JPH0796594A - Device and method for adjusting character spacing - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automatically adjust a character spacing while an impression of a character and a relationship between adjacent characters are sufficiently taken into consideration by a method wherein generated character density data, overlapped face area data, and space area data are applied to a knowledge related to a character spacing adjustment. CONSTITUTION:A hard disk of a hard disk drive device 14 is used for storing data of a large capacity. in place of or in addition to the hard disk drive 14, a floppy disk drive may be provided. For example, a program for controlling a CPU 11, a fuzzy inference rule for a character gap adjustment, a membership function, and the like are stored in a ROM 12, a RAM 13, and the hard disk or floppy disk. Data representing a document to be printed is stored in the hard disk or floppy disk.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for adjusting a distance between characters in a character string to be printed so that the character string is easy to read and beautiful in a computer typesetting system, a phototypesetting machine, a word processor and the like.

[0002] In this specification, "character" means will,
It includes all kinds of letters, symbols, codes, numbers and figures used to express thoughts, feelings, etc. Representative characters may include kanji (including kanji), hiragana and katakana in Japanese, Hangul, alphabet, Greek, Arabic, Roman, hyphen, comma, colon, etc.

[0003]

BACKGROUND ART The adjustment of character spacing in a character string arranged horizontally or vertically is also called kerning, which is one of the important tasks in typesetting for printing. In sentences including kanji, hiragana, and katakana, especially headlines and advertisements in leaflets, the impression given to the reader is very important, so it is necessary to perform kerning appropriately.

Conventionally, the character spacing adjustment work has been performed by a skilled worker. Only a person who has sufficient experience can perform this work, and there is a problem that work efficiency is poor.

An apparatus for automating the character spacing adjustment is proposed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 3-244542. A virtual area (zone) having a constant width is set outside the character along the outline of the character. The space between two adjacent characters is determined so that some of the outer edges of this virtual region are in contact with each other. Alternatively, the character spacing is adjusted so that the overlapping area of the virtual areas of two adjacent characters maintains a constant value.

However, in this automatic character spacing adjustment, the character spacing is adjusted based on only the outline of the character, and other elements of the character are not considered at all. For example, the wideness of the character surface area, the complexity, and the relevance to adjacent characters are important factors that affect the character spacing, but are not taken into consideration.

[0007]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides an apparatus and method capable of automatically performing character spacing adjustment in which the impression given by a character (for example, the area of a character face) and the relationship between adjacent characters are sufficiently taken into consideration. With the goal.

The present invention also makes it possible to automatically adjust the character spacing in consideration of the size of a character, particularly the position of a small character.

Further, the present invention makes it possible to achieve overall balance in consideration of the length of a plurality of character strings.

The character spacing adjusting device according to the present invention generates, for each character in the character dot data of a plurality of characters expanded in the memory, a first characteristic amount for generating a first characteristic amount relating to the character. A second characteristic amount for generating, for each character in the character dot data of a plurality of characters expanded on the memory, a second characteristic amount representing a relationship between the character and a character adjacent thereto. By providing the generation means, and the above-mentioned first characteristic amount and second characteristic amount to knowledge regarding character spacing adjustment, character spacing inference means for inferring an appropriate character spacing for each character is provided. is there.

A representative example of the most basic first feature quantity is as follows:
There is character density data that represents the width of the characters.

A typical example of the most basic second feature quantity is
In the state where the target character and the character adjacent to it are closest to each other, the overlapping character surface area data indicating the degree to which both characters overlap, and the space generated between the character and the character adjacent to it There is blank area data that represents the size of

According to the present invention, an appropriate character interval is inferred based on the characteristic amount of the character itself and the characteristic amount generated between two adjacent characters. Adjacent two in a sentence with mixed kanji, hiragana, and katakana
The number of combinations of letters is extremely large. It is almost impossible to predetermine optimal intervals for all such combinations. According to the present invention, every time a character string is formed and the combination is determined, not only the characteristic amount of each character but also the mutual relation between two adjacent characters is determined to determine an appropriate character interval.

In inferring the character spacing, it is preferable to consider data representing the degree of character spacing desired and input by the operator.

More preferably, the first ratio data relating to the ratio of the minimum character spacing and the character width, which represents the character spacing when the target character and the character adjacent thereto are closest, the target character and the character adjacent thereto are The second ratio data relating to the ratio between the minimum character spacing and the character height, which represents the character spacing when the characters are closest to each other, and the complexity in which the two characters overlap each other when the target character and the character adjacent thereto are closest to each other. One or more of the character overlap complexity data are considered in the character spacing inference. Characters and the characteristics between the characters are reflected in the character spacing more finely by the inference processing considering these.

When the adjacent character is a small character,
Preferably, the above-mentioned character spacing inference is performed for each of the position developed into the dot data of the small character and the position shifted up and down by a predetermined number of dots.
The smallest character spacing among the plurality of character spacings obtained by this character spacing inference is determined to be an appropriate character spacing. This causes small characters to be attached to the preceding (or following) character with the narrowest spacing.
This is an interval adjustment that considers the usage of small characters.

Once the proper spacing for all characters contained in a given string or at least one line of string has been determined by the above inference, a spacing correction considering the overall balance in the string is It is preferably carried out as follows.

Length data relating to the length of the arrangement of a plurality of characters including the character of interest arranged in a line with the character spacing obtained by the character spacing inference described above is generated.
By applying the generated length data to the knowledge about the character spacing modification given in advance, the spacing modification amount is inferred for each focused character. The final character spacing is generated by adding the space modification amount obtained by the space modification amount inference to the character space obtained by the character space inference.

The present invention also provides a character spacing adjusting method.

According to this character spacing adjustment method, character dot data representing a character forming a designated character string is expanded on a memory, and character dot data of a plurality of characters expanded on the memory For each character, the first feature amount for that character is generated, and in the character dot data of a plurality of characters expanded on the memory, for each character, the relationship between that character and its adjacent character is expressed. By generating the second characteristic amount and applying the first characteristic amount and the second characteristic amount to the knowledge regarding the character spacing adjustment, an appropriate character spacing is inferred for each character.

The inference process described above is preferably performed using fuzzy inference.

The character spacing adjusting device and method according to the present invention can be applied to a computer typesetting system, a phototypesetting machine, a word processor and the like. In these systems or machines, the character dot data that represents the characters that make up the specified character string is stored in memory with the specified character size and with the character spacing corresponding to the obtained character spacing. Expanded, this expanded character dot
Characters will be printed using the data.

[0023]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows the outline of the overall configuration of a computer typesetting system.

The overall operation of the computer typesetting system is the CPU 11
Will be supervised by. Like a normal computer system, this computer typesetting system uses a ROM as a storage device.
12, RAM13 and hard disk drive device 14,
A keyboard 15 is provided as an input device, and a CRT 16 and a printer 17 are provided as output devices.

The ROM 12 generally stores fixed data. The RAM 13 stores variable data and is used as a work area. It is used to store a large amount of data on the hard disk of the hard disk drive device 14. Instead of the hard disk drive 14,
Alternatively or additionally, a floppy disk drive device may be provided. For example, the program for controlling the CPU 11, the fuzzy inference rules for adjusting the character spacing, which will be described later, and the membership function are stored in the ROM 1
2, stored in RAM13, hard disk or floppy disk. The data representing the document to be printed is stored on the hard disk or floppy disk.

The keyboard 15 is used to input data representing characters constituting a document and various commands. A mouse, a light pen, etc. are further provided as an input device as required. The CRT 16 displays an input document, a character string whose character spacing is adjusted, a figure, and the like.

The printer 17 is most commonly an electrophotographic printer (laser printer, etc.). Inkjet
Printers and thermal transfer printers are also used as needed.
The typesetting result is printed by the printer 17. The data forming the character is stored in advance in a storage device built in the printer 17 in the form of an outline vector font or a bit map font. font·
The data may be stored on the hard disk.

The computer typesetting system has many functions such as a function of inputting document data, a function of editing an input document, a function of adjusting character spacing in a document, a function of printing an edited and character-space-adjusted document. It has a function.
Of these functions, the part that implements the character spacing adjustment function is the character spacing adjustment device. A computer typesetting system can be considered to be assembled by a device that realizes many kinds of functions.

FIG. 2 shows the operation flow of the character spacing adjusting device in the computer typesetting system. The series of processing shown in FIG. 2 is mainly executed under the control of the CPU 11.
Hereinafter, description will be given according to the flow of this operation.

It is assumed that the data (character code string) representing the document to be printed has already been input and stored in the hard disk. A character code string (for example, one line or multiple lines) is read from the hard disk, and dot data (bit map character data) representing the characters designated by these character codes is read according to the font data. It is developed in the work area of the RAM 13 (step 21). An example of the expanded bit map character data is shown in FIG.

Generally, kanji, Japanese hiragana and katakana,
Korean Hangul characters are arranged not only horizontally but vertically to compose sentences. Therefore, the frame (or body, or virtual frame, virtual body) F, which is the basic design of these characters, is a square. The size of the frame F of the bit map character data developed for adjusting the character spacing is fixedly determined in advance (for example, 256 × 256 dots (pixels)). In FIG. 3, the frame F is 24 × 24 dots for convenience of drawing. The width of the frame F is indicated by FX, and the height thereof is indicated by FY (FX in this embodiment).
= FY).

Characters are represented by dots within the range of these frames F. For convenience of explanation, the dots forming the character surface will be referred to as black dots, and the dots representing the portions other than the character surface will be referred to as white dots. Further, like the most general screen scanning, the horizontal direction (horizontal direction in FIG. 3) and the vertical direction (vertical direction in FIG. 3) are determined for the bit map character data.

In FIG. 3, five types of characters (Japanese katakana) are arranged in the horizontal direction. Although the present invention can be applied to the adjustment of the character spacing arranged in the vertical direction, of course, the adjustment of the spacing between the characters arranged in the horizontal direction will be consistently described below. In developing the bit map character data in step 21, the plurality of frames are arranged in contact with each other. In these boxes (or the characters inside the boxes), i, (i + 1), (i + 2), (i + 3) and
A serial number of (i + 4) is assigned.

Each character in the character data string expanded in the bit map and the feature amount between the characters are extracted, calculated or generated (step 22).

The feature amount of each character is the width C of the character (character surface).
There is W (i), the height CH (i) of the character (character surface), the left margin CSL (i) of the character, and the right margin CSR (i). Here, (i) indicates that it is a feature amount for the character i. The character i (i-th character) is referred to as a character of interest, if necessary.

FIG. 4 is a diagram in which two characters of the bit map character data string shown in FIG. 3 are extracted and enlarged. With reference to this figure, the width CW of a character (character surface) is the length between the left end dot and the right end dot of the black dots forming the character (character surface) (number of dots: left end dot and right end dot). (Including dots). For example, in the i-th character, the width CW (i) of the character is represented by the number of dots from the leftmost black dot e3 to the rightmost black dot e4 (CW
(i) = 24). Similarly, at the (i + 1) th character,
The character width CW (i + 1) is the number of dots between the leftmost black dot e5 and the rightmost black dot e6 (including dots e5 and e6) (CW (i + 1) = 18).

The height CH of a character (character surface) is the length between the upper and lower dots of the black dots forming the character (character surface) (the number of dots; including the upper dot and the lower dot). ). For example, in the i-th character, the character height CH (i) is the number of dots from the upper black dot e1 to the lower black dot e2 (CH (i) = 20).

The left margin CSL of a character is represented by the number of dots between the vertical line on the left side of the character frame and the black dot at the left end of the character surface in the character frame (excluding the black dot at the left end). The right margin CSR of a character is represented by the number of dots between the vertical line on the right side of the character frame and the black dot at the right end of the character surface within the character frame (not including the black dot at the right end). For example, in the i-th character, the leftmost black dot e3 is in contact with the left vertical frame line, so that CSL (i) = 0. Similarly, CSR (i) = 0. In the (i + 1) th character, CSL (i + 1) = 3 and CSR (i + 1) = 3.

For each of the five characters shown in FIG.
The characteristic quantities CW, CH, CSL and CSR are shown in FIG.

The basic character feature amount and inter-character feature amount used for fuzzy inference of an appropriate character interval include a character density DS, an overlapping character surface area SB, and a blank area SW.

The character density DS is a characteristic amount of a character, which is represented by the number of black dots forming the character surface in one frame. For example, the density DS (i) of the i-th character is 90,
The density DS (i + 1) of the (i + 1) th character is 45.

The overlapping character surface area SB and the blank area SW are the characteristic amounts between the character of interest and the character adjacent to its right side. The overlapping character surface area SB (i) and the blank area SW (i) for the i-th character are generated in the association between the i-th character and the (i + 1) -th character.

As shown in FIG. 5, the (i + 1) th character is moved to the left and brought closer until a part of the (i + 1) th character face touches a part of the ith character face (i The th character is (i + 1)
May be closer to the second letter). In the example shown in FIG. 5, (i
The leftmost black dot e5 of the (+1) th character is in contact with the lowermost black dot e2 of the ith character (generally, the leftmost edge of the (i + 1) th character is part of the ith character. It does not necessarily touch, and part of the (i + 1) th character does not necessarily touch the bottom edge of the ith character).

When the i-th character and the (i + 1) -th character are moved toward each other in this way, the width CW (i) of the i-th character and the width of the (i + 1) -th character CW (i + 1) overlaps. The sum of the number of black dots of the i-th character and the number of black dots of the (i + 1) th character existing in the area where the character widths overlap is the overlapping character area SB (i ).

In FIG. 5, the character surface (black dot) of the i-th character and the character surface (black dot) of the (i + 1) th character are shown by double (cross) hatching. Of these, the overlapping character surface area SB (i) is painted black. In this example, SB (i) = 37. Further, the blank area SW (i) described below is shown by a single hatching. In this example, SW (i) = 129.

The blank area SW (i) is a state in which a part of the i-th character and a part of the (i + 1) -th character are in contact with each other.
It is the number of white dots horizontally sandwiched between the character surface (black dot) of the i-th character and the character surface (black dot) of the (i + 1) th character.

After obtaining such a feature amount, an appropriate character spacing is inferred using the obtained feature amount (step 2
3). It is sufficient for the basic fuzzy inference and the auxiliary fuzzy inference to be described later that the feature amount of the character of interest and the character adjacent thereto be obtained. However, in the readjustment (correction) process described later, in order to adjust the overall balance between the plurality of characters, it is necessary to have the feature amounts and the character intervals of the plurality of characters near the target character. Therefore, preferably, the calculation of the characteristic amount is performed for at least one line of characters expanded in the bit map character data.

As shown in FIGS. 7 to 9, the character spacing CS (i) for the i-th character obtained by the inference operation is the black dot e4 at the right end of the i-th character and the (i + 1) -th character. Is the distance (dot number) from the leftmost black dot e5 of the character.

FIG. 7 shows a state in which the bit map data is expanded in step 21. The character spacing at this time is the maximum. This maximum character spacing is designated as CSmax (i). The character spacing adjustment is performed in the direction of narrowing the spacing between two characters, and the adjusted character spacing does not become larger than the maximum character spacing. The maximum character spacing CSmax (i) is i
It is represented by the sum of the right margin CSR (i) of the th character and the left margin CSL (i + 1) of the (i + 1) th character. That is, CSmax (i) = CSR (i) + CSL (i + 1) (1)

FIG. 8 shows a state in which the (i + 1) th character is moved to the left and the character widths of both characters partially overlap.
In this way, when the character widths of adjacent characters overlap, the character spacing CS (i) takes a negative value.

FIG. 9 shows a state in which the (i + 1) th character is moved until a part of the (i + 1) th character contacts a part of the ith character. The character spacing CS (i) is minimum at this time. The minimum character spacing is written as CSmin (i). The minimum character spacing is generally zero or a negative value.

For fuzzy reasoning, the i-th character and (i
The character spacing opening degree CSD (i) representing the degree of the character spacing between the (+1) th character and the character spacing is defined by the following equation.

CSD (i) = [CS (i) −CSmin (i)] / [CSmax (i) −CSmin (i)] Equation (2)

CSmin (i) ≦ CS (i) ≦ CSmax (i) Equation (3)

The character spacing opening degree CSD (i) is 0 to 1
Takes a continuous value between.

In the following fuzzy inference, the character spacing opening degree CSD (i) is obtained, and finally the character spacing CS (i) is obtained according to the equation (2).

The fuzzy reasoning is basically a character density DS
(i), overlapping character area SB (i) and blank area SW (i) are used as antecedent variables. The consequent part is CSD (i), which is the character spacing.

An example of the basic rule group is as follows.

(I) Group of rules relating to character density DS IF DS (i) is large, AND DS (i + 1) is large, TH
EN CSD (i) is large IF DS (i) is medium, AND DS (i + 1) is medium, THEN CSD (i) is medium IF DS (i) is small, AND DS (i + 1) Is small, TH
EN CSD (i) is small

A character having a high density has a large number of black dots. Therefore, when such two characters are arranged adjacent to each other, if the character spacing is reduced, it becomes difficult to read. Therefore, the character spacing is increased to facilitate reading. On the other hand, when characters with low density are lined up next to each other, it is easier to read these characters closer.

(II) Group of rules regarding overlapping character area SB IF SB (i) is large, THEN CSD (i) is large IF SB (i) is medium, THEN CSD (i) is medium IF SB (i) Is small, THEN CSD (i) is small

If the overlapping character surface area is large, it is easier to read if the character spacing is wider, and if the overlapping character surface area is smaller, it is easier to read if the character spacing is smaller.

(III) The rule group IF SW (i) for the blank area SW is large, THEN CSD (i) is small IF SW (i) is medium, and THEN CSD (i) is medium IF SW (i) Small, THEN CSD (i) is large

When the blank area is large, the character spacing is felt to be wide. Therefore, the narrower the character spacing is, the easier it is to read. On the contrary, when the blank area is small, it becomes easier to read when the character spacing is wider, as in the case where the overlapping character surface area is large.

An example of the antecedent part membership function used in such a basic rule group is shown in FIGS. FIG. 10 shows the membership function regarding the character density DS, FIG. 11 shows the membership function regarding the overlapping character area SB, and FIG. 12 shows the membership function regarding the blank area.

FIG. 13 shows the membership function relating to the CSD of the character space opening degree of the consequent part.

The fuzzy inference using the above rule group and membership function may be carried out according to the already established inference operation method. For example, for each rule, the consequent part membership function is truncated according to the obtained anterior part conformance (grade). MAX of truncated consequent membership function of all rules
Calculation is performed. The center of gravity of this MAX calculation result is obtained. The determined center of gravity is the final character spacing. The character spacing is obtained by substituting this character spacing opening degree into equation (2).

In the rule group described above and in FIGS. 10 to 13, three kinds of membership functions for each variable,
Although "small", "medium" and "large" are shown, it is possible to add a membership function representing language information such as "slightly small" or "slightly large" as necessary. Needless to say.

Further, in the above-mentioned rule group, the type of the antecedent part variable is one, but it is also possible to create a rule having two or more types of variables as the antecedent part. For example, IF DS (i) is large, AND SB (i) is large, AND
It is possible to set rules such that SW (i) is small and THEN CSD (i) is extremely large. Character density DS, overlapping character area SB and blank area S in the antecedent part
Any combination of W can be described.

The above inference operation for obtaining the character spacing is sequentially executed for all the characters included in the given character string. Eventually, the proper character spacing for all characters will be obtained.

The above-mentioned basic rule groups (I), (II) and (I
II) concerns the minimum antecedent variables DS, SB and SW needed to infer an appropriate character spacing.
More auxiliary antecedent variables can be used if desired.

These auxiliary antecedent variables include the user input interval UCS, the variable KS relating to the ratio between the minimum character spacing and the character width, the variable KH relating to the ratio between the minimum character spacing and the character height, and the character duplication complexity. There are CPX, etc. Hereinafter, these auxiliary variables will be described.

User input interval UCS is the character spacing specified by the user for a particular character. The user can input a desired character spacing by designating a specific character using the keyboard 15. The character spacing may be entered in other ways, for example by the number of dots or by the ratio of the particular character displayed on the CRT 16 to the character spacing. An example of a rule regarding the user input interval UCS is as follows.

(IV) Rule group relating to user input interval UCS IF UCS (i) is large, THEN CSD (i) is large IF UCS (i) is medium, THEN CSD (i) is medium IF UCS (i) Is small, THEN CSD (i) is small

If the user desires to increase the character spacing, the character spacing is increased accordingly, and if the user desires a small character spacing, the character spacing is reduced.

An example of a membership function for the user input interval UCS is shown in FIG. It goes without saying that more kinds of membership functions (for example, "extremely large") can be set as needed.

In the reasoning considering the user input interval UCS (step 23), in addition to the basic rule groups (I), (II) and (III) described above, the rule group (IV) related to the UCS is
Set as a set of rules for fuzzy reasoning. Inference operations are performed according to all these rules,
Finally, the optimum character spacing with the user input spacing taken into consideration can be obtained.

It goes without saying that it is possible to create a rule group whose antecedent part is an arbitrary combination of DS, SB, SW and UCS.

The variable KS (i) is defined by the following equation.

KS (i) = | CSmin (i) | / MIN [CW (i), CW (i + 1)] Equation (4)

MIN [CW (i), CW (i + 1)] means that the smaller one of CW (i) and CW (i + 1) is selected and adopted.

An example of a rule relating to the variable KS is as follows.

(V) Rule (group) regarding variable KS: IF KS (i) is large, THEN CSD (i) is large

An example of a membership function for the variable KS is shown in FIG. Here, the language information is "large"
Membership functions are defined only for. Therefore, in the region where the membership function "large" is not defined (range where grade is zero), the above rule has no effect. Of course, it is needless to say that more than two types of membership functions can be created as needed and more rules can be set in addition to the above rules.

The minimum character spacing CSmin is the i-th character and (i
+1) indicates the maximum possible overlap with the character. By the above-mentioned basic rule groups (I), (II) and (III), i
If the character spacing is such that the th character and the (i + 1) th character overlap considerably, it can be difficult to see. In particular, when the character width CH of one of the two characters is narrow, it may give the feeling that one character is subordinate to the other character. Minimum character spacing CSmin
If the absolute value of is very large or the character width of two characters, whichever is smaller, is smaller, formula (4)
According to, the variable KS becomes considerably large. In such cases, rule (V) is used to increase the character spacing. Rule (V) is to correct the excessive spacing of the character spacing due to the basic rules.

Fuzzy inference of character spacing (step 23)
Is performed according to a rule group configured by adding the above rule (group) (V) to the above basic rule groups (I), (II) and (III). This makes it possible to obtain an appropriate character spacing in consideration of the variable KS. Features MIN [CH (i), CH (i
+1)] is calculated prior to inference (step 22). D
It goes without saying that it is possible to set a rule having an arbitrary combination of S, SB, SW and KS in the antecedent part.

All rule groups (I), (II), (I
Fuzzy reasoning may be performed according to the rules consisting of II), (IV) and (V). In this case, the user input spacing UCS and the variable KS are taken into account in inferring the character spacing. DS, SB, SW and UCS
It is of course possible to set a rule having an antecedent part of an arbitrary combination of KS and KS.

The variable KH (i) is defined by the following equation.

KH (i) = | CSmin (i) | / MIN [CH (i), CH (i + 1)] Equation (5)

Examples of rules relating to the variable KH are as follows.

(VI) Rule (group) regarding variable KH IF KH (i) is large, THEN CSD (i) is large

An example of a membership function for the variable KH is shown in FIG. Even in this membership function, the grade is zero in the range where the value of KH is small,
In this range, the above rules have no effect on the whole inference. Needless to say, it is possible to create two or more kinds of membership functions for KH and set rules other than the above.

Even if the character height CH of either the i-th character or the (i + 1) -th character is low, if the two characters overlap considerably, the character with the lower height Gives a feeling of being subordinate to the other letter.
There is a rule (VI) to prevent such a result from being caused by the basic rule groups (I) to (III). Rule (VI)
Also works to modify the inference results by the basic rules.

It is for this reason that the membership functions for the variables KS and KH are defined only in the regions where the values of these variables are large (see FIGS. 15 and 16).

Fuzzy inference of character spacing (step 23)
Is performed according to a rule group configured by adding the rule (VI) to the basic rule groups (I), (II) and (III). As a result, an appropriate character spacing considering the variable KH can be obtained. MIN [CH (i), CH prior to inference
It goes without saying that (i + 1)] is calculated (step 2
2). It goes without saying that it is possible to set a rule having the antecedent part with an arbitrary combination of DS, SB, SW and KH.

All the rule groups (I), (II), (I
Fuzzy inference may be performed according to a rule group configured according to any combination of II), (IV), (V) and (VI). However, basic rule groups (I), (II)
And (III) are always used. Any one or more of the rule groups (IV), (V) and (VI) will be added to the basic rule group. In this case, DS, SB and S
You may set the rule which has an arbitrary combination of W, UCS, KS, and KH in the antecedent part.

The character overlap complexity CPX (i) is an overlap area (i-th character formed by bringing the i-th character and the (i + 1) -th character close to each other until some of them touch each other. Area where the width of and the width of the (i + 1) th character overlap)
Is the average value of the number of times the vertical scanning line for each dot (pixel) transits from the character face of one character to the character face of the other character, or from the character face of the other character to the character face of one character.

This will be specifically described with reference to FIG. There are eleven vertical scanning lines V1 to V11 in the overlapping area of the i-th character and the (i + 1) -th character. Each of these vertical scan lines is 1 from the face of the i-th character to the face of the (i + 1) th character.
Transits times. Therefore, the average value is also 1, and the character overlap complexity CPX is 1.

In the example shown in FIG. 18, the i-th character
There are 6 vertical scan lines in the overlap area with the (i + 1) th character. Of these, the vertical scanning lines V21 to V23 move from the character face of the i-th character to the character face of the (i + 1) th character, and then the character face of the i-th character from the character face of the (i + 1) th character. Move on to. Therefore, the number of transition circuits is 2, respectively. On the other hand, the number of transition circuits of the vertical scanning lines V24 to V26 is four. Therefore, the character overlap complexity is calculated according to the following equation.

CPX (i) = (2 + 2 + 2 + 4 + 4 + 4) / 6 = 3 Equation (6)

The character overlap complexity CPX (i) is calculated in the characteristic amount generating process (step 22).

A group of rules relating to the character duplication complexity CPX is, for example, as follows.

(VII) Rule group regarding character duplication complexity CPX IF CPX (i) is large, THEN CSD (i) is large IF CPX (i) is medium, THEN CSD (i) is medium IF CPX (i) ) Is small, THEN CSD (i) is small

FIG. 19 shows an example of the membership function regarding the character duplication complexity CPX.

The high degree of character overlap complexity means that if two characters are close to each other, some of them will be considerably overlapped and hard to read. Therefore,
In this case, increase the character spacing to make it easier to read. If the character overlap complexity is low, there is no problem even if the character spacing is reduced.

The fuzzy inference of the character spacing considering the character overlap complexity CPX (step 23) is based on the above basic rule group.
It is performed according to a rule group configured by adding the above rule group (VII) to (I), (II) and (III). DS and S
It goes without saying that it is also possible to create a rule having a combination of any of B, SW and CPX in the antecedent part.

All the rule groups (I), (II), (I
II), (IV), (V), (VI) and (VII) in any combination of rules (including rule groups (I), (II) and (III)) Therefore, fuzzy inference may be performed. That is, the basic rule groups (I), (II) and (III) are added to the auxiliary rule group (I
Any one or more of V), (V), (VI) and (VII) will be added. In this case, DS, S
A rule having an antecedent part of any combination of B, SW, UCS, KS, KH and CPX may be created.

The handling of small characters will be described. A small character is, for example, (i +
3) Characters such as the second character that have a smaller height CH and width CW than other characters. When making the CPU 11 determine whether the character is small, a reference value for this determination (for example, the number of bits of the upper limit value of the height and the number of bits of the upper limit value of the width, or the ratio of these to the frame) is used. It is stored in the RAM 13 in advance, or the user inputs it. In the character code string stored in the hard disk 14, a bit (or code) indicating a small character may be added to the code of the small character. You may make it a user specify on a display screen that it is a small character. In any case, if there is a small character, the following processing is performed in relation to the preceding character ((i + 2) th character in Fig. 3 or 6). .

20 to 24 show (i + 2) th character and (i + 3)
And the second character. FIG. 22 shows the bit map data expanded in step 21. Figure 21
Shows the state where the entire character surface of the (i + 3) th small character is displaced upward by 2 dots compared to Fig. 22. Figure 20
The figure shows that the entire character surface of the (i + 3) th character is displaced upward by 4 dots from the state of FIG. Further, FIGS. 23 and 24 show the characters of the (i + 3) th small character displaced from the state of FIG. 22 by 2 dots and 4 dots, respectively.

Thus, when there is a small character, the small character (i + 3) is inferred in the character spacing CS (i + 2) for the character (i + 2) immediately before the small character (i + 3). +3) is kept in the height position where the bit map is expanded, the proper character spacing is inferred, and the small character (i + 3) is displaced up and down by an appropriate amount. Infer proper character spacing with small characters at displaced positions. In these inferences, the above-mentioned basic rule group (and necessary auxiliary rule group) are used. Of the appropriate character spacings for the various height positions of the small character (i + 3) obtained in this way, the smallest character spacing is selected (step 2
Four). Also, the height position of the small character that produces the smallest character spacing is determined to be the height of that character. Figure
In the example shown in FIGS. 20 to 24, the character spacing CS (i
+2) is the smallest. In FIG. 23, a part of the black dot of the (i + 3) th character protrudes downward from the frame, but there is no problem. Since the purpose of the character spacing adjustment is to minimize the spacing between two characters, the minimum character spacing is selected. 20 to 24, the small character (i + 3) is displaced vertically by 2 dots, but the displacement amount can be set arbitrarily.

Generally, a small character in Japanese is associated with a character preceding it. In the above-mentioned example, it is determined that the space between the small character and the character in front of it is as small as possible by utilizing such a Japanese property. In languages that have the property that a small character is attached to the character that follows it, the character spacing between the small character and the characters arranged after it is adjusted to be as small as possible.

As described above, the appropriate character spacings for all the characters forming the sentence represented by the character code string, or for at least one line of characters, are obtained by fuzzy inference. Thereafter, a process of correcting (re-adjusting) the character spacing of the target character is performed in consideration of the overall balance with other characters arranged before and after the target character (step 25). This correction process is performed for all the characters with all the characters as the target character.

Fuzzy inference is also used in the correction process. As the variables of the antecedent part of the inference rule, CI (i) indicating the width of two characters including the target character and CL (i) indicating the width of four characters including the target character are used. These variables are defined by the following equations.

CI (i) = CW (i) + CS (i) + CW (i + 1) Equation (7)

CL (i) = CW (i-1) + CS (i-1) + CW (i) + CS (i) + CW (i + 1) + CS (i + 1) + CW (i + 2) Equation (8) )

In these equations, CW (i-1), CW (i)
, CW (i + 1) and CW (i + 2) are the widths of the (i-1) th, i-th, (i + 1) th and (i + 2) th characters. In addition, CS (i-1), CS (i) and CS (i + 1) are the (i-1) th, ith and
The proper spacing between the (i + 1) th character.

The consequent part of the fuzzy inference rule is the character spacing C.
This is the correction amount ΔCS (i) of S. When this correction amount is obtained in fuzzy reasoning, the final optimum character spacing is SC
It will be determined as (i) + ΔCS (i).

An example of a rule group for correcting the character spacing is as follows.

(VIII) Rule group for letter spacing correction IF CI (i) is small, THEN ΔCS (i) is a little large IF CL (i) is small, THEN ΔCS (i) is large

An example of the membership function for the antecedent variables CI and CL and the antecedent variable ΔCS is shown in FIG.
25, FIG. 26 and FIG. 27, respectively.

Basically, these rule groups improve the overall balance by slightly increasing the character spacing CS (i) when the width of two consecutive characters or the width of four consecutive characters is too small. It is a thing. Therefore, the antecedent membership functions for the variables CI and CL are defined only in the regions where the values of these variables are small. The consequent part membership function related to the correction amount ΔCS is defined only in the region where ΔCS is large.

More or different membership functions for CI, CL and ΔCS may be set if desired. The correction rule is not limited to the above. The width of three consecutive characters or the width of five or more characters including the character of interest can be used as the antecedent variable. C in the antecedent section
It is also possible to write a proposition regarding the combination of I and CL.

When the character spacing is determined as described above, the characters arranged at the determined character spacing are printed. The character spacing is inferred based on the frame (character surface) of a predetermined size as described above, and the character spacing suitable for this size is obtained.

In printing, the size (points) of characters is designated. The resolution of the printer 17 (DPI:
Dot per inch) is predetermined (even if the resolution is variable, one of the resolutions is specified for printing). The number of dots of one character (the number of dots in the vertical and horizontal directions of the frame) is determined according to the size of the specified character and the resolution of the printer 17. On the buffer memory of the printer 17, the characters to be printed are bit-mapped into the size of the determined frame. At this time, the character spacing determined by inference is converted according to the size of the frame for printing, and the black dots composing each character are arranged at the converted character spacing. Characters are printed based on the dot data expanded on the buffer memory.

In the above embodiment, the character spacing inference processing is executed by software, but it may be executed by a hardware circuit. In particular, many kinds of hardware circuits dedicated to fuzzy inference are already known. Further, it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to the adjustment of the character spacing arranged in the vertical direction.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electrical overall configuration of a computer typesetting system.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing a flow of character spacing adjustment processing.

FIG. 3 shows a character string expanded into bit map data.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a feature amount of each character.

FIG. 5 is for explaining a feature amount between characters.

FIG. 6 shows a characteristic amount of the character string shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 shows the maximum character spacing.

FIG. 8 is for explaining the character spacing.

FIG. 9 shows the minimum character spacing.

FIG. 10 is a graph showing an example of a membership function regarding the character density DS.

FIG. 11 is a graph showing an example of a membership function relating to the overlapping character surface area SB.

FIG. 12 is a graph showing an example of a membership function regarding a blank area SW.

FIG. 13 is a graph showing an example of a membership function related to a character spacing opening degree CSD.

FIG. 14 is a graph showing an example of a membership function regarding a user input interval UCS.

FIG. 15 is a graph showing an example of a membership function regarding a variable KS.

FIG. 16 is a graph showing an example of a membership function regarding a variable KH.

FIG. 17 is for explaining the character duplication complexity.

FIG. 18 is for explaining the character duplication complexity.

FIG. 19 is a graph showing an example of a membership function relating to character duplication complexity.

FIG. 20 shows a state in which the (i + 3) th character is shifted upward by 4 dots.

FIG. 21 shows a state in which the (i + 3) th character is shifted upward by 2 dots.

FIG. 22 shows a character in a state of being expanded into bit map data.

FIG. 23 shows a state in which the (i + 3) th character is shifted downward by 2 dots.

FIG. 24 shows a state in which the (i + 3) th character is shifted downward by 4 dots.

FIG. 25 is a graph showing an example of a membership function relating to a variable CI representing the width of two characters.

FIG. 26 is a graph showing an example of a membership function relating to a variable CL representing the width of four characters.

FIG. 27 is a graph showing an example of a membership function related to the character spacing correction amount ΔCS.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 CPU 12 ROM 13 RAM 14 Hard disk drive 15 Keyboard 16 CRT 17 Printer

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Internal reference number FI technical display location G06F 17/21

Claims (28)

[Claims] 1. A character dot data creating means for expanding on a memory character dot data representing a character forming a designated character string, and in the character dot data expanded on the memory, for each character, The first feature amount generating means for generating the character density data representing the character width of the character, the character dot data expanded on the memory, the character and its adjacent character are the most Second feature amount generating means for generating overlapping character surface area data representing the degree to which both characters overlap in a state of being close to each other, and in the character dot data expanded on the memory, the character and its adjacent character A third feature amount generating means for generating blank area data representing the width of the space generated between the two characters in the state of being closest to By applying the character density data, the overlapping character surface area data, and the blank area data respectively generated by the first, second, and third feature amount generating means to the knowledge about the character spacing adjustment given in advance, it is appropriate. A character-spacing adjusting device comprising a character-spacing inferring means for inferring a character spacing for each character. 2. An interval input means for inputting user input interval data representing a desired degree of character interval, and the knowledge including the knowledge for inferring the character interval using the user input interval data, in addition to the user input interval. The character spacing adjusting device according to claim 1, further comprising: the character spacing inferring means for further applying data to infer an appropriate character spacing. 3. A character dot expanded on the memory
Fourth feature amount generating means for generating, for each character, first ratio data relating to a ratio between a minimum character interval representing a character interval when the character and an adjacent character are closest to the character width in the data. , And the knowledge including the knowledge for inferring the character spacing by using the first ratio data, the first ratio data generated by the fourth feature amount generating means is further applied to the knowledge. 3. The character spacing inferring means for inferring character spacing is provided.
Character spacing adjustment device described in. 4. A character dot expanded on the memory
Fifth feature amount generating means for generating, for each character, second ratio data relating to a ratio between a minimum character interval and a character height that represents a character interval when the character and its adjacent character are closest to each other in the data. , And the knowledge including the knowledge for inferring the character spacing by using the second ratio data, the second ratio data generated by the fifth feature amount generating means is further applied to the knowledge. The character spacing adjusting device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising: the character spacing inferring means for estimating a character spacing. 5. A character dot expanded on the memory
In the data, for each character, in a state where the character and its adjacent character are closest to each other, character duplication complexity data indicating the complexity of overlapping of both characters is generated.
And the knowledge including the knowledge for inferring the character spacing using the character overlap complexity data, the character overlap complexity data generated by the sixth feature quantity generator. The character spacing inference means, which is applied to infer an appropriate character spacing, is provided.
5. The character spacing adjustment device according to any one of 4 to 4. 6. When the adjacent character is a small character, the character spacing inference means determines the character spacing for each of the position developed in the dot data of the small character and the position shifted up and down by a predetermined number of dots. The method further comprising means for controlling so as to infer, and means for determining the smallest one among a plurality of character intervals obtained from the character interval inference means as an appropriate character interval.
5. The character spacing adjusting device according to any one of 5 to 5. 7. A seventh characteristic amount generating means for generating length data relating to a length of a plurality of characters including a character of interest arranged in a line with the character spacing obtained by the character spacing inferring means. An interval correction amount inference means for inferring an interval correction amount for each character of interest by applying the length data generated by the seventh feature amount generating means to knowledge about character spacing correction given in advance, And correction means for generating a final character spacing by adding the spacing correction amount obtained by the spacing correction amount inference means to the character spacing obtained by the character spacing inference means. 6. The character spacing adjusting device according to any one of 6 above. 8. The character spacing adjusting device according to claim 1, wherein the character spacing inference means is a fuzzy inference means. 9. The character spacing adjustment device according to claim 7, wherein the spacing correction amount inference means is a fuzzy inference means. 10. Character dot data representing a character forming a specified character string, with a specified character size,
The printer further comprising: a character printer which expands a character on the memory at a character spacing corresponding to the obtained character spacing and prints characters using the developed character dot data.
10. The character spacing adjusting device according to any one of 1 to 9. 11. A computer typesetting system comprising the character spacing adjusting device according to claim 1. 12. A word processor comprising the character spacing adjustment device according to claim 1. Description: 13. A first characteristic amount generating means for generating a first characteristic amount for each character in character dot data of a plurality of characters expanded on a memory,
Character dots of multiple characters expanded on the memory
In the data, the second feature amount for each character, which represents the relationship between the character and its adjacent character, is generated.
Feature amount generating means, and the first feature amount and the second feature amount described above.
A character-spacing adjusting device equipped with a character-spacing inferring means for inferring an appropriate character-spacing for each character by applying the feature amount of [1] to knowledge about character-spacing adjustment. 14. The character-spacing adjusting device according to claim 13, wherein the character-spacing inferring means deduces the character-spacing in consideration of the inputted data representing the degree of the desired character-spacing. 15. When the adjacent character is a small character, the character spacing inference means determines the character spacing for each of the position developed into the dot data of the small character and the position shifted up and down by a predetermined number of dots. 14. The method further comprising means for controlling so as to infer, and means for determining the smallest one among a plurality of character intervals obtained from the character interval inference means as an appropriate character interval.
Or the character spacing adjusting device described in any one of 14. 16. A third characteristic amount generating means for generating length data relating to a length of an array of a plurality of characters including a target character arranged in a line with the character spacing obtained by the character spacing inferring means, Interval correction amount inferring means for inferring the interval correction amount for each focused character by applying the length data generated by the third feature amount generating means to a given knowledge about character spacing correction, and 16. The correction means for generating a final character spacing by adding the spacing correction amount obtained by the spacing correction amount inference means to the character spacing obtained by the character spacing inference means. The character spacing adjustment device according to any one of 1. 17. The character-spacing adjusting device according to claim 13, wherein the character-spacing inference means is a fuzzy inference means. 18. The character spacing adjusting device according to claim 16, wherein the spacing correction amount inference means is a fuzzy inference means. 19. A character dot data representing a character forming a specified character string, with a specified character size,
13. The printer according to claim 13, further comprising a printer that expands a character on the memory at a character interval corresponding to the obtained character interval and prints a character using the expanded character dot data.
The character spacing adjustment device according to any one of 1 to 18. 20. A computer typesetting system comprising the character spacing adjusting device according to claim 13. 21. A word processor comprising the character spacing adjustment device according to claim 13. 22. Character dot data representing a character forming a designated character string is expanded on a memory, and in the character dot data of a plurality of characters expanded on the memory, the character A second feature amount that generates a first feature amount regarding the character dot data of a plurality of characters expanded on the memory, and represents, for each character, the relationship between the character and its adjacent character. To generate
A character-spacing adjusting method in which an appropriate character-spacing is inferred for each character by applying the first characteristic amount and the second characteristic amount to knowledge regarding character-spacing adjustment. 23. The character-spacing adjusting method according to claim 22, wherein in inputting the character-spacing, the inputted data representing the degree of the desired character-spacing is taken into consideration. 24. When the adjacent character is a small character, the character interval is inferred for each of the position expanded in the dot data of the small character and the position shifted up and down by a predetermined number of dots, and the character interval is inferred. The character spacing adjusting method according to claim 22 or 23, wherein the smallest of the plurality of character spacings obtained by inference is determined as an appropriate character spacing. 25. Length data relating to a length of a plurality of characters including a target character arranged in a line at a character spacing obtained by inference is generated, and the generated length data is given in advance. By applying to the knowledge about character spacing correction, the spacing correction amount is inferred for each character of interest, and the spacing correction amount obtained by the spacing correction amount inference is added to the character spacing obtained by the character spacing inference. 23. The final character spacing is thereby generated.
The character spacing adjustment method according to any one of 1 to 24. 26. Character dot data representing a character forming a specified character string, with a specified character size,
26. The character spacing according to the obtained character spacing is maintained, the character is expanded on the memory, and the character is printed using the expanded character dot data. Character spacing adjustment method. 27. A character dot data creating means for expanding on a memory character dot data representing a character forming a designated character string, and for each character in the character dot data expanded on the memory, The first feature amount generating means for generating the character density data representing the character width of the character, the character dot data expanded on the memory, the character and its adjacent character are the most Second feature amount generating means for generating overlapping character surface area data representing the degree to which both characters overlap in a state of being close to each other, and in the character dot data expanded on the memory, the character and its adjacent character Third feature amount generating means for generating blank area data representing the width of the space generated between the two characters in the state where the characters to be drawn are closest to each other, and Character density data generated by the first, second and third characteristic amount generating means, respectively,
Based on the overlapping character area data and the blank area data,
A character-spacing adjusting device having a character-spacing determining means for determining an appropriate character-spacing for each character. 28. In the character dot data of a plurality of characters expanded on the memory, a first characteristic amount generating means for generating a first characteristic amount for each character for each character.
Character dots of multiple characters expanded on the memory
In the data, the second feature amount for each character, which represents the relationship between the character and its adjacent character, is generated.
Feature amount generating means, and the first feature amount and the second feature amount described above.
A character-spacing adjusting device comprising a character-spacing determining means for determining an appropriate character-spacing for each character based on the characteristic amount of