JPH07112731B2 - Character playback method - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a character encoding method capable of reproducing characters from low pixel characters to high pixel characters, and particularly reproduction of high quality characters even with low pixel characters. The present invention relates to a character encoding method capable of

[Prior Art] Computer typesetting machines such as CRT typesetting machines and laser typesetting machines use the output material as a printing plate for printing. Therefore, high resolution of 50 to 130 lines / mm can be applied to photosensitive materials such as photographic paper and film. The characters are exposed and output with.

Therefore, the character pattern data is compression-encoded on the assumption that it is reproduced as a high pixel character, and the character pattern data for a plurality of fonts is stored in a memory such as a hard disk of a computer typesetting machine.

Conventionally, in the proofreading work of characters, what was output from a computer typesetting machine to a photosensitive material was used as a galley for proofreading. However, since the light-sensitive material is more expensive than plain paper, it is economically burdensome to use the light-sensitive material as a proofing galley.

Moreover, the calibration is usually performed a plurality of times, and it is very uneconomical to output a proofing galley to the photosensitive material each time. Also, in many cases, high-resolution output materials of 50 to 130 lines / mm are not required for calibration work, so the character type to be finally output,
It is sufficient if the resolution is such that the typeface, Q number (character size), printing position, etc. can be recognized without difficulty.

From the above points, in recent years, a proofreading printer that outputs a proofreading galley to a plain paper by using a laser with a resolution of about 10 to 20 lines / mm has been widely used.

For the character pattern data for reproducing the characters output by this proof printer, the character pattern data for high pixel characters is supplied online from the computer typesetting machine side, or separately for the high pixel characters on the proof printer side. Either has the character pattern data of.

[Problems to be solved by the invention] Since a computer typesetting machine normally outputs characters of 7 to 250Q (for example, 10Q = 2.5mm square characters), a proofing printer also outputs 7 to 25Q.
The characters of 0Q must be output so that the character type and typeface can be recognized without difficulty.

In that case, large characters will be expressed with high pixels as a result, so it is possible to output so that the character type and typeface can be easily recognized, but for small characters such as 7Q, they can be expressed with low pixels. Therefore, it is very difficult to reproduce and output the character pattern data so that the character type and the typeface can be recognized, especially in the case of a character having a large number of strokes.

For example, when outputting 7Q characters with a computer typesetting machine with a resolution of 100 lines / mm, one character can be represented by dots on a 175 x 175 dot matrix, whereas for calibration with a resolution of 20 lines / mm. When printing with a printer, it must be represented by dots on a 35 x 35 dot matrix.

Furthermore, the character pattern data used in the calibration printer is
Unlike office printers, which have little change in character size, large characters must be output. However, when the character pattern data encoded for low-pixel characters is used for enlarged output, there is a character in terms of quality, and therefore high-pixel characters must be used.

Therefore, in the proofreading printer, characters are reproduced from the same data as the character pattern data that is compression-encoded for high-pixel characters used in the computer typesetting machine and expressed as points on the above matrix. In the case of a character with a large number of strokes, due to quantization error, etc., the width balance of the drawing area and non-drawing area of the character is greatly disturbed, and the two drawing areas are integrated into one, making it difficult to identify the character type. There is a problem such as becoming.

[Means for Solving Problems] The present invention has been made from the above points, and can reproduce from low-pixel characters to high-pixel characters, and in particular, even low-pixel characters have poor aesthetics and readability. It is an object of the present invention to provide a character encoding method capable of reproducing characters without the need for a character encoding method that reproduces a character image based on encoded data that specifies a character shape. The difference data between the reference points of the image area and the non-image area, the shape data that specifies the shapes of the image area and the non-image area, and the number of dots in the area where the image area exists Supplying the process of supplying encoded data including total dot number data and priority data indicating the priority when performing dot thinning or insertion for each image area and non-image area, and a desired reproduction magnification Process and the difference A step of calculating the position of the reference point by multiplying the data by the magnification, and performing a predetermined magnification process on the encoded data based on the shape data on a coordinate having the calculated reference point as an origin Total number of dots after magnification processing by calculating the shape of the image area and non-image area and adding the number of dots between the reference points of the image area and non-image area based on the calculated shape And a step of calculating a desired reproduction total dot number by multiplying the total dot number data of the encoded data by the magnification, and comparing the obtained two types of total dot numbers, If the total number of dots is larger, the dots in the drawing area or non-drawing area are sequentially thinned according to the priority data. Some dots Through the process of thickening by pressurization is that which is adapted to reproduce a character image.

[Summary of the Invention] According to the present invention, when creating character pattern data, an image drawing portion of a character, for example, a group mainly including an image drawing portion in the X-axis direction and a group mainly including an image drawing portion in the Y-axis direction Divide into multiple groups such as, and specify the position of the image area and non-image area in the group on the coordinates determined by the difference between the reference point of the adjacent image area or non-image area. I chose

Furthermore, the information regarding the priority when performing the quantization correction is added to each of the information regarding the image area and the non-image area. Then, even if the quantized correction is performed, the priority of the image area and the non-image area, which have little influence on the character type identification, is set high, and those having a large influence are set low.

By outputting based on the character pattern data created in this way, even when outputting with low pixels, it is possible to output in a state in which the character type can be easily identified.

[Embodiment] FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining division of characters into groups. FIG. 2 (1) shows a character “eye” before division, and FIG. 2 (2) (3) shows a character “eye”. This shows a state in which the "eyes" are divided into groups each including an image line portion in the Y axis direction and an image line portion in the X axis direction.

In the figure, M is a dot matrix for creating character pattern data, A is an image area, and B is a non-image area.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the content of character pattern data for one character.

1 is data representing the number of groups when the character drawing area is divided into a plurality of groups as described above, and is, for example, the second
This data becomes "2" when divided as shown in FIGS.

Reference numeral 2 is data indicating an address on a memory that stores data such as the position and shape of each group, and exists as many as the number of groups.

3a is data indicating the total number of dots in the area where the image area of the character exists on the dot matrix M, and 3b is data indicating the total number of dots in the X axis direction and the Y axis direction. Is a flag indicating whether or not.

In the case of FIG. 2 (2), the total dot number data 3a is N, and the flag 3b indicates that N is the total dot number in the X direction.

4 is data representing the number of image areas in the group, 5 is data representing the position of the group, and this represents the reference point of the group by the coordinates on the dot matrix M. In the example of FIG. 2 (2), the LA ₁ point (X ₁ , Y ₁ ) is the coordinate of the reference point of the group coordinate 5.

Reference numeral 6 is the difference data up to the reference point of the adjacent image area or non-image area, for example, the reference point of the image area A _{1 in} FIG. 2 (2).
The difference from LA ₁ to the reference point LB ₁ of the non-image area B ₁ is ΔXA ₁ .

In this example, the difference only in the X-axis direction is stored,
Differences in both X-axis and Y-axis directions may be stored.

Reference numeral 7 is data indicating the priority when the image area A and the non-image area B are quantized and corrected. A detailed description of the quantization correction will be given later.

Reference numeral 8 is data for specifying the shape of the image area A. Since the non-image area B is dependently determined if the shape of the image area A is determined, it is not necessary to have data for specifying the shape. The form of expressing the data for specifying the shape of the image area A is not limited to one method, and for example, a method of expressing by a bit image itself, a method of expressing by a run length, an outline of the image area A by approximating with a straight line or a curve It can be expressed by various expression forms such as a method of doing.

It should be noted that all of them are represented by coordinates whose origin is a reference point for each image area A.

The character pattern data is constructed as described above.

Next, the quantization correction referred to in the present invention will be described.

As described above, the drawing area or non-drawing area of the character is not defined in absolute coordinates on the dot matrix M, but on the coordinates determined by the difference from the reference point of the adjacent drawing area or non-drawing area. When set to, the quantization error is accumulated when the size is changed to the output size.

That is, the error when the difference between the reference points of the image area and the non-image area is scaled and quantized and the error when the shape of the image area is scaled and quantized are accumulated one after another. , The total number of dots after scaling does not match the total number of dots of the character pattern data (N in the example of FIG. 2 (2)) multiplied by the enlargement ratio, and it may become larger or smaller. There is a case.

Therefore, when it becomes large, it is necessary to appropriately thin out the drawing part and non-drawing part, and when it becomes small, it is thickened to the contrary, so that the two processes should be matched. In the present invention, this is called quantization correction.

The above-described priority indicates the order in which this quantization correction is performed, and thinning or thickening quantization correction is applied to the image line portion or non-image line portion in the order of high priority or low priority. .

Next, reproduction of characters from the character pattern data will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, the position of the reference point is calculated (S1). This is obtained by multiplying the difference data 6 from the reference point of the adjacent image area or non-image area by the magnification.

Next, a predetermined scaling process is performed based on the shape data 8 on the coordinates whose origin is the reference point obtained in S1, and the shape of the image area is provisionally calculated (S2).

The above process is repeated until all the image drawing parts and non-image drawing parts in one group are completed. (S3).

Next, the total number of dots after scaling is calculated by adding all the numbers of dots between the reference points of the image area and the non-image area (S4). In the example of FIG. 4A, ΔXA ₁ ′ to ΔXA ₄ ′ are all added to obtain the total number of dots.

Next, the total number of dots 3a of the character pattern data is multiplied by the magnification to calculate the total number of dots after scaling (S5).
In the example of FIG. 2 (2), the total dot number N of the character pattern data is multiplied by the magnification.

Next, the difference between the results calculated in S4 and S5 is obtained (S6).

As a result, when the difference is 0, it is not necessary to perform quantization correction,
When it is other than 0, quantization correction is performed (S7).

Quantization correction, as described above, performs thinning processing when the total number of dots after scaling is greater than the number of dots obtained by multiplying the total number of dots of character pattern data by the enlargement ratio, and thickening when the number is small (S8). .

Here, the thinning process will be described.

Consider the case where the reproduction is carried out as shown in FIG. 4 (1) in the above S _{1 to} S ₃ , and the total dot number is larger than the total dot number N ′ obtained by multiplying the total dot number N of the character pattern data by the magnification by 2 dots. .

In this case, it is necessary to draw a total of 2 dots from any of the drawing and drawing areas.

The thinned-out drawing portion and the thinned-out drawing portion are thinned out one dot at a time from two drawing portions or non-drawing portions in order from the highest thinning priority in the data 7 indicating the priority of the character pattern data.

FIG. 4 (2) is an example of thinning out when the non-image areas B ₁ and B ₃ have higher priority than the other areas.

FIG. 4C shows an example in which the image areas A ₂ and A ₃ have a higher priority than the other areas.

In this way, by drawing two dots, the total number of dots in the image area and the non-image area is equal to N '.

Next, the processing for thickening will be described. Let us consider a case where the total number of dots in the image area and the non-image area is smaller than the total number of dots N ″ obtained by multiplying the total number of dots N of the character pattern data by a magnification by 2 dots as shown in FIG. 5 (1).

In this case, it is necessary to thicken any of the drawing and non-drawing parts by a total of 2 dots. Similar to the case of thinning out, the drawing area and the non-drawing area to be thickened are based on the data 7 indicating the priority of the character pattern data. For example, it is generally easier to read if the thickening is performed in the reverse order of thinning. High characters can be reproduced.

However, both the data used for thinning and the data used for thickening may be provided in the character pattern data.

FIG. 5 (2) is an example when the image area portions A ₁ and A ₄ have a higher priority for thickening than other portions.

Performed for all groups the processes of S ₁ to S ₉ above (S9).

In this way, characters are reproduced from the character pattern data,
After that, processing is performed according to the output device and the output is performed.

Although the present invention has been described above, in the above-described embodiment, the data of the priority when performing the quantization correction is quantized in a fixed order with respect to the image area and the non-image area regardless of the number of dots to be thinned or thickened. However, for example, the image part, the non-image part, and
The number of dots for which the priority data is quantized and corrected and the image area and non-image area to be corrected are made to correspond so that the image area and the non-image area for dot quantization correction are changed. It may be stored in the form of a table.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, when creating character pattern data, the drawing area of the character is divided into a plurality of groups, and the positions of the drawing area and the non-drawing area in the group are divided into groups. It is specified on the coordinates determined by the difference between the reference point of the adjacent image area or non-image area, and the information about the priority when performing the quantization correction of the image area and the non-image area is stored. did.

Then, even if the quantized correction is performed, the priority of the image area and the non-image area, which have little influence on the character type identification, is set high, and those having a large influence are set low.

Therefore, if the data is output based on the character pattern data created according to the present invention, it is possible to output in a state in which the character type can be easily identified even when outputting with low pixels.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the contents of character pattern data of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining division into groups, FIG. 3 is a flow chart of character reproduction, and FIGS. 4 and 5 are quantizations. It is a figure which shows the example of correction.

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Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A method for reproducing a character image based on coded data for specifying a character shape, comprising: difference data between adjacent reference points of an image area portion and a non-image area portion; Shape data that specifies the shapes of line parts and non-image parts, total dot number data that indicates the number of dots in the area where the image parts exist, and thinning or inserting dots for each image part and non-image parts. A step of supplying encoded data having priority data indicating a priority at the time of performing and a step of supplying a desired reproduction magnification, and a step of multiplying the difference data by the magnification to calculate a position of a reference point. A step of calculating each shape of the image area and the non-image area on the coordinates having the calculated reference point as an origin, based on the shape data, by performing a predetermined magnification process of the encoded data, Number of dots between each reference point in the image area and non-image area A step of obtaining the total number of dots after magnification processing by adding based on the calculated respective shapes, and a step of multiplying the total number of dots data of the encoded data by the magnification to calculate a desired total reproduction dot number. And comparing the calculated two types of total dot numbers, and if the total dot number after the magnification processing is larger, the dots in the image area or non-image area are thinned out in sequence according to the priority data, On the contrary, if it is small, a character reproducing method for reproducing a character image through a process of sequentially adding and thickening dots in a drawing area or non-drawing area according to the priority data