Artistic Thresholding


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  We consider the problem of depicting continuous-tone images using only black and white. Traditional solutions to this problem include halftoning, which approximates tones, and line drawing, which approximates edges. We introduce ˇ°artistic thresholdingˇ± as a technique that attempts to depict forms in an image. We apply segmentation to a source image and construct a planar subdivision that captures segment connectivity. Our artistic thresholding algorithm is a combinatorial optimization over this graph. The optimization is controlled by parameters that can be tuned to achieve different artistic styles.

Motivation

  Based on our previous work about two-tone image synthesis (maze illustration, papercutting, calligraphic packing etc.), we want to develope a general framework to convert a color picture to a two-tone image. We are especially inspired by the following comics and graphic designs.
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Gallery

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Black-and-white animation

Our algorithm can be extended to create animation.

Papers


All images are copyright 2008 by Jie Xu and Craig S. Kaplan. You are free to use them for personal and non-commercial purposes. Please check with me about any other uses.

Jie Xu
 Last updated: Thursday, 18-September-2008 11:31 EDT