In this paper, we propose a generative multi-column network for image inpainting. This network can synthesize different image components in a parallel manner within one stage. To better characterize global structures, we design a confidence-driven reconstruction loss while an implicit diversified MRF regularization is adopted to enhance local details. The multi-column network combined with the reconstruction and MRF loss propagates local and global information derived from context to the target inpainting regions. Extensive experiments on challenging street view, face, natural objects and scenes manifest that our method can produce visual compelling results even without previously common post-processing.
Image completion involves filling missing parts in images. In this paper we address this problem through the statistics of patch offsets. We observe that if we match similar patches in the image and obtain their offsets (relative positions), the statistics of these offsets are sparsely distributed. We further observe that a few dominant offsets provide reliable information for completing the image. With these offsets we fill the missing region by combining a stack of shifted images via optimization. A variety of experiments show that our method yields generally better results and is faster than existing state-of-the-art methods. We present a robust image synthesis method to automatically infer missing information from a damaged 2D image by tensor voting. Our method translates image color and texture information into an adaptive ND tensor, followed by a voting process that infers non-iteratively the optimal color values in the ND texture space for each defective pixel. ND tensor voting can be applied to images consisting of roughly homogeneous and periodic textures (e.g. a brick wall), as well as difficult images of natural scenes, which contain complex color and texture information. To effectively tackle the latter type of difficult images, a two-step method is proposed. First, we perform texture-based segmentation in the input image, and extrapolate partitioning curves to generate a complete segmentation for the image. Then, missing colors are synthesized using ND tensor voting. Automatic tensor scale analysis is used to adapt to different feature scales inherent in the input. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach using a difficult set of real images. In this paper, we introduce a novel approach to image completion, which we call structure propagation. In our system, the user manually specifies important missing structure information by extending a few curves or line segments from the known to the unknown regions. Our approach synthesizes image patches along these user-specified curves in the unknown region using patches selected around the curves in the known region. Structure propagation is formulated as a global optimization problem by enforcing structure and consistency constraints. If only a single curve is specified, structure propagation is solved using Dynamic Programming. When multiple intersecting curves are specified, we adopt the Belief Propagation algorithm to find the optimal patches. After completing structure propagation, we fill in the remaining unknown regions using patch-based texture synthesis. We show that our approach works well on a number of examples that are challenging to state-of-the-art techniques. A new algorithm is proposed for removing large objects from digital images. The challenge is to fill in the hole that is left behind in a visually plausible way. In the past, this problem has been addressed by two classes of algorithms: 1) "texture synthesis" algorithms for generating large image regions from sample textures and 2) "inpainting" techniques for filling in small image gaps. The former has been demonstrated for "textures"-repeating two-dimensional patterns with some stochasticity; the latter focus on linear "structures" which can be thought of as one-dimensional patterns, such as lines and object contours. This paper presents a novel and efficient algorithm that combines the advantages of these two approaches. We first note that exemplar-based texture synthesis contains the essential process required to replicate both texture and structure; the success of structure propagation, however, is highly dependent on the order in which the filling proceeds. We propose a best-first algorithm in which the confidence in the synthesized pixel values is propagated in a manner similar to the propagation of information in inpainting. The actual color values are computed using exemplar-based synthesis. In this paper, the simultaneous propagation of texture and structure information is achieved by a single , efficient algorithm. Computational efficiency is achieved by a block-based sampling process. A number of examples on real and synthetic images demonstrate the effectiveness of our algorithm in removing large occluding objects, as well as thin scratches. Robustness with respect to the shape of the manually selected target region is also demonstrated. Our results compare favorably to those obtained by existing techniques. A robust synthesis method is proposed to automatically infer missing color and texture information from a damaged 2D image by ND tensor voting (N > 3). The same approach is generalized to range and 3D data in the presence of occlusion, missing data and noise. Our method translates texture information into an adaptive ND tensor, followed by a voting process that infers noniteratively the optimal color values in the ND texture space. A two-step method is proposed. First, we perform segmentation based on insufficient geometry, color, and texture information in the input, and extrapolate partitioning boundaries by either 2D or 3D tensor voting to generate a complete segmentation for the input. Missing colors are synthesized using ND tensor voting in each segment. Different feature scales in the input are automatically adapted by our tensor scale analysis. Results on a variety of difficult inputs demonstrate the effectiveness of our tensor voting approach. This paper presents interactive image editing tools using a new randomized algorithm for quickly finding approximate nearest-neighbor matches between image patches. Previous research in graphics and vision has leveraged such nearest-neighbor searches to provide a variety of high-level digital image editing tools. However, the cost of computing a field of such matches for an entire image has eluded previous efforts to provide interactive performance. Our algorithm offers substantial performance improvements over the previous state of the art (20-100x), enabling its use in interactive editing tools. The key insights driving the algorithm are that some good patch matches can be found via random sampling, and that natural coherence in the imagery allows us to propagate such matches quickly to surrounding areas. We offer theoretical analysis of the convergence properties of the algorithm, as well as empirical and practical evidence for its high quality and performance. This one simple algorithm forms the basis for a variety of tools -- image retargeting, completion and reshuffling -- that can be used together in the context of a high-level image editing application. Finally, we propose additional intuitive constraints on the synthesis process that offer the user a level of control unavailable in previous methods. Image completion involves filling missing parts in images. In this paper we address this problem through novel statistics of similar patches. We observe that if we match similar patches in the image and obtain their offsets (relative positions), the statistics of these offsets are sparsely distributed. We further observe that a few dominant offsets provide reliable information for completing the image. Such statistics can be incorporated into both matching-based and graph-based methods for image completion. Experiments show that our method yields better results in various challenging cases, and is faster than existing state-of-the-art methods.