METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR SEARCH AND RETRIEVAL OF SIMILAR PATTERNS

A method for retrieving digital patterns similar to a query pattern operates by generating representations of each digital pattern in terms of one or more color invariant properties; storing and organizing the patterns and their representations in a database; and searching the database by reference to the representations to identify and retrieve patterns similar to the query pattern. A preferred color invariant property is an edge property of the digital patterns. A web-based pattern registration and searching architecture enables on-line pattern search and selection utilizing a variety of pattern representations and similarity techniques, including the edge property based system described above.