JP2009163471A - Image font creation method and creation device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a front creation method and device for two-dimensionally expressing a character string with a stereoscopic effect. <P>SOLUTION: This image font creation method includes: a step for creating a thick character original by working raw materials with plasticity; a step for reading a thick character original including a background by a scanner; and a step for performing image processing to arrange the plurality of read character originals, and to familiarize the boundary of the images of those character originals and the images of base materials. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image font creation method and creation apparatus. The term “image font” as used herein refers to a font that can be viewed three-dimensionally even when it is two-dimensional by reading uneven material with a scanner and reading the image including the background. .

  Creation of characters in a document or illustration using a current PC (personal computer) is displayed on a screen or printed using fonts stored in the PC.

  However, if the form is decomposed, it is almost always created in a shape in which fine dots (dots) are gathered, and there is a limit in the expression method when the creator of illustrations or the like uses characters.

Conventionally, handwritten characters are stored in a PC as a font and used. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1). This is characterized in that a scanner function is used to automatically create a font by recognizing from a user's handwritten character string using the OCR function, and the created font is reused. In addition, there is one that provides a technology that can easily create font characters by handwritten characters of the user himself (see, for example, Patent Document 2).
JP 2006-252430 A Patent 3922938

  In Patent Document 1, a user reads a handwritten document by a scanner unit, stores image data of the read document in a memory unit, sends the image data to an OCR engine, and recognizes a character string by an OCR function. When a character string is recognized through the OCR engine, a font is created by comparing the character code of the character with the image recognized as the character from the corresponding part of the character that recognized the character string in the image data. .

  In this patent document 1, it is possible for a user to create an original written by hand as a font, but the handwritten character has no background and the character itself is not three-dimensionally expressed.

  Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-259542 discloses a character entry paper image creation means for creating image data of a character entry paper in which a user manually enters a character corresponding to a character code, and character entry of the image data created by the character entry paper image creation means. Character input paper output means for outputting as paper, character input paper input means for inputting an image of a completed character entry paper in which handwritten characters are entered, and the character code from the image input by the character entry paper input means A character image data extracting means for extracting a handwritten character image corresponding to the character data, and a font data storage means for storing the handwritten character image extracted by the character image data extracting means as a font character corresponding to the character code. It is characterized by that.

  Also in this patent document 2, it is possible for a user to create an original written by hand as a font, but the handwritten character has no background and the character itself cannot be three-dimensionally expressed.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to create a three-dimensional and characteristic illustration or the like in two dimensions by obtaining an image font including a background using an uneven character document. Another object of the present invention is to efficiently create illustrations and the like as if they were processed without actually processing the material by using image fonts.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, a step of creating a thick character original by processing a plastic material, a step of reading a thick character original including a background by a scanner, and a plurality of read character originals And an image processing step for adjusting the boundary with the base material image.

  In the present invention, a plastic material (for example, a wooden board or the like) is processed using an engraved sword to create a text document with irregularities. By reading the uneven characters together with the background with a scanner and performing image processing on a PC, a three-dimensional image font can be created.

  Further, the present invention is characterized in that a portion corresponding to a font is captured as image data including the background, and a process for making it familiar with the image of the base material is performed. As a result, the background portion of the character and the base material are combined with each other without a sense of incongruity, and an image as if the material was processed manually can be obtained in appearance.

  The invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that the above-mentioned scanner uses a multi-angle scanner capable of reproducing the thickness of the material in two dimensions. The multi-angle scanner is a scanner disclosed by the present applicant in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-331934. By using this multi-angle scanner, it is possible to three-dimensionally express uneven character documents even in two dimensions.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a scanner that reads a thick character original expressed by unevenness, a personal computer that inputs the character original read by the scanner, and a plurality of input character originals arranged in the personal computer. This is realized by software that performs image processing to adjust the boundary between the original image and the base material image.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the above-described scanner is realized by using a multi-angle scanner capable of reproducing a thick material expressed by unevenness in two dimensions.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to freely create a document, an illustration, and the like using a three-dimensional font with unevenness created by the author. Therefore, the range of creative creations that the author can express can be expanded, and original creative creations can be provided. In addition, by storing the image font in the PC, it is possible to input a character string from the keyboard, so it is as if the material was processed without actually processing the material and creating the character string. Can be obtained efficiently.

  Further, the present invention can be realized by the characteristics of the scanner. For example, even if a material is photographed and processed by a digital camera, if the photographing position is shifted, the overall stereoscopic effect is not unified, and the image becomes uncomfortable as a whole. Since the point scanner has a unified positional relationship between the light source and the object, creating a character string with an image can express a unified stereoscopic effect.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. What is denoted by reference numeral 1 is a PC, and image processing software 3 for reading an image from a scanner 2 described later and processing the image is introduced.

  What is indicated by reference numeral 2 is a scanner for reading an image, and reads a three-dimensional font placed on a glass surface in a non-contact manner from the upper surface. This scanner uses a multi-angle scanner disclosed by the present applicant in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-331934. As a feature of this scanner, a three-dimensional image can be obtained as compared with other scanners, so that it can be seen by a human eye as a three-dimensional image emerging from two dimensions. .

  The image processing software 3 installed in the PC 1 is software that performs image processing on an image read from the scanner 1. As the image processing to be performed, processing is performed in which a boundary line between a plurality of three-dimensional character originals read by the scanner 1 and a base material image created from a material that created the character original is familiarized. This familiarization process is a process in which the data in the vicinity of the boundary of the text document and the data in the vicinity of the boundary of the base material are obliquely coupled so as to fade out, and the average value of the data is obtained at the boundary center.

  The read three-dimensional characters are assigned to JIS codes in the PC 1 and stored in the PC 1 as image fonts. As a result, an image font corresponding to a character input from the keyboard can be expressed on the screen of the PC 1 or output to a printer.

  A specific example will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, a plastic material (for example, a wooden board) is engraved using a sword, thereby creating a plurality of uneven characters 4. For example, 26 capital letters and 10 numbers from 0 to 9 are created by carving a wooden board. Further, the base material 5 is created by digging up the entire surface of the same wooden board.

  The above 36 characters 4 are read one by one by the scanner 1. At this time, the image is read together with the portion representing the character and its periphery (background) to obtain rectangular image data. Similarly, the base material 5 is read by the scanner 1. The read image data is transferred to the PC 1 and stored in the memory in the PC 1.

  A JIS code is assigned to the image data of a plurality of characters 4 stored in the PC 1 and stored in the memory in the PC 1. At this time, the OS of the PC 1 performs processing in the PC 1 so that the character input from the keyboard corresponds to the image data of the character 4.

  The image data of the base material 5 is displayed on the screen of the PC 1 as shown in FIG. 3, and the character 4 is input from the keyboard so as to overlap the base material 5 (for example, AC21). Image processing is performed to familiarize the boundary portion between the character 4 and the base material 5 displayed on the screen. This image processing is processed by the image processing software 3 installed in the PC 1.

  With these processes, it is possible to create an image as if the character 4 with a three-dimensional effect was dug on the base material 5 on the screen of the PC 1. As a result, it is possible to efficiently create a three-dimensional character string as if digging a tree without actually performing the work of carving the character string into a tree.

  The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above. For example, the plastic material to be processed is not limited to a wooden board, and may be glass, metal, cloth, or the like. Further, the method of expressing characters in processing can be expressed not only in a convex shape but also in a concave shape.

  Since the present invention can efficiently create original and unique illustrations and the like by using image fonts, the present invention can be used for printing, publishing, or creating a personal New Year's card.

  1 is an overall view showing a configuration of the present invention.   It is a top view for demonstrating the Example of this invention.   It is a top view for demonstrating the Example of this invention, and shows the screen output to PC.

Explanation of symbols

1 Personal computer (PC)
2 Multi-angle scanner 3 Image processing software 4 Character 5 Base material

Claims (4)

In a method of creating an image font by reading an image using a scanner and performing image processing,
Creating a thick text manuscript by processing a plastic material; and
Reading the thick original text with a scanner including the background;
A step of arranging a plurality of the read character originals and performing image processing to adjust a boundary with an image of a base material;
A method for creating an image font, comprising:   The image font creation method according to claim 1, wherein the scanner uses a multi-angle scanner capable of reproducing the thickness of the plasticizable material in two dimensions. In an apparatus that creates an image font by reading an image using a scanner and performing image processing,
A scanner that reads a thick text document expressed by unevenness;
A personal computer for inputting a character document read by the scanner;
In the personal computer, software for performing image processing for aligning a boundary between an image of a character document and a base material image by arranging a plurality of input character documents;
A device for creating an image font, comprising:   The image font creation device according to claim 3, wherein the scanner is a multi-angle scanner capable of reproducing a thick material expressed by the unevenness in two dimensions.

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