Framing of Images in an Image Capture Device

1 . An image capture device, comprising:

at least one image sensor; and

an image framing application executed in the image capture device, comprising:

logic that initiates capture of an image via an image sensor associated with the image capture device;

logic that identifies at least one framing characteristic associated with the image;

logic that determines whether the at least one framing characteristic complies with at least one framing guideline stored in a memory accessible to the image capture device; and

logic that reframes the image based at least upon the at least one framing characteristic and the at least one of framing guideline.

2 . The image capture device of claim 1 , wherein the logic that determines whether the at least one framing characteristic complies with at least one framing guideline further comprises:

logic that calculates a framing score associated with the image, the framing score representing a framing quality of the image, the framing score based at least upon a deviation of the at least one framing characteristic from the at least one framing guideline.

3 . The image capture device of claim 1 , wherein the logic that identifies at least one framing characteristic associated with the image further comprises:

logic identifies a subject in the image; and

logic that calculates a percentage of the image in which the subject appears.

4 . The image capture device of claim 3 , wherein the subject is an object corresponding to at least one person and logic that identifies at least one frame characteristic associated with the image further comprises:

logic that identifies a face associated with the at least one person; and

logic that determines at least one coordinate corresponding to a position of the face in the image.

5 . The image capture device of claim 4 , wherein the logic that determines whether the at least one framing characteristic complies with at least one framing guideline stored in a memory accessible to the image capture device further comprises:

logic that identifies at least one guideline coordinate specified by the at least one framing guideline, the at least one guideline coordinate identifying a reference coordinate range in the image associated with a face of a subject; and

logic that determines whether the face is within the reference coordinate range.

6 . The image capture device of claim 4 , wherein the logic that reframes the image when the at least one framing characteristic does not comply with at least one of the framing guidelines further comprises logic that crops a region of the image surrounding at least a portion of the subject, the subject placed within the region to comply with the at least one framing guideline.

7 . The image capture device of claim 1 , wherein the logic that identifies at least one framing characteristic associated with the image further comprises:

logic that identifies a subject in the image; and

logic that calculates a percentage of the subject that appears in the image.

8 . The image capture device of claim 7 , wherein the at least one framing guideline specifies a percentage range of the subject that should appear in the image, and the logic that reframes the image when the at least one framing characteristic does not comply with at least one of the framing guidelines further comprises logic that crops a region of the image surrounding at least a portion of the subject, a size of the region selected so that the percentage of the subject that appears in the region is within the percentage range.

9 . The image capture device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one framing guideline further comprises at least one of: a distance of an object in the image from the image capture device, a percentage of the image comprising a background, a percentage of the image comprising a foreground, a percentage of the object visible in the image, lighting sufficiency of the image, and whether a light source appears in the image.

10 . The image capture device of claim 9 , wherein the logic that determines whether the at least one framing characteristic complies with at least one framing guideline further comprises logic that generates a framing score associated with the image, the framing score comprising a measure that expresses an extent to which the image complies with each of the framing guidelines.

11 . A method, executed in an image capture device, comprising the steps of:

initiating capture of an image via an image sensor associated with the image capture device;

identifying at least one framing characteristic associated with the image;

determining whether the at least one framing characteristic complies with at least one framing guideline stored in a memory accessible to the image capture device; and

reframing the image when the at least one framing characteristic does not comply with at least one of the framing guidelines.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the step of determining whether the at least one framing characteristic compiles with at least one framing guideline further comprises calculating a framing score associated with the image, the framing score representing a framing quality of the image, the framing score based at least upon a deviation of the at least one framing characteristic from the at least one framing guideline.

13 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the step of identifying at least one framing characteristic associated with the image further comprises the steps of:

identifying a subject in the image; and

calculating a percentage of the image in which the subject appears.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the subject is an object corresponding to at least one person and step of identifying at least one frame characteristic associated with the image further comprises the steps of:

identifying a face associated with the at least one person; and

determining at least one coordinate corresponding to a position of the face in the image.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the step of determining whether the at least one framing characteristic complies with at least one framing guideline stored in a memory accessible to the image capture device further comprises the steps of:

identifying at least one guideline coordinate specified by the at least one framing guideline, the at least one guideline coordinate identifying a reference coordinate range in the image associated with a face of a subject; and

determining whether the face is within the reference coordinate range.

16 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the step of reframing the image when the at least one framing characteristic does not comply with at least one of the framing guidelines further comprises the step of cropping a region of the image surrounding at least a portion of the subject, the subject placed within the region to comply with the at least one framing guideline.

17 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the step of identifying at least one framing characteristic associated with the image further comprises the steps of:

identifying a subject in the image; and

calculating a percentage of the subject that appears in the image.

18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the at least one framing guideline specifies a percentage range of the subject that should appear in the image, and the step of reframing the image when the at least one framing characteristic does not comply with at least one of the framing guidelines further comprises the step of cropping a region of the image surrounding at least a portion of the subject, a size of the region selected so that the percentage of the subject that appears in the region is within the percentage range.

19 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the at least one framing guideline further comprises at least one of: a distance of an object in the image from the image capture device, a percentage of the image comprising a background, a percentage of the image comprising a foreground, a percentage of the object visible in the image, lighting sufficiency of the image, and whether a light source appears in the image.

20 . A system, comprising:

means for initiating capture of an image via an image sensor associated with the image capture device;

means for identifying at least one framing characteristic associated with the image;

means for determining whether the at least one framing characteristic complies with at least one framing guideline stored in a memory accessible to the image capture device; and

means for reframing the image when the at least one framing characteristic does not comply with at least one of the framing guidelines.