JPH04177295A - Character generating device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable an easy-to-see printing matter to be attained by a method wherein when a size of a character data of a character font memory is converted by a conversion calculation device in response to data got from a generated character size table and a letter/body ratio table, the letter/body ratio can be specified. CONSTITUTION:A character generating device is comprised of a character font memory 1 for storing a vector font character data, a generated character size table 4 for instructing a generated character size, an enlargement/reduction calculation device 2 for expanding or reducing a character data from the character font memory 1, a developing memory 3 for developing the expanded or reduced character data into an image, and a letter/body ratio table 5 for specifying a letter/body ratio of the generated letter. Data from the generated character size table 4 as well as data from the letter/body ratio table are applied to the enlargement/reduction calculation device 2 and when character data of the character font memory 1 is enlarged or reduced, the letter/body ratio is specified. With such an arrangement, an inter-letter spacing can be varied to enable an easy-to-see printing to be attained.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a character generation device, and more particularly to a character generation device using a vector font method suitable for use in an information processing device that handles Chinese characters.

[Conventional technology]

In general, character generators using vector font methods are
It has become widely used with the demand for computerized phototypesetting and the improvement in the density of printers.

Conventionally, this type of character generating device has generally been conceived and used as having the configuration shown in the block diagram of FIG. The character font memory 1 stores the outline of the character pattern as vector font character data, the generated character size magnification table 7, and the output character signal of the character font memory 1 is enlarged by the signal of the generated character size magnification table 7, or , an enlargement/reduction calculation device 6 that performs reduction.
and an expansion memory 3 for image expansion of the output signal of the enlargement/reduction calculation device 6.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In this conventional vector font type character generating device, the character font data in the character font memory 1 has the structure shown in FIG. 4, taking as an example a character for "boat fishing". A character pattern image is originally data representing an outline, but in FIG. 4, it is simply represented by a - main line.

Here, in this conventional vector font type character generation device, the origin of character font data input to the enlargement/reduction calculation device 6 (for example, in the example of FIG. 4,
The character data from the character font memory 1 is enlarged or reduced by applying the signal from the generated character size magnification table 7 to the generated character size using the lower left 0 point) as the calculation standard. .

For example, the coordinates of point P in Figure 4 are P (Xo, 3'o
), if you want to enlarge the font size to m times, P
(mxo, myo) is calculated. With this calculation method, as shown in Figure 5(b), the ratio of letter face/body face is always constant, so when these generated images are arranged as a character string, the larger the generated character size, the more This is accompanied by the phenomenon that there is a gap between the characters. This phenomenon of spacing between characters is a relative phenomenon caused by calculation, and the larger the size of the generated characters, when arranged as a character string, visually gives the impression that there is too much space between the characters.

In addition, in order to avoid this phenomenon as much as possible, if you slightly change the value of the generated font size magnification table and increase the value, the letter face will become larger compared to the generated font size, as shown in Figure 5 (c). However, it is not located at the center of the body face, and since the size of the instruction generation character is constant, there is a limit because the upper and right side of the letter face exceeds the instruction generation character size.

Also, if the value of the generated character size magnification table is small, the position of the letter face will be as shown in Figure 5 (a>) with respect to the body face of the generated character size, and similarly, the center of the body face will be I won't.

Conventional character generation means have been unable to change the spacing between characters when these generated character images are arranged as a character string without causing the above-mentioned effects.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks and to change the space between characters, that is, the character spacing when generated character images are arranged as a character string in a vector font type character generation device. An object of the present invention is to provide a character generating device that enables easy-to-read printed matter.

[Means to solve the problem]

The present invention provides a character font memory that stores vector font character data, a generated character size table that indicates the generated character size, a conversion calculation device that converts the size of character data from the character font memory, and a size conversion unit. A character generator is equipped with an expansion memory that expands character data into an image, the character generator has a letter/body ratio table that specifies the letter/body ratio of generated characters, and the conversion calculation device converts data from the generated character size table into an image. The present invention is characterized in that the letter/body ratio can be specified when converting the size of character data in the character font memory based on the data from the letter/body ratio table.

〔Example〕

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention. The character generator shown in FIG. 1 includes a character font memory 1 that stores vector font character data, a generated character size table 4 that specifies the generated character size, and a character font memory 1 that enlarges or reduces character data from the character font memory 1. -An enlargement/reduction calculation device 2 that performs operations, an expansion memory 3 that develops enlarged or reduced character data into an image, and a letter/body ratio table 5 that specifies the letter/body ratio of generated characters. We are prepared.

In such a character generation device, the data from the letter/body ratio table 5 is applied to the enlargement/reduction calculation device 2 together with the data from the generated character size table 4 to enlarge or enlarge the character data in the character font memory l. , you can specify the letter/body ratio when scaling down.

Further, the character font memory 1 stores character data, the generated character size table 4 is set in advance, and the enlargement/reduction calculation device 2 enlarges or reduces the character data according to the letter/body ratio table 5. The calculation is performed, and the expansion memory 3 is expanded to the size of the generated character, or
Expand the reduced character pattern image.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained.

It is assumed that the character data in the vector font format stored in the character font memory 1 has been dried as shown in FIG. Character data like this example is common for vector fonts,
It goes without saying that character pattern images are generally expressed as vector fonts, with outlines expressed as character data. In Figure 4, for the sake of simplification,
- It is abbreviated to the main line expression.

To explain the character pattern data in Figure 4, BXo, B
Yo indicates the body face in the X-axis and Y-axis directions of the character pattern data, and LXo.

LYo indicates the letterface width in the X-axis and Y-axis directions.

In the present embodiment shown in FIG. 1, there are two input signal lines, and the signal line 101 is a signal line for specifying character pattern data in the character font memory 1 by a character code. The pattern data is sent to the enlargement/reduction calculation device 2 via a signal line 103. The input signal line 102 is a signal line that specifies the character size of the generated character pattern image, and specifies the width and height of the matrix of the generated character pattern image. This signal is based on the generated character size table 4 and the letter/body ratio table 5.
sent to.

The generated character size table 4 stores generated character size values that determine the generated character size of the character pattern data input to the enlargement/reduction calculation device 2, and stores values corresponding to the character size signal inputted via the signal line 102. is sent to the enlargement/reduction calculation device 2.

The letter/body ratio table 5 enlarges the character pattern data input to the enlargement/reduction calculation device 2 to the generated character size according to the signal of the generated character size table 4, or converts it into the letter face and body of the character pattern that has been reduced. Contains a value that specifies the face ratio. This letter/body ratio value is sent to the enlargement/reduction calculation device 2 via the signal line 105.

The enlargement/reduction calculation device 2 includes a generated character size table 4,
Based on the signal of the letter/body ratio table 5, the character data signal from the character font memory 1 is enlarged,
Alternatively, it is reduced and expanded as image data on the memory of the expansion memory 3 through the signal line 106.

Here, generated character size table 4 and letter/
In response to the signal from the body ratio table 5, the enlargement/reduction calculation device 2 performs the following calculation on the character data signal input through the signal line 103.

Each expression coordinate point on the input character pattern data is Pn
(Xo, 3'o), the size of the body face is BX
O, BYO, letter face width LXo, LY.

Then, the signal from 1 generated character size table 4, that is, the expanded character size (body face after expansion/reduction operation) is BX, , BY, , the letter face width after expansion is L
Xt, LYt - Expression coordinate point after expansion/reduction operation is Pn
(Xt, yx), Pn(Xl, 3/1) is expressed by the following formula.

Pn (x+, 3/z) Here, the letter/body ratio after expansion is expressed as ρX, ρy, and if defined as, then by transforming equation (1), it becomes.

In formula (3), B Xo, B Yo, L Xo
, L Yo are fixed values determined by the character data in the character font memory 1. Therefore, equation (3) is
Signal of generated character size table 4 (BXLBYO) - and signal of letter/body ratio table 5 (ρX, ρ
This indicates that a calculation corresponding to the change value of y) is performed.

In addition, in equation (3), once the input expression coordinate system, that is, the origin (0, O) expression, the center of the body face of the input character pattern data (BXo/2.BY
After converting the representation coordinate system to O, /2>, perform an expansion or reduction operation, and then change the representation coordinate system to the origin (0, 0
) is returning to expression. For this reason, the input character pattern data is centered around the body face (BX1/2.BY
1/'2) as a reference, and the signal (
ρX, ρy), the generated character letter face can be arbitrarily changed with respect to the center of the generated character body face.

Character pattern data subjected to enlargement/reduction operations by such arithmetic means is expanded onto the expansion memory 3 through the signal line 106, and outputted as image data.

Therefore, the signal from the letter/body ratio table,
That is, by changing the setting values of the letter/body ratio table 5, the character spacing (character spacing) can be generated independently of the character size, as shown in FIG. 2(a).

As shown in (b) and (c), they can be set at appropriate intervals.

In this way, a character font memory that stores vector font character data, a generated character size table that indicates the generated character size, and an enlargement/reduction calculation device that enlarges or reduces the character data from the character font memory, A character generation device that includes an expansion memory that develops enlarged or reduced character data into an image is provided with a letter/body ratio table that specifies the letter/body ratio of generated characters; A means is provided for specifying a letter/body ratio when enlarging or reducing character data in a character font memory by applying data from a letter/body ratio table together with data from a character size table.

That is, this vector font type character generation device has a character font memory that stores vector fonts, a generated character size table set in advance, a letter/body ratio table, this generated character size table, and a letter/body ratio table. and means for enlarging/reducing character patterns based on the body ratio table.

As a result, compared to the conventional system in which only the signal from the generated character size magnification table is applied to the enlargement/reduction calculation device to enlarge or reduce the input character data, the signal from the generated character size table and the letter The calculation method of the enlargement/reduction calculation device can be changed by making both the signals of the /body ratio table act together, that is, the letter/body ratio table.
Since it is possible to perform calculations that take body ratio into account, when generated character images are arranged as a character string, the space between characters, that is, the space between characters, can be arbitrarily changed using the signal of the letter/body ratio table. It will be done. This results in
Letter/letter of character data stored in character font memory
Even if the body ratio is fixed, adjusting the letter/body ratio table when the text is enlarged or reduced has the advantage of providing a natural, well-balanced, and easy-to-read character string.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, when generated character images are arranged as a character string, it is possible to change the space between characters, that is, the character spacing, and it is possible to obtain an easy-to-read printed matter. .

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the positional relationship between the letter face and body face of a character pattern image generated by the function of the embodiment shown in FIG. , FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing an example of a conventional character generating device, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of character data implemented in the character font memory, and FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram showing an example of a conventional character generating device. It is a figure which shows the positional relationship of the letter face of the character pattern image generated by a function, and a body face. 1... Character font memory 2... Enlargement/reduction calculation device 3... Expansion memory 4... Generated character size table 5... Letter/body ratio table substitute People Patent Attorney Yoshiyuki Iwasa

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A character font memory that stores vector font character data, a generated character size table that indicates the generated character size, a conversion calculation device that converts the size of character data from the character font memory, and a size conversion unit that converts the size of the character data from the character font memory. A character generating device is equipped with a development memory that develops character data into an image, which has a letter/body ratio table that specifies the letter/body ratio of generated characters, and a conversion calculation device that combines data from the generated character size table with the data from the generated character size table. A character generating device characterized in that a letter/body ratio can be specified when converting the size of character data in a character font memory based on data from a letter/body ratio table.