DISTORTION OF DIGITAL IMAGES USING SPATIAL OFFSETS FROM IMAGE REFERENCE POINTS

A method for distorting a digital image comprising receiving the coordinates of one or more than one image reference point defined by a user within the digital image, receiving one or more than one spatial offset assigned by the user and associated with the coordinates of the one or more than one defined image reference point, providing a mixing function algorithm embodied on a computer-readable medium for distorting the digital image, calculating an offset matrix by applying the mixing function algorithm based on the one or more than one spatial offset and the coordinates of the one or more than one defined image reference point; and distorting the digital image by application of the offset matrix. A graphic tag may be associated with each of the defined image reference points and displayed over the digital image, and the assignment of the spatial offset may be accomplished by movement of the graphic tag with the pointing device. Abstract image reference points may be used to limit distortion.