JP5492911B2 - Character creation method and character creation device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates for example character forming methods such as the properties such as thickness and horizontal lines thickness of the vertical line to create arbitrarily specified font character, and the character forming equipment.

  Conventionally, a font (typeface character) used for a computer or the like has been handwritten by a designer for each character and converted into data. In Japanese, there are about 10,000 characters in a single typeface, so the manual work of creating 10,000 characters one by one requires a lot of time and effort. Even when creating the same typefaces (called family typefaces) with different thicknesses, it was difficult to create one typeface character of each thickness.

  On the other hand, a print image creation method has been proposed in which characters can be thickened by automatic processing (see Patent Document 1). This method superimposes character image data by shifting them in dot units. Thereby, it is supposed that desired print image data can be easily created without preparing various reference image data for font data such as characters, graphic data with different line thickness and roundness, and the like.

  However, there is a problem in that the beauty of characters is lost in the method of overlapping by shifting in dot units. For example, there is a problem that the scale portion becomes unnaturally large for Mincho characters, and the blank portion is crushed and cannot be read if the characters have a large number of strokes.

  As another method, the stroke thickness and the movement amount of the outline font composing point are conditioned, the moving direction at the outline font composing point is calculated, and the outline font composing point is moved in the calculated moving direction. A character creation method for changing the thickness is proposed (see Patent Document 2).

  However, this method has a problem that the characters can only be made thicker or thinner as a whole and cannot meet the detailed demands of users. Further, as shown in FIG. 9 of Patent Document 2, there is a problem that a scaled part or a splashed part has a somewhat unnatural shape due to a thick character or a thin character.

  Furthermore, the appropriate thickness of the font varies depending on the mode of use. For example, in the case of Mincho, when the characters are black or a color close to it and the surroundings are white or a color close to it, it is easier to see a character with a thin horizontal line. On the contrary, when the character is white or a color close to it and the surrounding is black or a color close to it, the character with a thick horizontal line is easier to see.

  In addition, fonts are required, for example, if you want to make only horizontal lines thicker so that the horizontal lines do not disappear in the telop displayed on the TV, but if you want to thicken the vertical lines to emphasize the vertical lines, etc. There are various usage environments with different thickness conditions.

  On the other hand, since the methods of Patent Documents 1 and 2 described above only perform processing such as thickening a character line regardless of the vertical and horizontal directions, the thickness should be finely changed corresponding to such a use environment. I could not.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-281947 Japanese Patent No. 30351141

In view of the above problems, the present invention can easily create a family typeface in which characteristics such as vertical line thickness and horizontal line thickness in a character are arbitrarily changed corresponding to various usage environments. , and an object of the present invention is to provide a character created equipment.

This invention three font data comprising a font character having a first characteristic and second characteristic indicating a characteristic relating to the shape of the lines constituting the character first font data, and the second font data, and third font data, In a virtual characteristic coordinate plane composed of the first characteristic and the second characteristic, a triangle is formed by connecting the characteristic coordinate points represented by the first characteristic and the second characteristic of each typeface data with a straight line. The first typeface data, the second typeface data, and the third typeface data having the first characteristic and the second characteristic, which are different from each other, are stored in a storage unit , and the request for the first characteristic is satisfied. a different first characteristic requested information from the first characteristic of each font data, at the request of the said second characteristic, and receives an input of a different second characteristic requested information and the second characteristic of each font data, before By a calculation using the first characteristic and the second characteristic in all font data stored in the storage means, the first characteristic corresponding to the first characteristic requested information, and the corresponding to the second characteristic requested information It is a character creation method for creating a desired typeface character having the second characteristic .

  The first characteristic and the second characteristic are the thickness of the vertical line and the width of the horizontal line, the thickness of the line and the inclination angle (inclination angle of the italic), the thickness of the line and the shadow length of the shadow, Appropriate characteristics such as length and shadow angle, line thickness and emboss height, emboss height and emboss angle, or border thickness and hollow line thickness it can.

  Further, the virtual characteristic coordinate plane may be a virtual plane constituted by coordinate axes indicating the first characteristic in the vertical axis direction and the second characteristic in the horizontal axis direction. Then, each characteristic coordinate point represented by the first characteristic and the second characteristic of each typeface data can be arranged on this virtual characteristic coordinate plane.

  For example, a virtual characteristic coordinate plane is configured and each characteristic coordinate point is arranged with the first characteristic as an enlargement ratio of the thickness of the vertical line and the second characteristic as an enlargement ratio of the thickness of the horizontal line. When each typeface data corresponding to each characteristic coordinate point is arranged, it is possible to create a list display figure (see FIG. 12) of typeface characters having different vertical or horizontal line thicknesses as described later.

  According to the present invention, a character creation method, a character creation device, and a typeface that can easily create a family typeface in which characters such as vertical line thickness and horizontal line thickness are arbitrarily changed in accordance with various usage environments Data can be provided.

As an aspect of the present invention, in the virtual characteristic coordinate plane, the characteristic coordinate point of one typeface data in any two typeface data among the first typeface data, the second typeface data, and the third typeface data, and The first characteristic and the first characteristic corresponding to the intersection of a straight line connecting the characteristic coordinate points of the other typeface data and the straight line connecting the characteristic coordinate points of the remaining one typeface data and the characteristic coordinate points of the desired typeface character . the intermediate font characters with 2 characteristics, the created by a calculation using the first characteristic and the second characteristic of any two typefaces data, the first characteristic of the one font data to which the remaining and the second characteristic When the by a calculation using the first characteristic and the second characteristic intermediate typeface characters, the first characteristic corresponding to the first characteristic requested information, and the second characteristic request information It can be configured to create the desire font characters having the second characteristics corresponding to.

  To create the desired typeface character, an intermediate typeface character is created based on two typeface data, and the desired typeface character is created from the intermediate typeface character and the remaining one typeface data, or an operation for obtaining the intermediate typeface character. It can be created by an appropriate method using the concept of using one intermediate typeface character and one typeface data, such as creating directly from three typeface data using an expression and an arithmetic expression for obtaining a desired typeface character. .

  According to this aspect, it is possible to provide a beautiful desired typeface character that does not lose its shape according to the first characteristic request information and the second characteristic request information.

Further, as an aspect of the present invention, the characteristic coordinate point is located on each of two straight lines forming two sides of the triangle on the virtual characteristic coordinate plane, and corresponds to the first characteristic request information of the request typeface character. Two intermediate typeface characters having either one of the first characteristic or the second characteristic corresponding to the second characteristic request information , the first characteristic and the second of the two sets of typeface data forming the two straight lines characteristics are created by calculation using the first intermediate font character, and the second intermediate typefaces characters, the first characteristic and the second characteristic of the first intermediate font characters, the first of the second intermediate typeface characters by a calculation using the characteristic and the second characteristic, it can be configured to create the desire font character having a characteristic corresponding to the characteristic demands information of the other hand.

  The request typeface character is created by creating a first typeface character and a second intermediate typeface character after creating the first intermediate typeface character and the second intermediate typeface character. Using an appropriate method using the concept of using the first intermediate typeface character and the second intermediate typeface character, such as creating directly from three typeface data using the arithmetic expression to be obtained and the arithmetic expression for obtaining the desired typeface character from these. Can be created.

  According to this aspect, it is possible to provide a beautiful desired typeface character that does not lose its shape according to the first characteristic request information and the second characteristic request information.

In the present invention, the first small second typeface data is composed of typeface characters in which the first characteristic indicating the characteristic relating to the shape of the line constituting the character is small and the second characteristic indicating the characteristic relating to the line shape is small And first large second small font data composed of a typeface character having a large first characteristic and the second characteristic small, and a first character composed of a typeface character having a small first characteristic and a large second characteristic. Small second large typeface data and first large second typeface data composed of typeface characters whose first characteristic is large and the second characteristic is large are stored in a storage means, and the first characteristic is stored. a different first characteristic requested information is requested, and the said respective first characteristic of each font data, a second rate different from the need for a second characteristic, and the said respective second characteristic of each font data It accepts the input of and demand information, to all of the font data stored in the pre-term memory means By a calculation using the kick the first characteristic and the second characteristic, the first characteristic corresponding to the first characteristic requested information, and the desire font characters having the second characteristics corresponding to said second characteristic requested information It is the character creation method to create.

  The first characteristic and the second characteristic are the thickness of the vertical line and the width of the horizontal line, the thickness of the line and the inclination angle (inclination angle of the italic), the thickness of the line and the shadow length of the shadow, Appropriate characteristics such as length and shadow angle, line thickness and emboss height, emboss height and emboss angle, or border thickness and hollow line thickness it can.

  According to the present invention, a character creation method, a character creation device, and a typeface that can easily create a family typeface in which characters such as vertical line thickness and horizontal line thickness are arbitrarily changed in accordance with various usage environments Data can be provided.

  As an aspect of the present invention, an intermediate typeface character corresponding to the inputted characteristic request information is created for both one of the first characteristic and the second characteristic in both small and large of the other characteristic, and the small intermediate typeface character is created. Further, a desired typeface character corresponding to the other characteristic can be created using both the small side intermediate typeface character and the large side intermediate typeface character.

  The request typeface character is created by creating the small type intermediate typeface character and the large side intermediate typeface character, respectively, and then creating the desired typeface character, or by using the arithmetic expression for obtaining the small side intermediate typeface character and the large side intermediate typeface character. Using an appropriate method using the concept of using the small side intermediate typeface character and the large side intermediate typeface character, such as creating directly from four typeface data using the arithmetic expression to be obtained and the arithmetic expression to obtain the desired typeface character from these. Can be created.

  According to this aspect, it is possible to provide a beautiful desired typeface character that does not lose its shape according to the first characteristic request information and the second characteristic request information.

  Further, as an aspect of the present invention, each typeface character is composed of point data that is a set of points that draw the edges of the constituent elements constituting the character, and the number of points is the same for all typeface characters for the same character. The points can be configured to be the same and correspond to each other in each typeface data.

  The point data can be appropriate data composed of point coordinates and point types.

  According to this aspect, it becomes easy to calculate and obtain the intermediate coordinates of the point, and it is possible to easily create a typeface character having characteristics according to the first characteristic request information and the second characteristic request information.

  Further, as an aspect of the present invention, in the first large / second large typeface data composed of typeface characters in which the first characteristic is large and the second characteristic is large, a part of the structure is required without changing the shape of the component from the normal shape For a specific character in which a gap between elements is filled and crushed, a modification point for deforming the shape of some of the components to prevent the gap between the elements from being filled is provided, the first characteristic is small, and the second For the specific character in the first small and second small typeface data composed of small typeface characters with characteristics, the specific character is provided with a deformation corresponding point corresponding to the deformation point while maintaining the shape of the component in the normal shape, and in the remaining typeface data The specific character may be provided with the deformation point or the deformation corresponding point.

  According to this aspect, it is possible to prevent the created request typeface character from being unreadable because the white space between each component in the character is crushed while maintaining the beauty of the character.

  Further, as an aspect of the present invention, each typeface character can be prepared for a large number of characters and used as basic typeface data, and the desired typeface character can be created for all characters of the basic typeface data.

  According to this aspect, desired typeface characters are obtained for all characters, and can be provided as typeface data created by the first characteristic request information and the second characteristic request information.

As an aspect of the present invention, the first characteristic can be a width of a vertical line of a character, and the second characteristic can be a width of a horizontal line of the character.
According to this aspect, it is possible to easily create a typeface character in which the vertical line width and the horizontal line width are arbitrarily specified. Therefore, for example, to obtain a typeface for drawing white characters on a black background by thickening the horizontal line from a typeface for drawing black characters on a white background, or to obtain a typeface with thick horizontal lines for television telop characters, etc. Can be easily created.

Further, the present invention includes storage means for at least three stores font data having a first characteristic and the second characteristic indicating a characteristic relating to the shape of the lines constituting the character, at the request of the first property, and each of a first characteristic first characteristic requested information different from the font data, an input means for said at need for a second characteristic, and accepts the input of a different second characteristic requested information and the second characteristic of each font data , by a calculation using the first characteristic and the second characteristic in all font data stored before term memory unit, corresponding to the first characteristic and the second characteristic desire information corresponding to the first characteristic requested information It can be set as the character preparation apparatus provided with the request typeface character preparation means which produces the request typeface character which has a 2nd characteristic .

  According to the present invention, it is possible to automatically create a typeface character having desired first characteristics and second characteristics by calculation.

This invention, character forming method capable of easily create arbitrarily changed family typeface properties such thickness and horizontal lines thickness of the vertical line in the character corresponding to the various environments, and a character forming equipment Can be provided.

The block diagram which shows the structure of a character preparation apparatus. Explanatory drawing of the various different basic typeface characters memorize | stored in basic typeface data. Explanatory drawing of the data structure of a basic typeface character. Explanatory drawing of the process which creates a basic typeface character. Explanatory drawing of the difference of a vertical thin horizontal thin font character and a vertical thick horizontal thin font character. Explanatory drawing explaining the data creation method of the typeface character which designated the vertical line | wire width. Explanatory drawing which shows the other thickness change between basic typeface characters. The functional block diagram of a character preparation apparatus. The flowchart which shows operation | movement of a character preparation apparatus. Explanatory drawing of a calculation formula. Explanatory drawing of the image which creates the designated thickness typeface character from a basic typeface character. The list display figure of the final typeface character (designated thickness typeface character) of each completed thickness. Explanatory drawing of the basic typeface character using the point for thickness deformation. The list display figure of the final typeface character (designated thickness typeface character) of each completed thickness. Explanatory drawing of the various basic typeface characters of Example 2. FIG. Explanatory drawing of the data structure of the basic typeface character of Example 2. FIG. Explanatory drawing of the basic typeface character using the point for thickness deformation of Example 2. FIG. Explanatory drawing of the basic typeface character of Example 3, and the last typeface character (designated thickness typeface character). Explanatory drawing which shows the calculation method of the intermediate typeface character of Example 3. FIG. Explanatory drawing of the calculation formula of Example 3. FIG.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the character creation device 1.
The character creation device 1 is a computer, and includes an input unit 2, a display unit 3, a storage medium processing unit 4, a control unit 5, and a storage unit 7.

  The input unit 2 includes an input device such as a keyboard and a mouse, and accepts input from an operator. The input content includes characteristics of the character to be created, such as the vertical line width and horizontal line width of the character.

  The display unit 3 displays images such as characters and figures such as a CRT display and a liquid crystal display.

  The storage medium processing unit 4 reads / writes data from / to the storage medium 9. The storage medium 9 may be composed of an appropriate storage medium such as a CD-ROM or a flexible disk.

  The control unit 5 has a temporary storage unit 6, and executes various arithmetic processes and control processes using the temporary storage unit 6. The arithmetic process includes a process of creating a character corresponding to the characteristic input by the input unit 2.

  The storage unit 7 stores various data and programs. The stored data includes four types of basic typeface data 8 (8a to 8d). This basic typeface data 8 is composed of four types of vertical thin horizontal typeface data 8a, vertical thick horizontal thin typeface data 8b, vertical thin horizontal typeface type data 8c, and vertical thick horizontal typeface type data 8d.

The vertical thin horizontal typeface data 8a is data in which about 10,000 characters are gathered of typeface characters with thin vertical lines and thin horizontal lines.
The vertical thick horizontal thin font data 8b is data obtained by collecting approximately 10,000 character fonts with thin vertical lines and thick horizontal lines.

The vertical thin horizontal typeface data 8c is data obtained by collecting about 10,000 characters of typeface characters with thick vertical lines and thin horizontal lines.
The vertical bold horizontal typeface data 8d is data obtained by collecting about 10,000 characters of typeface characters with thick vertical lines and thick horizontal lines.

  About 10,000 characters constituting the basic typeface data 8 are the same character, and the typefaces have different thicknesses depending on the thickness of the vertical and horizontal lines of the constituent elements. That is, the typeface of these four basic typeface data 8 is whether the thickness of the vertical line (first characteristic) is thin (minimum) or thick (maximum), or the width of the horizontal line (second characteristic) is thin (minimum). Thick (maximum) is different.

  The character creation device 1 is not limited to this configuration, and may be configured to include appropriate devices such as a connection interface, a communication unit, and a printing unit.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram for explaining various basic typeface characters 11 (11 a to 11 d) stored in the basic typeface data 8.
The basic typeface characters 11 (11a to 11d) are 4 characters of vertical and horizontal thin font characters 11a, vertical and horizontal horizontal font characters 11b, vertical and thin horizontal font characters 11c, and vertical and horizontal horizontal font characters 11d. Types are provided according to characteristics.

The vertical thin horizontal typeface character 11a is data having a characteristic that the vertical line of the character is thin and the horizontal line of the character is thin.
The vertical thick horizontal thin font character 11b is data having a characteristic that the vertical line of the character is thick and the horizontal line of the character is thin.

The vertical thin horizontal bold font character 11c is data having a characteristic that the vertical line of the character is thin and the horizontal line of the character is thick. This vertical thin horizontal typeface character 11c is a character that is not normally used because the horizontal line is thicker than the vertical line.
The vertical thick horizontal typeface character 11d is data having a characteristic that the vertical line of the character is thick and the horizontal line of the character is thick.

  In this way, four types of basic typeface characters 11 having different vertical line thickness (first characteristic) and horizontal line thickness (second characteristic) are prepared. Using these four types of basic typeface characters 11, characters having arbitrary characteristics in which the thickness of the vertical line (first characteristic) and the thickness of the horizontal line (second characteristic) are between the four types of basic typeface characters 11. Enable creation.

  FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the data structure of the basic typeface character 11. FIG. 3A shows the shape of the character and the arrangement of the points, and FIG. 3B shows the point data representing the character.

  The character data used in the present embodiment including the basic typeface character 11 is composed of a plurality of constituent elements 13 (elements), and these constituent elements are four types of points: a start point, an edge point, a curve point, and a tangent point. It consists of point data 14 expressed by type.

  The component 13 is basically created by one line unit. For example, even in the case of Katakana “Le” written in a single stroke, it is composed of two components: a vertical line component and a diagonal line component. That is, even if it is a single stroke, if there is a bent corner, it is divided at that corner to form another component 13. In the example of “number” shown in FIG. 2, the “female” portion that is an element of a character is composed of four constituent elements 13 of the number of lines instead of three of the number of strokes.

  In addition, some of the constituent elements 13 are completely separated from other constituent elements 13, and some of the constituent elements 13 overlap with the other constituent elements 13. The constituent elements 13 may be separated by a typeface character having a thin vertical line and a thin horizontal line, and may overlap even if the same character has a large vertical line or horizontal line.

  The start point indicates the start coordinate of the contour line of the component 13. The outline is closed by placing another point (points 15 and 20 in the illustrated example) at the same coordinates of the start point (points 1 and 16 in the illustrated example). For this reason, there are always two points in the coordinates of the start point. In addition, the start point does not have an attribute such as a straight line or a curve, and is treated as an attribute of a point that becomes a final point overlapping the same coordinates. Normally, this last point becomes an edge point, and the start point is also treated as an edge point.

  The edge point indicates coordinates that are corners of the contour line of the component 13. While the edge point and the edge point are adjacent to each other, and while the edge point and the tangent point are adjacent to each other, a straight outline is drawn.

  The curve point indicates the coordinates of the curved portion of the contour line. A complicated curve is drawn by drawing a plurality of curve points.

  The tangent point indicates the coordinates of the boundary between the straight line portion and the curved portion in the contour line. One adjacent point of a tangent point is always a curve point, and the other adjacent point is always an edge point or a tangent point. With this tangent point, a line smoothly connecting from a straight line to a curved line is drawn.

  These point types in the point data 14 are arranged at positions corresponding to each other in the four types of basic typeface characters 11 for the same character. That is, the point data 14 of the four types of basic typeface characters 11 have the same start point assignment site, the order of edge points, curve points, and tangent points following this start point, and the assignment site. Details will be described later with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the process of creating the basic typeface character 11. FIG. 4A is an explanatory diagram for explaining the creation of vertical thin horizontal typeface characters 11a, and FIG. 4B is an explanatory diagram for explaining the creation of vertical thick horizontal typeface characters 11d.

  In creating the basic typeface character 11, first, the handwritten character 10 is drawn on the grid sheet S by the designer. Then, the handwritten character is scanned, and digital editing is performed to create an outline of the character along the outline of the handwritten character, and a basic typeface character 11 composed of four types of points is created.

  This process is repeated for all characters, and four types of basic typeface data 8 are created. Once the basic typeface data 8 is created, each part and radical of the element as a typeface are aligned according to characteristics (4 characteristics: vertical thin horizontal thin, vertical thin horizontal thin, vertical thin horizontal thick, and vertical thick horizontal thick). It is checked and corrected, including sex. This check and correction are repeated to improve the character's completeness.

  Furthermore, a typesetting output inspection and various design inspections are performed for each characteristic, and are corrected as necessary. For example, even if it looks beautiful when only one character is seen, if it is arranged side by side with other characters, the balance of the sense of unity and density, such as the position and size of the characters, the thickness of the image, etc. will be deteriorated. This correction is repeated by outputting and checking about 30,000 idioms. In addition, the actual text is output, and it is verified whether the text is in line with the concept.

  Through these steps, four types of basic typeface data 8 in which a total of four types of basic typeface characters 11 having different vertical line thicknesses (first characteristics) and horizontal line thicknesses (second characteristics) are grouped according to characteristics. Is created.

  Further, when creating the basic typeface character 11 in such a process, appropriate measures are taken depending on the character. For example, in the case of the character “糲” shown in FIG. 4, it is relatively easy to draw without collapsing even if the number of strokes is large as long as the vertical, thin, and thin characteristics as shown in FIG. However, as shown in FIG. 4B, if the characteristics are vertical and horizontal, a portion that is crushed and painted black will appear unless it is devised.

  For this reason, as shown in a partially enlarged view in FIG. 4B, thickness modification points 22d and 23d are provided at portions where the vertical line element 21d overlaps the horizontal line element 27d. That is, the vertical line element 21d is a straight line with a thick upper part, and is thinned by the thickness deforming points 22d and 23d which are edge points provided in a portion overlapping the horizontal line element 27d. The line width of the vertical line element 21d is narrower below the thickness deformation point 23d.

  This prevents the characters from being crushed. That is, when the vertical line element 21d descends to the lower part of the horizontal line element 27d while maintaining the thickness of the upper part of the horizontal line element 27d, it overlaps with the point element 25d adjacent to the right, and the blank part is filled and the character is crushed. However, since the thickness of the lower part of the vertical line element 21d is made thinner than the upper part of the horizontal line element 27d, the vertical line element 21d does not overlap with the point element 25d, and between the vertical line element 21d and the point element 25d. Can leave a blank. As a result, the characters can be read firmly without being crushed.

  Further, even in the vertical thin horizontal thin font character 11a of FIG. 4A in which the thickness does not need to be different in this way, the thickness changing point 22a, 23a is provided. The thickness deforming points 22a and 23a are edge points, but are on the contour line of the vertical line element 21a and have the same coordinate in the horizontal direction as the lower edge point 24a. For this reason, the vertical line element 21a is a straight line whose line width (thickness) does not change.

  In the vertical thin horizontal typeface character 11a, the vertical line element 21a and the point element 25a do not overlap even if the vertical line element 21a has the same thickness in the upper part and the lower part of the horizontal line element 27a. In order to obtain the above characters in a beautiful typeface by calculation, thickness transformation points 22a and 23a are added.

  In this way, all basic typeface characters 11 (11a to 11d) are given points according to the typeface character having the largest number of points. Therefore, even if the point is not necessary only for the expression of the typeface character, it is provided as a point for changing the thickness in accordance with the position and point type of the point existing in the typeface character having the largest number of points. The presence / absence of the thickness deforming point varies depending on the character, and is provided for the character “糲” shown in FIG. 4, but is not provided for the character “number” shown in FIG. 2.

  Further, in the vertical thin horizontal typeface character 11a, the point 28a is drawn so as not to overlap with the other components 13, but in the vertical thick horizontal typeface character 11d, the point 28d immediately overlaps the horizontal vertical line 29d. It is drawn. Even in this case, the points 28d are drawn with the same number of points as the points 28a of the vertical and horizontal thin font characters 11a and the attributes of the corresponding points (start, edge, curve, tangent) as the same attributes.

  In this way, the basic typeface character 11 has a vertical and horizontal thin typeface character 11a, vertical and horizontal horizontal typeface character 11b, vertical and thin horizontal typeface character 11c, and vertical and horizontal horizontal typeface character 11d, all of which have point numbers. The attributes of the corresponding points (start, edge, curve, tangent) are the same. This prevents the characters from collapsing when the thickness of the vertical line or the horizontal line is arbitrarily changed.

  The vertical line element 21c (see FIG. 13 described later) in the vertical thin horizontal typeface character 11c is formed in the same or substantially the same shape as the vertical line element 21a in the vertical thin horizontal typeface character 11a, and is used for thickness deformation. Points 22c and 23c (see FIG. 13 described later) are arranged so as not to affect the shape of the vertical line element 21c.

  A vertical line element 21b (see FIG. 13 to be described later) in the vertical thick horizontal thin font character 11b is formed in the same or substantially the same shape as the vertical line element 21d in the vertical thick horizontal thick font character 11d, and is used for thickness deformation. By the points 22b and 23b (see FIG. 13 described later), the vertical line elements 21b are arranged to have different thicknesses above and below.

  FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the difference between the vertical thin horizontal thin font character 11a and the vertical thick horizontal thin font character 11b. FIG. 6 shows the vertical line width of the vertical thin horizontal thin font character 11a and the vertical thick horizontal thin font character. It is explanatory drawing explaining the production method of the character data between 11b. In this example, description will be made using the characters “number”.

  A vertical thin horizontal thin font character 11a shown in FIG. 5A and a vertical thick horizontal thin font character 11b shown in FIG. 5B have the same horizontal line width (horizontal line width), and the vertical line thickness ( The vertical line width is created as a different character.

  FIG. 5C shows the vertical thin horizontal thin font character 11a and the vertical thick horizontal thin font character 11b superimposed on each other. From this, the difference between the vertical thin horizontal thin font character 11a and the vertical thick horizontal thin font character 11b can be seen well.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 5C, when the vertical lines (vertical lines) constituting the “number” characters are thickened, the positions, sizes and shapes of the point elements 15a and 15b and the scale portions are accordingly adjusted. It can be seen that each component 13 is finely adjusted in various ways, such as the positions, sizes, and shapes of 16a, 16b, and the angles and shapes of the oblique line elements 17a, 17b.

  For example, as shown in an enlarged view in FIG. 5D, the position itself of the point element 15b of the vertical thin horizontal thin font character 11b moves to the left with respect to the position of the point element 15a of the vertical thin horizontal thin font character 11a. doing. This is because when the vertical line element 18a of the vertical thin horizontal typeface character 11a is widened like the vertical line element 18b of the vertical thick horizontal thin typeface character 11b, if the point element 15a is drawn thickly as it is, it overlaps. This is to prevent the characters from being crushed.

  In this way, the characters are adjusted so that the characters are not crushed and look beautiful by not only making the vertical line of the component 13 thick (that is, increasing in the horizontal direction) but also moving the position.

  In this way, the four types of basic typeface data 8 having different thicknesses are composed of typeface characters that have been fine-tuned to make the characters look beautiful in each typeface. These four types of basic typeface data 8 are all created so as to fit within the character creation region R, and do not protrude from the character creation region R. For this reason, when the same type of typeface characters are arranged and displayed as a sentence, the adjacent typeface characters do not overlap and the height does not vary, so that they are displayed beautifully.

  As shown in FIG. 5 (E), the vertical thin horizontal typeface character 11a and the vertical thick horizontal typeface character 11b are used to change the thickness of the vertical line from the vertical thin horizontal typeface character 11a. Even if it changes between the thin typeface characters 11b, a beautiful typeface character is always obtained.

A character having a thickness between one typeface character and another typeface character is created as follows.
First, each typeface character is configured so that the number of the constituent elements 13 matches and corresponds.

  FIG. 6A shows point elements 15 a and 15 b that are one of the constituent elements 13. As shown in the figure, the point elements 15a and 15b have the number of point numbers (1 to 17 shown in the figure) and the point types (separate start points, edge points, curve points, and tangent points) that represent the constituent elements 13. They match and only the coordinates of each point are different.

  That is, for the point elements 15a and 15b, which are common constituent elements of the vertical thin horizontal thin font character 11a and the vertical thick horizontal thin font character 11b, which are different typeface characters, the start point (point 1 in FIG. 6A) All of the assigned parts are upper end corners, and from here, the same number of curve points (points 2 to 15 in FIG. 6A) and edge points (points 16 and 17 in FIG. 6A) are the same. They are assigned in the same order in the direction (clockwise in FIG. 6A).

  Here, FIG. 6 (D) shows the point data 14b of the point element 15b of the vertical thin horizontal typeface character 11b, and FIG. 6 (E) shows the point data 14a of the point element 15a of the vertical thin horizontal typeface character 11a. .

  Based on the point data 14a and 14b, as shown in FIG. 6B, an intermediate point MP having a desired ratio between corresponding points is obtained. In the example shown in the figure, the middle point (vertical thin horizontal thin: vertical thick horizontal thin = 1: 1) is taken as a desired ratio designated by the operator.

  Then, by converting only the coordinate value to the intermediate point MP while keeping the order of the point numbers and the point type the same as those of the point elements 15a and 15b, the intermediate thickness point element 15m is completed. As shown in FIG. 6F, the point data 14m of the point element 15m has the same point number order and point type as the point elements 15a and 15b, and the coordinate value is an intermediate value between the point elements 15a and 15b. Yes.

  FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing another thickness change between the basic typeface characters 11. Here, an example other than the change in thickness between the vertical thin horizontal thin font character 11a and the vertical thin horizontal thin font character 11c described in FIG. 5 is shown.

  FIG. 7A shows vertical thin horizontal thin font characters 11a, FIG. 7B shows vertical thin horizontal bold font characters 11c, and FIG. 7C shows a display in which these are superimposed. By creating a typeface character having a thickness between the vertical thin horizontal typeface character 11a and the vertical thin horizontal typeface character 11c, the vertical line is thin as shown in FIG. You can create letters.

  FIG. 7 (E) shows vertical and horizontal thin font characters 11b, FIG. 7 (F) shows vertical and horizontal bold font characters 11d, and FIG. 7 (G) shows a display in which these are superimposed. By creating a typeface character having a thickness between the vertical and horizontal thin typeface characters 11b and the vertical and horizontal typeface character 11d, the typeface has a thick vertical line and a different horizontal line thickness as shown in FIG. You can create letters.

  FIG. 7I shows vertical thin horizontal typeface characters 11c, FIG. 7J shows vertical thick horizontal typeface characters 11d, and FIG. 7K shows a display in which these are superimposed. By creating a typeface character having a thickness between the vertical thin horizontal typeface character 11c and the vertical thick horizontal typeface character 11d, a typeface having a thick horizontal line and a different vertical line thickness as shown in FIG. You can create letters.

FIG. 8 shows a functional block diagram of the character creation device 1 when creating a typeface character having a specified vertical line thickness and horizontal line thickness. In the drawing, a thickness designation unit 5a, a horizontal thin row intermediate typeface character creation unit 5b, a horizontal thick row intermediate typeface character creation unit 5c, a final typeface character creation unit 5d, a repeat unit 5e for all characters, and a complete typeface output unit 5f These show functional blocks of the control unit 5.
FIG. 9 shows a flowchart of operations executed by the control unit 5 of the character creation device 1.

  First, the control unit 5 of the character creation device 1 receives the thickness of the vertical line and the thickness of the horizontal line input by the input unit 2 by the thickness designation unit 5a (step S1). At this time, the thickness of the vertical line (vertical line width) and the thickness of the horizontal line (horizontal line width) are input according to a ratio or the like.

  The control unit 5 uses the vertical thin horizontal thin font data 8a and the vertical thick horizontal thin font data 8b whose horizontal lines are thin by the horizontal thin line intermediate font creating unit 5b to specify the vertical lines specified by the thickness specifying unit 5a. A typeface character (horizontal thin row intermediate typeface character M1) having a thickness corresponding to the thickness ratio is created (step S2). At this time, the control unit 5 refers to the vertical thin horizontal thin font data 8a and the vertical thick horizontal thin font data 8b in the storage unit 7 and acquires the typeface character of the corresponding character. Then, a horizontal thin line intermediate typeface character M1 is created using Equation 1 shown in FIG. Here, the horizontal thin line intermediate typeface character M1 refers to an intermediate typeface character having a narrow horizontal line width and a vertical line width of a specified ratio.

  This formula 1 subtracts the coordinate HbWs of the vertical thick horizontal thin font character 11b from the coordinate HsWs of the vertical thin horizontal thin font character 11a, and the vertical line thickness which is a ratio designated as the thickness of the vertical line to the calculated value. This is an equation for multiplying the ratio Ph and adding the coordinate HbWs of the vertical and horizontal thin font character 11b to the calculated value to obtain the horizontal thin intermediate font character M1.

  The horizontal thin line typeface character M1 calculated by calculating the coordinates of each point in this way is a typeface character whose vertical line thickness is the specified thickness and horizontal line thickness is thin as shown in FIG. Temporarily stored in the temporary storage unit 6.

  The control unit 5 uses the vertical thin horizontal typeface data 8c and the vertical thick horizontal typeface data 8d with thick horizontal lines by the horizontal thick intermediate typeface character creation unit 5c to specify the vertical lines specified by the thickness specifying unit 5a. A typeface character having a thickness corresponding to the thickness ratio is created (step S3). At this time, the control unit 5 refers to the vertical thin horizontal bold font data 8c and the vertical thick horizontal bold font data 8d in the storage unit 7, and acquires the typeface character of the corresponding character. Then, a horizontal thick middle typeface character M2 is created using Expression 2 shown in FIG. Here, the horizontal thick line typeface character M2 indicates an intermediate typeface character having a wide horizontal line width and a vertical line width of a specified ratio.

  This formula 2 subtracts the coordinate HbWb of the vertical thick horizontal typeface character 11d from the coordinate HsWb of the vertical thin horizontal typeface character 11c, and the vertical line thickness which is a ratio designated as the thickness of the vertical line to the calculated value. This is an equation for multiplying the ratio Ph and adding the coordinate HbWb of the vertical bold horizontal typeface character 11d to the calculated value to obtain the horizontal thick middle typeface character M2.

  The horizontal thick intermediate typeface character M2 calculated by calculating the coordinates of each point in this way is a typeface character whose vertical line thickness is specified and horizontal line thickness is thick as shown in FIG. Temporarily stored in the temporary storage unit 6.

  The control unit 5 creates a final typeface character by the final typeface character creation unit 5d by using the created horizontal thin row intermediate typeface character M1 and horizontal thick row intermediate typeface character M2 (step S4). At this time, the control unit 5 refers to the horizontal fine row intermediate typeface character M1 and the horizontal thick row intermediate typeface character M2 in the temporary storage unit 6 and acquires the corresponding intermediate typeface character. Then, a designated thickness typeface character is created using Equation 3 shown in FIG. Here, the designated thickness typeface character indicates a completed typeface character whose horizontal line width is a specified width and whose vertical line width is also a specified ratio.

  This formula 3 subtracts the coordinate Mb of the horizontal thick intermediate typeface character M2 from the coordinate Ms of the horizontal fine line intermediate typeface character M1, and the horizontal line thickness ratio Pw which is the ratio designated as the thickness of the horizontal line to the calculated value. Is added to the calculated value and the coordinate Mb of the horizontal type middle typeface character M2 is added to obtain the coordinate Z of the designated typeface typeface character.

  As shown in FIG. 11C, the designated thickness typeface character completed by finding the coordinates of each point is a typeface character whose vertical line thickness is the designated thickness and horizontal line thickness is the designated thickness. Yes, and temporarily stored in the temporary storage unit 6 as the designated thickness typeface data M3.

  The control unit 5 repeats the processing by returning to the horizontal thin line intermediate typeface character creation unit 5b until the processing for all characters (about 10,000 characters) is completed by the repeat unit 5e for all characters (step S5: No), If the processing is completed for all characters (step S5: Yes), the completed designated thickness font data M3 is output by the completed font output unit 5f (step S6).

  This output can be an appropriate output such as being displayed on the display unit 3 (see FIG. 1), stored in the storage medium 9 by the storage medium processing unit 4, or stored in the storage unit 7.

  In this embodiment, Formulas 1 to 3 are used to create a final typeface character after temporarily creating an intermediate typeface character. For example, vertical and horizontal directions using Formula 4 in FIG. The final typeface character (designated thickness typeface data M3) may be created at once from the fine typeface character 11a, the vertical and horizontal typeface character 11b, the vertical and horizontal typeface character 11c, and the vertical and horizontal typeface character 11d. . Even in this case, it is possible to obtain a typeface of arbitrary thickness with the same beauty. Equation 4 is obtained by substituting Equation 1 and Equation 2 into Equation 3.

  With the configuration and operation described above, the designated thickness typeface data M3 in which the vertical line width and horizontal line thickness of characters are arbitrarily changed corresponding to various usage environments is easily created (produced) as a family typeface. A character creation method (character production method) and a character creation device 1 can be provided.

  Using the four basic typeface data 8 to create the specified width typeface data M3 after creating the horizontal thin line typeface character M1 and the horizontal thick line typeface character M2, the beautiful final typeface character that does not lose its shape. Can be provided.

  That is, as shown in the explanatory view of the last typeface character in FIG. 12 displayed as a list, the vertical thin horizontal thin character 11a located at the upper left in the drawing, the vertical thick horizontal thin character 11b located at the lower left in the drawing, and the upper right in the drawing. Using the vertical thin horizontal typeface character 11c and the vertical thick horizontal typeface character 11d located in the lower right of the figure, the vertical line thickness and horizontal line thickness type font characters positioned between them can be arbitrarily created in a beautiful form. can do.

  Further, since the basic typeface character 11 is represented by point data, it is possible to easily execute the calculation of obtaining the designated thickness typeface data M3 by interpolating between the points of each basic typeface character 11.

  In addition, since the number of points of the four basic typeface characters 11 for one character are all the same, the points are corresponding, and the point types of the corresponding points are all the same, the coordinates The final typeface character whose thickness has been changed can be easily obtained simply by calculating the value.

  In addition, because some characters such as characters with a large number of strokes are provided with thickness modification points 22 (22a to 22d) and 23 (23a to 23d), while maintaining a state where characters are not crushed even with thick characters, Beautiful characters can be obtained with any thickness.

  For example, the character “糲” shown in FIG. 13 is used only to represent the character in the vertical thin horizontal typeface character 11a of FIG. 13A and the vertical thin horizontal typeface character 11c of FIG. 13C. In this case, there are unnecessary thickness deformation points 22a, 23a, 22c, and 23c. In the vertical and horizontal thin font characters 11b shown in FIG. 13B and the vertical and horizontal horizontal font characters 11d shown in FIG. 13D, the thickness of the vertical lines is changed to prevent the blank portion from being crushed. Deformation points 22b, 23b, 22d, and 23d are provided.

  As a result, as shown in FIG. 14, no matter how the vertical line width and horizontal line thickness are specified, a beautiful typeface character is obtained without losing the blank part of the character and without being deformed as a character. be able to.

  Further, the thickness deforming points 22 and 23 are provided in a portion where the character component and the component (vertical line elements 21a and 21d and horizontal line elements 27a and 27d in the illustrated example) overlap each other. Even if the line thickness or the horizontal line thickness is arbitrarily specified, it is possible to prevent the thickness changing points 22 and 23 from coming out of the overlapping portion of the character component and the component. Therefore, it is possible to provide a character with a beautiful shape without any unnatural shape.

  Further, because the designated thickness typeface data M3 is created for all characters, the typeface data corresponding to the designated vertical line thickness and horizontal line thickness can be created, and this typeface data can be provided. it can.

  Also, for example, when a customer who sees an example of a black character for a white background requests that a white character be created for a black background, a character with a slightly thick horizontal line is created and provided in a short time. You can do that.

  Thus, by preparing the vertical thin horizontal bold font character 11c whose horizontal line is thicker than the vertical line, which is not normally used, and calculating by using this vertical thin horizontal bold font character 11c, Even so, it can provide beautiful typefaces.

  Next, unlike Example 1 using the Icarus format that expresses a curve as a spline curve, Example 2 that uses a Postscript font that expresses a curve as a Bezier curve (also called a Bezier curve) will be described.

  In the second embodiment, the configuration and calculation of the character creation device 1 are the same except that the data representation formats (formats) of the basic typeface data 8 and the basic typeface character 11 are different. .

  Also in this case, as shown in the explanatory view of the basic typeface character 11 in FIG. 15, the vertical thin horizontal typeface character 11a, the vertical thick horizontal thin type character 11b, the vertical thin horizontal typeface character 11c, and the vertical thick horizontal typeface character Prepare four basic fonts of 11d. In the same manner as in the first embodiment, those having the thinnest and thickest vertical lines and those having the thinnest and thickest horizontal lines are prepared. In the second embodiment, each basic typeface character 11 (11a to 11d) is expressed by Postscript font data using a Beze curve.

  FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the data structure of the basic typeface character 11 of the Postscript font data. FIG. 16A shows the shape of a character and the arrangement of points, and FIG. 16B shows point data representing the character. FIG. 16C shows a specific example of data, where C of the point content is the current point, S is the control point, and the numbers are the coordinates.

  The character data used in the present embodiment including the basic typeface character 11 is composed of a plurality of constituent elements 13 (elements), and the constituent data is expressed by two point types of current point and control point. It consists of

The component 13 is basically created in units of one line as in the first embodiment.
The current point indicates coordinates located on the contour line. It can be a corner, a boundary between a straight line and a curve, or a change point of a curve.

  The control point is a reference point for controlling the curvature of the contour line of the component 13. Normally, the outline of the component 13 is not located on this control point.

  These point types in the point data 14 are arranged at positions corresponding to each other in the four types of basic typeface characters 11 for the same character. That is, the point data 14 of the four types of basic typeface characters 11 has the same assigned part of the first current point as the start point, the order of the current point and the control point following this current point, and the assigned part.

  Even in such a configuration, the same effect can be obtained by the same operation as in the first embodiment. That is, based on the coordinates of the current point and the control point, the horizontal thin-line intermediate typeface character M1 and the horizontal thick-line intermediate typeface character M2 are obtained using the arithmetic expression described with reference to FIG. M3 can be determined.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 17, even for characters having thickness modification points 22a, 23a, 22d, and 23d, a beautiful character having an arbitrary thickness can be obtained by the same processing as in the first embodiment.

  Next, unlike the first and second embodiments using the four basic font characters 11, the final font character (designated thickness font data M3) is generated using the three basic font characters 11. 3 will be described.

  The third embodiment is different from the first and second embodiments in that there are three types of basic typeface characters 11 used, and the configuration and calculation method of the character creation device 1 are different. In the third embodiment, a part of FIGS. 8 and 9 is replaced.

  Specifically, in the configuration of the character creation device 1 shown in FIG. 8, the horizontal thin-line intermediate typeface character creation unit 5b is used as the first intermediate typeface character creation unit 5b, and the horizontal wide-line intermediate typeface character creation unit 5c is used as the second intermediate type. The description will be made by replacing the typeface character creation unit 5c. The first intermediate typeface character creation unit 5b and the second intermediate typeface character creation unit 5c create intermediate typeface characters in the same manner as the horizontal thin row intermediate typeface character creation unit 5b and horizontal thick row intermediate typeface character creation unit 5c. It is functionally the same except for the calculation method.

  Further, in FIG. 9 showing a flowchart of the operation of the character creating device, the horizontal thin line intermediate typeface character creating step (step S2) is set as the first intermediate typeface character creating step, and the horizontal thick line intermediate typeface character creating step (step S3) is performed. The second intermediate typeface character creation step will be described. The first intermediate typeface character creating step and the second intermediate typeface character creating step are steps for creating an intermediate typeface character in the same manner as the horizontal thin row intermediate typeface character creating step and the horizontal thick row intermediate typeface character creating step. The calculation method is different.

  FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram of the basic typeface character 11 and designated thickness typeface data M3 (designated thickness typeface character) according to the third embodiment, and FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating an intermediate typeface character calculation method according to the third embodiment. FIG. 20 shows an explanatory diagram of the calculation formula of the third embodiment.

  As basic typeface characters 11, three types of vertical thin horizontal thin font characters 11a, vertical thick horizontal thin font characters 11b, and vertical thick horizontal thick font characters 11d are prepared as shown in FIG. These were created based on the thinnest and thickest vertical lines, and the thinnest and thickest horizontal lines, as in Example 1 and Example 2. It is.

  Using these three types of basic typeface characters 11, designated thickness typeface data M3 having a vertical line thickness (first characteristic) of 28.6% and a horizontal line thickness (second characteristic) of 75% is created. The case will be described in detail.

  First, in step S1 of FIG. 9, the input unit 2 sets the vertical line thickness (first characteristic) as 28.6% and the horizontal line thickness (second characteristic) as 75%. Upon receipt by the designation unit 5a, the control unit 5 uses the first intermediate typeface character creation unit 5b to use the vertical line width characters 11b and the vertical type horizontal typeface characters 11d with thick vertical lines. A second intermediate character (not shown) corresponding to 75% is created using Expression 5 shown in FIG. 20 (step S2).

  This formula 5 subtracts the coordinate HbWs of the vertical and horizontal thin font character 11b from the coordinate HbWb of the vertical and horizontal bold font character 11d, and the horizontal line thickness ratio Pw which is the ratio specified as the horizontal line thickness to the calculated value. And the coordinate HbWs of the vertical and horizontal thin font characters 11b is added to the calculated value to obtain the first intermediate font character.

  The first intermediate typeface character calculated by calculating the coordinates of each point in this way is a typeface character whose horizontal line thickness is the specified thickness and whose vertical line thickness is thick, and is temporarily stored in the temporary storage unit 6. Remember.

  And the control part 5 respond | corresponds to the thickness (2nd characteristic) 75% of a horizontal line using the vertical thin horizontal thin font character 11a and the vertical thick horizontal bold font character 11d by the 2nd intermediate typeface character preparation part 5c. A second intermediate typeface character (not shown) is created (step S3).

  When creating the second intermediate typeface character, the thickness of the vertical line (first characteristic) and the thickness of the horizontal line (second characteristic) can be obtained by the following concept.

  First, assuming a coordinate axis indicating the thickness of the vertical line (first characteristic) in the y-axis (vertical axis) direction and the thickness of the horizontal line (second characteristic) in the x-axis (horizontal axis) direction, FIG. A virtual characteristic coordinate plane V as shown in FIG.

  Then, on this virtual characteristic coordinate plane V, a coordinate point A (0, 0) indicating a vertical thin horizontal typeface character 11a based on the thickness of the vertical line (first characteristic) and the thickness of the horizontal line (second characteristic). , A coordinate point B (0, 100) indicating the vertical and horizontal thin font characters 11b, a coordinate point D (100, 100) indicating the vertical and horizontal bold font characters 11d, and a coordinate point Q ( 75, 28.6).

  In such a virtual characteristic coordinate plane V, when the coordinate points A, B, and D are respectively connected by straight lines, a straight line AB that connects the coordinate points A and B, and a straight line B- that connects the coordinate points B and D are shown. A triangle is formed by D and a straight line AD connecting the coordinate point A and the coordinate point D.

  A straight line AD connecting the coordinate point A and the coordinate point D indicates that the coordinate point A and the coordinate point D are correlated and can be expressed by a linear function equation. In other words, the thickness of the vertical line and the horizontal line of the second intermediate typeface character created using the vertical thin horizontal typeface character 11a and the vertical thick horizontal typeface character 11d can be obtained from this linear function expression. it can.

  Therefore, the intersection point of the straight line BD and the straight line parallel to the y axis passing through the coordinate point Q indicating the designated thickness typeface data M3 is defined as the intersection point P1, and the straight line and straight line A passing through the coordinate point Q and parallel to the y axis. Let the intersection with -D be the intersection P2.

  That is, the intersection P1 is obtained by combining the vertical thick horizontal thin font data 11b and the vertical thick horizontal bold font data 11d corresponding to the thickness of the horizontal line (second characteristic) of the designated thickness font data M3 input by the input unit 2. The 1st intermediate typeface character created using is shown. Similarly, the intersection P2 indicates a second intermediate typeface character created using the vertical thin horizontal thin font character 11a and the vertical thick horizontal thick font character 11d.

  Therefore, the thickness (first characteristic) of the vertical line of the second intermediate typeface character can be calculated from the linear function expression connecting the coordinate point A and the coordinate point D on the virtual characteristic coordinate plane V.

  In this way, the control unit 5 determines the vertical thick horizontal thin font character 11b based on the calculated vertical line thickness (first characteristic) and horizontal line thickness (second characteristic) of the second intermediate typeface character. A second intermediate typeface character is created using Expression 6 shown in FIG. 20 using the vertical and horizontal typeface characters 11d.

  This equation 6 subtracts the coordinate HsWs of the vertical thin horizontal font character 11a from the coordinate HbWb of the vertical thick horizontal font character 11d, and the horizontal line thickness ratio Pw which is the ratio designated as the horizontal line thickness to the calculated value. Is obtained by adding the coordinates HsWs of the vertical and horizontal thin font characters 11a to the calculated value to obtain the second intermediate font character.

  The second intermediate typeface character calculated by obtaining the coordinates of each point in this way is a typeface character whose horizontal line thickness is the specified thickness and whose vertical line thickness is thick, and is temporarily stored in the temporary storage unit 6. To do.

  The control unit 5 creates a final typeface character by the final typeface character creation unit 5d using the created first intermediate typeface character and second intermediate typeface character (step S4). At this time, the control unit 5 refers to the first intermediate typeface character and the second intermediate typeface character in the temporary storage unit 6 and acquires the corresponding intermediate typeface character. Then, a designated thickness typeface character (designated thickness typeface data M3) having a vertical line thickness of 75% and a horizontal line thickness of 28.6% is created using Expression 7 shown in FIG.

This formula 7 subtracts the coordinate M4 of the first intermediate typeface character from the coordinate M5 of the second intermediate typeface character, and multiplies the calculated value by the vertical line thickness ratio Ph that is the ratio designated as the thickness of the vertical line. Then, the calculated value is divided by the thickness ratio Pm of the vertical line of the second intermediate typeface character, and the coordinate M4 of the first intermediate typeface character is added to the calculated value to obtain the coordinate Z of the designated thickness typeface character. It is.
Since the subsequent processing is the same as in the first and second embodiments, the description thereof is omitted.

  Thus, even when there are three types of basic typeface data 11, it is possible to easily create a family typeface in which characteristics such as the thickness of the vertical line and the width of the horizontal line are arbitrarily changed corresponding to various usage environments. it can.

  Further, two intermediate typeface characters are created from the three basic typeface characters 11, and the thick line of the vertical line input at the input unit 2 is calculated by an arithmetic method and an arithmetic expression using the concept of using these two intermediate typeface characters. It is possible to provide a beautiful final typeface character that does not lose its shape depending on the thickness and thickness of the horizontal line.

  Note that the calculation method and calculation expression of the third embodiment described above creates two intermediate typeface characters from the three basic typeface characters 11, and creates the specified thickness typeface data M3 using the two intermediate typeface characters. However, in the third embodiment, as another calculation method and calculation expression, one intermediate typeface character is created from the three basic typeface characters 11, and one intermediate typeface character and one basic typeface character 11 are used. There is a method of creating designated thickness typeface data M3, which will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

  When the designated thickness typeface data M3 having the vertical line thickness (first characteristic) of 28.6% and the horizontal line thickness (second characteristic) of 75% as described above is created, FIG. As shown above, the coordinate point A indicating the vertical thin horizontal thin font character 11a on the virtual characteristic coordinate plane V and the coordinate point D indicating the vertical thick horizontal bold font character 11d have a correlation that can be expressed by a linear function equation as described above. Just as you did.

  Further, from the straight line BQ connecting the coordinate point B indicating the vertical and horizontal thin font characters 11b and the coordinate point Q indicating the designated thickness font data M3, the coordinate point B and the coordinate point Q are also linear function expressions. There is a correlation that can be expressed by

An intersection point between a straight line AD connecting the coordinate point A and the coordinate point D and a straight line BQ connecting the coordinate point B and the coordinate point Q is defined as an intersection point P3.
This intersection P3 is a third intermediate typeface character (not shown) of the vertical and horizontal thin typeface character 11b and the designated thickness typeface data M3 created using the vertical and horizontal typeface typeface character 11a and the vertical and horizontal typeface typeface character 11d. Is shown.

  Therefore, the thickness of the vertical line (first characteristic) and the thickness of the horizontal line (second characteristic) of the third intermediate typeface character are primary values indicating the correlation between the coordinate point A and the coordinate point D in the virtual characteristic coordinate plane V. It can be calculated from a function equation and a linear function equation indicating the correlation between the coordinate point B and the coordinate point Q.

In this way, the control unit 5 determines the vertical thin horizontal thin font character 11a based on the calculated vertical line thickness (first characteristic) and horizontal line thickness (second characteristic) of the third intermediate typeface character. A third intermediate typeface character is created using Formula 8 shown in FIG. 20 using the vertical and horizontal typeface characters 11d .
Equation 8 subtracts the coordinate HbWb of the vertical thick horizontal typeface character 11d from the coordinate HsWs of the vertical thin horizontal typeface character 11a, and multiplies the calculated value by the vertical line thickness ratio Pm of the third intermediate typeface character. This is an expression for obtaining a third intermediate typeface character by adding the coordinate HbWb of the vertical and horizontal typeface character 11d to the calculated value.

  The third intermediate typeface character calculated by calculating the coordinates of each point in this way is a typeface character whose horizontal line is thinner than the specified thickness and whose vertical line is thicker, and is temporarily stored in the temporary storage unit 6. To do.

  The control unit 5 uses the third intermediate typeface character and the vertical thick horizontal thin type character 11b created in this way, and the final typeface character creation unit 5d uses the formula 9 shown in FIG. A designated thickness typeface character (designated thickness typeface data M3) having a width of 75% and a horizontal line thickness of 28.6% is created.

  This equation 9 subtracts the coordinate HbWs of the vertical thick horizontal thin font character 11b from the coordinate M6 of the third intermediate font character, and the vertical line thickness ratio Ph which is the ratio specified as the vertical line thickness to the calculated value. The calculated value is divided by the thickness ratio Pm of the vertical line of the third intermediate typeface character, and the coordinate HbWs of the vertical and horizontal typeface character 11b is added to the calculated value to obtain the coordinate of the designated thickness typeface character. This is an expression for obtaining Z.

  In this way, one intermediate typeface character can be created from the three basic typeface characters 11, and the designated thickness typeface data M3 can be created from this one intermediate typeface character and one basic typeface character 11. According to the thickness of the vertical line and the width of the horizontal line input in part 2, it is possible to provide a beautiful final typeface character that does not lose its shape.

  The basic typeface characters 11 are not limited to the three types described above, and are arranged on the virtual characteristic coordinate plane V based on the thickness of the vertical line (first characteristic) and the width of the horizontal line (second characteristic). Then, if they are connected by a straight line, they may be three types of basic typeface characters 11 having different vertical line thickness (first characteristic) and horizontal line thickness (second characteristic) that form a triangle.

  As described above, the designated thickness typeface data M3 can be generated using any two typeface characters of the three or four types of basic typeface characters 11 and the intermediate typeface characters created using the basic typeface characters 11. .

In correspondence between the configuration of the present invention and the above-described embodiment,
The input means of this invention corresponds to the input unit 2 of the embodiment,
Similarly,
The final typeface character creation means corresponds to the control unit 5,
The small side intermediate typeface character corresponds to the horizontal thin row intermediate typeface character creation unit 5b,
The large intermediate typeface character corresponds to the horizontal thick line intermediate typeface character creation unit 5c,
The storage means corresponds to the storage unit 7,
Basic typeface data and first to third typeface data correspond to basic typeface data 8 and basic typeface character 11,
The first small and second small font data correspond to the vertical thin horizontal thin font data 8a and the vertical thin horizontal thin font character 11a,
The first large and second small font data correspond to the vertical and horizontal thin font data 8b and the vertical and horizontal thin font characters 11b.
The first small second large font data corresponds to the vertical thin horizontal bold font data 8c and the vertical thin horizontal bold font character 11c,
The first and second large typeface data correspond to the vertical and horizontal typeface data 8d and the vertical and horizontal typeface character 11d,
The constituent elements correspond to the constituent elements 13 (point elements 15a, 15b, 25a, 25d, diagonal line elements 17a, 17b, vertical line elements 18a, 18b, 21a, 21d, horizontal line elements 27a, 27d),
The deformation points correspond to the thickness deformation points 22b, 23b, 22d, and 23d,
The deformation corresponding points correspond to the thickness deformation points 22a, 23a, 22c, and 23c,
The characteristic coordinate points correspond to coordinate point A, coordinate point B, and coordinate point D,
The typeface data corresponds to the specified thickness typeface data M3,
The first characteristic corresponds to the thickness of the vertical line,
The second characteristic corresponds to the thickness of the horizontal line,
The first characteristic request information corresponds to the ratio of the thickness of the vertical line,
The second characteristic request information corresponds to the ratio of the thickness of the horizontal line,
The request typeface character corresponds to the final typeface character,
The specific character corresponds to the character “糲”,
The present invention is not limited only to the configuration of the above-described embodiment, and many embodiments can be obtained.

  For example, there is a method in which the vertical thin horizontal typeface character 11c is created from the three types of basic typeface characters 11 used in the third embodiment, and the designated thickness typeface data M3 is created by the calculation method of the first embodiment.

  Specifically, the midpoint of the straight line AD connecting the coordinate point A and the coordinate point D in the virtual characteristic coordinate plane V shown in FIG. The midpoint H indicates a fourth intermediate typeface character (not shown) that can be created using the vertical thin horizontal thin font character 11a and the vertical thick horizontal thick font character 11d.

  Therefore, the control unit 5 uses the vertical thin horizontal thin font character 11a and the vertical thick horizontal thick font character 11d to create the fourth intermediate typeface character from Expression 10 shown in FIG.

  Since the fourth intermediate typeface character is the midpoint H of the straight line AD connecting the coordinate point A and the coordinate point D in the virtual characteristic coordinate plane V of FIG. And the thickness of the horizontal line is intermediate between the thicknesses of the vertical thin horizontal thin font character 11a and the vertical thick horizontal thick font character 11d.

  This expression 10 subtracts the coordinate HbWb of the vertical thick horizontal typeface character 11d from the coordinate HsWs of the vertical thin horizontal typeface character 11a, divides the calculated value by half, and the vertical and horizontal horizontal typeface character 11d. The coordinate HbWb is added to obtain the fourth intermediate typeface character.

  And the control part 5 produces the vertical thin horizontal typeface character 11c from the formula 11 shown in FIG. 20 using the 4th intermediate typeface character and the vertical thin horizontal typeface character 11a which were created in this way.

  This equation 11 subtracts the coordinate HbWs of the vertical thick horizontal thin font character 11b from the coordinate MR of the fourth intermediate typeface character, doubles the calculated value, and subtracts the coordinate of the vertical thick horizontal thin font character 11b to the calculated value. This is an expression for adding vertical thin horizontal font characters 11c by adding HbWs.

  In this way, the specified thin typeface data M3 may be generated using the calculation method and calculation formula of the first embodiment by creating the vertical thin horizontal typeface character 11c.

  The present invention can be used in a technique for easily creating variations in various characters such as Japanese characters such as Kanji, Hiragana and Katakana, alphabets, Chinese characters, or Korean characters.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Character creation apparatus, 2 ... Input part, 5 ... Control part, 5b ... Horizontal thin line middle typeface character creation part, 5c ... Horizontal thick line middle typeface character creation part, 7 ... Memory | storage part, 8 ... Basic typeface data, 8a ... vertical thin horizontal font data, 8b ... vertical thick horizontal thin font data, 8c ... vertical thin horizontal bold font data, 8d ... vertical thick horizontal bold font data, 11 ... basic font characters, 11a ... vertical thin horizontal font characters, 11b: Vertical thick horizontal thin font characters, 11c: Vertical thin horizontal bold font characters, 11d: Vertical thick horizontal bold font characters, 13: Components, 14: Point data, 15a, 15b, 25a-25d ... Point elements, 17a, 17b: Diagonal line element, 18a, 18b, 21a-21d ... Vertical line element, 27a-27d ... Horizontal line element, 22b, 22d, 23b, 23d ... Thickness deformation point, 22a, 22c, 23a, 23c ... Thickness deformation Point, M3 ... Designated thickness typeface data , V ... virtual characteristic coordinate plane, A, B, D ... coordinate points

Claims (10)

And three font data comprising a font character having a first characteristic and second characteristic indicating a characteristic relating to the shape of the lines constituting the character first font data, and the second font data, and third font data,
In a virtual characteristic coordinate plane composed of the first characteristic and the second characteristic,
The first typeface data having the first and second characteristics different from each other so as to form a triangle when connecting the characteristic coordinate points represented by the first characteristic and the second characteristic of the typeface data with a straight line; Storing the second typeface data and the third typeface data in a storage means;
At the request of the first characteristics, and the the first characteristic requested information different from the first characteristic of each font data, at the request of the said second characteristic, and different from the first and second characteristics of the respective font data 2 Accepting input with characteristic request information ,
By a calculation using the first characteristic and the second characteristic in all font data stored before term memory unit, the first characteristic corresponding to the first characteristic requested information, and corresponding to said second characteristic requested information A character creation method for creating a desired typeface character having the second characteristic . In the virtual characteristic coordinate plane, the characteristic coordinate point of one typeface data in any two typeface data among the first typeface data, the second typeface data, and the third typeface data, and the typeface data of the other typeface data intermediate typefaces having a straight line connecting the characteristic coordinate points, the first characteristic and the second characteristic corresponds to the intersection of the straight line connecting the characteristic coordinate point of the characteristic coordinate points and the desire typeface characters of one typeface data remaining A character is created by an operation using the first characteristic and the second characteristic of any two typeface data ,
By a calculation using the first characteristic and the second characteristic of the one font data remaining said, and said first characteristic and the second characteristic of the intermediate font characters, the first corresponding to the first characteristic requested information The character creation method according to claim 1, wherein the desired typeface character having one characteristic and the second characteristic corresponding to the second characteristic request information is created. In the virtual characteristic coordinate plane, the characteristic coordinate points are respectively located on two straight lines forming two sides of the triangle, and the first characteristic or the second characteristic corresponding to the first characteristic request information of the desired typeface character two intermediate typefaces character having one of the second characteristic corresponding to the characteristic demands information,
Created by calculation using the first characteristic and the second characteristic of the two sets of typeface data forming the two straight lines, to be a first intermediate typeface character and a second intermediate typeface character,
Said first and characteristics and the second characteristics of the first intermediate font characters, by a calculation using the first characteristic and the second characteristic of the second intermediate typefaces characters, characteristics corresponding to the characteristics demanded information other hand configuration character generating method according to claim 1, wherein creating the request font characters having. First small second typeface data composed of typeface characters in which a first characteristic indicating a characteristic related to the shape of a line constituting the character is small and a second characteristic indicating a characteristic related to the shape of the line is small;
First large second small font data composed of typeface characters having a large first characteristic and a small second characteristic;
First small and second large typeface data consisting of typeface characters in which the first characteristic is small and the second characteristic is large;
First large second font data composed of typeface characters having a large first characteristic and a large second characteristic are stored in storage means;
At the request of the first characteristics, and the a different first characteristic requested information from said respective first characteristic of each font data, at the request for said second property, and wherein the second characteristic of each font data accepting an input of a different second characteristic requested information and,
By a calculation using the first characteristic and the second characteristic in all font data stored before term memory unit, the first characteristic corresponding to the first characteristic requested information, and corresponding to said second characteristic requested information A character creation method for creating a desired typeface character having the second characteristic . For either the first characteristic or the second characteristic, an intermediate typeface character corresponding to the inputted characteristic request information is created in both the small and large sizes of the other characteristic, and the small side intermediate typeface character and the large side intermediate typeface character are created. age,
5. The character creation method according to claim 4, wherein the desired typeface character corresponding to the other characteristic is created using both the small side intermediate typeface character and the large side intermediate typeface character. Each typeface character is composed of point data that is a set of points that draw the edges of the constituent elements constituting the character,
The number of said points is the same about all the typeface characters about the same character, and each point in each typeface data is comprised so that it may correspond. Character creation method. If the shape of the component is not changed from the normal shape in the first large and second large typeface data composed of typeface characters having the first characteristic large and the second characteristic large, gaps between some components are filled and collapsed. For specific characters, equipped with a deformation point to deform the shape of some components to prevent the gaps between the components from being filled,
For the specific character in the first small and second small font data composed of a small font with the first characteristic being small and the second characteristic being small, the deformation corresponding to the deformation point while maintaining the shape of the constituent element in the normal shape With corresponding points,
The character creation method according to claim 6, wherein the specific character in the remaining typeface data includes the deformation point or the deformation corresponding point. Prepare each typeface character for a number of characters and use it as basic typeface data.
The character creation method according to claim 1, wherein the desired font character is created for all characters of the basic font data. The first characteristic is a width of a vertical line of characters,
The character creation method according to claim 1, wherein the second characteristic is a width of a horizontal line of the character. Storage means for storing at least three typeface data having a first characteristic and a second characteristic indicating characteristics relating to a shape of a line constituting the character;
At the request of the first characteristics, and the the first characteristic requested information different from the first characteristic of each font data, at the request of the said second characteristic, and different from the first and second characteristics of the respective font data Input means for receiving input of two characteristic request information ;
By a calculation using the first characteristic and the second characteristic in all font data stored before term memory unit, a corresponding to the first characteristic and the second characteristic desire information corresponding to the first characteristic requested information A character creation device comprising: a desired font character creating means for creating a desired font character having two characteristics .

Images