to produce a feature matrix T_best, and checking if a ratio (T_best sample number)/(SVM support vector number) is above a…

Photographic lighting apparatus

Granted: May 19, 2020
Patent Number: D884777

Edge light device for photography system

Granted: May 5, 2020
Patent Number: 10642128
An edge light device of the present disclosure creates edge light effects, such as spectral highlight or artistic effect, on a subject. The edge light device emits light to provide an illumination zone which can be generally out of the field of view of the camera. The edge light device includes a housing having features for controlling light to create edge light effects on a subject. In certain examples, the housing provides a light blocker for concentrating light toward the subject and…

Unified picture access across devices

Granted: April 21, 2020
Patent Number: 10628479
A method for creating a design for an image product includes registering a group of image sources by a network based image service system, wherein the group of image sources comprise a first device and a second device, receiving a notification, by the network based image service system, from the image sources about availabilities of the image sources, representing the second device and a local storage of the first device at a user interface on the first device, indicating an availability…

Support vector machine prediction method

Granted: April 14, 2020
Patent Number: 10621475
A computer-implemented method is disclosed for image recognition and other applications. The method employs an SVM model and can reduce false negatives and increase recognition accuracies by raising the sample-to-support-vector ratio.

Generating an assembled group image from subject images

Granted: February 25, 2020
Patent Number: 10573045
An assembled group image is generated from subject images. Each of the subject images is associated with height data for the subject in the image. The height data is used to position the subject images in the assembled group image to provide a natural appearance. Shadows can also be added to the assembled group image.

Cloud storage for image data, image product designs, and image projects

Granted: February 11, 2020
Patent Number: 10560588
A method for proactively creating a photobook includes identifying a group of images by a computer system and automatically creating a design for a photobook by the computer system without receiving a user's request for designing a photobook if the number of images in the group is determined to be within a predetermined range. Pages of the photobook incorporate a plurality of images in the group. The method further includes presenting the design of the photobook to a user for preview and…

High recall additive pattern recognition for image and other applications

Granted: February 11, 2020
Patent Number: 10558847
A computer-implemented method includes selecting a kernel and kernel parameters for a first Support Vector Machine (SVM) model, testing the first SVM model on a feature matrix T of n feature vectors of length m to produce false positive (FP) data set and false negative (FN) data set by a computer processor, wherein n and m are integer numbers, automatically removing feature vectors corresponding to the FP data set from the feature matrix T by the computer processor to produce a feature…

System and method for automatically displaying variable image content in an image product

Granted: December 31, 2019
Patent Number: 10522189
A computer-implemented method for automatically displaying variable image content in an image product includes automatically obtaining markers in photos or videos in a user account which includes detecting features in image content of the photos or the video frames and obtaining a marker for one of the photos or the video frames, automatically identifying a sequence of similar photos or videos if the markers detected in the photos or the associated video frames include more than a…

Photo product engine powered by blog content

Granted: December 10, 2019
Patent Number: 10504169
A computer system for creating a design for a photo product includes servers that can identify a blog page that includes an image, text, or designs, automatically incorporate at least one of the image, text, or the design object in the blog page into the design of a photo product, and allow a user to review the design of the photo product. The servers communicate with a printing finishing facility that makes a physical photo product according to the design of the photo product.

Automated communication design construction system

Granted: December 10, 2019
Patent Number: 10503972
An automated communication design analysis and construction system includes that includes one or more intelligent communication design servers, comprising: a normalization module that converts communication content files for different recipients to normalized intermediate format files; an objects identification and quantification module that identifies text objects and image objects in the normalized intermediate format files; a cross recipient group analysis module configured to…

System and method for automatically displaying variable image content in an image product

Granted: September 17, 2019
Patent Number: 10418067
A computer-implemented method for automatically displaying variable image content in an image product includes automatically obtaining markers in photos or videos in a user account which includes detecting features in image content of the photos or the video frames and obtaining a marker for one of the photos or the video frames, automatically identifying a sequence of similar photos or videos if the markers detected in the photos or the associated video frames include more than a…

Proactive creation of image-based products

Granted: August 6, 2019
Patent Number: 10372749
A method for proactively creating an image product includes capturing an image of an object in a first environment by a device, storing a library of personalized products each characterized by a product type, automatically recognizing the object in the image as having a product type associated with the library of personalized products, automatically creating a design for the personalized product of the product type using personalized content, automatically displaying the design of the…