JPH0782311B2 - Character spacing adjustment method - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a character spacing adjustment method for outputting a character string to an output device using a character font, and more particularly to a character for outputting a relatively large outline font to the output device. The present invention relates to an interval adjustment method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in the field of handling alphanumeric characters, evenly spaced layouts are used to perform constant spacing regardless of the unique width of characters, and the unique character width of each character is divided into several groups. Proportional spacing processing is performed in which characters are classified and sent according to their contents. In addition, Japanese kana and kanji characters are usually arranged at equal intervals to perform constant character feeding regardless of the character width and height. Also, conventionally, there has been known a device capable of adjusting a character spacing, but in the case of this, when the character spacing is to be designated for each character, the user needs to operate for each character.

In the above prior art, the evenly spaced arrangement is
When dealing with Japanese character strings, there are many blank spaces before and after other characters, such as yo sound, consonant sound, "he" in vertical writing, and "ku" in horizontal writing. There is a problem in that the intervals between the character entities are apparently uneven, and the character intervals of the output character string are unnatural and difficult to read. Also, even if proportional spacing processing is performed when handling alphanumeric characters, there will be a lot of white space between characters due to the combination of character-specific shapes such that the character "A" follows "V". Or, in the case where the letters "W" are continuous, there is a problem that they are unnatural and difficult to read because they are too close to each other.
Further, there is a problem that the operation of the user sequentially operates the character spacing for each character becomes too complicated.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION When outputting a character string in vertical writing mode, horizontal writing mode or a mixed character string of these characters, the present invention not only performs proportional spacing processing but also adjoins adjacent characters. A character spacing adjustment method that optimally adjusts the spacing between the character entities in the character string by also performing character spacing adjustment processing that takes into account the partial uneven shape of the side to obtain natural and easy-to-read character output. The purpose is to provide.

[0005]

The character spacing adjustment method according to the present invention is a processing method for controlling the character spacing when a character string is output to an output device. By holding the difference between the virtual character frame in each area and the substance of the character when divided into multiple areas, the horizontal shift amount in vertical writing and the vertical shift amount in horizontal writing as a character unique information table, A means for numerically recording the shape of a portion adjacent to another character, a means for calculating a horizontal or vertical shift amount depending on whether the character to be output is in vertical writing mode or horizontal writing mode, and the above character Equipped with a unique information table and a means for calculating a unique character width and a character interval by a combination of two characters by judging each area of adjacent sides of two characters from a shift amount, and output as a character string to an output device. When attempting to do so, it is characterized in that for each character in the character string of one line, the above-mentioned shift amount calculation unit obtains the left-right or up-down shift amount, and the above-mentioned character gap calculation unit obtains the character interval. It is a thing.

In the above character unique information table, the four sides of the virtual character frame for each character are divided into a plurality of areas, and for each area, the difference between the virtual character frame and the substance of the character, and the left and right in vertical writing. It is a set of numerical values that represent the shift amount and the vertical shift amount in horizontal writing as a ratio to the size of the virtual character frame, so that it can be easily obtained by corresponding to the character code according to a certain rule. It is arranged. Like the character font, the character unique information table has one for each typeface, and when the character font is recorded in another file, the storage position of the character font, etc. The index information may also be recorded.

The shift amount calculation unit determines whether to adjust the left and right shift amounts or the up and down shift amounts depending on whether the character to be output is in vertical writing mode or horizontal writing mode. Further, the value is calculated.

The character spacing calculation unit uses the size of the virtual character frame of the character to be output, the character unique information table, and the calculated shift amount value to determine the edge of the immediately preceding character and the next edge. Judge the correspondence of the sides of the characters to be output, which should face each other, then evaluate each area of the two sides, and use the minimum character spacing that does not overlap the two characters as a reference, and leave that value between the characters. By adding a constant interval, the values of the characters in the character string should be evenly spaced. Furthermore, even when the size of each character in the character string is not specified uniformly, by adjusting the space to be spaced between characters to an average ratio of the sizes of two adjacent characters,
The character spacing can be increased or decreased in proportion to the character size.

[0009]

In the character spacing adjustment method of the present invention, the shift amount at the time of output is displayed on the character unique information table, and the shape of the part adjacent to the preceding and following characters is expressed by a numerical value divided into a plurality of areas. Therefore, by comparing the shape of the end portion of the immediately preceding character with the shape of the adjacent portion of the character arranged next, it is possible to optimally adjust the character spacing of any combination.

Thus, the user can obtain the character output for the character strings of any combination of any typefaces at natural and harmonious character intervals without operating the character intervals successively for each character.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention. The processing program 104 read by the central processing unit 102 is operated by the operation unit 101, and the output unit 10 is operated.
The target character string is output to 3. Operation unit 101
Inputs a target character string and attributes such as deformation and enlargement for each character and an output start position, and operates the processing program 104 read by the central processing unit 102. The shift amount calculation unit 105 and the character spacing calculation unit 106 used in the character spacing adjustment method of the present invention are read into the central processing unit 102 as a part of the processing program 104, and refer to the character unique information table 107 to perform a predetermined calculation. By doing so, the output position of the character is determined and the character font 108 is expanded. Output unit 103 such as display device, plotter, printer, etc.
Outputs (displays or draws or prints) a character string according to a control signal sent from the central processing unit 102.

The character unique information table 107 has a plurality of four sides around the virtual character frame for each character (see FIG. 301).
And in the example of 302, when divided into three areas,
For each area, the difference between the virtual character frame and the substance of the character,
It is a set of numerical values that express the horizontal shift amount in vertical writing mode and the vertical shift amount in horizontal writing mode as a ratio to the size of the virtual character frame.By matching the character code with a certain rule, the specified character It is arranged so that the target value can be easily obtained from the character code.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the meaning of the values contained in the character unique information table and the character spacing calculation method. 301
In the examples of and 302, the four sides around the virtual character frame of the hiragana character "A" are divided into three areas, respectively, and the difference between the virtual character frame and the substance of the character in each area is obtained.
In 301, the upper and lower sides are divided into three parts, and the difference A1, A2, between the virtual character frame and the upper part of the entity of the character "A" in each area.
Differences between A3 and the bottom of the body of the character "A" B1, B2
Seeking B3. At 302, C1, C2, C3 and D1, D2, D3 are similarly obtained for the left and right sides. In this case, the substance of the character is not only the physical area of the character occupied in the virtual character frame, but also the blank area that is aesthetically necessary in the character such as "tsu" or "shi". Shall also be included. In the case of vertical writing, the values B1, B2, B3 of the immediately preceding character and the values A1, A2, A3 of the next characters are referred to, and in the case of horizontal writing, the values D1, D2, D3 of the previous character. Then, the values C1, C2, and C3 of the characters arranged next are referred to. Further, as shown at 303, the amount G of horizontal shift of the letter "yu" or the like when vertically assembled, and the amount of vertical shift when the alphabet "y" or the like is horizontally set as shown at 304. By recording H together in the character unique information table,
Even when there is a character shift in the vertical or horizontal direction between adjacent sides of consecutive characters, it is possible to determine which area mainly opposes and perform a predetermined calculation for the opposing areas. , Is designed to be able to optimally adjust the character spacing.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the flow of processing when the block diagram in FIG. 1 is used.

First, the processing program 104 initializes the character information of the immediately preceding character (hereinafter referred to as the immediately preceding character) in order to output the first character in the character string.
Next, the attributes such as the typeface, size, transformation and assembling direction of the character to be output this time (hereinafter referred to as this character) are obtained from the operation unit or a pre-created file in succession to the previous character, and the character-specific Information table 1
The corresponding character unique information is read from 07.

The shift amount calculation unit 105 determines whether to adjust the left / right shift amount or the up / down shift amount depending on whether the character is in vertical writing mode or horizontal writing mode, and further determines the value. calculate. Character spacing calculator 10
6 is the size of the character and the character unique information table 10 described above.
Using the value of 7 and the value of the calculated shift amount, the correspondence between the end side of the immediately preceding character and the side to which this character should face is determined, and then each area of the two sides is evaluated. The values of the character unique information table are added to each of the facing areas, and the characters succeeding by the minimum value among them are overlapped to calculate the minimum character interval at which two characters do not overlap. For example, "yu" 303 and "y" 30 in FIG.
When the two characters of No. 4 are set horizontally, the character of "y" 304 is shifted downward by the value of H, and the opposing area is shifted downward by one, so that E1 and W2 (the virtual character of character "y" are The total width of the character frame), E2 and F1, E3 and F2, W1 (the total width of the virtual character frame of the character "yu") and F3 are added respectively, and the minimum value among them is calculated. Do. If the opposing areas do not shift because the vertical character shift amount H is small, D1 and C
The above calculation is performed with three combinations of 1, D2 and C2, D3 and C3. Based on the minimum character spacing obtained by this, when this character is not the first character in the character string, the value of the character in the character string is added by adding a certain space to the value. Calculate values that should be evenly spaced.

The processing program 104 develops the character font 108 to a desired size according to the output start position determined as described above, and outputs a target character by sending a signal to the output unit 103. When the output of one character is completed, the character peculiar information of this character is used as the character peculiar information of the immediately preceding character to prepare for the calculation of the spacing between the following characters.

The above is a description of the output of one character, but it is judged whether or not this character is the last character in the character string, and if there is a subsequent character, the same is applied to the next character. Execute the process. By repeating the above process for all the characters in the character string to be printed, the output result of the font pattern of each character is approximately equidistant in the closest portion as shown by 401 in FIG. Can be obtained. Comparing with the output example in which the virtual character frames indicated by 402 in FIG. 4 are arranged at equal intervals, when the characters are arranged at equal intervals, a portion where the character spacing becomes too vacant such as between "pa" and "-". , But there is a part that is too tight, such as between “-” and “TO”, but in the character spacing adjustment method of the present invention, characters are arranged like 401 so that a natural character spacing is obtained. Is something that can be done.

In the above embodiment, the character position is calculated for each character and the character font 108 is output to the output unit 10.
Although it is expanded to 3 and output is obtained, it is not limited to this. For example, without expanding and outputting the character font, only performing trial calculations such as total extension and occupying area required for the direction in which the character string is actually output to match the desired size of the entire character string. It can also be applied when changing individual character size or character spacing.

Further, in the above embodiment, the virtual character frame is divided into three areas to express the shape of the outer circumference of each character.
It is not limited to this. As the number of divisions increases, the character spacing becomes more uniform, but on the other hand, the character unique information table becomes large and pressures the storage device capacity, and the access time when referring to the character unique information table is large. It will be like this. The character spacing adjustment method of the present invention is a low-speed, small-capacity setting by optimally setting the number of divisions of the virtual character frame in consideration of the processing capacity of the central processing unit 102, the capacity of the storage device, the access speed, and the like. It can be applied to both high-speed and large-capacity devices.

[0022]

As described above, according to the character spacing adjusting method of the present invention, the apparatus automatically calculates and outputs the optimal spacing between characters, so that the user can successively output the spacing between characters. Since it is not necessary to perform the adjusting operation for, the operability is remarkably improved. Further, since the processing is performed without depending on the experience and intuition of the user, there is an advantage that a uniform result can always be obtained without depending on the skill of the user.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a processing example of a processing program 104.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the meaning of values in a character unique information table 107.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an output example of character fonts according to the method of the present invention and an equidistant arrangement.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 Operation Unit 102 Central Processing Unit 103 Output Unit 104 Processing Program 105 Shift Amount Calculation Unit 106 Character Interval Calculation Unit 107 Character Unique Information Table 108 Character Font 301 Character Font 301 An example of dividing the upper and lower sides of a virtual character frame into three areas is shown. Figure 302 Figure showing an example of dividing the left and right sides of a virtual character frame into three areas 303 Figure showing an example of horizontal character shift and character spacing calculation method 304 Figure showing an example of vertical character shift and character spacing calculation method Diagram 401 Output example of outline font by method of the present invention 402 Output example of outline font by evenly spaced arrangement

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Office reference number FI technical display location G09G 5/32 F 9471-5G

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. To define individual character fonts in a method of adjusting character spacing when a character, symbol and graphic string (hereinafter referred to as a character string) is output to an output device using character fonts. When the four sides of the outer frame (hereinafter referred to as the virtual character frame) are divided into a plurality of areas, the difference between the virtual character frame and the substance of the character in each area, the horizontal shift amount in vertical writing, and the horizontal shift in horizontal writing The vertical shift amount is stored in the storage device as a character unique information table, and 2
The character widths unique to the characters and the character spacing based on the combination of the two characters are calculated by determining the areas of the adjacent sides of the two characters, and the calculated character spacing and the characters to be output are in vertical writing mode or horizontal writing mode. A character-spacing adjustment method in which the position of a character calculated according to the purpose is output as the character string to the output device based on the horizontal or vertical shift amount calculated by. 2. The character spacing calculation is performed by using the size of a virtual character frame to be output and the value of the shift amount held in the character unique information table, and then outputting the end edge of the preceding character and the next. The correspondence between the opposite sides of the character is determined, and then the areas of the two sides are evaluated, and the minimum character spacing at which the two characters do not overlap is used as a reference, and that value should be a space between the characters. The character-spacing adjusting method according to claim 1, wherein a value is calculated for each character so that the characters of the character in the character string should have an equal interval by adding the interval.