JPH08329055A - Automatic setting method for character size - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide the automatic character size setting method for setting characters which are well balanced in character array and character size in plural print areas. CONSTITUTION: Maximum values S1 and S2 which meet plural conditional expressions are found (101) and it is decided whether the value of S1 is larger than the lower-limit value L of the size of a character (102); when not, maximum values S1a and S2a which meet plural conditional expressions are found (103) and it is decided whether or not the number of columns of an address by the character size of the address is larger than the row-directional length of an address area (104). When larger, the boundary between the address and a name is moved toward the name side (105), but when not, it is decided whether the number of rows of the name by the character size of the name is larger than the row-directional length of the name area (106). When the former is larger, the boundary between the address and name is moved toward the address side. Printing operation is performed when the value of Sl is larger than the lower- limit value L in the step 102 and successively to the steps 105 and 107.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a character size automatic setting method, and more particularly to a character size automatic setting method used when setting the character size of a character string when printing or displaying the character string.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a personal computer, a word processor or the like, when printing characters or the like, or displaying them on a display surface, the size of each area in a plurality of areas such as the printing surface is fixed, respectively. A method of automatically setting the character size for the area is used. In the following, as an application example of printing an address and a name on a postcard, as shown in FIG.
A conventional character size automatic setting method will be described with reference to (b), (c) and (d) and FIGS. 6 (a), (b) and (c).

FIGS. 5 (a) and 5 (b) show the print areas of the address and name in the case of vertical writing and in the case of horizontal writing, respectively. In FIGS. 5A and 5B, the postcard 501 includes an address area 502, which is an area for printing an address, and an area for printing a name, corresponding to the case of vertical writing and the case of horizontal writing. Name area 503
Are provided adjacent to each other. The size of each of the address area 502 and the name area 503 is fixed, and the length A ₁ in the row direction and the length B _{1 in the} column direction of the address area 502 and the length in the row direction of the name area 503 are fixed. The size of A ₂ and the length B _{2 in the} column direction are predetermined. Further, FIGS. 5C and 5D show a state in which the address and the name are printed in the respective print areas in the case of vertical writing and the case of horizontal writing, respectively (FIG. 5 ( In c) and (d), a black circle indicates a character). Here, the number of rows of addresses printed in the address area 502 is M ₁ , the number of columns of addresses printed in the address area 502 is N _1, and the number of rows of names printed in the name area 503 is M ₂ and the name area 503. The number of columns of names to be printed is N ₂ . Characters to be printed are assumed to be printed so as not to overlap the respective areas of the address area 502 and the name area 503 so that the characters do not overlap each other. And the size of the character in the column direction are equal.

Next, a method for automatically setting the character size of an address (address, name, etc.) according to this conventional example will be described with reference to the flowchart showing the conventional address printing procedure of FIG.

When printing an address in the address area 502 shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, first, in step 401, the character size to be printed in the address area 502 is s ₁ ,
The character size to be printed on the name area 503 and s _2, the ratio of the character size s ₂ of the character size s ₁ and name Address C,
The maximum value S of s ₁ that satisfies the following conditional expression, where U is the upper limit of the font size of the address and the name, which is obtained in advance from the experience value
Request ₁ and the maximum value S ₂ of s _2.

Conditional expression for the address printed in the address area 502 not to run off the address area 502 in the row direction: Address line number M ₁ × address character size s ₁ ≤address area 502 row length A ₁ (1) Conditional expression for the name to be printed in the name area 503 so as not to run off the name area 503 in the row direction: Number of lines of name M ₂ × character size of name s ₂ ≤ name area 503 Length in the row direction of A ₂ ………… (2) Conditional expression to prevent the address printed in the address area 502 from protruding in the column direction from the address area 502: Number of columns of address N ₁ × character size of address s ₁ ≦ the length of the address area 502 in the column direction B ₁ (3) The conditional expression for the name to be printed in the name area 503 not to extend in the column direction from the name area 503: Number of columns N of the name ₂ × name of the column direction of the character size s ₂ ≦ name region 503 length B ₂ ............ (4) Conditions for the character size of the address region 502 is not extremely large formula: upper limit value of the character size s ₁ ≦ character size Address U .................. (5) Name area 503 Conditional expression for preventing the character size from becoming extremely large: Character size of name s ₂ ≦ Upper limit of character size U ……………… (6) Balance between the character size of the address area 502 and the character size of the name area 503. Conditional expression for keeping constant: Name character size s ₂ = ratio of address and name character size C × address character size s ₁ (7) Then, in step 402, in step 40
Printing is executed using the character size S _{1 of the} address and the character size S ₂ of the name obtained in ₁ .

When address printing is performed by the above-mentioned conventional automatic character size setting method, the number of address lines M ₁ and the number of name lines M
_{When 2} is relatively small, the optimum character size is set and printing is performed, as shown in FIG. As an automatic character size setting method employing the above-mentioned method, for example, "Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-251856" is disclosed as a known example.

[0008]

In the above-described conventional character size setting method, as shown in an application example in which an address and a name are printed on a postcard, for example, the number of lines M of the address is increased.
When the number of 1 is extremely large, the character size s ₁ of the address becomes too small according to the conditional expression (1). Therefore, although the name area 503 has a sufficient printing area, the conditional expression ( Due to 7), the character size s ₁ of the address is affected and the character size s _{2 of the} name becomes too small. As shown in FIG. 6B, the appearance of the entire address surface of the postcard is poor. There is a problem of becoming.

If the number of lines M _{2 of the} name is extremely large, the character size s ₂ of the name becomes too small according to the conditional expression (2), so that the address area 502 is sufficiently large in the printing area. Although there is a margin, conditional expression (7) is affected by the character size s ₂ of the name, and the character size s _{1 of the} address becomes too small.
As shown in (c), there is a problem that the appearance of the entire address surface of the postcard is similarly deteriorated.

That is, in the conventional character size setting method, it is impossible to print by appropriately arranging the character size, character string, etc. in each print area corresponding to a plurality of print areas. There is.

[0011]

The automatic character size setting method of the present invention is applicable to a printing surface having a plurality of printing areas,
In a character size automatic setting method for presetting a character size of a character string to be printed in each of the print areas, corresponding to arbitrary first and second print areas adjacent to each other included in the plurality of print areas. , A first step of obtaining the maximum value of the character size in each print area,
A second step of determining whether or not the maximum value of the character size in the first print area obtained in the first step is larger than a predetermined lower limit value of the character size; If the maximum character size in the first print area is smaller than the lower limit of the character size, the third step is again performed to obtain the modified maximum value of the character size in the first and second print areas, and It is determined whether the product of the value of the number of rows of the character string in the first print area and the modified maximum value of the character size in the first print area is greater than the length of the character string in the row direction. When the product of step 4 and the value of the number of lines of the character string in the first print area and the corrected maximum value of the character size in the first print area is larger than the length of the character string in the row direction. In the first Step of moving the boundary between the second printing area and the second printing area by a predetermined amount, the value of the number of lines of the character string in the first printing area, and the first step. When the product of the modified maximum character size in the print area is smaller than the length of the character string in the row direction, the value of the number of lines of the character string in the second print area and the second print area A sixth step of determining whether the product of the character size and the modified maximum value in the second print area is larger than the length in the row direction of the character string in the second print area; and the character string in the second print area. If the product of the value of the number of lines and the modified maximum value of the character size in the second print area is larger than the length of the character string in the row direction in the second print area, the first print area The boundary of the second print area is the side of the first print area. In the seventh step of moving a predetermined amount and in the second step, when it is determined that the maximum value of the character size in the first print area is larger than a predetermined lower limit value of the character size, and After completion of the processing of the fifth step and the seventh step, an eighth step of performing printing on the first and second printing areas is provided.

In the fifth step, the first
The predetermined amount for moving the boundary between the print area and the second print area to the side of the second print area is determined by the number of lines of the character string in the first print area and the character size in the first print area. A quantity obtained by subtracting the length in the row direction of the character string in the first print area from the product of the modified maximum value may be used, and in the sixth step, the first print area and the second print area
The predetermined amount for moving the boundary of the print area of the second print area to the first print area is the product of the number of lines of the character string in the second print area and the corrected maximum value of the character size in the second print area. Therefore, the number may be the number obtained by subtracting the length in the row direction of the character string in the second print area.

[0013]

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

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a printing procedure according to an embodiment when the present invention is applied to address printing of postcards. When vertically printing an address in the address area 502 shown in FIG. 5A, first, in step 101, the character size to be printed in the address area 502 is s ₁ as in the case of the conventional example shown in FIG. , The character size to be printed in the name area 503 is s _2, and the character size of the address is s ₁
And C is the ratio of the character size s ₂ of the name to the name, and U is the upper limit of the character size of the address and the name obtained from experience values in advance.
The conditional expressions (1), (2), (3), (4), (5),
Maximum values S ₁ and s of s ₁ satisfying (6) and (7)
The maximum value S ₂ of _2, the the obtained therewith its value, the character size S ₁ of the address, the character size name and S _2.

Next, at step 102, it is empirically determined beforehand by the following judgment formula (8) whether the character size S _{1 of the} address obtained at step 101 is not too small. Character size lower limit L
It is judged in comparison with.

Address character size S ₁ ≧ character size lower limit value L (8) In step 102, when the address character size S ₁ is larger than the character size lower limit value L, step 10
8, the printing is executed with the obtained character size S ₁ and the name character size S ₂ . In this case, the character size according to the print result is equal to or larger than the lower limit value L of the character size, which corresponds to the case where the area change is unnecessary, and the printing is performed with the optimum character size as shown in FIG. . In the case the character size S ₁ of the address is less than the lower limit value L of the character sizes in step 102, it is determined that the size of the character size S ₁ of the address is too small, in step 103, Address area 502
Assuming that the boundary between the name area 503 and the name area 503 is variable, the address and the name do not protrude from the address area 502 and the name area 503, and the size / balance of the address character size s ₁ and the name character size s ₂ is set. The maximum value S _1a of the address character size s ₁ that satisfies the following conditional expression for holding it appropriately
And the maximum value S _2a of the name character size s ₂ is calculated.

Conditional expression for preventing the address and name from protruding from the address area 502 and the name area 503 in the row direction: Address line number M ₁ × address character size s ₁ + name line M ₂ × name Character size s ₂ ≤ line-direction length A _{1 of} address area 502 + line-direction length A _{2 of} name area 503 (9) Addresses to be printed in the address area 502 are arranged in the column direction from the address area 502. Conditional expression to prevent overflow: Address column number N ₁ × address character size s ₁ ≤ column direction length of address area 502 B ₁ ... (10) Name printed in name area 503 is name Conditional expression for not protruding in the column direction from the area 503: Number of columns of name N ₂ × character size of name s ₂ ≦ Length of name area 503 in column direction B ₂ ... (11) Characters of address area 502 Conditional expression to prevent the size from becoming extremely large: Name character size ₁ ≦ the upper limit U ............... font size (12) Name region 503 condition for the character size is not extremely large: the upper limit value of the Font size s ₂ ≦ character size name U ............... (13) Conditional expression for maintaining a constant balance between the character size of the address area 502 and the character size of the name area 503: Character size of name s ₂ = ratio of character size of address and name C × character size of address s ₁ ... (14) Next, in step 104, in step 10
At the time of printing with the character size S _{1a of the} address and the character size S _2a of the name obtained in No. 3, it is determined by the following conditional expression whether to move the boundary between the address area 502 and the name area 503 to the name side.

Address line number M ₁ × address character size S _1a > length of address area 502 in the line direction A ₁ (15) In step 104, the address line number M ₁ and the address character size S 1 The product of _1a is the length A _{1 of the} address area 502 in the row direction.
If it is larger than the above, the process proceeds to step 105, and the boundary between the address area 502 and the name area 503 is set to the name area 50.
It is moved to the side of 3 by the amount shown in the following equation.

Number of Address Lines M ₁ × Address Character Size S _1a- Length of Address Area 502 in Line Direction A ₁ (16) Next, in step 108, in step 10
Printing is executed using the character size S _{1a of the} address and the character size S _2a of the name obtained in 3.

According to the prior art, since the boundary between the address area 502 and the name area 503 is fixed in this case, when the number of rows M _{1 of the} address is extremely large, the above equation (1) is used. Since the character size s ₁ of the address becomes too small, the name area 503 has a sufficient margin, but the character size s ₁ of the address is affected by the expression (7), and the character of the name is affected. As a result of the size s ₂ becoming too small, the overall appearance of the postcard addressing surface becomes poor as shown in FIG. 6B. However, according to the present invention, it is possible to move the boundary between the address area 502 and the name area 503 to the name side for printing, and therefore, as shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), printing is performed with an optimum character size.

In step 104, the product of the number M ₁ of lines of the address and the character size S _1a of the address is the address area 502.
If it is smaller than the length A ₁ in the row direction, then step 1
06, the address area 502 and the name area 5 at the time of printing
Whether or not the boundary of 03 is moved to the address side is determined by the following conditional expression.

Number of lines of name M ₂ × character size of name S _2a > length of name area 503 in the row direction A ₂ (17) Then, in step 106, the number of lines of name M ₂ and the characters of the name When the product of the size S _2a is larger than the length A _{2 of the} name area 503 in the row direction, the process proceeds to step 107, and the boundary between the address area 502 and the name area 503 is moved to the address area 502 side. Move by the amount shown in the formula.

Number of Name Lines M ₂ × Name Character Size S _2a −Length of Name Area 503 in Line Direction A ₂ (18) Next, in Step 108, in Step 10 above.
Printing is executed using the character size S _{1a of the} address and the character size S _2a of the name obtained in 3.

According to the prior art, since the boundary between the address area 502 and the name area 503 is fixed in this case, if the number M _{2 of} name lines is extremely large, the above equation (2) is used. Since the character size s ₂ of the name becomes too small, the address area 502 has a sufficient margin, but the character size s ₂ of the name is affected by the expression (7), and As a result, the size s ₁ becomes too small, and the appearance of the entire postcard addressing surface becomes poor as shown in FIG. 6C. However, according to the present invention, the boundary between the address area 502 and the name area 503 can be moved to the address side for printing, so
As shown in (c), printing is performed with an optimum character size.

In step 106, the product of the number of lines M ₂ of the name and the character size S _2a of the name is the name area 503.
Is smaller than the length A ₂ in the row direction, the character size S _{1a of the} address and the character size S _{2a of the} name obtained in step 103 are not necessarily the optimum character sizes. Since there are many characters in the column direction, the character size cannot be increased further. Therefore, the process moves to step 108 without moving the boundary between the address area 502 and the name area 503 to the character size S _{1a of the} address and the character size S _{2a of the} name.
To print. The print result in this case is shown in FIG.

As described above, in the conventional example,
When the number M ₁ of lines of the address is extremely large, the character size of the address becomes too small, which causes a problem that the entire appearance of the postcard addressing surface becomes bad as shown in FIG. 6B. In addition, when the number of lines M _{2 of the} name is extremely large, the character size of the name becomes too small, so that there is a problem that the overall appearance of the postcard addressing surface becomes bad as shown in FIG. 6C. is there. However, according to the present invention, those problems are effectively solved, and it is possible to print by setting the character size of the address and the name character size to an optimum state.

In the above embodiment, the case where the address and the name are printed on the address surface of a normal postcard has been described as an example. However, as shown in FIG. It goes without saying that the present invention can be effectively applied to the case where the printing area is provided above the picture card in which the text can be described below. Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the case where the two print areas on the address surface are joined to each other has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and FIG. It is also applicable to the case where a fixed interval is provided between the respective print areas as shown in FIG. Further, in addition to postcards, the present invention is effectively applied to the case of printing characters and the like on various types of envelopes, tack stickers, and various types of paper other than postcards, or for screen display of an information processing device. It goes without saying that it is possible.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention, the character size is set so that a predetermined character string is appropriately arranged in a corresponding printing area for a plurality of printing areas. The appearance of the printing surface is remarkably improved by being applied to the automatic character size setting method and having a processing procedure for adjusting the balance of the character arrangement and the character size in the print areas adjacent to each other in the plurality of print areas. There is an effect that can be done.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a character arrangement for address printing in the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of address printing according to the present exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a flowchart of a conventional example.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an address / name printing area.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a character arrangement for address printing in a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101-108, 401, 402 Step 501 Postcard 502 Address area 503 Name area

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An automatic character size setting method for presetting a character size of a character string to be printed in each of the printing areas, which corresponds to a printing surface having a plurality of printing areas. Corresponding to arbitrary first and second print areas adjacent to, a first step of obtaining a maximum value of the character size in each print area; and the first print obtained in the first step. A second step of determining whether the maximum value of the character size in the area is larger than a predetermined lower limit value of the character size, and the maximum value of the character size in the first print area is the character A third step of again obtaining a corrected maximum value of the character size in the first and second print areas when the size is smaller than the lower limit of the size; and the first print area. A fourth step of determining whether the product of the value of the number of lines of the character string and the modified maximum value of the character size in the first print area is larger than the length of the character string in the row direction; When the product of the value of the number of rows of the character string in the first print area and the modified maximum value of the character size in the first print area is larger than the length of the character string in the row direction, the first A fifth step of moving a boundary between the print area and the second print area to the side of the second print area by a predetermined amount, a value of the number of lines of a character string in the first print area, and the first value. When the product of the corrected maximum character size in the printing area is smaller than the length of the character string in the row direction, the value of the number of rows of the character string in the second printing area and the second value
The product of the corrected maximum character size in the print area of is
A sixth step of determining whether the length of the character string in the second printing area in the row direction is larger than the value, the value of the number of rows of the character string in the second printing area, and the second printing area. When the product of the character size and the corrected maximum value in the second print area is larger than the length of the character string in the row direction in the second print area, the boundary between the first print area and the second print area is set to the first print area. 7th step of moving a predetermined amount to the print area side, and in the 2nd step, it is determined that the maximum value of the character size in the first print area is larger than a predetermined lower limit value of the character size. And the eighth step of executing printing on the first and second print areas after the processing of the fifth step and the seventh step is completed, the character size Dynamic setting method. 2. In the fifth step, the predetermined amount for moving the boundary between the first print area and the second print area to the side of the second print area is a character string in the first print area. Is the product of the number of lines and the modified maximum value of the character size in the first print area, minus the length in the row direction of the character string in the first print area. In the sixth step, The predetermined amount for moving the boundary between the first print area and the second print area to the side of the first print area is the number of lines of the character string in the second print area and the characters in the second print area. From the product of the modified maximum size,
2. The character size automatic setting method according to claim 1, wherein the quantity is the quantity obtained by subtracting the length in the row direction of the character string in the second print area.