JP2906963B2 - Method and apparatus for generating multi-tone wide data - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a multi-tone wide data generating method and apparatus for generating wide data from multi-tone data.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a wide data generating method and a wide data generating method use wide data such as font data and image data in which each pixel is represented by two types of data such as white and black. Perform generation processing. The width data referred to here is data obtained by increasing font data, image data, and the like, and particularly corresponds to bold in the case of a font.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a conventional wide data generating method and an apparatus therefor. In FIG. 2, 6 is a binary data holding means, 7 is a binary data shift means, and 8 is a binary data synthesizing means.

The operation of the conventional method and apparatus for generating wide data configured as described above will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 3 shows an example of data (font data of the Chinese character "ten") held by the binary data holding means 6. Here, each pixel is represented by two types, white and black. On a computer, for example, it is assumed that a white pixel is represented by “0” and a black pixel is represented by “1”.

The binary data shift means 7 creates four types of data obtained by shifting, for example, binary data (the data in FIG. 3) one bit upward, downward, leftward and rightward (each data in FIG. 4).

The binary data synthesizing means 8 combines the four types of data shown in FIG. 4 with the corresponding pixels of the original data (the data shown in FIG. 3) (that is, the pixels located at the same position). To generate binary width thick data (data in FIG. 5). When the logical sum is calculated, if at least one of the pixels corresponding to each data (that is, the pixel at the same position) has “1” (black pixel), the pixel after synthesis is “1”, and all the pixels are “0”.
If it is a (white pixel), the pixel after the combination is “0”. As a method for generating binary width thick data, there are other methods, such as using a shift in a direction other than up, down, left, and right as a shift direction, or performing a shift of 1 bit or more.

As described above, the binary data as shown in FIG. 3 is subjected to the width processing to generate the binary width data as shown in FIG.

[0009]

By the way, in the above-mentioned conventional technique, the data to be subjected to the wide processing is binary data as shown in FIG. Has a problem that the wide processing cannot be performed.

FIG. 6 shows an example of multi-tone data (the kanji character "ten").
Font data). In this example, white is “0”, black is “5”, and the intermediate tone (gray) is “1” to “4”.
It is expressed by

When such multi-tone data is used, beautiful font data or image data having a smoother contour and better shape balance than binary data can be output to an output device such as a color display capable of expressing gradation. It is possible to output.

However, in the conventional data generating method and the conventional apparatus, it is not possible to perform the wide processing on such multi-tone data to generate the multi-tone wide data.

In view of the above problems, the present invention can easily generate multi-gradation wide data using multi-gradation data.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a multi-tone wide data generation method and an apparatus capable of outputting beautiful multi-tone wide data to an output device capable of expressing gradation.

[0014]

In order to achieve this object, a multi-gradation wide data generating apparatus according to claim 1 and a multi-gradation wide data generating method according to claim 2 perform a wide processing. Multi-gradation data holding means for holding the target multi-gradation data; and multi-gradation data held in the multi-gradation data holding means in one of a plurality of predetermined directions such as up, down, left, and right.
The multi-tone data shift means for generating a plurality of data shifted pixel by pixel, and the plurality of data shifted by the multi-tone data shift means, validating the data having the highest tone level for each pixel at the corresponding position. Multi-gradation data is generated by synthesizing the multi-gradation data, and a binary image in which all the pixels other than the background portion of the multi-gradation data held in the multi-gradation data holding means are changed to the foreground color Multi-tone data binarization means for generating data; and multi-tone data synthesized by the multi-tone data synthesis means, using only the foreground color pixels of the binary data generated by the multi-tone data binarization means. A binary data overwriting means for overwriting a pixel at a position corresponding to the synthesized data.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a multi-tone wide data generating apparatus and a multi-tone wide data generating method, wherein the multi-tone wide data holding method holds multi-tone data to be subjected to wide processing. Means for each pixel of the multi-tone data, a pixel gradation value judging means for judging whether or not the gradation value of the pixel is the background color, and a judgment result of the pixel gradation value judging means for the background color. In this case, among the neighboring pixels of the pixel, the tone value of the pixel having the highest tone level is calculated, and the tone value is set as the tone value of the pixel at the position corresponding to the pixel in the multi-tone width data. When the determination result of the pixel maximum tone value calculation setting means and the pixel tone value determination means is other than the background color, the tone value of the foreground color is changed to the floor of the pixel at the position corresponding to the pixel of the multi-tone wide data. Foreground color setting means for setting as a tonal value.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a multi-tone wide data generating apparatus and a multi-tone wide data generating method, wherein the multi-tone wide data holding method holds multi-tone data to be subjected to wide processing. Means for shifting the multi-gradation data held in the multi-gradation data holding means in the horizontal direction by one pixel in the horizontal direction, and by thickening in the vertical direction by one pixel in the vertical direction. And a method of combining two types of data shifted by the multi-level data shift means by validating the data having the highest gray-level level for each pixel at the corresponding position. Multi-grayscale data synthesizing means for generating multi-grayscale composite data by performing the operation, and a pixel for determining whether the grayscale value of the pixel is a background color, a foreground color, or an intermediate grayscale color for each pixel of the multi-grayscale data Gradation value determination means and When fattening in the horizontal direction is performed only when the determination result of the pixel tone value determination means is an intermediate tone color, the maximum tone value of three neighboring pixels above, upper right, and upper left of the pixel and the lower value of the pixel below the pixel Calculating the maximum gradation value of the three lower right and lower left neighboring pixels and, when thickening in the vertical direction, the maximum gradation value of the right, upper right and lower right neighboring three pixels of the pixel and the above A neighboring pixel maximum gradation value calculating means for calculating the maximum gradation value of the three neighboring pixels on the left, upper left and lower left of the pixel, and an adjacent pixel only when the determination result of the pixel gradation value determining means is an intermediate gradation color If one of the two maximum gradation values calculated by the pixel maximum gradation value calculation means is the background color, it is determined that there is no pixel connectivity, and if both are other than the background color, it is determined that there is pixel connectivity. The pixel connectivity determination means and the determination result of the pixel connectivity determination means that there is no pixel connectivity Intermediate tone value setting means for overwriting the pixel at the corresponding position of the multi-tone composite data generated by the multi-tone data synthesizing means as long as the tone value of the pixel remains the intermediate tone value; When the judgment result of the means is the foreground color and when the judgment result of the pixel connectivity judgment means has the pixel connection, the gradation value of the foreground color corresponds to the multi-tone composite data generated by the multi-tone data synthesizing means. Foreground color setting means for overwriting the pixel at the position.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a multi-tone wide data generating apparatus and a multi-tone wide data generating method, wherein the multi-tone wide data holding method holds multi-tone data to be subjected to the wide processing. Means, pixel tone value determining means for determining whether the tone value of a pixel is a background color, foreground color, or intermediate tone color for each pixel of multi-tone data, and determination results of the pixel tone value determining means In the case of thickening in the horizontal direction only when is the middle gradation color, the maximum gradation value of the three neighboring pixels on the upper, upper right, and upper left of the pixel and the three neighboring pixels on the lower, lower right, and lower left of the pixel Calculating the maximum gradation value of the pixel, and calculating the maximum gradation value of the right, top, and right of the pixel when thickening in the vertical direction. Only when the judgment result of the judging means is an intermediate gradation color, two types calculated by the adjacent pixel maximum gradation value calculating means A pixel connectivity determination unit that determines that there is no pixel connectivity if any one of the maximum gradation values is a background color, and determines that there is pixel connectivity if both are other than the background color; and a pixel connectivity determination unit. Only when the result of the determination in step 5 is that there is no pixel connectivity, the grayscale value of the pixel is set as the grayscale value of the pixel at the position corresponding to the pixel in the multi-grayscale wide data while maintaining the grayscale value of the intermediate grayscale value Value setting means, and when the determination result of the pixel tone value determination means is the foreground color, and when the determination result of the pixel connectivity determination means indicates that there is pixel connectivity, the foreground tone value is set to the multi-tone wide data. Foreground color setting means for setting as a tone value of a pixel at a position corresponding to a pixel, and two pixels on the left and right of the pixel when thickening in the horizontal direction only when the determination result of the pixel tone value determining means is a background color. The gradation value of the pixel with the highest gradation level among neighboring pixels When calculating and thickening in the vertical direction, the grayscale value of a pixel having the highest grayscale level among the two neighboring pixels above and below the pixel is calculated, and the calculated grayscale value is used as the multi-grayscale width data. A neighborhood pixel maximum tone value calculation setting unit that sets the tone value of the pixel at the position corresponding to the pixel.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a multi-tone wide data generating apparatus.
The multi-gradation width data generating apparatus according to claim 1 and the multi-gradation width data generating method according to claim 2, wherein the multi-gradation width data generating apparatus according to claim 1 and the multi-gradation width data generating method according to claim 2. This is a configuration to which repetition control means for repeatedly executing the multi-gradation wide data generation by the generation method a specified number of times is added.

The multi-gradation wide data generating apparatus according to the eleventh aspect and the multi-gradation wide data generating method according to the twelfth aspect are provided by the multi-gradation wide data generating apparatus according to the third aspect and the multi-level wide data generating apparatus according to the fourth aspect. In the method for generating wide-gray-thickness data, there is provided a multi-gray-width wide data generating device according to claim 3 and a repetition control means for repeatedly executing the multi-gray-width wide data generation by the multi-gray-width wide data generation method according to claim 4 a specified number of times. This is an added configuration.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a multi-tone wide data generating method and a multi-tone wide data generating method according to the fifth aspect. In the method for generating wide-gray-thickness data, there is provided a multi-gray-width wide data generating device according to claim 5 and a repetition control means for repeatedly executing the multi-gray-width wide data generation by the multi-gray-width wide data generation method according to claim 6 a specified number of times. This is an added configuration.

According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a multi-tone wide data generating method, and a multi-tone wide data generating method according to the seventh aspect. The method for generating wide-gray-thickness data includes a multi-gray-scale / thickness data generating apparatus according to claim 7 and a repetition control means for repeatedly executing the multi-gray-width / thickness data generation by the multi-grayscale / thickness data generating method according to claim 8 a specified number of times. This is an added configuration.

According to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a multi-tone wide data generating apparatus according to the ninth or eleventh aspect, and a multi-tone wide data generating part according to the thirteenth or fifteenth aspect. It is a configuration that can be used together with the device.

According to a eighteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a multi-tone wide data generating method according to the tenth and twelfth aspects of the present invention, and a multi-tone wide data generating method according to the fourteenth or sixteenth aspect. The method can be used in combination.

[0024]

According to the above arrangement, the multi-gradation wide data generating apparatus according to the first aspect and the multi-gradation wide data generating method according to the second aspect are subjected to the wide processing by the multi-gradation data holding means. The multi-gradation data holding means holds the multi-gradation data, and the multi-gradation data held by the multi-gradation data holding means is shifted by one in each of a plurality of predetermined directions such as up, down, left and right.
A method of generating a plurality of data shifted pixel by pixel and validating data having the highest gradation level for each pixel at a position corresponding to the plurality of data shifted by the multi-gradation data shifting means by the multi-gradation data synthesizing means To generate multi-gradation composite data, and change all pixels other than the background portion of the multi-gradation data held in the multi-gradation data holding means to the foreground color by the multi-gradation data binarizing means. Generated binary data, and multi-level data 2
Only the pixel of the foreground color of the binary data generated by the value converting means is overwritten on the pixel at the corresponding position of the multi-tone composite data synthesized by the multi-tone data synthesizing means. As a result, it is possible to generate beautiful multi-tone wide data in which the outline portion of the multi-tone data corresponds to the tone value.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a multi-tone wide data generating apparatus and a multi-tone wide data generating method according to a fourth aspect of the present invention. The multi-gradation data holding unit holds the multi-gradation data to be subjected to the wide processing, and the pixel gradation value determination unit assigns the multi-gradation data to each pixel of the multi-gradation data. On the other hand, it is determined whether or not the tone value of the pixel is the background color, and if the determination result of the pixel tone value determining means is the background color, the neighboring pixel Among them, the tone value of the pixel having the highest tone level is calculated, and the tone value is set as the tone value of the pixel at the position corresponding to the pixel of the multi-tone width data, and the foreground color setting means When the determination result of the pixel tone value determination means is other than the background color, the tone value of the foreground color is By setting the tone value of a pixel position corresponding to the pixel of the gradation HabaFutoshi data to generate multi-gradation HabaFutoshi data. Compared with the multi-grayscale wide data generating apparatus according to the first aspect and the multi-grayscale wide data generating method according to the second aspect, the shift / combination of the multi-grayscale data and the binarization / overwriting of the multi-grayscale data are performed. Since they can be executed simultaneously, the processing speed is high. The generated data is the same.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a multi-gradation wide data generating apparatus and a multi-gradation wide data generating method, wherein the multi-gradation data holding unit, the multi-gradation data shifting unit, and the multi-gradation data A multi-gray scale data holding unit comprising a synthesizing unit, a pixel gray scale value determining unit, an adjacent pixel maximum gray scale value calculating unit, a pixel connectivity determining unit, an intermediate gray scale value setting unit, and a foreground color setting unit Means for holding multi-gradation data to be subjected to width processing by means, and multi-gradation data shifting means for thickening the multi-gradation data held in the multi-gradation data holding means in the horizontal direction. Generates two types of data shifted one pixel at a time in the left-right direction and in the vertical direction when thickening in the vertical direction. Type of data at each corresponding location The multi-gradation combined data is generated by combining the data having the highest gradation level with respect to the pixels in a method that makes the data effective, and the pixel gradation value determining means determines the pixel gradation of each pixel of the multi-gradation data. It is determined whether the tonal value is a background color, a foreground color, or a halftone color.
Only when the judgment result of the pixel gradation value judging means is an intermediate gradation color, when thickening in the horizontal direction,
The maximum gradation value of the upper left three neighboring pixels and the lower
Calculate the maximum gradation value of the lower right and lower left three neighboring pixels,
To make the pixel thicker in the vertical direction, the maximum gradation value of the three neighboring pixels on the right, upper right, and lower right of the pixel and the maximum gradation value of the three neighboring pixels on the left, upper left, and lower left of the pixel are calculated. Only when the pixel connectivity determination unit determines that the pixel gradation value determination unit determines that the pixel is a halftone color, one of the two maximum gradation values calculated by the adjacent pixel maximum gradation value calculation unit. If at least one of them is the background color, it is determined that there is no pixel connectivity, and if both are other than the background color, it is determined that there is pixel connectivity. Only when there is no connectivity, the gray scale value of the pixel is overwritten on the pixel at the corresponding position of the multi-gray scale synthesized data generated by the multi-gray scale data synthesizing means with the intermediate gray scale value, and the foreground color setting means When the result of determination by the pixel gradation value determining means is the foreground color and If a constant result is there pixel connectivity,
A beautiful multi-tone width that is enlarged in either the horizontal or vertical direction by overwriting the foreground color value on the pixel at the corresponding position of the multi-tone composite data generated by the multi-tone data synthesizing means Generate bold data. By determining the pixel connectivity, it is possible to set an intermediate gradation value in an outline portion determined to have no pixel connectivity, and to set a foreground color in an outline determined to have the pixel connectivity. It is possible to generate multi-gradation wide data in which only the horizontal direction or the vertical direction, which is expressed only by the intermediate gradation, is more beautiful.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a multi-tone wide data generating apparatus and a multi-tone wide data generating method according to the eighth aspect, wherein multi-tone data to be subjected to wide processing by a multi-tone data holding unit is provided. Holding, and for each pixel of the multi-tone data, determine whether the tone value of the pixel is a background color, a foreground color, or an intermediate tone color for each pixel of the multi-tone data, and calculate a maximum tone value of an adjacent pixel. By means,
Only when the judgment result of the pixel gradation value judging means is an intermediate gradation color, when thickening in the horizontal direction,
The maximum gradation value of the upper left three neighboring pixels and the lower
Calculate the maximum gradation value of the lower right and lower left three neighboring pixels,
To make the pixel thicker in the vertical direction, the maximum gradation value of the three neighboring pixels on the right, upper right, and lower right of the pixel and the maximum gradation value of the three neighboring pixels on the left, upper left, and lower left of the pixel are calculated. Only when the pixel connectivity determination unit determines that the pixel gradation value determination unit determines that the pixel is a halftone color, one of the two maximum gradation values calculated by the adjacent pixel maximum gradation value calculation unit. If at least one of them is the background color, it is determined that there is no pixel connectivity, and if both are other than the background color, it is determined that there is pixel connectivity. Only when there is no connectivity, the gradation value of the pixel is set as the gradation value of the pixel at the position corresponding to the pixel of the multi-gradation wide data with the intermediate gradation value unchanged, and the foreground color setting means When the judgment result of the gradation value judgment means is the foreground color and the judgment result of the pixel connectivity judgment means is When there is elementary connectivity, the foreground tone value is set as the tone value of the pixel at the position corresponding to the pixel of the multi-tone wide data, and the nearest pixel maximum tone value calculation setting means sets the pixel level to Only when the judgment result of the tonality judgment means is the background color, when thickening in the horizontal direction, the gradation value of the pixel having the highest gradation level among the two neighboring pixels on the left and right of the pixel is calculated, and In the case where the pixel is made thicker, the grayscale value of the pixel having the highest grayscale level among the two neighboring pixels above and below the pixel is calculated, and the calculated grayscale value is set to the position corresponding to the pixel in the multi-grayscale wide data. , And generates beautiful multi-gradation width thick data thickened in either the horizontal direction or the vertical direction. The data to be generated is the same as the multi-grayscale wide data generating device according to claim 5 and the multi-grayscale wide data generating method according to claim 6,
Since it is possible to simultaneously execute the shift / synthesis of multi-gradation data and the determination of pixel connectivity and the setting of gradation values, higher-speed data generation can be realized.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a multi-tone wide data generating apparatus and a multi-tone wide data generating method.
The multi-grayscale wide data generating device according to claim 1 and the multi-grayscale wide data generating method according to claim 2 have a configuration in which repetition control means is added.
The multi-gradation wide data generation apparatus according to the present invention and the multi-gradation wide data generation method according to claim 2 are repeatedly executed a specified number of times to generate multi-gradation data having various thicknesses. It becomes possible.

The multi-gradation wide data generating apparatus according to the eleventh aspect and the multi-gradation wide data generating method according to the twelfth aspect include the multi-tone wide data generating apparatus according to the third aspect and the multi-level wide data generating apparatus according to the fourth aspect. A multi-gray-width data generator according to claim 3 and a multi-gray-width by the multi-gray width / thick data generation method according to claim 4. The multi-gradation data generating apparatus according to the ninth aspect and the multi-gradation wide data generating method according to the ninth aspect and the multi-gradation width large data generating method according to the ninth aspect of the present invention perform the multi-tone data generation processing by repeating the thick data generation a specified number of times. Can be created.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a multi-tone wide data generating method, and a multi-tone wide data generating method according to a fifth aspect. A multi-gray-width data generator according to claim 5 and a multi-gray width by a multi-gray width data generation method according to claim 6. By repeatedly executing the thick data generation a specified number of times, it becomes possible to create beautiful multi-tone data of various thicknesses, which are thickened in either the horizontal direction or the vertical direction.

The multi-gradation wide data generating device according to claim 15 and the multi-gradation wide data generating method according to claim 16 are provided by the multi-gradation wide data generating device according to claim 7 and the multi-level wide data generating device according to claim 8. A multi-gray-width / thick data generating device according to claim 7 and a multi-gray-width / thickness width by a multi-gray-width / thick data generating method according to claim 8. 14. The multi-gradation width thick data generating apparatus according to claim 13, wherein beautiful multi-gradation data of various thicknesses, which are thickened in one of the horizontal and vertical directions by repeatedly executing the thick data generation a specified number of times, are provided. It is possible to create the data at a higher speed than the multi-tone wide data generation method described in [14].

According to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a multi-tone wide data generating apparatus according to the ninth or eleventh aspect, and a multi-tone wide data generating part according to the thirteenth or fifteenth aspect. The device can be used together, and by specifying how many times each of them is to be repeated, it is possible to create multi-tone wide data in which the ratio between the horizontal direction and the vertical direction is set arbitrarily. .

According to a eighteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a multi-tone wide data generating method according to the tenth and twelfth aspects, and a multi-tone wide data generating method according to the fourteenth or sixteenth aspect. The method can be used together. By specifying how many times to repeat each method, it is possible to create multi-gradation thick data in which the ratio of the thickening method in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction is arbitrarily set. .

[0034]

【Example】

(First Embodiment) A multi-tone wide data generating apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram of a multi-tone wide data generating apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1 is a multi-gradation data holding unit, 2 is a multi-gradation data shift unit,
3 is a multi-gradation data synthesizing unit, 4 is a multi-gradation data binarizing unit, and 5 is a binary data overwriting unit.

The multi-gradation data holding means 1 holds multi-gradation data to be subjected to wide processing. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that an example of the multi-gradation data of FIG. 6 (the font data of the kanji character “ten”) is held as the wide processing target data. The data may be created by an image editor other than font data or image data read from a scanner. In this example, white is "0", black is "5", and the intermediate tone (gray) is "1".
To "4" in total 6 gradations. In this example, the background color is white, and characters are drawn thereon in black and gray. Gray is mainly used for the outline part and has the function of faithfully reproducing the subtle shape of the outline part. In this example, the number of gradations is 6, but other gradation numbers may be used, and the corresponding gradation values may not be 0 to 5. Further, in this example, the minimum gradation is white and the maximum gradation is black, but the minimum gradation and the maximum gradation may be other colors such as “yellow” and “blue”, respectively. In that case, the halftone is not gray but an intermediate color between the minimum gradation color and the maximum gradation color.

The multi-tone data shift means 2 shifts the multi-tone data by one in each of a plurality of predetermined directions such as up, down, left and right.
Generate a plurality of data shifted pixel by pixel. In this embodiment, four types of data shifted in a total of four directions are created. FIG. 7 shows four types of data obtained by shifting the multi-tone data of FIG. 6 in four directions. It is also possible to shift only in the left and right two directions or add a shift in an oblique direction depending on the application.

Next, the multi-gradation data synthesizing means 3 synthesizes a plurality of data generated by shifting by the multi-tone data shifting means 2 in such a manner that the data having the highest gradation level for each pixel is valid. , And generates multi-tone composite data. In this embodiment, the four types of data shown in FIG. 7 are generated by the multi-tone data shift means 2, and these four types of data are combined. In this embodiment, the height and width of the four types of shifted data are all 16 dots and are composed of a total of 16 × 16 = 256 pixels, but the same four types of data are used for each of the 256 pixels. The data having the highest gradation level among the four gradation values of the pixel at the position is set as the gradation value of the pixel after synthesis. For example, focusing on the pixel in the fourth row from the top in the seventh column from the left, the gradation values of the pixels in the fourth column in the seventh column of the four types of data in FIG. 7 are “1”, “1”, “3”, and “3”, respectively. 0 ". Accordingly, the data “3” having the highest gradation level among the four gradation values is validated, and the gradation value of the pixel in the seventh column and the fourth row after the combination is set to “3”. FIG. 8 shows multi-tone composite data obtained by combining the four types of data after the shift shown in FIG.

The multi-tone data binarizing means 4 creates binary data in which all pixels other than the background portion of the multi-tone data in FIG. 6 are changed to the foreground color. In this embodiment, the background color is “0”
Since the foreground color is "5" and the intermediate colors are "1" to "4", all the intermediate colors are changed to the foreground color "5". The created data is binary data including only the background color “0” and the foreground color “5”. FIG. 9 shows the generated binary data.

The binary data overwriting means 5 is a multi-tone data synthesizing means 3 which combines only the pixels of the foreground color of the binary data generated by the multi-tone data binarizing means 4. By overwriting the pixel at the corresponding position in the data,
Generate multi-gradation width thick data. In this embodiment, 2 in FIG.
Only the pixel having the foreground color "5" of the value data is overwritten on the pixel at the corresponding position of the multi-tone composite data in FIG. That is, the black pixel portion of the binary data is changed to black in the multi-tone composite data.

In this way, the multi-tone wide data shown in FIG. 10 is generated. In this data, the outline portion corresponds to the gradation value, and it becomes possible to output beautiful multi-gradation wide data to an output device capable of expressing gradation.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the configuration of a multi-tone wide data generating apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 11, reference numeral 9 denotes a multi-gradation data holding unit, 10 denotes a pixel gradation value judging unit, 11 denotes a neighboring pixel maximum gradation value calculation setting unit, and 12 denotes a foreground color setting unit.

Consider a case where the multi-gradation data holding means 9 holds the multi-gradation data of FIG. 6 and generates multi-gradation wide data from the data. FIG. 12 is a diagram in which some pixels of the multi-gradation data of FIG. 6 are marked for reference.

The pixel gradation value judging means 10 judges whether or not the gradation value of each pixel of the multi-gradation data shown in FIG. 6 is a background color. In the case of this embodiment, the background color is “0”. For example, the pixel A in FIG. 12 is determined to be the background color, and the pixel F in FIG. 12 is determined not to be the background color.

The neighborhood pixel maximum gradation value calculation setting means 11
When the judgment result of the pixel gradation value judgment means 10 is the background color,
The tone value of the pixel having the highest tone level among the neighboring pixels of the pixel is calculated, and the tone value is set as the tone value of the pixel at the position corresponding to the pixel in the multi-tone width data. For example, the pixel A in FIG.
The tone value of the pixel having the highest tone level among the four neighboring pixels B, C, D, and E is calculated. Now, the four neighboring pixels B, C, D,
The gradation values of E are “0”, “0”, “2”, and “1”, respectively.
, The gradation value of the pixel having the highest gradation level is “2”.
Becomes This gradation value “2” is set to the pixel A of the multi-gradation width thick data.
Is set as the gradation value of the pixel at the position corresponding to. FIG.
Is obtained by adding a reference symbol to the multi-gradation width data generated from the multi-gradation data of FIG. 6 using the multi-gradation width data generating apparatus of this embodiment. The data itself is exactly the same as the multi-tone wide data shown in FIG. 10 generated by the multi-tone wide data generating device of the first embodiment. The pixel A in the multi-gradation wide data in FIG. 13 is a pixel at a position corresponding to the pixel A in the multi-gradation data in FIG. 6, and in this embodiment, the gradation value of the pixel A is the previously calculated gradation. The value is set to “2”. In this embodiment, four neighbors are referenced, but neighbors other than four neighbors, such as eight neighbors, can also be referenced.

Compared with the multi-gradation wide data generating apparatus of the first embodiment, the multi-gradation data shift / synthesis and the multi-gradation data binarization / overwriting can be executed simultaneously, so that the processing speed is very high. become.

(Third Embodiment) FIG. 14 is a block diagram of a multi-tone wide data generating apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 14, 13 is a multi-gradation data holding means, 14 is a multi-gradation data shift means, 15 is a multi-gradation data synthesizing means, 16 is a pixel gradation value judging means, and 17 is a maximum gradation of an adjacent pixel. Value calculating means, 18 is a pixel connectivity determining means,
19 is an intermediate gradation value setting means, and 20 is a foreground color setting means.

The multi-gradation data holding means 13 holds multi-gradation data to be subjected to wide processing. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that an example of the multi-gradation data in FIG. 15 (the font data of the “upper” of the Chinese character) is held as the wide processing target data. Consider the case where this data is made thicker in the horizontal direction.

The multi-gradation data shift means 14 sets the multi-gradation data held in the multi-gradation data holding means in the left-right direction when thickening in the horizontal direction, and the up-down direction when thickening in the vertical direction. Then, two types of data, each shifted by one pixel, are generated. In this embodiment, since the case of thickening in the horizontal direction is considered, the pixel is shifted by one pixel in the left and right direction. FIG. 16 shows two types of data obtained by shifting the multi-tone data of FIG. 15 one pixel at a time in the horizontal direction.

The multi-tone data synthesizing means 15 synthesizes the two types of data shifted by the multi-tone data shifting means in such a manner that the data having the highest tone level is valid for each pixel at the corresponding position. By doing so, multi-tone composite data is generated. This synthesizing method is the same as that of the multi-tone data synthesizing means 3 of the first embodiment except for the number of multi-tone data to be synthesized, so that the detailed description is omitted. By combining the two types of multi-tone data of FIG. 16, the multi-tone combined data of FIG. 17 is generated.

FIG. 18 is a view similar to FIG.
19 is multi-gray scale thick data created by overwriting the multi-gray scale composite data of FIG. 19 with the data of FIG. 19 obtained by binarizing the multi-gray scale data of FIG. In the case of this example, since it is not thickened in the vertical direction, according to this method, the upper and lower contours of the horizontal line called the horizontal stem are not the halftone but the foreground color (black in this example, "5" )), The horizontal stem becomes thicker, and it is not halftone, so it is not beautiful. The phenomenon appears in the X, Y, and Z portions in FIG.

In order to avoid this phenomenon, when the original multi-tone data of FIG. 15 is synthesized with the multi-tone composite data of FIG. 17, the multi-tone wide data of FIG. 20 is generated.
The vertical stem indicated by the rectangle AA in FIG. 7A becomes very half-colored, though it becomes very thick. In this method, the entire vertical stem becomes a color close to the background color (in this example, a light color close to white),
Not so beautiful characters are generated.

Both of the above two methods are unsuitable for generating wide data thickened in either the horizontal direction or the vertical direction from multi-tone data. The quality of not only vertical and horizontal stems but also diagonal lines will be reduced.

In the multi-tone wide data generating apparatus according to the third embodiment, the quality is improved by the method described below.

The pixel gradation value determination means 16 determines, for each pixel of the multi-gradation data, whether the gradation value of the pixel is a background color, a foreground color, or an intermediate gradation color. For example, in the multi-gradation data of FIG. 15, the pixel A has the gradation value “2”, the gradation value is “3”, the pixel H has the gradation value “3”, the gradation value is “3”, and the pixel P has the gradation value “0”. Therefore, the background color and the pixel V are determined to be the foreground color because the gradation value is “5”.

Only when the result of determination by the pixel gradation value determination means 16 is an intermediate gradation color, the adjacent pixel maximum gradation value calculation means 17 determines whether the pixel is to be fattened in the horizontal direction.
The maximum gradation value of the upper left three neighboring pixels and the lower
Calculate the maximum gradation value of the lower right and lower left three neighboring pixels,
To make the pixel thicker in the vertical direction, the maximum gradation value of the three neighboring pixels on the right, upper right, and lower right of the pixel and the maximum gradation value of the three neighboring pixels on the left, upper left, and lower left of the pixel are calculated. I do. In the present embodiment, the case of thickening in the horizontal direction is considered,
The maximum gradation value of the upper three pixels in the upper, upper right, and upper left directions of the target pixel and the maximum gradation value of the three lower pixels in the lower, lower right, and lower left directions of the target pixel are calculated. Since the pixel A in the multi-tone data in FIG. 15 is determined to be an intermediate tone color, the maximum tone values of the above three neighboring pixels in the upward direction and the three neighboring pixels in the downward direction are calculated. The three pixels in the upward direction of the pixel A are the three pixels of the pixel B, the pixel C, and the pixel D. Since the grayscale values are “0”, “0”, and “0”, respectively, the maximum grayscale value is “0”. 0 ". The three neighboring pixels in the downward direction of the pixel A are the three pixels of the pixel E, the pixel F, and the pixel G, and their gradation values are “2”, “2”, and “2”, respectively. 2 ". Similarly, since the pixel H is also determined to be a halftone color, the same processing is performed. The three pixels adjacent to the pixel H in the upward direction are three pixels, i.e., pixel I, pixel J, and pixel K, and their grayscale values are "0", "3", and "2", respectively. 3 ". The three lower neighboring pixels of the pixel H are the three pixels of the pixel L, the pixel M, and the pixel N, and their gray scale values are “0”, “3”, and “2”, respectively, so the maximum gray scale value is “ 3 ".

The pixel connectivity judging means 18 determines the two maximum tone values calculated by the adjacent pixel maximum tone value calculating means 17 only when the judgment result of the pixel tone value judging means 16 is an intermediate tone color. If any one of them has the background color, it is determined that there is no pixel connectivity, and if both are other than the background color, it is determined that there is pixel connectivity. If the determination result of the pixel tone value determination means 16 is an intermediate tone color, the adjacent pixel maximum tone value calculation means 17 has already determined that the pixel of interest is in the upper three neighboring pixels and the lower three pixels.
Since the maximum gradation values of the neighboring pixels have been calculated,
The pixel connectivity is determined from the value. For example, in the case of the pixel A in FIG. 15, the maximum gradation value of the adjacent pixel has already been calculated as “0” and “2” by the maximum gradation value calculation unit 17 for adjacent pixels, and one of the two maximum gradation values is the background color. Since the condition of “0” is satisfied, “no pixel connectivity” is determined. On the other hand, in the case of the pixel H, the adjacent pixel maximum gradation value calculating means 1
7, the two types of maximum gradation values have already been calculated as “3” and “3”, respectively, and both satisfy the condition that they are other than the background color “0”, so that it is determined that “pixel connectivity exists”. . The pixel determined to have “no pixel connectivity” is a portion that becomes an outline portion after being fattened, and the pixel determined to be “having pixel connectivity” is a portion that becomes inside a contour after being fattened. .

The intermediate tone value setting means 19 synthesizes the multi-tone data without changing the tone value of the pixel with the intermediate tone value only when the result of the judgment by the pixel connectivity judging means 18 indicates no pixel connectivity. The pixel at the corresponding position of the multi-tone composite data generated by the means 15 is overwritten. This is because a pixel determined to have "no pixel connectivity" is a portion that becomes an outline portion after being fattened, and the quality is degraded unless the original intermediate gradation value is left as it is. For example, in the case of the pixel A in FIG. 15, since the pixel connectivity determination unit 18 has already determined that “no pixel connectivity”, the intermediate gradation value “2” of the pixel A
Is overwritten on the pixel A at the corresponding position of the multi-tone composite data in FIG. In this example, the pixel A in FIG. 17 does not change its value because the gradation value is originally “2”.

The foreground color setting means 20 outputs the foreground color value when the judgment result of the pixel gradation value judgment means 16 is the foreground color and when the judgment result of the pixel connectivity judgment means 18 indicates that the pixel connection exists. Is overwritten on the pixel at the position corresponding to the multi-tone composite data generated by the multi-tone data synthesizing means. For example, FIG.
Since the pixel V of 5 is determined to be the foreground color with the gradation value "5", the foreground color "5" is overwritten on the pixel A at the corresponding position of the multi-gradation composite data in FIG. In this example, the pixel V in FIG.
Is originally “5”, the value does not change. Also,
Since the determination result of the pixel connectivity determination unit 18 is “pixel connectivity” for the pixel H in FIG. 15, the foreground color “5” is overwritten on the pixel H at the corresponding position of the multi-tone composite data in FIG. In this example, since the pixel H in FIG. 17 has the gradation value “2”, this value is changed to “5”.

The above procedure is performed for all the pixels in FIG. 15, and the multi-gradation composite data in FIG. 17 is overwritten and set to generate multi-gradation wide data. In this embodiment, finally, the multi-tone wide data shown in FIG. 21 is generated. The gradation values “2”, “5”, and “5” described above are set for the pixels A, H, and V in FIG. 21, respectively. Although the vertical stem is thick and the center is set to the background color, the outline remains at the intermediate gradation value. Thickness width data can be generated.

(Fourth Embodiment) FIG. 22 is a diagram showing a configuration of a multi-tone wide data generating apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 22, 21 is a multi-gradation data holding unit, 22 is a pixel gradation value determining unit, 23 is an adjacent pixel maximum gradation value calculating unit, 24 is a pixel connectivity determining unit, 25 is an intermediate gradation value setting unit, 26 is a foreground color setting unit, and 27 is a neighboring pixel maximum gradation value calculation setting unit.

The multi-gradation data holding means 21 holds multi-gradation data to be subjected to wide processing. In this embodiment, as in the third embodiment, it is assumed that an example of the multi-tone data (the font data of the “upper” of the Chinese character) in FIG. Consider the case of fattening.

The operation of each of the means 22 to 27 is substantially the same as the operation of each of the means 16 to 20 of the third embodiment. Where the setting of the final data is set to overwrite the multi-gradation composite data, the only difference is that the setting is directly set as the value of each pixel of the multi-gradation wide data which is the final product.

Further, instead of the parts where the multi-gradation composite data is generated by the means 14 and 15 in the third embodiment, the maximum gradation value calculation and setting means 27 for neighboring pixels are changed so that they can be set simultaneously. I have. The multi-tone wide data finally generated is the data shown in FIG. 21 of the third embodiment and is completely the same. The difference is that the generation is fast.

In the following description, portions that are the same as those described in the third embodiment will be simply described.

The pixel gradation value determining means 22 determines, for each pixel of the multi-gradation data, whether the gradation value of the pixel is a background color, a foreground color, or an intermediate gradation color. Similarly to the third embodiment, for example, in the multi-gradation data of FIG. 15, the pixel A has a gradation value of “2”, the gradation value is “3”, and the pixel H has a gradation value of “3”. Is the background color because the gradation value is “0”, and the pixel V is determined to be the foreground color because the gradation value is “5”.

The adjacent pixel maximum gradation value calculating means 23 also performs the third
The same processing as the adjacent pixel maximum gradation value calculating means 17 of the embodiment is performed. Similarly to the third embodiment, for example, the maximum grayscale values of the pixel 3 in the upward direction and the pixel 3 in the downward direction in FIG. 15 are calculated as “0” and “2”, respectively. The maximum gradation values of the neighboring pixel and the three neighboring pixels in the downward direction are calculated as “3” and “3”, respectively.

The pixel connectivity determining means 24 performs the same processing as the pixel connectivity determining means 18 of the third embodiment. As in the third embodiment, the pixel A is determined as “no pixel connectivity”,
Pixel H is determined to have “pixel connectivity”.

The intermediate tone value setting means 25 performs the same processing as the intermediate tone value setting means 19 of the third embodiment. Similarly to the third embodiment, for the pixel A determined to have “no pixel connectivity”, the intermediate gradation value “2” of the pixel A is set to the pixel A at the corresponding position of the multi-gradation wide data in FIG. Is set to

The foreground color setting means 26 performs the same processing as the foreground color setting means 20 of the third embodiment. As in the third embodiment, for the pixel V determined to be the foreground color by the pixel gradation value determination means 22, the foreground color value "5" is set to the position corresponding to the multi-gradation width thick data in FIG. Pixel V. Also,
For the pixel H determined to have “pixel connectivity” by the intermediate gradation value setting means 25, the gradation value “5” of the foreground color corresponds to the pixel H at the corresponding position of the multi-gradation wide data in FIG. Is set.

The neighborhood pixel maximum gradation value calculation setting means 27
Only when the judgment result of the pixel gradation value judgment means 22 is the background color, when thickening in the horizontal direction, the gradation value of the pixel having the highest gradation level among the two neighboring pixels on the left and right of the target pixel is calculated. When thickening in the vertical direction, the tone value of the pixel having the highest tone level among the two neighboring pixels above and below the target pixel is calculated, and the calculated tone value is used as the target pixel of the multi-tone wide data. It is set as the gradation value of the pixel at the corresponding position. In this embodiment, since the case of thickening in the horizontal direction is considered, the tone value of the pixel having the highest tone level among the two neighboring pixels on the left and right of the target pixel is calculated. The operation is almost the same as that of the neighboring pixel maximum gradation value calculation setting means 11 of the second embodiment, and is different in that the maximum gradation value of two neighboring pixels is calculated instead of calculating the maximum gradation value of four neighboring pixels. Only. For example, FIG.
Since the pixel P gradation value of the pixel No. 5 is “0”, the pixel gradation value determination means 2
2 is determined to be the background color. Two neighboring pixels Q of the pixel P,
R, the gradation value of the pixel having the highest gradation level is calculated. Now, the tone values of the two neighboring pixels Q and R are “0”,
Since it is “3”, the gradation value of the pixel having the highest gradation level is “3”. This gradation value "3" is set as the gradation value of the pixel at the position corresponding to the pixel P of the multi-gradation wide data in FIG.

The above procedure is performed for all the pixels in FIG. 15 and the multi-gradation composite data in FIG. 17 is sequentially overwritten and set, whereby the multi-gradation wide data in FIG. 21 is generated. Although this data is the same as the generation result of the third embodiment, since it is possible to simultaneously execute the shift / synthesis of multi-grayscale data and the determination of the pixel connectivity and the setting of the grayscale value, a faster data generation is possible. Can be realized.

(Fifth Embodiment) It is also possible to use a multi-tone wide data generator having a configuration in which repetition control means for controlling repetition processing is added to the multi-tone wide data generator of the first embodiment. is there.

FIG. 23 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of a multi-tone wide data generating apparatus according to the fifth embodiment. In FIG. 23, 28 is a multi-gradation data holding unit, 29 is a multi-gradation data shifting unit, 30 is a multi-gradation data synthesizing unit, 31 is a multi-gradation data binarizing unit, 32 is a binary data overwriting unit, 3
3 is a repetition control means. The means 28 to 32 are exactly the same as those of the multi-tone wide data generating apparatus of the first embodiment.

The repetition control means 33 creates data of various thicknesses by repeating the multi-tone wide data generation by the multi-tone wide data generation device of the first embodiment a specified number of times. For example, by specifying the number of repetitions to be two, the multi-tone wide data of the multi-tone data of FIG. 6 is generated. In the first repetition, the multi-tone wide data shown in FIG. 10 is generated as described in the first embodiment. In the second repetition, the wide data generation processing similar to that of the first embodiment is performed again on the multi-tone wide data of FIG. FIG. 24 shows the final multi-tone wide data when the number of repetitions is two. First
It can be confirmed that the thickness is larger than that of the example. By changing the number of repetitions, multi-tone wide data having various thicknesses can be generated.

(Sixth Embodiment) It is also possible to use a multi-tone wide data generator having a configuration in which repetition control means for controlling repetition processing is added to the multi-tone wide data generator of the second embodiment. is there.

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing the configuration of a multi-tone wide data generating apparatus according to the sixth embodiment. In FIG. 25, 34 is a multi-gradation data holding unit, 35 is a pixel gradation value determining unit, 36 is a neighboring pixel maximum gradation value calculation setting unit, 37
Is a foreground color setting means, and 38 is a repetition control means. 3
The means from 4 to 37 are exactly the same as those of the multi-tone wide data generating apparatus of the second embodiment.

The repetition control means 38 creates data of various thicknesses by repeating the generation of the multi-tone wide data by the multi-tone width data generating apparatus of the second embodiment a specified number of times. For example, by specifying the number of repetitions to be two, the multi-tone wide data of the multi-tone data of FIG. 6 is generated. In the first repetition, the multi-tone wide data shown in FIG. 10 is generated as described in the second embodiment. In the second repetition, the wide data generation processing similar to that of the second embodiment is executed again on the multi-tone wide data of FIG. FIG. 24 shows the final multi-tone wide data when the number of repetitions is two. Second
It can be confirmed that the thickness is larger than that of the example. By changing the number of repetitions, multi-tone wide data having various thicknesses can be generated. In addition, compared to the first embodiment, the shift / combination of the multi-gradation data and the binarization / overwriting of the multi-gradation data can be executed simultaneously, so that the processing speed is increased.

(Seventh Embodiment) It is also possible to use a multi-tone wide data generator having a configuration in which repetition control means for controlling repetitive processing is added to the multi-tone wide data generator of the third embodiment. is there.

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing the configuration of a multi-tone wide data generating apparatus according to the seventh embodiment. In FIG. 26, 39 is a multi-gradation data holding unit, 40 is a multi-gradation data shifting unit, 41 is a multi-gradation data synthesizing unit, 42 is a pixel gradation value judging unit, and 43 is an adjacent pixel maximum gradation value calculating unit. ,
44 is a pixel connectivity determination unit, 45 is an intermediate gradation value setting unit, 46 is a foreground color setting unit, and 47 is a repetition control unit. Means 39 to 46 are exactly the same as those of the multi-tone wide data generating apparatus of the third embodiment.

The repetition control means 47 creates data of various thicknesses by repeating the multi-tone wide data generation by the multi-tone wide data generation device of the third embodiment a specified number of times. For example, by specifying the number of repetitions as two, the multi-gradation width thick data of the multi-gradation data of FIG. 15 is generated. In the first repetition, the multi-tone wide data shown in FIG. 21 is generated as described in the third embodiment. In the second repetition, the wide data generation processing similar to that of the third embodiment is executed again on the multi-tone wide data of FIG. FIG. 27 shows the final multi-tone wide data when the number of repetitions is two. Third
It can be confirmed that the thickness is larger than that of the example. By changing the number of repetitions, multi-tone wide data having various thicknesses can be generated.

(Eighth Embodiment) It is also possible to use a multi-tone wide data generator having a configuration in which repetition control means for controlling repetition processing is added to the multi-tone wide data generator of the fourth embodiment. is there.

FIG. 28 is a diagram showing the configuration of a multi-tone wide data generating apparatus according to the eighth embodiment. In FIG. 28, reference numeral 48 denotes multi-tone data holding means, 49 denotes pixel tone value determination means, 50 denotes adjacent pixel maximum tone value calculation means, 51 denotes pixel connectivity determination means, 52 denotes intermediate tone value setting means, 53 is a foreground color setting unit, 54 is a neighboring pixel maximum gradation value calculation setting unit, and 55 is a repetition control unit. The means 48 to 54 are exactly the same as those of the multi-tone wide data generating apparatus of the fourth embodiment.

The repetition control means 55 creates data of various thicknesses by repeating the multi-tone wide data generation by the multi-tone wide data generation device of the fourth embodiment a specified number of times.

For example, by specifying the number of repetitions as two,
5 is generated. In the first repetition, the multi-tone wide data shown in FIG. 21 is generated as described in the fourth embodiment. In the second repetition, the wide data generation processing similar to that of the fourth embodiment is executed again on the multi-tone wide data of FIG. FIG. 27 shows the final multi-tone wide data when the number of repetitions is two. It can be confirmed that the thickness is larger than that of the fourth embodiment. By changing the number of repetitions, multi-tone wide data having various thicknesses can be generated. Although this data is the same as the generation result of the seventh embodiment, since it is possible to simultaneously execute the shift / synthesis of multi-grayscale data and the determination of pixel connectivity and the setting of the grayscale value, faster data generation Can be realized.

(Ninth Embodiment) It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which the multi-tone wide data generating apparatus of the fifth or sixth embodiment and the multi-tone wide data generating apparatus of the seventh or eighth embodiment can be used together. is there.

For example, multi-gradation data as shown in FIG. 15 is made thicker by two dots in the vertical direction (ie, up and down) and by 5 dots in the horizontal direction (ie, left and right). When it is desired to generate the multi-gradation data from the multi-gradation data as shown in FIG. Further, the multi-tone data generated by specifying the number of repetitions to three (ie, five to two) by the multi-tone wide data generating apparatus of the seventh or eighth embodiment is different from the desired multi-tone wide data. Become.

[0089]

As described above, the multi-grayscale wide data generating apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention and the multi-grayscale wide data generating method according to the second aspect of the present invention provide a multi-grayscale wide data generating means and a multi-grayscale data holding means. By providing a data shift means, a multi-gradation data synthesizing means, a multi-gradation data binarization means and a binary data overwriting means, a multi-gradation wide data whose contour portion for the multi-gradation data corresponds to the gradation value is provided. Can be generated, and beautiful multi-tone wide data can be output to an output device capable of expressing a tone.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a multi-gradation wide data generating apparatus and a multi-gradation wide data generating method according to a fourth aspect of the present invention. By providing the pixel maximum gradation value calculation setting means and the foreground color setting means, compared with the multi-gradation wide data generating apparatus according to claim 1 and the multi-gradation wide data generating method according to claim 2, Since the shift and synthesis of the multi-tone data and the binarization and overwriting of the multi-tone data can be performed simultaneously, the processing speed is increased. The generated data is the same.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a multi-gradation wide data generating apparatus and a multi-gradation wide data generating method according to a sixth aspect of the present invention. By providing a tone data synthesizing unit, a pixel tone value determining unit, an adjacent pixel maximum tone value calculating unit, a pixel connectivity determining unit, an intermediate tone value setting unit, and a foreground color setting unit, By determining the pixel connectivity, it is possible to set an intermediate gradation value in an outline portion determined to have no pixel connectivity, and to set a foreground color in an outline determined to have the pixel connectivity. It is possible to generate multi-gradation wide data in which only the horizontal direction or the vertical direction, which is expressed only by the intermediate gradation, is more beautiful.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a multi-tone wide data generating apparatus and a multi-tone wide data generating method. The data generated by providing the pixel maximum gradation value calculation means, the pixel connectivity determination means, the intermediate gradation value setting means, the foreground color setting means, and the neighboring pixel maximum gradation value calculation setting means Similar to the multi-gradation wide data generating apparatus according to the fifth aspect and the multi-gradation wide data generating method according to the sixth aspect, except that the shift / synthesis of multi-gradation data and the pixel connectivity are determined and the gradation value is set. Can be executed at the same time, so that higher-speed data generation can be realized.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a multi-tone wide data generating apparatus and a multi-tone wide data generating method according to the tenth aspect. And a repetition control means. The repetition control means includes a multi-tone wide data generating apparatus according to claim 1 and a multi-tone wide data generating method according to claim 2. By repeatedly executing the multi-gradation width thick data generation a specified number of times, it is possible to create multi-gradation data having various thicknesses.

The multi-grayscale wide data generating apparatus according to the eleventh aspect of the present invention and the multi-grayscale wide data generating method according to the twelfth aspect of the present invention provide the multi-grayscale wide data generating apparatus according to the third aspect and the fourth aspect. And a repetition control means. The repetition control means includes a multi-tone wide data generating apparatus according to claim 1 and a multi-tone wide data generating method according to claim 2. 11. The multi-gradation wide data generating apparatus according to claim 9, and the multi-gradation wide data generating method according to claim 10, wherein the multi-gradation wide data generating method is repeated by a specified number of times to generate multi-gradation wide data. It can be created faster.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, a multi-tone wide data generating apparatus and a multi-tone wide data generating method according to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention are provided. And a repetition control means. The repetition control means includes a multi-tone wide data generating apparatus according to claim 5 and a multi-tone wide data generating method according to claim 6. By repeatedly generating the multi-gradation width thick data a specified number of times, it is possible to create beautiful multi-gradation data of various thicknesses, which are thickened in either the horizontal direction or the vertical direction.

According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, a multi-tone wide data generating apparatus and a multi-tone wide data generating method according to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention are described. And a repetition control means. The repetition control means includes a multi-tone wide data generating apparatus according to claim 1 and a multi-tone wide data generating method according to claim 2. 14. The multi-tone wide data generation according to claim 13, wherein the multi-tone wide data generation is repeatedly performed a specified number of times, whereby beautiful multi-tone data of various thicknesses thickened in either the horizontal direction or the vertical direction. It can be created at a higher speed than the apparatus and the multi-gradation wide data generation method according to the fourteenth aspect.

According to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a multi-grayscale wide data generating device according to the ninth or eleventh aspect, and a multi-grayscale wide data generating device according to the thirteenth or fifteenth aspect. It is a configuration that can be used together with a thick data generation device, and by specifying how many times each is repeated, it is possible to create multi-gradation width thick data with an arbitrary setting of the ratio of how to thicken in the horizontal direction and vertical direction It becomes possible.

According to the eighteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a multi-tone wide data generating method according to the tenth or twelfth aspect of the present invention.
The multi-tone width data generation method described above can be used together, and by specifying how many times each is to be repeated, the multi-tone width thick data in which the ratio of how to thicken in the horizontal and vertical directions is set arbitrarily Can be created.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a multi-tone wide data generating apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a conventional binary data width generation apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of binary data held by a binary data holding unit;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing four types of data obtained by shifting the binary data of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing thick binary data generated by combining the four types of data shown in FIG. 4 with original data;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of multi-tone data.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing four types of data obtained by shifting the multi-tone data of FIG. 6 in four directions.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing multi-tone composite data obtained by combining four types of data after shifting in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing four types of data obtained by shifting the multi-tone data of FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing binary data generated by multi-tone data binarization means;

FIG. 11 is a configuration diagram of a multi-tone wide data generation apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

12 is a diagram showing multi-gradation wide data created by overwriting only pixels that are the foreground color of the binary data in FIG. 11 with corresponding pixels in the multi-gradation composite data in FIG.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing multi-tone wide data generated from the multi-tone data of FIG. 6;

FIG. 14 is a configuration diagram of a multi-tone wide data generating apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of multi-tone data.

16 is a diagram showing two types of data obtained by shifting the multi-tone data of FIG. 15 by one pixel in the horizontal direction.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing multi-tone composite data generated by multi-tone data synthesizing means;

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of multi-tone wide data with poor quality.

19 is a diagram showing binarized data of the multi-tone data of FIG.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example of multi-tone wide data with poor quality.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing multi-tone wide data generated by the multi-tone wide data generation device according to the third and fourth embodiments.

FIG. 22 is a configuration diagram of a multi-tone wide data generating apparatus according to a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 23 is a configuration diagram of a multi-tone wide data generating apparatus according to a fifth embodiment.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing multi-tone wide data generated by designating the number of repetitions of the multi-tone data of FIG. 6 to two;

FIG. 25 is a configuration diagram of a multi-tone wide data generation apparatus according to a sixth embodiment.

FIG. 26 is a configuration diagram of a multi-tone wide data generating apparatus according to a seventh embodiment.

FIG. 27 is a diagram showing multi-tone wide data generated by designating the number of repetitions of the multi-tone data of FIG. 15 to two;

FIG. 28 is a configuration diagram of a multi-tone wide data generation apparatus according to an eighth embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Multi-gradation data holding means 2 Multi-gradation data shifting means 3 Multi-gradation data synthesizing means 4 Multi-gradation data binarization means 5 Binary data overwriting means 6 Binary data holding means 7 Binary data shifting means 8 2 Value data synthesizing means 9 Multi-tone data holding means 10 Pixel tone value judging means 11 Neighboring pixel maximum tone value calculation setting means 12 Foreground color setting means 13 Multi-tone data holding means 14 Multi-tone data shifting means 15 Multi-level Tone data synthesizing means 16 Pixel tone value judging means 17 Neighboring pixel maximum tone value calculating means 18 Pixel connectivity judging means 19 Intermediate tone value setting means 20 Foreground color setting means 21 Multi-tone data holding means 22 Pixel tone values Judgment means 23 Neighboring pixel maximum tone value calculation means 24 Pixel connectivity judgment means 25 Intermediate tone value setting means 26 Foreground color setting means 27 Neighboring pixel maximum tone value calculation setting means 28 Multi-gray scale data holding means 29 Multi-gray scale data shift means 30 Multi-gray scale data synthesizing means 31 Multi-gray scale data binarization means 32 Binary data overwriting means 33 Repetition control means 34 Multi-gray scale data holding means 35 Pixel floor Tone value judging means 36 Neighboring pixel maximum tone value calculation setting means 37 Foreground color setting means 38 Repetition control means 39 Multi-tone data holding means 40 Multi-tone data shift means 41 Multi-tone data synthesizing means 42 Pixel tone value judgment Means 43 Neighboring pixel maximum tone value calculating means 44 Pixel connectivity determining means 45 Intermediate tone value setting means 46 Foreground color setting means 47 Repetition control means 48 Multi-tone data holding means 49 Pixel tone value determining means 50 Neighboring pixel maximum Tone value calculating means 51 Pixel connectivity determining means 52 Intermediate tone value setting means 53 Foreground color setting means 54 Neighboring pixel maximum tone value Calculation setting means 55 Repetition control means

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continuing on the front page (72) Yoshiyuki Miyabe 1006 Kazuma Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Mika Matsui 1006 Kadoma Kadoma Kadoma City, Osaka Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (58) Investigated field (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G09G 5/00-5/40 G06T 5/00 G06T 5/30

Claims (18)

(57) [Claims] 1. A multi-tone wide data generating apparatus for generating wide data from multi-tone data, comprising: a multi-tone data holding means; a multi-tone data shift means; a multi-tone data synthesizing means; A multi-tone data binarizing unit and a binary data overwriting unit, wherein the multi-gradation data holding unit holds multi-gradation data to be subjected to wide processing, and the multi-gradation data shifting unit sets the multi-gradation data shift unit. A plurality of data is generated by shifting the multi-gradation data held in the data holding means by one pixel in each of a plurality of predetermined directions such as up, down, left and right, and is shifted by the multi-gradation data shifting means by the multi-gradation data synthesizing means. The multi-gradation data is generated by synthesizing the plurality of pieces of data by a method that validates the data having the highest gradation level for each pixel at the corresponding position.
Binary data in which all pixels other than the background portion of the multi-tone data held in the multi-tone data holding means are changed to the foreground color, and the multi-tone data 2
By overwriting only the pixel of the foreground color of the binary data generated by the binarizing means to the pixel at the corresponding position of the multi-tone composite data synthesized by the multi-tone data synthesizing means, the multi-tone wide data is obtained. And a means for generating a multi-gradation wide data. 2. A multi-tone wide data generation method for generating wide data from multi-tone data, comprising a multi-tone data holding means, a multi-tone data shift means, a multi-tone data synthesizing means, A multi-tone data binarizing unit and a binary data overwriting unit, wherein the multi-gradation data holding unit holds multi-gradation data to be subjected to wide processing, and the multi-gradation data shifting unit sets the multi-gradation data shift unit. A plurality of data is generated by shifting the multi-gradation data held in the data holding means by one pixel in each of a plurality of predetermined directions such as up, down, left and right, and is shifted by the multi-gradation data shifting means by the multi-gradation data synthesizing means. The multi-gradation data is generated by synthesizing the plurality of pieces of data by a method that validates the data having the highest gradation level for each pixel at the corresponding position.
Binary data in which all pixels other than the background portion of the multi-tone data held in the multi-tone data holding means are changed to the foreground color, and the multi-tone data 2
By overwriting only the pixel of the foreground color of the binary data generated by the binarizing means to the pixel at the corresponding position of the multi-tone composite data synthesized by the multi-tone data synthesizing means, the multi-tone wide data is obtained. And generating a multi-gradation wide data. 3. A multi-tone wide data generating apparatus for generating wide-width data from multi-tone data, comprising: a multi-tone data holding means; a pixel tone value determining means; The multi-gradation data holding unit holds the multi-gradation data to be subjected to the wide processing, and the pixel gradation value determining unit sets each pixel of the multi-gradation data. It is determined whether or not the tone value of the pixel is the background color, and if the determination result of the pixel tone value determining means is the background color by the neighboring pixel maximum tone value calculation setting means, The tone value of the pixel having the highest tone level among the neighboring pixels is calculated,
The gradation value is set as the gradation value of the pixel at the position corresponding to the pixel of the multi-gradation wide data, and when the judgment result of the pixel gradation value judgment means is other than the background color by the foreground color setting means, Means for generating multi-gradation thick data by setting a gradation value of a foreground color as a gradation value of a pixel at a position corresponding to the pixel of the multi-gradation wide data. Thickness data generator. 4. A multi-tone wide data generating method for generating wide data from multi-tone data, comprising: a multi-tone data holding means, a pixel tone value determining means, and a neighboring pixel maximum tone value calculation. The multi-gradation data holding unit holds the multi-gradation data to be subjected to the wide processing, and the pixel gradation value determining unit sets each pixel of the multi-gradation data. It is determined whether or not the tone value of the pixel is the background color, and if the determination result of the pixel tone value determining means is the background color by the neighboring pixel maximum tone value calculation setting means, The tone value of the pixel having the highest tone level among the neighboring pixels is calculated,
The gradation value is set as the gradation value of the pixel at the position corresponding to the pixel of the multi-gradation wide data, and when the judgment result of the pixel gradation value judgment means is other than the background color by the foreground color setting means, A multi-tone wide data is generated by setting a tone value of a foreground color as a tone value of a pixel at a position corresponding to the pixel of the multi-tone wide data, thereby generating the multi-tone wide data. Method. 5. A multi-tone wide data generating apparatus for generating wide data thickened in one of a horizontal direction and a vertical direction from multi-tone data, comprising: a multi-tone data holding means; Tone data shifting means, multi-tone data synthesizing means, pixel tone value determining means, adjacent pixel maximum tone value calculating means, pixel connectivity determining means, intermediate tone value setting means,
The multi-gradation data holding unit holds the multi-gradation data to be subjected to the wide processing, and the multi-gradation data shifting unit holds the multi-gradation data holding unit. When the multi-gradation data is made thicker in the horizontal direction, two types of data are generated, each shifted by one pixel, in the left-right direction, and in the case of making it thicker in the vertical direction,
The multi-tone data synthesizing means synthesizes the two types of data shifted by the multi-tone data shift means by a method of validating the data having the highest tone level for each pixel at the corresponding position. Generates grayscale composite data, and the pixel grayscale value determination unit performs, for each pixel of the multilevel grayscale data,
It is determined whether the gradation value of the pixel is the background color, the foreground color, or the intermediate gradation color, and only when the determination result of the pixel gradation value determination unit is the intermediate gradation color by the adjacent pixel maximum gradation value calculation unit, In the case of making the pixel thicker in the horizontal direction, the maximum gradation value of the three neighboring pixels above, upper right, and upper left of the pixel and the largest gradation value of the three neighboring pixels below, lower right, and lower left of the pixel are calculated. If the pixel is to be fattened in the vertical direction, the maximum gradation value of the three neighboring pixels on the right, upper right, and lower right of the pixel and the maximum gradation value of the three neighboring pixels on the left, upper left, and lower left of the pixel Is calculated by the pixel connectivity determination means, and only when the determination result of the pixel gradation value determination means is the intermediate gradation color, the two types of maximum gradation values calculated by the adjacent pixel maximum gradation value calculation means If one of them is the background color, it is determined that there is no pixel connectivity, and if both are other than the background color, it is determined that there is pixel connectivity. Only when the result of the determination by the pixel connectivity determining means indicates that there is no pixel connectivity in the intermediate tone value setting means, the multi-level data generated by the multi-level data synthesizing means with the intermediate tone value of the pixel unchanged. Overwrites the pixel at the corresponding position of the tone composite data, and the foreground color setting means determines that the pixel tone value determination means determines the foreground color and the pixel connectivity determination means determines that the pixel connectivity exists. And a means for generating multi-tone wide data by overwriting the foreground tone value on a pixel at a position corresponding to the multi-tone composite data generated by the multi-tone data synthesizing means. And a multi-gradation width thick data generator. 6. A multi-tone wide data generation method for generating wide data thickened in one of a horizontal direction and a vertical direction from multi-tone data, comprising: a multi-tone data holding means; Tone data shifting means, multi-tone data synthesizing means, pixel tone value determining means, adjacent pixel maximum tone value calculating means, pixel connectivity determining means, intermediate tone value setting means,
The multi-gradation data holding unit holds the multi-gradation data to be subjected to the wide processing, and the multi-gradation data shifting unit holds the multi-gradation data holding unit. When the multi-gradation data is made thicker in the horizontal direction, two types of data are generated, each shifted by one pixel, in the left-right direction, and in the case of making it thicker in the vertical direction,
The multi-tone data synthesizing means synthesizes the two types of data shifted by the multi-tone data shift means by a method of validating the data having the highest tone level for each pixel at the corresponding position. Generates grayscale composite data, and the pixel grayscale value determination unit performs, for each pixel of the multilevel grayscale data,
It is determined whether the gradation value of the pixel is the background color, the foreground color, or the intermediate gradation color, and only when the determination result of the pixel gradation value determination unit is the intermediate gradation color by the adjacent pixel maximum gradation value calculation unit, In the case of making the pixel thicker in the horizontal direction, the maximum gradation value of the three neighboring pixels above, upper right, and upper left of the pixel and the largest gradation value of the three neighboring pixels below, lower right, and lower left of the pixel are calculated. If the pixel is to be fattened in the vertical direction, the maximum gradation value of the three neighboring pixels on the right, upper right, and lower right of the pixel and the maximum gradation value of the three neighboring pixels on the left, upper left, and lower left of the pixel Is calculated by the pixel connectivity determination means, and only when the determination result of the pixel gradation value determination means is the intermediate gradation color, the two kinds of maximum gradation values calculated by the adjacent pixel maximum gradation value calculation means If one of them is the background color, it is determined that there is no pixel connectivity, and if both are other than the background color, it is determined that there is pixel connectivity. Only when the result of determination by the pixel connectivity determination means indicates that there is no pixel connectivity in the intermediate gradation value setting means, the multi-level data generated by the multi-tone data synthesizing means with the gradation value of the pixel unchanged as the intermediate gradation value Overwrites the pixel at the corresponding position in the grayscale composite data, and the foreground color setting means determines that the pixel tone value determination means determines the foreground color and the pixel connectivity determination means determines that the pixel connectivity exists. A multi-tone width data is generated by overwriting a foreground tone value on a pixel at a corresponding position of the multi-tone composite data generated by the multi-tone data synthesizing means. Thickness data generation method. 7. A multi-tone wide data generating apparatus for generating wide data thickened in one of a horizontal direction and a vertical direction from multi-tone data, comprising: a multi-tone data holding means; Tone value determining means, adjacent pixel maximum tone value calculating means, pixel connectivity determining means, intermediate tone value setting means,
The foreground color setting means and the neighboring pixel maximum gradation value calculation setting means hold multi-gradation data to be subjected to the wide processing by the multi-gradation data holding means. For each pixel of the gradation data, it is determined whether the gradation value of the pixel is the background color, the foreground color, or the intermediate gradation color. Only when is the middle gradation color, when thickening in the horizontal direction, the maximum gradation value of the three neighboring pixels above, upper right, and upper left of the pixel and the three neighboring pixels below, lower right, and lower left of the pixel To calculate the maximum gradation value of a pixel and to make it thicker in the vertical direction,
The maximum gradation value of the three neighboring pixels on the upper right and lower right and the maximum gradation value of the three neighboring pixels on the left, upper left and lower left of the pixel are calculated. No pixel connectivity if only one of the two maximum gradation values calculated by the adjacent pixel maximum gradation value calculation unit is a background color, only if the judgment result of the judgment unit is the intermediate gradation color If both are other than the background color, it is determined that there is pixel connectivity, and only when the result of determination by the pixel connectivity determination means by the intermediate tone value setting means is no pixel connectivity, is the gradation of the pixel. The value is set as the gradation value of the pixel at the position corresponding to the pixel of the multi-gradation wide data while maintaining the intermediate gradation value, and the foreground color setting means determines the pixel gradation value by the foreground color. And when the determination result of the pixel connectivity determining means indicates that there is pixel connectivity,
The gradation value of the foreground color is set as the gradation value of the pixel at the position corresponding to the pixel of the multi-gradation wide data, and the determination result of the pixel gradation value determination means Only in the case of the background color, when increasing the width in the horizontal direction, calculate the gradation value of the pixel having the highest gradation level among the two neighboring pixels on the left and right of the pixel. Of the pixel having the highest gray level among the two neighboring pixels above and below, and setting the calculated gray value as the gray value of the pixel at the position corresponding to the pixel in the multi-tone wide data. And a means for generating multi-gradation thick data. 8. A multi-tone wide data generation method for generating wide data thickened in one of a horizontal direction and a vertical direction from multi-tone data, comprising: a multi-tone data holding unit; Tone value determining means, adjacent pixel maximum tone value calculating means, pixel connectivity determining means, intermediate tone value setting means,
The foreground color setting means and the neighboring pixel maximum gradation value calculation setting means hold multi-gradation data to be subjected to the wide processing by the multi-gradation data holding means. For each pixel of the gradation data, it is determined whether the gradation value of the pixel is the background color, the foreground color, or the intermediate gradation color. Only when is the middle gradation color, when thickening in the horizontal direction, the maximum gradation value of the three neighboring pixels above, upper right, and upper left of the pixel and the three neighboring pixels below, lower right, and lower left of the pixel To calculate the maximum gradation value of a pixel and to make it thicker in the vertical direction,
The maximum gradation value of the three neighboring pixels on the upper right and lower right and the maximum gradation value of the three neighboring pixels on the left, upper left and lower left of the pixel are calculated. No pixel connectivity if only one of the two maximum gradation values calculated by the adjacent pixel maximum gradation value calculation unit is a background color, only if the judgment result of the judgment unit is the intermediate gradation color If both are other than the background color, it is determined that there is pixel connectivity, and only when the result of determination by the pixel connectivity determination means by the intermediate tone value setting means is no pixel connectivity, is the gradation of the pixel. The value is set as the gradation value of the pixel at the position corresponding to the pixel of the multi-gradation wide data while maintaining the intermediate gradation value, and the foreground color setting means determines the pixel gradation value by the foreground color. And when the determination result of the pixel connectivity determining means indicates that there is pixel connectivity,
The gradation value of the foreground color is set as the gradation value of the pixel at the position corresponding to the pixel of the multi-gradation wide data, and the determination result of the pixel gradation value determination means Only in the case of the background color, when increasing the width in the horizontal direction, calculate the gradation value of the pixel having the highest gradation level among the two neighboring pixels on the left and right of the pixel. Of the pixel having the highest gray level among the two neighboring pixels above and below, and setting the calculated gray value as the gray value of the pixel at the position corresponding to the pixel in the multi-tone wide data. Thereby generating multi-gradation width data. 9. A multi-gradation wide data generating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a repetition control means is added to the multi-gradation wide data generating apparatus. 2. The multi-gradation width thick data generating apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for generating data of various thicknesses by repeatedly executing the thick data generation a specified number of times. . 10. A multi-grayscale wide data generation method according to claim 2, wherein repetition control means is added to the multi-grayscale wide data generation method. 3. The multi-gradation width thick data generating method according to claim 2, wherein data of various thicknesses can be created by repeatedly executing the thick data generation a specified number of times. 11. A multi-grayscale wide data generating apparatus according to claim 3, wherein repetition control means is added to the multi-grayscale wide data generating apparatus. 4. The multi-gradation width thick data generating apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising means for generating data of various thicknesses by repeatedly executing the thick data generation a specified number of times. . 12. A multi-grayscale wide data generating method according to claim 4, wherein repetition control means is added to the multi-grayscale wide data generating method. 5. The method of claim 4, wherein data of various thicknesses can be created by repeatedly executing the thick data generation a specified number of times. 13. A multi-grayscale wide data generation apparatus according to claim 5, wherein a repetition control means is added to the multi-grayscale wide data generation apparatus. 6. The multi-gradation width thick data generating apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising means for generating data of various thicknesses by repeatedly executing the thick data generation a specified number of times. . 14. A multi-gradation width thick data generating method according to claim 6, wherein a repetition control means is added to the multi-gradation width thick data generating method. 6. The multi-gradation width thick data generating method according to claim 5, wherein data of various thicknesses can be created by repeatedly executing the thick data generation a specified number of times. 15. A multi-gradation wide data generating apparatus according to claim 7, wherein repetition control means is added to the multi-gradation wide data generating apparatus. 8. The multi-gradation width thick data generating apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising means capable of generating data of various thicknesses by repeatedly executing the thick data generation a specified number of times. . 16. A multi-gradation width thick data generating method according to claim 8, wherein a repetition control means is added to the multi-gradation width thick data generating method. 9. The method according to claim 8, wherein data of various thicknesses can be created by repeatedly executing the thick data generation a specified number of times. 17. A multi-grayscale wide data generator according to claim 9 or 11, and a multi-grayscale wide data generator according to claim 13 or 15,
A multi-gradation wide data generating device, comprising: means for arbitrarily setting a ratio of a method of increasing the thickness in the horizontal direction and that in the vertical direction. 18. A multi-tone wide data generating method according to claim 10 or claim 12, and a method according to claim 14 or 16.
A multi-tone wide data generation method characterized in that by using the multi-tone wide data generation method described above together, the ratio of thickening in the horizontal direction to the vertical direction can be arbitrarily set.