IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,586,163
Granted Patent B2
US 12,586,163 · App. 18/536,822 · Granted Mar 24, 2026

Interactively refining a digital image depth map for non destructive synthetic lens blur

Inventors: Joshua Bury (Grants Pass, OR); Richard Case (Hamburg, DE)
Assignee: Adobe Inc.
G06T5/70G06T7/50G06T2200/24G06T2207/20092G06T2207/20221
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,586,163
App. No.
18/536,822
Granted
Mar 24, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

Methods, systems, and non-transitory computer readable storage media are disclosed for generating a lens blur effect in a digital image with interactive depth map refinement. The disclosed system generates a fused depth map comprising a combination of foreground depth values and background depth values from a layered depth map of pixels of a digital image and a focal matte indicating an in-focus range of depth values of the digital image. The disclosed system generates modified depth values for one or more selected portions of the digital image by modifying the fused depth map, the foreground depth values, and the background depth values according to a selected focus range and a selected correction mode. The disclosed system also renders the digital image to include a lens blur effect utilizing the modified depth values of the one or more selected portions of the digital image.

Claims (60)

1 . A computer-implemented method comprising:

generating, by at least one processor, a fused depth map comprising a combination of foreground depth values and background depth values from a layered depth map of pixels of a digital image and a focal matte indicating an in-focus range of depth values of the digital image;

generating, by the at least one processor, modified depth values for one or more selected portions of the digital image by modifying the fused depth map, the foreground depth values, and the background depth values according to a selected focus range and a selected correction mode; and

rendering, by the at least one processor, the digital image to include a lens blur effect utilizing the modified depth values of the one or more selected portions of the digital image.

2 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein generating the fused depth map comprises linearly interpolating between foreground depth values and background depth value corresponding to pixels from the layered depth map.

3 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

providing, for display within a graphical user interface, a focus blur modification tool for indicating one or more portions of the digital image for modifying depth values of the digital image; and

determining the one or more selected portions of the digital image in response to an interaction with the focus blur modification tool.

4 . The computer-implemented method of claim 3 , wherein determining the one or more selected portions of the digital image comprises determining one or more parametric brush dabs indicating the one or more selected portions according to brushstroke parameters of the focus blur modification tool.

5 . The computer-implemented method of claim 3 , further comprising generating a correction mask comprising the one or more selected portions in response to the interaction with the focus blur modification tool.

6 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein generating the modified depth values comprises:

determining that the selected correction mode indicates a request to unblur the one or more selected portions; and

modifying the foreground depth values, the background depth values, and fused depth values of the fused depth map to a nearest depth value within the in-focus range of depth values.

7 . The computer-implemented method of claim 6 , further comprising:

determining, for a pixel of the digital image, that a focal matte value of the focal matte is greater than zero; and

setting the focal matte value of the pixel to indicate a foreground region for the pixel.

8 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein generating the modified depth values comprises:

determining that the selected correction mode indicates a request to blur the one or more selected portions;

comparing one or more fused depth values for a subset of pixels in the one or more selected portions to the in-focus range of depth values; and

generating a modified depth value of a pixel in the one or more selected portions by increasing or decreasing a depth value of the pixel in the one or more selected portions based on a comparison of a fused depth value of the pixel to the in-focus range of depth values.

9 . The computer-implemented method of claim 8 , wherein generating the modified depth value of the pixel comprises:

determining, based on the comparison of the fused depth value of the pixel to the in-focus range of depth values, that the selected correction mode indicates a foreground defocus for the one or more selected portions; and

modifying the fused depth value of the pixel and a background depth value of the pixel to be equal to a foreground depth value of the pixel.

10 . The computer-implemented method of claim 8 , wherein generating the modified depth value of the pixel comprises:

determining, based on the comparison of the fused depth value of the pixel to the in-focus range of depth values, that the selected correction mode indicates a background defocus for the one or more selected portions; and

modifying the fused depth value of the pixel and a foreground depth value of the pixel to be equal to a background depth value of the pixel.

11 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein rendering the digital image to include the lens blur effect comprises:

determining a blur amount for the lens blur effect according to the selected correction mode;

determining interpolated depth values by interpolating between initial depth values of the one or more selected portions of the digital image and the modified depth values of the one or more selected portions according to the blur amount; and

rendering the digital image including the lens blur effect in the one or more selected portions of the digital image utilizing the interpolated depth values.

12 . A system comprising:

a memory component; and

one or more processing devices coupled to the memory component, the one or more processing devices to perform operations comprising:

generating a fused depth map comprising a combination of foreground depth values and background depth values from a layered depth map of pixels of a digital image and a focal matte indicating an in-focus range of depth values of the digital image;

determining, in response to an interaction with the digital image via a focus blur modification tool in a graphical user interface, one or more selected portions of the digital image for modifying depth values of the digital image;

generating modified depth values for the one or more selected portions of the digital image by modifying the fused depth map, the foreground depth values, and the background depth values according to a selected focus range and a selected correction mode; and

rendering the digital image to include a lens blur effect utilizing the modified depth values of the one or more selected portions of the digital image.

13 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the operations further comprise:

determining parameters of the focus blur modification tool; and

generating, utilizing the parameters of the focus blur modification tool, a correction mask comprising the one or more selected portions in response to the interaction with the digital image via the focus blur modification tool.

14 . The system of claim 12 , wherein generating the modified depth values comprises:

determining that the selected correction mode indicates a request to unblur the one or more selected portions; and

modifying the foreground depth values, the background depth values, and fused depth values of the fused depth map to a depth value within the in-focus range of depth values.

15 . The system of claim 12 , wherein generating the modified depth values comprises:

determining that the selected correction mode indicates a request to blur the one or more selected portions; and

modifying the foreground depth values, the background depth values, and the fused depth map according to the selected correction mode indicating the request to blur or unblur the one or more selected portions.

16 . The system of claim 15 , wherein generating the modified depth values comprises:

setting the foreground depth values, the background depth values, and fused depth values of the fused depth map of the one or more selected portions to a foreground depth value in response to determining that the request to blur the one or more selected portions indicates a foreground defocus for the one or more selected portions; or

setting the foreground depth values, the background depth values, and fused depth values of the fused depth map of the one or more selected portions to a background depth value in response to determining that the request to blur the one or more selected portions indicates a background defocus for the one or more selected portions.

17 . A non-transitory computer readable medium storing executable instructions which, when executed by a processing device, cause the processing device to perform operations comprising:

generating a fused depth map comprising a combination of foreground depth values and background depth values from a layered depth map of pixels of a digital image and a focal matte indicating an in-focus range of depth values of the digital image;

generating modified depth values for one or more selected portions of the digital image by modifying the fused depth map, the foreground depth values, and the background depth values according to a selected focus range and a selected correction mode comprising a focus mode or a blur mode; and

rendering the digital image to include a lens blur effect utilizing the modified depth values to unblur or blur the one or more selected portions of the digital image according to the selected correction mode.

18 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the operations comprise:

providing, for display within a graphical user interface, a focus blur modification tool comprising an option to indicate the selected correction mode; and

determining the one or more selected portions of the digital image according to the selected correction mode in response to one or more brush dabs.

19 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17 , wherein generating the modified depth values comprises moving depth values for the one or more selected portions toward a foreground depth of the digital image or a background depth of the digital image according to the selected correction mode.

20 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17 , wherein rendering the digital image to include the lens blur effect comprises:

determining interpolated depth values by linearly interpolating between initial depth values of the one or more selected portions and the modified depth values according to the selected focus range; and

rendering the digital image including the lens blur effect in the one or more selected portions utilizing the interpolated depth values.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 12, 2023
From: BURY, JOSHUA; CASE, RICHARD
To: ADOBE INC.
Reel/Frame 065845/0529 →
Continuity (2)
Provisional Application 63585369 · Sep 26, 2023
Related Publication 20250104197A1 · Mar 27, 2025
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