JPH0736434A - Character output device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To correct characters by an optimum method corresponding to the characters by discriminating the correcting method according to characters of the characters and characteristics of a printer. CONSTITUTION:The character output device, equipped with an input means 11 for inputting optional characters and sizes, an output means 14 for outputting them, a character plotting means 13 for plotting the characters, and a control means 12 for controlling them, consists of a data read means 131 which reads character outline coordinate data corresponding to a character code sent from the input means 11 out of a font storage means 132 stored with character outline coordinate data forming an outline font, a coordinate converting means 133 which converts the coordinates of the character outline coordinate data according to specific character size, a painting-out means 136 which paints out the inside of the coordinate-converted character outline coordinate data, a line width correcting means 134 which corrects line width by using the character outline coordinate data whose coordinates are converted by the coordinate converting means 133, and a correcting method selecting means 1344 which selects a correcting method for correcting the line width by the line width correcting means 134.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a display device such as a laser beam printer and a display device, and more particularly to a character output device for creating a document containing high quality characters of multi-size and multi-font.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Outline fonts are a storage format for character data in display devices such as laser beam printers and displays. Outline font is
The shape of the character is stored as a coordinate sequence of the outline of the character. In order to print this outline font, first, each outline coordinate value is subjected to coordinate conversion to obtain a desired print size, and then the inside of the converted outline coordinate is filled. The outline font has the feature that it can be freely enlarged, reduced, rotated, etc., but when printing small characters, vertical lines and
There is a problem that the line widths of the horizontal lines are not uniform and the display quality of characters is degraded.

As a conventional method for correcting the line width, a method described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-188190 is known.

In this method, the contour coordinates of horizontal and vertical lines are extracted from the contour coordinates after coordinate conversion, the intervals between the contour coordinates are converted into integers, and the contour coordinates are recalculated based on the obtained integer intervals. Therefore, the line width can be corrected for an arbitrary character size without having additional information for the line width correction.

[0005]

However, the above-mentioned conventional method focuses on the correction of the line width variation due to the quantization error, and does not consider the fine correction for each character. That is, the same correction method is used regardless of differences in various character elements such as complicated characters with many strokes, simple characters, and size of characters. For this reason, it was possible to eliminate the collapse of complicated characters with a large number of strokes and small characters, and the result was sufficient to express the beauty of the original outline font, but for simple characters with a small number of strokes the line becomes finer. So, there was a weak impression overall.

This will be specifically described with reference to FIG.
In this example, the character "day" is processed by an outline font. That is, when the horizontal contour value of each contour of the character "day" is extracted,
"0.00", "6.36", "1" from the bottom
0.60 "," 25.44 "," 29.68 "," 4 "
It becomes "4.52" and "48.76". "0", "6", as shown in Performing integer processing to output this as a character of 50 × 50 dots without performing correction processing
It becomes "11", "25", "30", "45", "49". Then, the line widths take respective differences and become "5", "5", "4" from the bottom as shown in. That is, the top line is 20% thinner than the other lines. If it becomes thin like this, the balance of the lines will be lost and the beauty of the characters will be hindered. Therefore, the correction has been made so that the line widths are made uniform. This is the above conventional example.

Therefore, in this conventional example, each line width is calculated by taking the difference between the contour values of the horizontal lines detected at, and the width is rounded off to be an integer. 6 ”,“ 4 ”,“ 15 ”,“ 4 ”,
You get "15" and "4". However, the line spacings thus obtained total "48", but the total calculated line width values in "48.76"
When this is converted into an integer, it is rounded to "49". Therefore, there is a deviation of "1" dot between the line width calculated and the dot converted. Therefore,
In this correction, the space between the lines is corrected so that the line width does not become thin as in, and the lower blank part is changed from "15" dots to "16" dots as shown in. And
In, the coordinate points are corrected, and as shown in, the characters are output as line widths of "4" dots each, and the characters are made uniform in line width.

An actual example corrected in this way is shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of a character with a dot number of 50 × 50 dots output by a 400 DPI laser beam printer, and FIG. 6 (a) shows the letter “Shin” corrected as described above. is there. In other words, it is the letter of "Shin" as shown in FIG. 6, and FIG. 6B shows the letter of "Shin" in the case of no correction, which corresponds to in FIG. With this correction, it is undeniable that the line becomes thin and gives a weak impression.

The present invention has been made in view of such a background, and an object thereof is to distinguish the correction methods according to the characteristics of the characters and the characteristics of the printer so that the correction can be performed by an optimum method suitable for each character. It is to provide a character output device.

[0010]

To achieve the above object, the present invention is configured to control a correction method according to the complexity of characters, the characteristics of a printer, and the like. For example, the correction methods are distributed under simple conditions such as the dot size of the character based on the resolution of the printer and the width of the white area. As a result, it is possible to make corrections in a way that suits each character, so make small corrections to prevent complicated characters from being crushed, and weakly modify simple characters, that is, characters that cannot be crushed. This makes it possible to make corrections suitable for each character without compromising the original shape of the character, such as making a thick correction so that it does not become difficult.

Specifically, a character output device having input means for inputting arbitrary characters and sizes, output means for outputting characters, character drawing means for drawing characters, and control means for controlling these. In the character drawing means, data reading means for reading character contour coordinate data corresponding to a character code sent from the input means from font storage means for storing character contour coordinate data forming an outline font, and A coordinate conversion means for converting the coordinate of the character contour coordinate data according to a predetermined character size, a filling means for filling the inside of the coordinate-converted character contour coordinate data, and a correction method from a plurality of preset correction methods are selected. And a correction method determining unit for performing the correction method selected by the correction method determining unit. It was composed of a line width correction means for correcting the line width by using the converted character outline coordinate data.

[0012]

When a character and a size are input by the input means, the control means reads out outline data from the font data storage means and performs coordinate conversion. Next, the line width correction means extracts the y-coordinate of the horizontal line contour coordinates and the x-coordinate of the vertical line contour coordinates from the coordinate-converted character contour coordinate data, and the interval between adjacent coordinate values is extracted from each of the extracted coordinates. Then, the interval is converted into an integer, and the determination value used by the correction method determination means, such as the width of the white area between the character lines, is calculated. Then, using the judgment value, a correction method suitable for the character is selected and correction is performed. After the correction is completed, the contour coordinates are recalculated to correct the coordinate points according to the correction, and the character is output from the output means.

Further, for example, two types of correction methods, that is, a line width thickening correction and a line width thinning correction, may be set in advance, and a correction method which seems to be optimal may be assigned according to the characteristics of the character and the printer. However, if the size is large, a thicker correction process is performed, and if the size is smaller, a thinner (conventional) correction process is performed. Correction is possible. Here, when there are a plurality of pairs of lines having originally the same line width, thick correction is performed if there is a line that can be thickly corrected even in one set.

[0014]

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

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of a character output device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this figure, this system includes input means 11 for inputting characters,
It basically comprises a control device 12 for controlling a series of processes, a character drawing means 13 for drawing a character, and an output means 14 for outputting a character.

The character drawing means 13 has a font storage means 132 for storing font data, a data reading means 131 for reading font data from the font storage means 132, and coordinates for converting the read font data into a predetermined character size. Conversion means 133 and line width correction means 1 for correcting the line width from the converted character contour coordinate data.
34, a work memory 135 for calculating the read character contour coordinate data and the like, and a filling means 136 for filling the inside of the character contour to generate a character image.
It consists of Further, the line width correcting means 134 extracts horizontal lines and vertical lines from the character contour coordinate data, and calculates the respective line widths, and the horizontal line extracting means 1341 and the integer interval extracting means for converting the calculated line widths into integers to obtain integer intervals. 1
342, a determination value calculation unit 1343 that calculates a value used for determination when assigning a correction method suitable for each character, and a correction method determination unit 1344 that determines a correction method using the value calculated by the determination value calculation unit 1343. And a coordinate point correction means 1345 for correcting the coordinate points based on the correction method selected by the correction method determination means 1344.

In the system configured as described above, when the input unit 11 transfers the print command to the character drawing unit 13, the character drawing unit 13 receives the print command to generate a character image and transfers the character image to the output unit 14. To do. The control device 12 controls these series of processes. The output unit 14 is a printer, a display, or the like, and prints or displays the character image. In the character drawing means 13, the data reading means decodes the typeface information and the character code sent from the input means 11, and reads the designated character contour coordinate data from the font storage means 132 into the work memory 135. The coordinate conversion means 133 is the input means 1
1 receives the character size information from the work memory 135
The character contour coordinate data read out in step 1 is converted into a predetermined size. At this time, when the character contour coordinate data includes a curve expression such as a Bezier curve, the coordinate conversion unit 133 performs a linear approximation process. The converted character contour coordinate data is corrected by the line width correction means 134. The filling unit 136 fills the inside of the contour based on the corrected character contour coordinate data to generate a character image, and transfers the character image to the output unit 14.

In the line width correcting means 134, the horizontal line extracting means 1341 first extracts horizontal lines / vertical lines from the character contour coordinate data converted by the coordinate converting means 133, and calculates the line widths. The integer space extraction means 1342 converts each line width into an integer from the calculated line width, and the judgment value calculation means 1343 stores information other than the line width information calculated by the horizontal line extraction means 1341 and the integer space extraction means 1342. If there is a value necessary for determining the correction method, it is calculated, and the correction method determination means 1344 selects a correction method suitable for the character. The coordinate point correction means 1345 corrects the coordinate points based on the correction method selected by the correction method determination means 1344.

Next, the processing procedure of the line width correction processing will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing a processing procedure in the line width correcting means 134, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing a correction procedure. In this correction, first, step S
At T21, horizontal line contour coordinates (y0 to y7) are extracted from the read character contour coordinate data. Next, in step ST22, it is determined whether the area between the horizontal lines extracted in step ST21 is a line segment (black area) that constitutes a character or a portion (white area) between the lines of the character. It is stored in the determination table 31. A method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-188190 is known as an example of this determination method, but it goes without saying that the determination method may be a method other than that described in the above publication. When the black-and-white area is determined in this way, in step ST23, step ST22
The intervals (dy0 to dy6) of all black-and-white areas obtained in step 3 are extracted and stored in the horizontal line interval table 32. Further, the sum yt34 of these is obtained, and further iyt36 obtained by converting yt34 into an integer is obtained.

After the line spacing is extracted in step ST23,
In step ST24, the line spacing calculated in step ST23 is converted into an integer, and each integer spacing (idy0-idy6)
Is stored in the horizontal line integer interval table 33. Furthermore, the sum iys35 of these is obtained. Step ST
In 25, a judgment value for distinguishing the correction methods is calculated. Here, if the determination value is already calculated in steps ST21 to ST24, nothing is done. Next, step ST2
In step 6, step ST25 and steps ST21 to 24
A correction method is selected based on the judgment value obtained in step. If the determination condition is satisfied, the line width thickening correction process of step ST27 is performed, and if the determination condition is not satisfied, the line width thinning correction process of step ST28, that is, the conventional correction process is performed. Next, in step ST29, based on the determined correction process,
Yt3 obtained in steps ST23 and ST24
4. Using iys35, the coordinate points are corrected in consideration of the adjustment of the overall length.

The determination value calculated in step ST25 is a value used when determining the correction method in step ST26. An example of determining the correction method in step ST26 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. explain.

In FIG. 4, in step ST41, the line spacing (dyn) of the black region is first compared with the integer spacing (idyn). If the line spacing is equal to or greater than the integer spacing, step ST4.
If it is smaller, the process proceeds to step ST28.
In step ST42, the line spacing (dyn-
1) is compared with the integer interval (idyn-1). If the integer interval is equal to or larger than the line interval, the process proceeds to step ST43, and if it is smaller, the process proceeds to step ST28. In step ST43, when the line spacing (dyn-1) of the target white area in step ST42 is 2 dots or more, the process proceeds to step ST27 to perform the line width thickening correction process, and if smaller, the process proceeds to step ST28 to thin the line width. Perform correction processing.

In the present embodiment, there is a line interval of the black area in the horizontal line interval table 32 calculated from the coordinate data after coordinate conversion, which is equal to or greater than the integerized integer interval in the horizontal line integer interval table 33. Further, when the line spacing of the white area in the horizontal line spacing table 32 adjacent to the black area satisfying the above condition is equal to or less than the integer spacing in the corresponding horizontal line integer spacing table 33 and has a width of 2 dots or more, The correction method is distinguished. That is, this embodiment is an example in which the correction method is determined in consideration of the complexity and size of characters, the resolution of the printer, and the like.

Further, another embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

In this embodiment, the coordinate data after coordinate conversion is directly converted into an integer, and the line width of each black and white area is used for selecting the correction method. The value required at that time is the judgment value calculation means 13
43 is obtained in advance. Here, the coordinate data after the coordinate conversion is directly converted into an integer and stored in the integer coordinate table 37, and the line width is calculated from this integer value and stored in the horizontal line integer interval coordinate table 38. Then, the value (idyn) stored in the horizontal line integer interval table 33 and the value (idn) stored in the horizontal line integer interval coordinate table 38 are compared, and idn> idy in a plurality of black areas having originally the same line width.
White areas (idm-1, idm + 1) at both ends of a value (idm) that satisfies the condition 39 and has a value that satisfies n.
When any of the above conditions satisfies the condition 40 that the number of dots is 2 dots or more, the thickening correction process 41 is performed. In this example,
The coordinate value at the time of drawing without correction is compared with the coordinate value after correction by the conventional method, and if there is a line that can be corrected thickly, thickening processing is performed. Here, it goes without saying that the intervals between the contour coordinates that were the same before being converted into an integer are the same after the conversion into an integer.

Next, still another embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

In this embodiment, the first condition in the step ST26 is (sum of integer line widths of black area) + (white area × 2) ≦ total length.

This is a condition that the remaining white area for 2 dots or more can be secured by subtracting the sum of the integer line widths of the black areas in all the horizontal line integer interval tables 33 from the total length iys35. If this condition can be satisfied, even if all the black areas are increased by one dot, the characters will not be crushed, and thus the thickening process can be performed.
Further, the above condition is limited to determining whether thickening processing is possible. In order to actually extract a line that needs to be thickened, it is necessary to add the condition as in the above embodiment.

Next, an example of the thickening process will be described. This is to increase the line width by one dot for a set of lines having originally the same line width that satisfies the condition that the line can be thickly corrected in the judgment value calculation means. Processing other than the above is performed according to a conventional method as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-188190. The coordinate point correction process is
Of course, a method other than the above may be used.

According to these embodiments, a complicated character is corrected thinly to eliminate crushing, and a simple character is corrected thicker to prevent it from becoming weak. You can choose the method. As shown in these embodiments, the selection criterion of the correction method need not be the above method.

Further, in the above description, only the processing for the y coordinate of the horizontal line contour coordinates has been described, but the same processing is performed for the x coordinate of the vertical line contour coordinates.

[0033]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, regarding the outline font having no additional information for line width correction, the correction method is distinguished by the character characteristics and the printer characteristics. However, since line width correction suitable for any character and size is possible, it is possible to perform correction by an optimum method suitable for each character.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of character output processing according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a line width correction process according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing another embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a correction method according to a conventional example.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing uncorrected characters and characters corrected by a method according to a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 input means 12 control device 13 character drawing means 131 data reading means 132 font storage means 133 coordinate conversion means 134 line width correction means 135 work memory 136 fill means 1341 horizontal line extraction means 1342 integer interval extraction means 1343 judgment value calculation means 1344 correction method Judgment means 1345 Coordinate point correction means 14 Output means 31 Monochrome area judgment table 32 Horizontal line interval table 33 Horizontal line integer interval table 37 Integer coordinate table 38 Horizontal integer interval coordinate table

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A character output device comprising input means for inputting an arbitrary character and size, output means for outputting a character, character drawing means for drawing a character, and control means for controlling these. A character drawing means for storing character contour coordinate data forming an outline font; and a data reading means for reading character contour coordinate data corresponding to a character code sent from the input means from the font storage means. A coordinate conversion means for performing coordinate conversion of the character contour coordinate data read by the data reading means according to a predetermined character size; a filling means for filling the inside of the character contour coordinate data coordinate-converted by the coordinate conversion means; Select the correction method from the multiple correction methods And a line width correcting unit that corrects the line width using the character contour coordinate data that has been subjected to the coordinate conversion by the correction method selected by the correction method determining unit. . 2. The correction method determination means is set so as to select a correction method under an arbitrary condition, and the line width correction means uses a horizontal line from the character contour coordinate data converted by the coordinate conversion means. Line extraction means for extracting the y coordinate of the contour coordinates and the x coordinate of the vertical line contour coordinates, and the interval between adjacent coordinate values for each of the extracted y coordinate of the line contour coordinates and the x coordinate of the vertical line contour coordinates. And an integer interval extracting means for converting each of the intervals into an integer, a judgment value calculating means for calculating a value serving as a reference for judgment in the correction method judging means, and a sum of the intervals corrected by the correction method judging means. A coordinate point correction unit that recalculates the contour coordinates by obtaining and corrects the contour coordinates.
Character output device described. 3. The character output device according to claim 1, wherein the correction method selected by the correction method determination means is two correction methods selected on the basis of character characteristics. 4. The character output device according to claim 3, wherein the two correction methods are a method of correcting a line thickly and a method of correcting a line thinly. 5. The arbitrary condition is set based on the complexity and size of a character.
Character output device described. 6. The character output device according to claim 2, wherein the arbitrary condition is set on the basis of an area of a white region in a character bounding box. 7. The character output device according to claim 2, wherein the arbitrary condition is set on the basis of an error between an integer of coordinate data and an integer of line width. 8. The character output device according to claim 2, wherein the arbitrary condition is set on the basis of a rounding error generated when the line width is converted into an integer.