{"id":3902,"date":"2025-08-21T08:01:48","date_gmt":"2025-08-21T12:01:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.mathworks.com\/matlab\/?p=3902"},"modified":"2025-08-21T09:04:32","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T13:04:32","slug":"add-a-swifty-touch-to-your-images-with-matlab","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.mathworks.com\/matlab\/2025\/08\/21\/add-a-swifty-touch-to-your-images-with-matlab\/","title":{"rendered":"Add a \u201cSwiftie\u201d touch to your images with MATLAB"},"content":{"rendered":"
Today\u2019s post is a bit different from my regular content over on the <\/span>Startups, Accelerators, & Entrepreneurs Blog<\/span><\/a>. I\u2019m <\/span>Madeline Carleton<\/span><\/a>, and I\u2019m the marketing lead for MathWorks <\/span>Startup Program<\/span><\/a>. Usually, I write about the amazing things startups are building with MATLAB and Simulink, but this time, I'm excited to be in the command window. <\/span><\/div>
Its the color seen around the world! Or at least, by the millions of fans who follow Taylor Swift. The artist recently announced her upcoming album, this one with a sparkly orange aesthetic to it. It didn\u2019t take long for the internet to run wild, with brands from <\/span>Elmo<\/span><\/a> to <\/span>FedEx<\/span><\/a> reimaging their own logos and photos with the vibrant theme. <\/span><\/div>
As a millennial on social media, I couldn\u2019t resist jumping on this trend. My first thought? The MathWorks logo, our signature L-shaped membrane - a place where I already see a splash of orange every day. Could I update the orange hues to match Taylor\u2019s new shade?<\/span><\/div>
I wondered if there was a simple, automated way to do this using the image processing capabilities within MATLAB. I\u2019m not exactly a very experienced coder, so I turned to MATLAB Copilot<\/a>, built right into my MATLAB Online window, for help. My initial prompt: \u201cI want to write a script that replaces part of a logo image that is orange with a different orange color.\u201d In response, it gave me sufficient code that could swap out a specific orange hue with another color hue. However, I wanted to replace the original orange hue with something more graphic, not flat; I wanted the sparkle details.<\/span><\/div>
After a quick clarification, MATLAB Copilot generated a revised code, which I copied into the<\/span> <\/span>MATLAB Online command window. After a few tweaks of finding the RGB values and adjusting the tolerance for the right amount of coverage, I ended up with an L-shaped membrane that\u2019s both socially relevant and unmistakably \u201cSwiftie\u201d!<\/span><\/div>
% Read the original image and the replacement image <\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
[originalImg, ~,alpha] = imread(<\/span>'membrane.png'<\/span>); <\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
replacementImg = imread(<\/span>'sparkle.png'<\/span>); <\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
 <\/div><\/div>
 <\/div><\/div>
% Define the RGB values for the orange color you want to replace <\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
targetOrange = [205, 82, 50]; <\/span>% Example RGB for orange <\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
tolerance = 35; <\/span>% Tolerance for color matching <\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
 <\/div><\/div>
% Create a mask for the orange color <\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
mask = (abs(double(originalImg(:,:,1)) - targetOrange(1)) < tolerance) & <\/span>...<\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
(abs(double(originalImg(:,:,2)) - targetOrange(2)) < tolerance) & <\/span>...<\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
(abs(double(originalImg(:,:,3)) - targetOrange(3)) < tolerance); <\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
 <\/div><\/div>
% Resize the replacement image to match the size of the mask <\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
replacementImgResized = imresize(replacementImg, size(originalImg(:,:,1))); <\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
 <\/div><\/div>
% Replace the orange regions with the replacement image <\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
modifiedImage = originalImg;<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
for <\/span>channel = 1:3 <\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
modifiedImage(:,:,channel) = modifiedImage(:,:,channel) .* uint8(~mask) + <\/span>...<\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
replacementImgResized(:,:,channel) .* uint8(mask); <\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
end <\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
 <\/div><\/div>
% Display images<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
figure(<\/span>'Position'<\/span>, [0 0 1024 512])<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
tiledlayout(1,2) <\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
 <\/div><\/div>
nexttile<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
origImgh = imshow(originalImg);<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
origImgh.AlphaData = alpha;<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
title(<\/span>'Original Image'<\/span>)<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
 <\/div><\/div>
% Display the modified image<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
nexttile<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
img = imshow(modifiedImage);<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
img.AlphaData = alpha;<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
title(<\/span>'Image with Replaced Orange Regions'<\/span>);<\/span><\/span><\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Want to jump on the trend and create your own Taylor Swift-inspired image? Here\u2019s the step-by-step:<\/span><\/div>
1. Prepare Your Files<\/span> <\/span><\/div>
  • Original Image:<\/span> I used MathWorks' L-shaped logo (e.g., <\/span>membrane.png<\/span>) but you could find your own image. <\/span><\/li>
  • Orange Sparkle Texture<\/span>: An image file (I grabbed mine from a Google image search) with the desired sparkly orange texture (e.g., sparkle.png), ideally matching or a bit larger than the orange area in the logo. <\/span><\/li><\/ul>
    % Read the original image and the replacement image<\/span><\/span><\/div>
    originalImg = imread(<\/span>'membrane.png'<\/span>);<\/span><\/span><\/div>
    replacementImg = imread(<\/span>'sparkle.png'<\/span>);<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
    2. Get the RGB value for the color in your image that you want to replace <\/span><\/div>
    You can use a free hue finder online to find the RBG value. You can adjust the tolerance to cover a larger area of slightly varying color \u2013 my sweet spot was 35%. <\/span><\/div>
    % Define the RGB values for the orange color you want to replace<\/span><\/span><\/div>
    targetOrange = [205, 82, 50]; <\/span>% Example RGB for orange<\/span><\/span><\/div>
    tolerance = 35; <\/span>% Tolerance for color matching<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
    3.Create the mask and do the replacement<\/span><\/div>
    Our image has three color channels so we need to loop over all of them<\/span><\/div>
    % Create a mask for the orange color <\/span><\/span><\/div>
    mask = (abs(double(originalImg(:,:,1)) - targetOrange(1)) < tolerance) & <\/span>...<\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/div>
    (abs(double(originalImg(:,:,2)) - targetOrange(2)) < tolerance) & <\/span>...<\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/div>
    (abs(double(originalImg(:,:,3)) - targetOrange(3)) < tolerance); <\/span><\/span><\/div>
     <\/div>
    % Resize the replacement image to match the size of the mask <\/span><\/span><\/div>
    replacementImgResized = imresize(replacementImg, size(originalImg(:,:,1))); <\/span><\/span><\/div>
     <\/div>
    % Replace the orange regions with the replacement image<\/span><\/span><\/div>
    for <\/span>channel = 1:3 <\/span><\/span><\/div>
    originalImg(:,:,channel) = originalImg(:,:,channel) .* uint8(~mask) + <\/span>...<\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/div>
    replacementImgResized(:,:,channel) .* uint8(mask); <\/span><\/span><\/div>
    end <\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
    4. Display the images<\/span><\/div>
    We want to display the images side by side so we set up a <\/span>tiledlayout.<\/span><\/div>
    % Display images<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
    figure(<\/span>'Position'<\/span>, [0 0 1024 512])<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
    tiledlayout(1,2) <\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
     <\/div><\/div>
    nexttile<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
    origImgh = imshow(originalImg);<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
    origImgh.AlphaData = alpha;<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
    title(<\/span>'Original Image'<\/span>)<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
     <\/div><\/div>
    % Display the modified image<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
    nexttile<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
    img = imshow(modifiedImage);<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
    img.AlphaData = alpha;<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
    title(<\/span>'Image with Replaced Orange Regions'<\/span>);<\/span><\/span><\/div>
    <\/div>
    <\/div>
    <\/div>
    <\/div>
    <\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>