ImgSee is an on-line application that enables the searching of images and the creation of a collage from the results of those searches.
The user inputs search terms into a text box and selects a button to initiate the search. The search results are displayed and the user can either remove a resulting image from the results display area or add it to the collage area. Once an image is in the collage area the user can modify the images' size and position or remove it from the collage.
The application consists of: the search engine, the results display and the collage area.
The image search engine
Currently the search engine searches the public images available through the
GoogleTM
Picasa Data API.
A key word submitted to the search engine is sent to the API and the results returned are then sent
back to the user to be displayed in the results panel.
the results panel
The area of the application in which the results of the search are displayed.
When the user hovers over the images in the result area, buttons will appear over
the images. These buttons enable the user to remove the image from the results
display or add the image to the collage canvas area.
The collage canvas area
This is where the user adds the images that are displayed in the results area.
Once the user adds the image it is shown with an outline to indicate that it is the selected image and can be
manipulated with the control panel just above the collage canvas area.
With the control panel the user is able to move or resize the image that is selected. In order to select another image to be manipulated the user clicks with the mouse on that image. Once the image is clicked, and put into the selected state it is brought to the front of the image stack.
In the future ImgSee could support image searches from other sources. The images could also be those of a given user of the system who would like to make a collage out of their private photos. There is also a lot of opportunity to improve the way images are manipulated in the canvas area. Using keyboard to move images would be a good move as well. ImgSee is developed with the Google Web Toolkit.
Jose Collas, Goatstone, 10.20.2011