JPH09212149A - Device and method for character generation - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the quality of the font, which is small in the size, by compensating for the line width of the character whose horizontal and vertical line widths are within a certain range while outputting a specific output size. SOLUTION: A CPU 1 operates depending on the judgement on whether the line width adjustment (compensation) should be made or not. In other words, the range of the line width data for the adjustment of every kind of lines are beforehand inputted to the information in a font (for example, 18 to 22 dots for a horizontal width). If the line width of a horizontal line obtained by each step is within the range, it is judged that the width is in the range for the adjustment and a line width adjustment is conducted. If the width is out of the range, it is judged that no adjustment should be made for and a setting is made to a standard line width value. Thus, the compensation is made for the line width of the small character which is suitable for a printer and a display and as a result, a high quality character is generated. Moreover, no need to add line width information in the font and the amount of information for the font is reduced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a character generating apparatus and a character generating method for converting character information coded in a vector format into a dot format character pattern.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an information processing apparatus or a Postscript printer, a character generator is used to convert a character code into a character pattern in dot format (also called a bit map image) when displaying or printing characters. Then, the visible output is performed. In a general character generation method, a dot-shaped character pattern is stored in a memory in association with a character code. When a character occurs, a dot-shaped character pattern corresponding to the character code is extracted. The character pattern stored in the memory is called a font, and the dot format font is called a bitmap font.

Bitmap fonts are, for example, 32x
In the 32 squares, the position corresponding to the line of the character is represented by bit 1 and the part without the line is represented by bit 0. In the above example, one character is represented by the bit number of 32x32. As described above, when a large number of characters are generated, the capacity of the memory for storing the character pattern also becomes large.

Therefore, a character pattern is created by connecting representative characteristic points of a character, and information defining the position of the representative characteristic point and the way of connecting the characteristic points, that is, the character, is stored in the memory. Has been developed as a vector, and a character generation method has been developed in which this vector information is stored in a memory. Such a font is known as a stroke composite font, a vector font, or an outline font. Such a vector type font has a merit that a character pattern does not have to be stored for each character size because a character pattern is stored by vector information.

Vector font type data such as outline font data and stroke composite font is stored in a memory as original data, and when character data is expanded into a bitmap image and output, horizontal lines or vertical lines are set at the level of the original data. When the lines are evenly arranged, the line width of the expanded output result is also made to correspond to the character size. In other words, the relationship between the large size character and the small size character is a scaling relationship.

[0006]

In such a conventional example, the line width of two horizontal lines or vertical lines in the character line is delicately different for a specific character such as "day" depending on the typeface. . In the case of such a character, there is no problem in the case of a large size, but when trying to create a character of 40 to 50 dots in a character generator, there is a slight difference in the line width of the original data, and the difference in the line width is However, there is a problem in that the display result or the print result of a small-sized character, on the contrary, causes a visually unappealing result.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and in a specific output size, if the width of a horizontal line or a vertical line is within a certain range, the line width is corrected. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a character generation device and a character generation method capable of improving the quality of a small font.

[0008]

In order to achieve such an object, the invention of claim 1 creates a bit map image of a character by connecting feature points of the character and creates the bit map image. In a character generator for storing the positions of the characteristic points required for the storage means as a part of the font, arithmetic processing means for acquiring the line width in the bitmap image before the creation of the bitmap image, A line width range that requires image correction is determined in advance according to the size of the character, and a determination unit that determines whether or not the line width acquired by the arithmetic processing unit is within the line width range, and a positive determination is obtained. In this case, the image processing means for correcting the line width of the bitmap image to be created is provided.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the character generating device according to the first aspect, the character is a character that does not allow the intersection of the lines forming the character.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the character generating device according to the first aspect, the character is a character that allows the intersection of lines forming the character.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the character generating device according to the first aspect, the calculating means acquires the line width from the position of the characteristic point.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the character generating apparatus according to the first aspect, the line type to be judged by the judging means is a horizontal line.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the character generating device according to the first aspect, the line type to be judged by the judging means is a vertical line.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the character generating apparatus according to the first aspect, the range of the line width required for the image correction is determined according to the line type of the character.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the character generating apparatus according to the first aspect, the size of the character to be corrected by the image processing means is a character having a predetermined size or less.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the character generation device according to the eighth aspect, means for determining whether or not the character to be generated is smaller than or equal to the predetermined size, and a positive determination is obtained. Further, it is characterized by further comprising control means for causing the image processing means to execute correction.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, the character generating apparatus according to the first aspect further comprises output means for outputting the bitmap image corrected by the image processing means.

According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the character generating apparatus according to the tenth aspect, the output means is a printer.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the character generating apparatus according to the tenth aspect, the output means is a display.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in the character generating apparatus according to the first aspect, the judging means obtains the difference between the predetermined standard line width and the line width acquired by the arithmetic processing means. Means and a second arithmetic processing means for obtaining a ratio between the obtained difference and the standard line width, and whether or not the ratio is equal to or less than a certain ratio determines whether or not the ratio is within the range of the line width. It is characterized by making a judgment.

According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, a bit map image of a character is created by connecting feature points of the character, and the position of the feature point necessary for creating the bit map image is stored in the storage device as a part of the font. In the character generation method of the character generator to be stored in, the range of the line width required for image correction is determined in advance according to the size of the character, and the line width in the bitmap image is set before the creation of the bitmap image. It is characterized in that the line width of the bitmap image to be created is corrected by determining whether or not the acquired line width is within the range of the line width.

According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, in the character generation method of the character generation device according to the fourteenth aspect, the character is a character that does not allow intersection of lines forming the character.

According to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, in the character generating method of the character generating device according to the fourteenth aspect, the character is a character that allows the intersection of lines forming the character.

According to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, in the character generating method of the character generating device according to the fourteenth aspect, the line width is acquired from the position of the characteristic point.

According to an eighteenth aspect of the present invention, in the character generating method of the character generating device according to the fourteenth aspect, the line type to be judged is a horizontal line.

According to a nineteenth aspect of the invention, in the character generating method of the character generating apparatus according to the fourteenth aspect, the line type to be judged is a vertical line.

According to a twentieth aspect of the present invention, in the character generating method of the character generating apparatus according to the fourteenth aspect, the range of the line width that requires the image correction is determined according to the line type of the character.

According to a twenty-first aspect of the present invention, in the character generation method of the character generation device according to the fourteenth aspect, the size of the character whose line width is to be corrected is a predetermined size or less. To do.

According to a twenty-second aspect of the present invention, in the character generation method of the character generation device according to the twenty-first aspect, it is determined whether or not the character to be generated is less than or equal to the predetermined size, and a positive determination is obtained. In this case, the line width is corrected when

According to a twenty-third aspect of the present invention, in the character generation method of the character generation device according to the fourteenth aspect, a predetermined standard line width is determined when determining whether the acquired line width is within the range of the line width. Then, the difference between the obtained line width and the obtained line width is obtained, then the ratio between the difference and the standard line width is obtained, and whether or not the ratio is equal to or less than a certain ratio is within the line width range. It is characterized by determining.

[0031]

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

(First Embodiment) A first embodiment of the present invention will be described. The present invention may be achieved in a system including a plurality of devices or may be achieved in an apparatus including a single device. Further, it goes without saying that the present invention is also applied to the case where the present invention is achieved by supplying a program to a system or an apparatus.

FIG. 1 shows the basic configuration of an information processing system to which the present invention is applied. This system may be a Japanese word processor or may be a computer system such as a workstation. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a CPU, that is, a central processing unit, which controls the entire device and performs arithmetic processing and the like. As will be described later, the CPU 1 executes arithmetic processing and image processing for character generation.

Reference numeral 2 denotes a ROM, that is, a read-only memory, which stores a system start-up program and character pattern data (vector font) for character conversion.
3 is a RAM, that is, a random access memory, and C
The data used for calculation of PU1 and the calculation result of CPU1 are temporarily stored.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a KBC, that is, a keyboard control unit, which receives key input data (character code or control code) from the KB of 5, ie, the keyboard, and transmits it to the CPU 1. Reference numeral 6 denotes a CRTC, that is, a display control unit, which reads display information stored in the RAM 3, that is, a bitmap image converted from a character code,
Transfer to CRT7. In this embodiment, character conversion is performed by the CPU 1.
As a result, the bit map image after character conversion is RA
Although stored in M3, when the display information is stored in the form of character code, a character generator is provided in the CRTC 6 to perform character generation (conversion to bit map image).

Reference numeral 7 is a CRT, that is, a display device, which receives a bitmap image from the CRTC 6 and displays it on a display screen. Reference numeral 9 is an external storage device such as an FD, that is, a floppy disk device, or an HD, that is, a hard disk device. Programs and data are stored in the external storage device 9, and the CPU 1 refers to the stored data or loads it into the RAM 3 as required. Also, the font for each typeface can be stored. 8 is D
KC, that is, a disk control unit, controls data transmission of the external storage device 9. Reference numeral 10 denotes a PRTC, that is, a printer control unit.
1 is performed. A system bus 12 transfers data between the above-mentioned components.

FIG. 2 shows the system configuration of an example in which the character generator of the present invention is installed in a printer. The printer type may be a laser beam printer, a bubble jet printer, a thermal transfer printer or the like, as long as the printer prints a bitmap image.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 21 denotes a CPU, that is, a central processing unit, which performs control of the entire apparatus and arithmetic processing relating to character generation, image processing and the like.

Reference numeral 22 is a ROM, that is, a read-only memory, which stores a program for printer control processing and character generation processing executed by the CPU 21 and a vector font used for character generation. Reference numeral 23 denotes a RAM, that is, a random access memory, which temporarily stores input / output data for the CPU 21. In addition, print information (character code,
The print control information), the bitmap image converted from the character code, and the like are also stored in the RAM 23.

Reference numeral 24 denotes a PRTC, that is, an output control unit, which converts a print control command output from the CPU 21 into a control signal used on the printer (PRT) main body 25 side.
A printer body 25 prints on a recording sheet. In the case of this example as well, the CPU 21 performs character generation processing, and the RAM
23, the bit map image in which characters are generated is transferred to the printer main body 25 via the PRTC 24.

Prior to the description of the present invention, general processing contents of character generation processing will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The example system of FIG. 1 is used for the description. An example of a character that does not intersect is a line that does not intersect.

In step 3-1 the CPU 1 receives the input parameters. Here, the input parameters include a character code of a character to be output, a typeface, a weight, an output size, an output format, and the like. The character code system is determined from predetermined character codes such as JIS code, shift JIS code, EUC code, and UNI code. The character code itself indicating the character type is input from the keyboard 5 or given from the application program to be executed. The typeface is selected from fontface typefaces such as Mincho typeface, Gothic type, and round Gothic type that are built in the system in advance, and is determined by a user or application instruction.

The weight is line thickness information of the typeface. Here, extra fine, thin, medium, and thick are prepared, and a user or an application program designates a type used for character generation. The output size is information on how large the font data is actually output. The output format is the output data format of the desired font, and output in contour coordinate data (vector information),
A request such as output as a bitmap image is issued. These pieces of information are also given by the user or the application program.

Next, in step 3-2, the CPU 1 stores the coordinate data (vector information) of the character to be generated in the ROM 2
Alternatively, the font information in the external storage device 9 that matches the above-mentioned instruction such as a typeface is read. The input information fetched at this time is coordinate information (positions of the characteristic points of the present invention) obtained by extracting the characteristic points of the contour of the character as shown in FIG. 4, and the straight line data / curve data discrimination flag, the contour for each point It has attribute information such as a start point / end point flag and information for managing the line width (line width management information).

The interpolation formula of the curve data handled here is 2
It may be a second-order or third-order B-spline curve or a second-order or third-order Bezier curve, but which interpolation formula is used is determined in advance. Further, the minimum value of the coordinates indicating the character frame is represented by 0, and the maximum value is represented by 800 or the like. The information for managing the line width is a standard line width for horizontal lines and vertical lines (information indicating the range of the line width of the present invention), and coordinate point numbers for notifying horizontal line or vertical line information.

Then, in step 3-3, the CPU 1
Performs enlarging / reducing processing of the coordinate data in order to create a bit map image indicating the output size of the input parameter. The calculation method at this time is that the required output size is (Ax,
Ay), the coordinate values obtained in step 3-2 are (x, y), the coordinate values after the enlargement / reduction processing are (X, Y), and the size of the stored character frame is (Mx,
My)

[0047]

## EQU1 ## (X, Y) = (x × Ax / Mx, y × Ay / My). The above calculation is performed for all the coordinate sequences of one character. At this time, the attribute flag at each coordinate point obtained in step 3-3 does not change.

In step 3-4, step 3-
Adjustment related to the present invention, that is, image correction is performed so that the line width becomes a desired width with respect to the coordinate value converted in 3.
This adjusting method will be described later with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

Then, in step 3-5, the CPU 1
Determines the output format type of the input parameter, and if the output format is contour coordinate data output, the process proceeds to step 3-6, and the data of the coordinate point and coordinate point attribute after scaling obtained in step 3-4. Returns the column to the requestor. FIG. 5 shows an example of the coordinate output.

If bitmap output is requested in step 3-5, the process proceeds to step 3-7. Steps 3-7 to 3-13 are processes for actually creating bitmap data from coordinate data. In step 3-7, it is determined whether the target coordinate data is a straight line or a curved line. When the target coordinate data is a straight line, the coordinate point is set as the start point of the straight line, and the next coordinate point is set as the end point of the straight line, and the process proceeds to step 3-8.

If the data handled is curve data, the coordinate data from the coordinate point to the coordinate data to which the curve end flag is added are regarded as curve data, and the process proceeds to step 3-9. In step 3-8, processing for generating a straight line is performed.
The straight line generating method at this time is generated by a known method called DDA. And at this time, two planes (RA
Dot on the virtual plane set on M3).

One is a painting plane, and as shown in FIG. 6, only one X coordinate is struck with respect to one Y coordinate. Because when filling, scan from the left side to the right side in each line, and to fill with 1 between 1 from the odd number 1 to the even number, set 1 X coordinate for 1 Y coordinate. This is because it will not be possible to paint properly if you do not leave it.

At this time, the method of hitting is to perform a logical operation of exclusive OR (XOR) of the dot value of the filling plane and the bit 1 at the target coordinate point, and the result is the target of the filling plane. Store in points.

The other plane is a plane for contour OR, and as shown in FIG. 7, bit 1 is set to all the X-coordinates of a straight line with respect to one Y-coordinate with respect to this plane. This is because the bit missing on the filling plane is supplemented by the contour OR plane.

In step 3-9, the curve data is converted into a set of short straight lines (short vectors). FIG. 8 shows how a cubic Bezier curve is converted into a set of short vectors. Points A, B, C, and D are curve data after coordinate conversion (third-order Bezier curve constituent points) obtained in step 3-3, and points a, b, and c are first obtained from these points. Point a is the midpoint between points A and B, point b is the midpoint between points B and C, and point c is the midpoint between points C and D.

Next, the points x, y, and z are obtained. Point x is the midpoint between points a and b, point z is the midpoint between points b and c, and point y is the point x.
Is the midpoint of the point z. The point sequence Aaxy becomes one new cubic Bezier constituent point, and the point sequence yzcD becomes another cubic Bezier constituent point. Each Bezier constituent point is subdivided by the same operation, and when a certain criterion is satisfied, the subdivision is stopped. The constituent point sequence of the cubic Bezier created up to that point becomes the set of short vectors.

In Step 3-10, Step 3-
Dots are made on two planes based on the set of short vectors obtained in 9. The method of hitting points on these two planes is exactly the same as the method shown in step 3-8, and is repeated for all the short vectors until the processing is completed.

In step 3-11, it is determined whether or not the coordinate data of one contour are all completed. If the processing is completed, the procedure proceeds to step 3-13. If the processing is not completed, the procedure proceeds to step 3-12. move on. In step 3-12, the pointer to the current coordinate data is updated to process the next data.

If it is a straight line, the pointer is updated to the next coordinate data, and if it is curve data, the pointer is updated to the end coordinate point of the curve. Then return to step 3-7,
A new straight line / curve judgment is made and a dot is made.

In step 3-13, it is determined whether the processing has been completed for all contour data for one character, and if the dot processing has been completed for all contours, the process proceeds to step 3-15. Otherwise, step 3-14
Proceed to. Then, in step 3-14, since one contour is completed, the pointer is advanced to the beginning of the next contour and the procedure returns to step 3-7. In step 3-15, since the dot processing on the two planes has been completed for all the coordinate data, scanning is performed from the left side for each scan line on the fill plane as shown in FIG. A process of filling 1 from the first 1 to the even 1 is performed. Then, the filling process is performed on all the scan lines.

At step 3-16, as shown in FIG. 10, the data of the filled plane obtained at step 3-15 and the data of the contour OR plane obtained at steps 3-8 and 3-10 are used. OR
To complete one character bitmap data. Then, in step 3-17, the bitmap data for one character obtained in step 3-16 is returned to the storage area designated by the requesting side, and the process ends.

The process of coordinate data adjustment (image correction of characters related to the invention) in step 3-4 of FIG. 3 will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In step 11-1, it is first determined from the font information in the ROM 2 (or the external storage device 9) what coordinate adjustment information the target character data has.

Here, the coordinate adjustment information is, as shown in FIG. 4B, a horizontal line standard line width (w), a vertical line standard line width (h), the number of pairs of upper and lower horizontal lines (α), Horizontal line upper coordinate point number (U
Pa, UPb ...) and the horizontal line lower coordinate point number (DPc, DPd ...) which is paired with it, the vertical line right / left pair number (β), the vertical line left coordinate point number (LPm, LPn)
...), the coordinate point number on the right side of the vertical line (RPo, RPp ...
・) Then, these data are read and the process proceeds to step 11-2. In step 11-2, it is determined whether or not there is horizontal line / vertical line data to be adjusted. When there is no horizontal line data to be adjusted, the value of α is 0, and when there is no vertical line data to be adjusted, the value of β is 0. Therefore α, β
When both are 0, it is determined that there is no data to be adjusted, and the process ends.

If there is data to be adjusted, the process proceeds to step 11-3. In step 11-3, first, the width of the original data to be adjusted (the value of the coordinate before the coordinate conversion in step 3-3 of FIG. 3) is calculated. The calculation method at this time is as follows.

When the target line is a horizontal line,

[0067]

Wh = DPy-UPy + 1 (DP and UP are coordinate points below and above the horizontal line, y
Is the y-axis coordinate) If the target line is a vertical line,

[0068]

## EQU00003 ## wv = RPx-LPx + 1 (RP and LP are coordinate points on the left and right sides of the horizontal line, x
Is the x-axis coordinate) As described above, the line width of the original data of the data to be adjusted can be obtained. Step 11-4
In step 1, it is determined whether the output size should be adjusted with respect to the line width. If the size of the character to be output exceeds a certain size (about 100 dots), it is not necessary to adjust the line width, so the process proceeds to step 11-7.
If the output size is less than a certain size, it is determined that the line width needs to be adjusted, and the process proceeds to step 11-5.

In Step 11-5, Step 1
It is determined whether the line width obtained in 1-3 is within the range of values to be adjusted. More specifically, the difference between the vertical standard line width read in step 11-1 and the vertical standard line width obtained in step 11-3 is calculated, and then the ratio between the difference and the standard line width is calculated. It is determined whether or not this ratio is below a certain ratio (threshold value).

The same determination is made for the horizontal line width. For example, if the horizontal line width value obtained in step 11-3 is 2
Assuming 1 dot, the standard line width of the horizontal line is 20 dots, and the judgment rate is 10%, the difference between the target horizontal line and the standard line width of the horizontal line is 21-20 = 10% of the standard line width of 1 dot. Is 2
With 0 × 0.1 = 2 dots, the difference is 10% or less of the standard line width. In this case, it is determined that the difference is within the range to be adjusted. When the horizontal line width value obtained in step 11-3 is 23 dots, the difference between the target horizontal line width and the horizontal standard line width is 3 dots, which is 10% of the standard line width. Since it becomes larger than the value, it is determined in this case that it is outside the range to be adjusted.

If it is determined in step 11-5 that the adjustment is to be made, the process proceeds to step 11-6,
If it is determined that it is not within the adjustment range, step 11-
Go to 7. In Step 11-6, Step 11
Reset the horizontal line width or vertical line width obtained in -3 to the standard line width value. In step 11-7, image correction is performed on the coordinate values obtained by the coordinate conversion in step 3-3 with respect to the line width values obtained in step 11-3 or step 11-6. The correction method is as follows.

For horizontal lines:

[0073]

## EQU00004 ## DPy = int (UPy) + int (w × enlargement ratio) -1 (w is horizontal line standard line width) In case of vertical line:

[0074]

RPx = int (1Px) + int (h × enlargement ratio) −1 (h is vertical line standard line width) int (x) is the maximum integer not exceeding x.

Is obtained. The execution procedure returns to step 11-2 to determine whether there is data to be further adjusted,
The above processing is performed on all the data to be adjusted.

In this way, the irregular line widths of the vertical lines and the horizontal lines are made uniform for the small size. The original data of "day" is shown by the symbol (a) in FIG. When the line widths are slightly different as in the case of this character, or when the above-mentioned image correction processing is not performed, the line segments are not uniform as shown by the symbol (b). By performing an image correction process on this, it becomes possible to obtain a good character as indicated by the code (c).

(Second Embodiment) Next, the details of the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The character to be generated is a character where lines intersect. FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the overall flow of the character generation processing. In step 13-1, the input parameters are received. Here, as the input parameters, as in the first embodiment, the character code of the character to be output, the typeface, the weight, the output size,
There are output formats, etc. JIS code as the character code,
Shift JIS code, EUC code, UNI code, etc.
The character encoding system used by the system is given. The typeface is selected from the data that the system such as Mincho, Gothic, and Maru Gothic has built-in or the data added as an option. The weight is the thickness information of the line in the above typeface, and here is extra fine,
Information such as thin, medium, thick, and thick is given. The output size is information on how large the font data is actually output. The output format is an output data format of a desired font and indicates the type of request such as contour coordinate data output and bitmap output.

Next, in step 13-2, the coordinate data of the target character is read from the font data of the ROM 2, for example. This data is stored in any of the ROM 2, the RAM 3, the hard disk, the floppy disk, etc., and the one that matches the typeface specified from the outside is selected.

Based on the font information and character code information of the input information fetched in step 13-1, the CPU 1 searches the selected font data and reads necessary information. The input information fetched at this time is the coordinate information obtained by extracting the characteristic points of the contour of the character as shown in FIG. 14, and the straight line data / curve data discrimination flag and the contour start point / end point flag line width are set for each point. It has attribute information such as information to be managed.

The interpolation formula for the curve data handled here is 2
It may be a second-order or third-order B-spline curve or a second-order or third-order Bezier curve, but which interpolation formula is used is determined in advance. Further, the minimum value of the coordinates indicating the character frame is represented by 0, and the maximum value is represented by 800 or the like. It also has offset information from the origin of the character to the reference point of the frame of each stroke. Further, the information for managing the line width is the standard line width in the horizontal line and the vertical line, and the coordinate point number for notifying the horizontal line or the vertical line.

In step 13-3, step 13
The coordinate data obtained in -2 is enlarged / reduced according to the output size of the input parameter. The calculation method at this time is
The requested output size is (Ax, Ay), the coordinate values obtained in step 13-2 are (x, y), and the coordinate values after the enlargement / reduction process are (X, Y). If the frame size is (Mx, My),

[0082]

(X, Y) = (x × Ax / Mx, y × Ay / My) The above calculation is performed for all the coordinate sequences of one character. At this time, the attribute flag at each coordinate point obtained in step 13-3 does not change. Step 1
In 3-4, adjustment is performed so that a desired line width is obtained with respect to the coordinates obtained in step 13-3. This state will be described later with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In step 13-5, the type of the output format of the input parameter is determined, and if the output format is contour coordinate data output, the process proceeds to step 13-6, and the scaled coordinate point and the coordinate point obtained in step 13-4 and Returns the coordinate point attribute data string to the requester. FIG. 15 shows an example of the coordinate output.

If bitmap output is requested in step 13-5, the process proceeds to step 13-7. Steps 13-7 to 13-13 are processes for actually creating bitmap data from coordinate data. In step 13-7, it is determined whether the target coordinate data is a straight line or a curved line. If the target coordinate data is a straight line, the coordinate point is set as the start point of the straight line and the next coordinate point is set as the end point of the straight line, and the process proceeds to step 13-8.

When the target data is curve data, the coordinate data from the coordinate point to the coordinate data with the curve end flag is set as curve data, and the process proceeds to step 13-9.
In step 13-8, processing for generating a straight line is performed. The straight line generating method at this time is generated by DDA. The coordinate data generated by the DDA is shown in FIG.
It is stored in the filling coordinate table as shown in 6.

In the filling coordinate table shown in FIG. 16, the start coordinate / stop coordinate of the x coordinate is stored for each y coordinate of the output area. When there are a plurality of x-coordinates for the same y-coordinate by the DDA, the x-coordinates are set so as to be the outermost part with respect to the contour of the stroke. In step 13-9, the curve data is converted into a set of short straight lines (short vectors).

FIG. 8 shows how a cubic Bezier curve is converted into a set of short vectors. The points A, B, C, and D are the same as those described in the first embodiment, but steps 13-3 are performed.
It is the curve data (third-order Bezier curve constituent points) after coordinate conversion obtained from the above, and points a, b, and c are obtained from these points. Point a is the midpoint between points A and B, point b is the midpoint between points B and C, and point c is the midpoint between points C and D.

Next, points x, y, and z are obtained. Point x is the midpoint between points a and b, point z is the midpoint between points b and c, and point y is the point x.
Is the midpoint of the point z. Then, the point sequence Aaxy is a new cubic Bezier constituent point, and the point sequence yzcD is another.
This is the third Bezier composition point.

Each Bezier constituent point is subdivided by the same operation, and when a certain criterion is satisfied, the subdivision is stopped at that time. The constituent point sequence of the cubic Bezier created up to that point becomes the set of short vectors.

In step 13-10, step 1
Based on the set of short vectors obtained in 3-9, the coordinates are stored in the filling coordinate table. The storage method for this table is exactly the same as the method shown in step 13-8, and is repeated until processing is completed for all short vectors.

In step 13-11, it is determined whether or not the coordinate data of one contour are all completed. If the process is completed, the process proceeds to step 13-13. If the process is not completed, the process proceeds to step 13-13. move on. Step 13
At -13, the pointer to the current coordinate data is updated to process the next data.

If it is a straight line, the pointer is updated to the next coordinate data, and if it is curve data, the pointer is updated to the end coordinate point of the curve. Then, the process returns to step 13-7 to newly make a straight line / curve determination and make a hit point.

In step 13-13, it is judged whether or not the processing has been completed for all contour data for one character, and if the processing has been completed for all contours, the processing proceeds to step 13-15, If not completed, go to step 13-14. Then, in step 13-14, since one contour is completed, the pointer is advanced to the head of the next contour and the procedure returns to step 13-7.

At step 13-15, since the dot processing on the two planes has been completed for all the coordinate data, as shown in FIG. 17, the filling coordinate table at step 13-8 and step 13-10. The non-zero winding method is applied to the x-coordinate for each y-coordinate stored in the. This method scans from the left side of each scan line, increments the flag value at the start point, and decrements at the end point.

If the value of the flag is not 0, it is set to 1 during that period and the filling process is performed. Then, in step 13-16, the data for one character obtained in step 13-15 is returned to the area designated by the requesting side, and the process ends.

Next, using the flowchart of FIG.
The coordinate data adjustment processing in step 13-3 of FIG. 13 will be described in detail. In step 18-1, first, what coordinate adjustment information the target character data has is read.

Here, the coordinate adjustment information is the code (b) in FIG.
As shown in, the horizontal line standard line width (w), the vertical line standard line width (h), the number of upper and lower horizontal line pairs (α), the horizontal line upper coordinate point number (UPa, UPb ...) And the horizontal line lower coordinate point number (DPc, DPd ...) Paired with it, the vertical line right / left pair number (β), the vertical line left coordinate point number (1
Pm, 1Pn ...), the coordinate point number on the right side of the vertical line (RPo,
RPp ...). These data are read and the process proceeds to step 18-2.

At step 18-2, it is judged whether or not there is data to be adjusted for horizontal and vertical lines. If there is no data to adjust the horizontal line, the value of α is 0
When there is no vertical line data to be adjusted, the value of β becomes 0. Therefore, when α and β are both 0,
It is determined that there is no data to be adjusted, and the process ends.

If there is data to be adjusted, the process proceeds to step 18-3. In step 18-3, first, the width of the original data to be adjusted (the value of the coordinate before the coordinate conversion in step 13-3 of FIG. 13) is calculated. The calculation method at this time is as follows.

When the target line is a horizontal line,

[0100]

Wh = DPy-UPy + 1 (DP and UP are coordinate points below and above the horizontal line, respectively) When the target line is a vertical line,

[0101]

Wv = RPx-LPx + 1 (RP and LP are coordinate points on the left and right sides of the horizontal line, respectively) As described above, the line width of the original data of the data to be adjusted can be obtained. Step 18-4
At, it is determined whether or not the output size should be adjusted with respect to the line width. If the output size exceeds a certain size (about 100 dots), it is not necessary to adjust the line width, so the process proceeds to step 18-7.

If the output size is less than a certain size, it is determined that the line width needs to be adjusted, and step 18
Go to -5. In Step 18-5, Step 1
It is determined whether or not the line width obtained in 8-3 is within the range of the adjusted value.

The range of this value is the standard line width of the vertical line or horizontal line read in step 18-1, and the difference between the standard line width of the vertical line and the standard line width of the vertical line, and the horizontal line of the horizontal line if it is the horizontal line. It is determined whether the difference from the standard line width is less than or equal to a certain ratio with respect to each standard line width.

For example, if the horizontal line width value obtained in step 18-3 is 21 dots, the horizontal line standard line width is 20 dots, and the judgment rate is 10%, then the target horizontal line and horizontal line standard line width 21-20 = 1 dot, the value of 10% of the standard line width is 20 x 0.1 = 2 dots, and the difference is less than the value of the standard line width. In this case, it should be adjusted. It is determined to be within the range.

When the value of the line width of the horizontal line obtained in step 18-3 is 23 dots, the difference between the line width of the target horizontal line and the standard line width of the horizontal line is 3 dots, which is the standard line width. Since the value becomes larger than 10%, it is determined in this case that the value is out of the adjustment range.

If it is determined in step 18-5 that the adjustment is in the range to be adjusted, the process proceeds to step 18-6, and if it is determined that it is not in the range to be adjusted, the process proceeds to step 18-7. In Step 18-6, Step 18-3
Reset the width of the horizontal line or the width of the vertical line obtained in step 1 to the standard line width value. Then, in step 18-7, the line width value obtained in step 18-3 or step 18-6 is corrected with respect to the coordinate value obtained by the coordinate conversion in step 13-3 in FIG. The correction method is as follows.

For horizontal lines:

[0108]

[Equation 9] DPy = int (UPy) + int (w × enlargement ratio) −1 (w is a horizontal line standard line width)

[0109]

[Equation 10] In the case of a vertical line: RPx = int (LPx) + int (h × magnification) −
1 (h is the vertical line width) The int (x) is the maximum integer that does not exceed x.

It becomes: Then, returning to step 18-2, it is determined whether or not there is data to be further adjusted, and the above-described image correction is performed on all the data to be adjusted.

In this way, a good output result can be obtained by arranging the irregular line widths of the vertical lines and the horizontal lines for the small size.

(Third Embodiment) Next, details of the third embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In the first embodiment, an outline font that does not allow stroke crossing has been described as an example. In the second embodiment, an outline font in stroke units that allows strokes to intersect has been described as an example. Here, the character data represented by the data of the thickness of the core wire for each stroke will be described as an example.

FIG. 19 is a flow chart showing the flow of the entire character generation process. The process other than the data get process of step 19-2 and the adjusting process of step 19-4 at this time corresponds to the flowchart of FIG. 13 of the second embodiment, and the description thereof is omitted here. In step 19-2, the core thickness data is composed of a starting writing portion, a writing portion, and a finishing writing portion as shown in FIG. 20, and the shallow writing coordinate data and the left side of the coordinate data with respect to the writing portion. The width and the data of the width on the right side are stored. Figure 20 for straight line data
As indicated by reference numeral (a), the coordinates of the start point and the end point and the width data on both sides of the writing portion are stored. If the data is curve data, as shown by reference numeral (b) in FIG. The coordinates of the middle point of the curve that is the core line and the points at both ends,
The width data of each side is stored. Therefore, in step 19-2, if there are a start point, an end point of the writing section, and a midpoint of the curve, the coordinates of the midpoint of the curve are extracted, and the width data of each point is added to both sides of the contour data. Generate.

Outline data of one stroke is generated by connecting the contour data of the first stroke portion and the contour data of the last stroke portion.
By generating this process for all strokes, the same character generation result of original data as the stroke font outline font data described in the second embodiment can be obtained.

Further, in this example, as shown in FIG. 21, it has an ID for distinguishing the type of stroke. For example, horizontal line ID = 1 for horizontal line, vertical line ID for vertical line
= 2. And ID of each horizontal line and vertical line
For, we have standard linewidth data.

Next, using the flowchart of FIG.
An example of the coordinate data adjustment in step 19-3 of FIG. 19 will be described in detail. In step 22-1, first, what coordinate adjustment information the target character data has is read. Here, the coordinate adjustment information is composed of a horizontal line standard line width (w) and a vertical line standard line width (h) as shown in FIG. Read these data, step 2
Go to 2-2.

In step 22-2, it is judged whether or not there is data to be adjusted for horizontal and vertical lines. The data to be adjusted is determined from the horizontal and vertical line ID numbers shown in FIG. That is, if there is a horizontal line ID number, the horizontal line is adjusted, and if there is a vertical line ID number, the vertical line is adjusted. If there is neither a horizontal line ID number nor a vertical line ID number, it is determined that there is no data to be adjusted, and the process ends.

If there is data to be adjusted, the process proceeds to step 22-3. In step 22-3, first, the extent of the original data to be adjusted (the value of the coordinate before the coordinate conversion in step 19-3 of FIG. 19) is calculated. The calculation method at this time is as follows.

[0119]

[Mathematical formula-see original document] wh = W1 + W2 (W1 and W2 are the right side width and left side width, respectively, on the starting point side of the horizontal line or vertical line) As described above, the line width of the original data of the data to be adjusted can be obtained. . Step 22-4
At, it is determined whether or not the output size should be adjusted with respect to the line width. When the output size exceeds a certain size (about 100 dots), it is not necessary to adjust the line width, so the process proceeds to step 22-7. If the output size is less than a certain size, it is determined that the line width needs to be adjusted, and the process proceeds to step 22-5.

In Step 22-5, Step 2
It is determined whether or not the line width obtained in 2-3 is within the range of the threshold value to be adjusted. The range of this value is the difference between the standard line width of the vertical line or the horizontal line read in step 22-1 and the standard line width of the vertical line if it is a vertical line, and the standard line width of the horizontal line if it is a horizontal line. It is determined whether or not the difference between and is less than a certain ratio with respect to each standard line width.

For example, if the horizontal line width value found in step 22-3 is 21 dots, the horizontal line standard line width is 20 dots, and the judgment rate is 10%, then the target horizontal line and the horizontal line standard line width The difference between and is that 21-20 = 10 dots of the standard line width is 20 x 0.1 = 2 dots, and the difference is less than or equal to the standard line width. In this case, the range to be adjusted Is determined to be.

When the value of the line width of the horizontal line obtained in step 22-3 is 23 dots, the difference between the line width of the horizontal line of interest and the standard line width of the horizontal line is 3 dots. Since the value becomes larger than 10%, it is determined in this case that the value is out of the adjustment range. And step 22
In -5, if it is determined that it is in the range to be adjusted, the process proceeds to step 22-6, and if it is determined that it is not in the range to be adjusted, the process proceeds to step 22-7.

In step 22-6, step 2
Reset the horizontal line width or vertical line width obtained in 2-3 to the standard line width value. In step 22-7, the line width value obtained in step 22-3 or step 22-6 is corrected with respect to the coordinate value obtained by the coordinate conversion in step 19-3 in FIG. The correction method is as follows.

For horizontal lines:

[0125]

[Equation 12] DPy = int (UPy) + int (w × enlargement ratio) −1 (w is horizontal line standard line width) In the case of vertical line:

[0126]

RPx = int (LPx) + int (h × enlargement ratio) −1 (h is vertical line standard line width) where int (x) is the maximum integer not exceeding x.

Is obtained. Then, returning to step 22-2, it is determined whether or not there is data to be further adjusted, and the above-described image correction is performed on the data to be adjusted.

In this way, by arranging the irregular line widths of the vertical lines and the horizontal lines with respect to the small size, a good output result can be obtained.

(Other Embodiments) 1) The following method can be considered as a method of determining whether or not the line width should be adjusted (corrected). The range of the line width data to be adjusted for each line type is entered in the information in the font in advance (for example, 18-22 dots for the width), and steps 11-3, 18-3, 22-3 are set in the range. If there is a line width of the horizontal line obtained in step 1, it is determined that the range is to be adjusted, and the line width is adjusted. If it is out of the range, it is determined that the adjustment should not be performed, and the standard line width value is set again.

[0130]

As described above, the first to the tenth aspects of the invention are described.
According to the twelfth and fourteenth aspects, the line width of a small-sized character suitable for a printer or a display can be corrected, so that a high-quality character generation result can be obtained.

According to the second, third, fifteenth and sixteenth aspects of the present invention, suitable character generation results can be obtained corresponding to various fonts.

According to the inventions of claims 4 and 17, it is not necessary to add line width information in the font, and the amount of information of the font can be reduced.

According to the fifth to seventh inventions and the eighteenth to twentieth inventions, the horizontal line or the vertical line which is easily recognized by human eyes is set as the correction target, so that the lines to be corrected are reduced, and the processing speed and the character Optimize the balance of quality.

According to the eighth, ninth, twenty-first and twenty-second aspects of the present invention, the object of image correction is limited to the one having a small character size, so that the processing speed and the character quality are well balanced.

According to the thirteenth and twenty-third aspects of the present invention, the determination accuracy is improved by using the difference between the standard line widths of the line widths and the ratio of the standard line widths for the threshold value determination.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing another system configuration.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an overall flow of processing of the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an outline font.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an output format in the case of coordinate output.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing how dots are applied for filling.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing how dots are being made for the contour OR.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing how a cubic Bezier curve is decomposed.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a state where painting is performed.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing how a bitmap font is generated.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing line width adjustment.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an effect of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the overall flow of processing according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a stroke font.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an output format in the case of coordinate output.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a manner of creating a dot table for filling.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a state where painting is performed from the dot printing table.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing line width adjustment for a stroke font.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing the overall flow of processing according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing a structure of core wire thickness data.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a structure of core wire thickness data.

FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing line width adjustment for core wire thickness data.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 21 CPU 2, 22 ROM 3, 23 RAM 4 KBC 5 KB 6 CRTC 7 CRT 8 DKC

Claims (23)

[Claims] 1. A bit map image of a character is created by connecting feature points of the character, and the position of the feature point necessary for creating the bit map image is stored in a storage means as a part of a font. In the character generation device, an arithmetic processing unit that acquires a line width in the bitmap image before creating the bitmap image, and a line width range that requires image correction according to the character size are set in advance, and Determination means for determining whether or not the line width acquired by the arithmetic processing means is within the range of the line width, and image processing means for correcting the line width of the bitmap image to be created when an affirmative determination is obtained. A character generator characterized in that it is equipped with. 2. The character generation device according to claim 1, wherein the character is a character that does not allow intersection of lines forming the character. 3. The character generation device according to claim 1, wherein the character is a character that allows intersection of lines forming the character. 4. The character generation device according to claim 1, wherein the calculation means acquires the line width from the position of the feature point. 5. The character generating device according to claim 1, wherein the line type to be judged by the judging means is a horizontal line. 6. The character generating device according to claim 1, wherein the line type to be judged by the judging means is a vertical line. 7. The character generator according to claim 1, wherein the range of the line width that requires the image correction is determined according to the line type of the character. 8. The character generating device according to claim 1, wherein the size of the character to be corrected by the image processing means is a character of a predetermined size or less. 9. The character generating device according to claim 8, wherein the means for determining whether or not the character to be generated is smaller than or equal to the predetermined size, and the image processing means when a positive determination is obtained. A character generating device further comprising a control means for executing correction on the character. 10. The character generation device according to claim 1, further comprising an output means for outputting a bitmap image corrected by the image processing means. 11. The character generating device according to claim 10, wherein the output unit is a printer. 12. The character generation device according to claim 10, wherein the output means is a display. 13. The character generation device according to claim 1, wherein the determination means determines a difference between a predetermined standard line width and a line width acquired by the operation processing means, and the determination means. And a second arithmetic processing means for obtaining a ratio of the standard difference and the standard line width, and whether or not the ratio is equal to or less than a fixed ratio determines whether or not the ratio is within the range of the line width. Characterized character generator. 14. A character bit map image is created by connecting character feature points, and the positions of the feature points necessary for creating the bit map image are stored in a storage device as part of a font. In the character generation method of the character generation device, the range of the line width that requires image correction is predetermined according to the size of the character, and the line width in the bitmap image is acquired before the bitmap image is created. A character generation method for a character generation device, characterized in that it is determined whether the acquired line width is within the range of the line width, and if an affirmative judgment is obtained, the line width of the bitmap image to be created is corrected. . 15. The character generation method for a character generation device according to claim 14, wherein the character is a character that does not allow intersection of lines forming the character. 16. The character generation method for a character generation device according to claim 14, wherein the character is a character that allows intersection of lines forming the character. 17. The character generation method for a character generation device according to claim 14, wherein the line width is acquired from the position of the feature point. 18. The character generation method for a character generation device according to claim 14, wherein the line type to be determined is a horizontal line. 19. The character generation method for a character generation device according to claim 14, wherein the line type to be determined is a vertical line. 20. The character generation method for a character generation device according to claim 14, wherein the range of the line width that requires the image correction is determined according to the line type of the character. . 21. The character generation method for a character generation device according to claim 14, wherein the size of the character whose line width is to be corrected is equal to or smaller than a predetermined size. Character generation method. 22. The character generation method for a character generator according to claim 21, wherein it is determined whether or not the character to be generated is equal to or smaller than the predetermined size, and if a positive determination is obtained, a line width is obtained. A method for generating characters in a character generator, characterized in that the correction is performed. 23. The character generation method for a character generation device according to claim 14, wherein in determining whether the acquired line width is within the range of the line width, a predetermined standard line width and the acquired standard line width are acquired. The difference between the line width is obtained, then the ratio between the difference and the standard line width is obtained, and it is determined whether the ratio is equal to or less than a certain ratio to determine whether the line width is within the range. Character generation method of character generator characterized.