JPH0833929B2 - Image creation device - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an image creating apparatus for processing an image, and in particular, a predetermined bit for drawing a figure on a sheet using various pens as writing instruments. The present invention relates to an image creating apparatus capable of editing an image using a pattern.

"Prior Art" Drawings are drawn using a Japanese word processor or computer, and these are used in the field of design, or used by being combined with a part of a document. In this type of image creating apparatus, a figure is created by designating the type of figure such as a circle or a triangle, or by designating the locus of a curve using a pointing device such as a mouse. The type of line as a constituent element of the figure is selected by selecting a desired one from several preset solid lines and broken lines.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In such an image creating apparatus, the thickness of the line cannot be finely adjusted, and therefore the image to be expressed must be a uniform one with a small degree of freedom. I didn't get it. Recently, it has become possible to read various images on the device using an image sensor such as CCD and edit the image. In relation to these, it is more flexible to create lines and dots. The appearance of an effective means for creating figures was desired.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an image creating apparatus capable of electronically creating an image by using an image already created or an image being created as a bit pattern just like a pen tip.

"Means for Solving Problems" In the present invention, in an image creating device that draws a figure by selecting a bit pattern as a registered pen tip and moving the selected bit pattern on a display screen, (A) storage means for storing information on a bit pattern as a pen tip; (b) editing means for editing bit pattern data that determines the pen tip based on input data; and (c) as an editing result of this editing means. Registration means for registering the bit pattern data of
(D) Cutting means for cutting a designated area of desired image data as input data, (e) an image of a locus drawn by the movement of the selected bit pattern, and an image on the display screen already displayed. A mode selecting means for selecting a display mode mode at the time of superimposing, and (f) a logic processing means for taking a logic for each pixel between images at the time of superimposing based on the mode selected by the mode selecting means, (G) A movement control means for controlling the time interval of movement of the bit pattern selected based on the selection of the line type attribute that defines the type of line and changing the pattern of the locus of the movement, in the image creating apparatus. Let

As described above, according to the present invention, the bit pattern of the pen tip obtained by cutting out the designated area of the desired image data can be edited (including the change), while the bit as the editing result of the editing means is edited. The pattern data is registered in the storage means so that it can be selected as the bit pattern of the pen tip. And an image of the trajectory drawn by the movement of the selected bit pattern,
Since the mode of the display form at the time of superimposing with the image on the already displayed display screen can be selected by the mode selection means, for example, the locus of the portion superposed on the image on the already displayed display screen. The desired expression form such as making the image of opaque state, making it transparent state on the contrary, erasing the image of the locus in this overlapped part, inverting the image on the display screen already displayed, etc. You will be able to take it.
In addition, since the time interval of movement of the selected bit pattern is controlled based on the selection of the line type attribute, and the pattern of the locus of movement is changed, discontinuity such as broken lines using the pen tip pattern. You can express solid lines and solid lines.

[Examples] The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to Examples.

FIG. 1 shows the elements of the circuit configuration of the image forming apparatus in one embodiment of the present invention.

This image creating apparatus is equipped with a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11 and is connected to each part of the apparatus by a bus 12. Of these, the temporary data storage unit 13 is a random access memory for temporarily storing various data. The program storage unit 14 is a device that stores programs for performing various controls of the image creating apparatus, and a part of the disk device is used in this embodiment. The image file storage unit 15 is a memory that stores an image file as data created by a bit pattern. Although not directly related to the present invention, the document file storage unit 16 is a unit for storing a file of a document created with characters, symbols and the like.

The attribute storage unit 17 is a unit for storing five attributes of the pen as the drawing means used in this embodiment.
These will be described in detail later. display
Reference numeral 18 is a device for displaying images and document information, and printer 19 is a device for printing out these. mouse
Reference numeral 20 denotes a pointing device, which can be moved on a desk to move a cursor or a pen tip described in detail later to a desired position. Two buttons are arranged on the mouse 19, and various instructions can be given by pressing (pressing) these buttons. The keyboard 21 is provided with various keys such as a ten-key pad. By operating these keys, it is possible to input a sentence and give various instructions to the image creating apparatus.

FIG. 2 shows a storage area of the attribute storage unit. The attribute storage unit 17 includes a pen attribute storage unit 25, a pattern attribute storage unit 26, a mode attribute storage unit 27, a line type attribute storage unit 28, and a writing style storage unit 29.

Of these, the pen attribute storage unit 25 is a unit that stores the shape of the pen tip. In this embodiment, a pen tip having a 16 × 16 bit pattern is prepared, but a desired image can be cut out and used as the pen tip. Further, the pen tip can be subjected to processing such as distortion and rotation to adjust the usage state.

The pattern attribute storage unit 26 is, so to speak, a part for storing information on paints to be applied to brushes, and various kinds of paints such as gray with a density of 50% and black are prepared. For example, if a straight line with a predetermined thickness is drawn on the pen tip, information for determining the pattern of this straight line portion will be stored in this storage unit 26.

The mode attribute storage unit 27 is a unit that stores information that determines how to represent a newly drawn image in relation to what is already written in the image area. For example, when a mesh pattern is set in the previous pattern attribute storage unit 26, information is stored whether this is set as the pattern drawn by the pen tip as it is or as the pattern through which the image below can be seen through. To be done.

The line type attribute storage unit 28 is a unit that stores information that defines the type of line. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, an image is created by shifting the center position of the pen tip pattern (in this case, a quadrangle) every pixel. This drawing shows a state in which the pen tip pattern is expressed pixel by pixel. In this case, a solid line is expressed as shown in FIG. On the other hand, if the attributes are set so that the pen tip pattern is expressed at a predetermined number of intervals, discontinuous lines such as broken lines are expressed as shown in FIG.

Finally, the writing attribute storage unit 29 is a unit that stores information regarding a picture drawn using a brush with paint. In addition to figures such as straight lines, circles, and squares, there are points, freehand curves, and the like. Here, the point means that the pattern of the pen tip (brush) with the paint is attached to the image creating area (image canvas).

FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing the relationship between the work of designating these various attributes and the work of creating an image.

The operator sets various attributes when creating an image. These may be settings for only the changed portion of the attribute that is currently set, or may be for changing all of them. An image is created and attributes are set in a state where a window called a palette window is displayed on the display 18 (step in FIG. 6).

FIG. 7 shows the display contents of the palette window. The palette window 41 includes a pen attribute box 42 for designating a pen attribute, a pattern attribute box 43 for designating a pattern attribute, a mode attribute box 45 for designating a mode attribute, a line type attribute box 44 for designating a line type attribute, and a writing attribute. Each attribute box of the designated writing attribute box 46 is displayed. These attribute boxes 42
Below -46, there is provided a first display area 47 for displaying the height and width of the pen tip, and a second display area 48 for displaying the changed size of the pen tip and various data when drawing a figure. Has been.
An image campus for drawing an image is provided below the palette window 41.

Now, when setting the pen attribute while the palette window 41 is displayed on the display 18,
In the drawing step; Y), the pen attribute box 42 is designated with the mouse 20 to set the pen attribute. This updates the display of pen attributes (step).

When setting pattern attributes (step;
Y) and specify the pattern attribute box 43 with the mouse 20 to set the pattern attribute. As a result, the display of the pattern attribute is updated (step).

When setting the mode attribute (step; Y),
Specify the mode attribute box 45 with the mouse 20 to set the mode attribute. As a result, the display of the mode attribute is updated (step).

When the line type attribute is set (step; Y), the line type attribute box 44 is specified with the mouse 20 to set the line type attribute. As a result, the display of the line type attribute is updated (step).

When setting the writing style attribute (step; Y),
The style attribute box 46 is specified with the mouse 20 to set the style attribute. As a result, the display of the writing attributes is updated (step).

When the image is edited (step; Y), the writing work is performed in the image campus with the specified attribute (step). During this process, it is possible to switch to the attribute change (steps to) to make a predetermined change and return to the image creation work.

FIG. 8 is for explaining the operation of the mouse in the writing operation shown in the step of FIG. In the image canvas, the CPU 11 monitors whether or not the button of the mouse 20 has been pressed (Fig. 8 (step ~). When the button is pressed (step; Y), the start position for creating the figure is set. Then, set the end point position when the button is released (step; Y), write the image according to the start position, end point position and attribute value for creating the figure, and display the edit target. Update (step).

Now we will explain the setting of each attribute and then show an example of how an image is created.

Setting of Pen Attribute In the image creating apparatus of this embodiment, the following three types of pens can be used.

(1) System registration pen This pen is provided in advance by the device side. These are seven types of black-painted figures having different sizes as shown in FIG.

(2) User registration pen This pen creates and registers a pen tip pattern according to the user's preference.

(3) Cut-out pen A pen whose shape is the cut-out part of the already created image or part of the screen is the pen tip. Although the system registration pen and the user registration pen are limited in the number of pixels (pen tip size) constituting one pen, in the case of the cutout pen, there is practically no restriction on this.

(Selection of Pen) Next, FIG. 10 is for explaining the selection operation of the above-mentioned three types of pens in the state where the palette window 41 (FIG. 7) is displayed. When the operator selects a pen mark from the marks shown in the palette window with the mouse 20 (step), a small window called a pen pop-up menu is displayed on a part of the display 18 (step). When a mark other than the pen mark is selected or other work is performed, the corresponding processing is performed (step).

In the pen pop-up menu, patterns of pen tips of seven types of pens (system registration pens) already prepared in the image creating apparatus and marks for selecting user registration pens and cut pens are displayed. If the operator moves the mouse 20 to select one of the system-registered pens (step; Y), that pen will be selected to draw the graphic. On the other hand, if the operator selects the user-registered pen mark (step;
Y), a window called a popup menu for user registration is set (step). Here, the pen tip pattern registered by the user is displayed. When the operator selects one of these with the mouse 20 (step), this becomes the pen for drawing the figure.

On the other hand, when the operator selects a cut mark from the pen pop-up menu (step; Y), a window called a cut-out pop-up menu is displayed on the display 18 (step). Three marks are displayed in this window, and the operator can specify one of the "screen", "reverse" and "move" cut modes by selecting one of these marks ( Step).

Here, the "screen" cutout mode is a mode in which the same one displayed on the screen is cut out. "Posting"
The cutout mode is a mode in which a part of the image stored in the image file storage unit 15 is cut out.
The "move" mode is similar to the "transcription" mode, but the cut portion becomes white.

When one of the modes of "screen", "transfer", and "move" is designated (Y), cutting is performed in that mode (step), and the cut image becomes the pen tip.

(Editing of Pen Point and Setting of Center) By the way, in the image creating apparatus of this embodiment, it is possible to edit the pattern of the pen point and set the center of the pen point. In the case of a user-registered pen, a new pen tip is created and registered by this operation. The pen tip pattern of the user registration pen in the present embodiment is configured by 16 × 16 pixels.

 These operations will be described with reference to FIG.

When the operator selects the pen editor mode for editing the pen (step), a window called the pen editor window is opened on the display 18, in which the pen tip pattern registered by the user or already prepared Is displayed (step). On the other hand, when the operator selects a mode other than the pen editor mode, the operation of the selected mode is executed (step).

While selecting one of the pens in the pen editor window with the mouse 20, the operator specifies whether the work to be performed now is shape display editing or size / center editing. When the shape display edit is designated (step; Y), the information (pen information) about the designated pen is read from the attribute storage unit 17 and stored in the temporary data storage unit 13 (step).

As shown in FIG. 12, a pen shape display edit window 31 is opened together with this, and the pen tip of the pen corresponding thereto is displayed in two sizes, an enlarged display 32 and an original size display 33 (step). Here, the enlarged display 32 is for displaying each pixel enlarged in a mesh shape, and the original size display 33 is displayed for each pixel of the display 18 in one-to-one correspondence.

In this state, the operator moves the mouse 20 to the changed portion of the enlarged display 32 and presses the left button or the right button thereof. If the left button is pressed (step;
Y), the section of the one square is changed to black (step). On the other hand, when the right button is pressed (step; Y), the section is changed to white (step). Thereafter, the enlargement / actual size display is updated (step).

On the other hand, when size / center editing is specified (steps; N ,; Y), information about the size and center of the pen in the pen information of the specified pen is read from the attribute storage unit 17, and the temporary data storage unit is read. Stored in 13 (step). Thereafter, a pen size editing window is opened on the display 18, and these data are displayed (step). The size of the pen tip can be specified in a predetermined range in the vertical and horizontal directions, thereby making it possible to enlarge or reduce the pen tip. The center position of the pen tip can also be specified by using vertical and horizontal coordinates. The pen tip center position is a center position when the pen is moved or rotated, and needs to be within the size of the pen tip.

When the size or center of the pen tip is changed (step;
Y), the contents of the temporary data storage unit 13 are updated (step), and the changed contents are displayed.

In the above states (steps), the operator
If you specify to save the current status using 20 (step
Y), the contents of the attribute storage unit 17 are updated with the contents of the temporary data storage unit 13 (step). On the contrary,
When the operator specifies that the reset is to be performed (step; Y), the original pen information is restored. That is, the operator can restart the work from the selection operation of the shape display editing and the size / center editing (step,
).

If you continue editing without specifying save or reset (step; Y), if you want to edit the shape display (step; Y), work is restarted from the step and size / center editing is performed. If (N), the work is restarted from the step.

Setting of pattern attributes There are three types of patterns, one registered by the system as with the pen tip, one registered by the user, and one cut out from a part of the image file. Each one
The basic unit is 16x16 pixels, and the desired pattern is expressed by repeating this in both the vertical and horizontal directions.
When the user registers the pattern, the basic unit of 16 × 16 pixels is edited in the same manner as described for the pen in FIG. At this time, the pattern in which the pattern of the basic unit is repeated is displayed as the original size display together with the enlarged display.

Setting the mode attribute The mode attribute is used to set how the image of the place is expressed in relation to the pattern of the pen tip, the pattern set by the pattern attribute, and the image of the place where the image is drawn. , There are the following five types.

(1) Opacity This is an expression format in which the picture to be written later is on top. A brush as a paint is written on the black part of the pen tip, and the picture (the image drawn on the image canvas) below the written part cannot be seen. No brush is drawn on the white part of the pen, so you can see the picture below.

(2) Erase This is an expression format that erases with a brush. Brush is "eraser"
It is like

(3) Inversion This is an expression format in which the lower picture is reversed when the brush is black.

(4) Replacement This is an expression format that replaces the picture below with the entire brush. No matter what the picture below is, the brush is expressed and the picture below disappears.

(5) Transparency It is an expression format in which the picture to be written later is at the bottom. The picture below is transparent, so you can see the picture below.

Both the pen, the pattern, and the image are represented in black and white by the pixel unit. The respective modes described above are represented by the logical relationships shown in Table 1 below.

The image forming apparatus is provided with a circuit portion that takes the logic shown in Table 1. Pen, pattern, and image signals are input by predetermined bits, and the result of logical operation according to the mode is a temporary data storage unit. It is written in 13, and the content is displayed on the display 18 or printed out from the printer 19.

Line Type Attribute Settings There are line types prepared in advance by the system and line types registered and used by the user. The system prepares in advance a solid line, a broken line, a one-dot chain line, and a two-dot chain line. The user can display the line type pop-up menu and select the line type registered by the system. At this time, if the user selects the line type for user registered line type, the line type pop-up menu for user registration appears and the line registered by the user is displayed. The species can be selected.

As the line type registered by the user, a window for editing the line may be displayed on the display 18 and the interval at which the pen tip is drawn on the image may be designated as already described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. .

Setting of writing styles The writing styles include points, freehand, straight lines, continuous straight lines, curved lines, continuous curves, squares, boxes, circles, and elliptical sprays. These will be selected by the mouse 20, which is displayed as a mark in the pop-up menu.

The “dot” in the writing attribute means that the pattern of the pen tip specified by each attribute box is pasted in a dot-like image. "Freehand" is a mouse
A curve drawn according to the locus written while pressing the button at 20. "Continuous straight line" means a writing method in which the end point of the first straight line becomes the start point of the next straight line. "Continuous curve" is also a way of drawing curves continuously. "box"
Is a writing method that fills a rectangle. "Spray" is a writing method in which a plurality of "dots" are pasted on the image canvas by using a spray.

Image Editing Now, as an example, the operation of drawing a quadrangle on the image canvas will be described.

 FIG. 13 is for explaining this operation.

After each attribute is specified, when the operator operates the mouse 20 to move the cursor to the image canvas (step), the pen tip in the currently specified state is displayed instead of the cursor (step). In this state, the operator can move the mouse 20 to freely move the pen tip within the image canvas.

When the button of the mouse 20 is pressed at an arbitrary position (step), a quadrangular mark (same as the enlarged display mark) 56 as shown in FIG. 14 is displayed in the second display area 48 (step). Then, the coordinates of the pressed point are determined and registered in the temporary data storage unit 13 (step).
After this, as long as the button is held down, the length and width (height and width) of the rectangle corresponding to the diagonal line as shown in Fig. 15
The lengths L2 and L3 of the two sides are calculated, and the numerical value and the quadrangle are displayed and displayed in the second display area 48 (step,). When the mouse 20 button is released (step; Y),
The display of the mark 56 and the height and width data in the second display area 48 is turned off (step). Then, the same image as that obtained by drawing the quadrangle with the pen tip is written in the temporary data storage unit 13 and displayed on the display 18 (step).

Next, for example, when drawing a circle, if there is no change in other attributes, the writing attribute may be changed to “circle”, the mouse 20 may be moved to the image canvas, and the same editing work may be performed.

In the embodiment described above, various operations were performed using the mouse 20, but similar operations can be performed using other pointing devices, keys on the keyboard, and the like.

According to the present embodiment, since the concept of attributes is introduced in the creation of an image, once the various attributes are set, it is necessary to reset the attributes only at the changed portions, which speeds up the work.
Further, if the concept of various attributes is understood, the operation related to complicated image editing can be easily advanced.

As described above, according to the present invention, since the cutting means for cutting out the designated area of the desired image data is prepared, it is possible to easily create various pen tip patterns desired by the user. Further, since the bit pattern data defining the pen tip such as the pen tip pattern cut by the cutting means can be edited (including change), a pattern according to various usage patterns can be obtained or a more appropriate pattern can be obtained. Modifications and changes to obtain it are possible. Further, since the bit pattern data as the edited result of the editing means is registered in the recording means so that it can be selected as the pen tip bit pattern, when only the pen tip pattern prepared by the device or the system side is selected. Compared with, the range of selection is expanded, and a pattern more suitable for use can be selected.

Further, in the present invention, the mode of the display form at the time of superimposing the image of the trajectory drawn by the movement of the bit pattern and the image on the already displayed display screen can be selected by the mode selection means. Even when you draw a complicated figure with a pen on the image on the displayed display screen, you can take an easy-to-understand expression form by adopting an appropriate expression form in this overlapping part. You will be able to easily perform advanced editing. Further, in the present invention, the time interval of the movement of the selected bit pattern is controlled based on the selection of the line type attribute, and the pattern of the locus of the movement is changed. It is possible to represent discontinuous lines and solid lines.

[Brief description of drawings]

The drawings are for explaining one embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main portion of a circuit configuration of an image creating apparatus, and FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of an attribute storage unit,
FIG. 3 is a principle view showing an image creating principle in the image creating apparatus of this embodiment, FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing a straight line creating state, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing a broken line creating state.
FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing the relationship between the work of designating various attributes and the work of creating an image, FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a display example of a palette window, and FIG. 8 is for explaining a mouse operation in a writing work. FIG. 9, FIG. 9 is a pattern configuration diagram showing the contents of the system registration pen, FIG. 10 is a flow chart for explaining the selection operation of three types of pens, and FIG. 11 is a flow chart for explaining the pen editing work. , Fig. 12 is a plan view showing a display example of the pen shape display edit window, Fig. 13 is a flow chart showing the work of drawing a rectangle on the image canvas,
FIG. 14 is a plan view showing a display example of the second display area, and FIG. 15 is a principle view showing the principle of determining the size of the rectangle. 11 …… CPU, 13 …… Temporary data storage, 14 …… Program storage, 15 …… Image file storage, 17 …… Attribute storage, 18 …… Display, 20 …… Mouse, 25 …… Pen attribute Storage unit, 26 ... Pattern attribute storage unit, 27 ... Mode attribute storage unit, 28 ... Line type attribute storage unit, 29 ... Writing attribute storage unit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An image creating apparatus for drawing a graphic by selecting a registered bit pattern as a pen tip and moving the selected bit pattern on a display screen, wherein information on the bit pattern as the pen tip is provided. A storage unit for storing the bit pattern data for defining the pen tip based on the input data; a registration unit for registering the bit pattern data as the editing result of the editing unit in the storage unit; A cutting means for cutting a specified area of the image data as the input data, an image of a trajectory drawn by the movement of the selected bit pattern, and an image on the display screen already displayed at the time of superposition With the mode selecting means for selecting the mode of the display form and the mode selecting means A logic processing means for taking a logic for each pixel between the images at the time of superimposing based on a predetermined mode; and a moving time of the selected bit pattern based on selection of a line type attribute which defines a line type. An image creating apparatus comprising: a movement control unit that controls a distance to change a pattern of a locus of movement.