In a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention, an automated, computerized method is provided for processing an image. According to a feature of the present invention, the method comprises the steps of providing an image file depicting an image, in a computer memory, providing an object database including a list of objects that appear in the image, and information on material reflectance color values for each object and generating intrinsic images corresponding to the image as a function of the information on material reflectance color values for each object.