Transforms for digital images

Claim 1

A method for selecting an aim curve for a desired medium having a predetermined maximum density, comprising the steps of: a) selecting an aim curve from a family of aim curves for a different medium having a lower predetermined maximum density than that of the desired medium, the aim curve having shadow, midtone, and highlight regions; b) varying the shadow contrast in the shadow region of the selected aim curve to produce a different aim curve; and c) determining the different aim curve with the desired medium that has an improved shadow contrast that will produce prints with reduced flare and permits a better fit of the dynamic range of the original scene to the dynamic range of the medium.

Claim 2

A method for constructing a transform for a predetermined display or printer, such printer or display being adapted to form a black and white or color image, on a particular medium, the input to the transform being a digital image file produced by a particular image capture device, comprising the steps of: a) providing an input characteristic curve which is a function of the output color code values from the image capture device and relative log exposure of the scene; b) providing an aim curve which is a function of the visual density of the display or medium and the image capture relative log exposure wherein the mid region of the aim curve is in a range of contrasts from between 1.00 and 1.30 at a relative log exposure of 0.6 above scene white to a contrast of between 1.0 and 1.7 at a relative log exposure of 1.45 above scene white and at the upper scale region of the aim curve plotted as density vs. relative log E wherein the aim curve is satisfied by transforming log exposure into print density composed with a boost function which modifies the print density to achieve the desired aim curve that has an upper scale contrast which minimizes flare and permits a better fit of the dynamic range of the original scene to the dynamic range of the medium.

Claim 9

A method for constructing a transform for a predetermined display or printer, such printer or display being adapted to form a black and white or color image, on a particular medium, the input to the transform being a digital image file produced by a particular image capture device, comprising the steps of: a) providing an input characteristic curve which is a function of the output color code values from the image capture device and relative log exposure of the scene; b) providing an aim curve which is a function of the visual density of the display or medium and the image capture relative log exposure wherein the mid region of the aim curve is in a range of contrasts from between 1.00 and 1.30 at a relative log exposure of 0.6 above scene white to a contrast of between 1.0 and 1.7 at a relative log exposure of 1.45 above scene white and at the upper scale region of the aim curve plotted as density vs. relative log E wherein substantially satisfying the following relationship: G(x) = F(x) + B(F(x)) wherein: F(x) is a conventional tone reproduction scale and wherein x is log exposure; and B(F(x)) is a boost function which satisfies the relationship: in which: y denotes any print density; y 0 denotes a particular print density;  denotes a particular angle of inclination; and h denotes a particular small increment of print density; c) providing an output characteristic curve which is a function of the input color code values to the predetermined display or printer and the visual density from a display or print on a particular medium; and d) using the aim curve, the input characteristic curve, and the output characteristic curve to produce the transform.