JPH10188017A - Layout processor and its method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a layout processor, its method and a storage medium, which realize easily desired layout without requiring time and labor. SOLUTION: An optional position on the screen of a CRT display 5 displaying image data is indicated by a pointing device 6, the caption position of the image data is decided based on the designated position and the position of image data, a character is inputted to the decided caption position by a keyboard 1, the inputted character is arranged based on a rule according to the caption position and the arranged character is displayed with image data on the screen of the display 5.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a layout processing apparatus and method in the field of electronic publishing in which image data such as photographs are freely laid out on paper and an album is electronically created and printed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When laying out image data such as a photo on a sheet of paper, a caption of a title or a description for the image data may be provided near the image data.

Conventionally, in providing such a caption, first, a character string to be input as a caption has a character orientation such as vertical writing and horizontal writing, and a character arrangement such as vertical alignment and horizontal alignment within a frame. Make the settings, specify the display position (or printing) of the character string on the screen with a pointing device, etc., and based on the set character orientation and layout, and the specified position, the image data and its caption The layout was decided.

When laying out image data and its caption on a sheet, the caption is closely related to the image data because of its meaning. Therefore, it is general that the display method is also shifted to the image data. .

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional method, in order to realize the layout of image data and its caption, the orientation and arrangement of the character, the character string, Has to be set manually by the operator. For example, if you want to add a caption to the right side of the image data, first set the text orientation to "vertical writing"
The operator has to perform all settings such as setting the character arrangement so as to be "left-justified" in the frame, and finally specifying the display start position of the caption.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a layout processing apparatus and method capable of easily realizing a desired layout without trouble.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, a layout processing apparatus according to the present invention comprises a display means for displaying image data; and a display means for displaying the image data on the display means. Instructing means for instructing an arbitrary position of the display means, determining means for determining an explanatory text area of the image data based on the position instructed by the instructing means and the position of the image data, Input means for inputting a character in the determined explanatory text area; arranging means for arranging the character input by the input means based on a rule corresponding to the position of the explanatory text area; Display control means for displaying the characters on the display means together with the image data.

In order to achieve the above object, a layout processing method according to the present invention comprises an instruction step of designating an arbitrary position of display means for displaying image data; Determining a description area of the image data based on the position of the image data; inputting characters in the description area determined in the determination step; An arrangement step of arranging the characters input in the input step based on the rules described above, and a display step of displaying the characters arranged in the arrangement step together with the image data on the display means.

[0009]

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

FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a layout processing apparatus according to the present embodiment.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a keyboard for inputting characters and symbols. Reference numeral 2 denotes a RAM, which stores data input from the keyboard 1. Reference numeral 3 denotes a ROM, which stores a program for implementing the present embodiment. 4 is C
PU, which calls a program from ROM 3 and
Various processes are performed using the data stored in AM2. Reference numeral 5 denotes a CRT display, which displays data stored in the RAM 2. A pointing device 6 indicates an arbitrary position on the CRT display 5. A printer 7 prints out data stored in the RAM 2. Reference numeral 8 denotes a bus, which electrically connects these components.

In this embodiment, when image data is displayed at an arbitrary coordinate position in a paper image on the display screen of the CRT display 5,
Consider displaying a caption or comment for this image data in the vicinity.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a processing flow by the layout processing apparatus according to the present embodiment.

First, when the operator selects image data to add a caption with the pointing device 6, the image data to add a caption is recognized (step S).
21) Further, when a command for inputting a caption is input from the keyboard 1 or the pointing device 6 (step S22), an instruction "point at the position where the caption is input" is displayed on the CRT display. 5 (step S23), and waits for a coordinate position to be pointed by an instruction from the pointing device 6 or the like.
When the coordinate position is pointed (step S2)
4) Based on the coordinate position of the previously selected image data, it is determined which of the upper, lower, left and right positions of the caption is to be displayed with respect to the image data (step S25).

The process of determining the display position of the caption in step S25 will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing image data on the display screen and its vicinity.

As shown in FIG. 3, it is assumed that the target image data 9 is in a rectangular area whose upper left coordinates are (Lx, Ly) and whose lower right coordinates are (Lx, Ly). Here, the position indicated by the pointing device 6 is represented by an arrow 10, and is defined as the coordinates (Cx, Cy) of the start position of the caption character specified by the pointing device 6. The coordinate origin is the upper left corner of the sheet.

Next, the flow of processing for determining the display position of the caption will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, in step S11, "Cx <L
x ". If “Cx <Lx”, the process proceeds to step S12, and it is determined whether or not “Ry <Cy <Ly”. If “Ry <Cy <Ly”, the process proceeds to step S28 in FIG. 2, and the caption position is determined to be “left of the image data”. Otherwise, the process proceeds to step S30 in FIG. I do.

In step S11, "Cx <L
If it is not “x”, the process proceeds to step S13, and “Rx <C
x ". If “Rx <Cx”, the process proceeds to step S14, and it is determined whether or not “Ry <Cy <Ly”. If "Ry <Cy <Ly", the process proceeds to step S29 in FIG. 2, and the caption position is determined to be "right of image data". Otherwise, the process proceeds to step S30 in FIG. I do.

In step S13, "Rx <C
If not “x”, the process proceeds to step S15, and “Ly <C
y ". If “Ly <Cy”, the process proceeds to step S26 in FIG. 2, and the caption position is determined to be “above the image data”.
Proceed to step S16. In step S16, “Cy
<Ry ”is determined. If “Cy <Ry”, the process proceeds to step S27 in FIG. 2, and the caption position is determined to be “under the image data”. Otherwise, the process proceeds to step S30 in FIG. 2 to output an error.

When the display position of the caption is determined, the orientation and arrangement of the character string input as the caption are set as shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the orientation and arrangement of character strings based on the relative positions of image data and their captions in the present embodiment.

In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, when the caption is “above the image data”, the character frame is written horizontally, the characters are arranged below in the frame, and the width of the frame is changed. It becomes the same as the width of the image data (Rx-Lx). When the caption is “below image data”, the character frame is written horizontally, the characters are arranged in the frame, and the width of the frame is the same as the width of the image data (Rx−Lx). If the caption is "left of image data", the character frame is written vertically, characters are right-aligned within the frame, and the frame height is the same as the image data height (Ry-Ly) . Also, if the caption is "Right of image data", the character frame is vertical writing, characters are left-aligned in the frame, and the frame height is the same as the image data height (Ry-Ly) .

Then, a caption is input based on the set contents. Specifically, on the CRT display 5, "Please enter the character string of the caption."
Is displayed (step S31), and when a character string is input from the keyboard 1 (step S32), the input character string is displayed at the determined caption display position (either up, down, left, or right of the image data). Display is performed based on the set orientation and arrangement of the character string (step S33).

The result of laying out the image data and the caption on the paper as shown in FIG.
It is displayed on the T display 5 and printed out by the printer 7.

[0027]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Since the orientation and arrangement of the caption character string can be determined based on the position of the caption with respect to the image data without the need for the operator to perform a setting operation, an appropriate layout can be realized without any trouble. effective.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a layout processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of a layout processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing image data on a display screen and its vicinity in the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing for determining a display position of a caption in the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a direction and an arrangement of a character string based on a relative position between image data and a caption thereof in the present embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a result of laying out image data and captions on paper in the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Keyboard 2 RAM 3 ROM 4 CPU 5 CRT display 6 Pointing device 7 Printer 8 Bus

Claims (6)

[Claims] A display unit for displaying image data; an instruction unit for designating an arbitrary position of the display unit when image data is displayed on the display unit; and a position designated by the instruction unit. Determining means for determining a description area of the image data based on the position of the image data; input means for inputting a character in the description area determined by the determining means; and a position of the description area Arrangement means for arranging the characters input by the input means based on rules according to the following, and display control means for displaying the characters arranged by the arrangement means on the display means together with the image data. A layout processing device characterized in that: 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the determining unit is configured to determine whether the position specified by the specifying unit is above the image data.
2. The layout processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a description area of the image data is set above the image data. 3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the determining unit sets a description area of the image data at an upper position of the image data at a position relative to the image data at a position specified by the specifying unit. The layout processing device according to claim 1. 4. An instruction step of designating an arbitrary position of the display means on which image data is displayed, and a description of the image data based on the position designated in the instruction step and the position of the image data. A determining step of determining an area; an inputting step of inputting a character in the descriptive text area determined in the determining step; and a character input in the inputting step based on a rule corresponding to a position of the descriptive text area. A layout processing method comprising: an arranging step of arranging; and a displaying step of displaying the characters arranged in the arranging step together with the image data on the display means. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the arranging step arranges the characters input in the input step horizontally when the explanatory sentence area determined in the determining step is above or below the image data. 5. The layout processing method according to claim 4, wherein: 6. In the arranging step, when the explanatory sentence area determined in the deciding step is a left portion or a right portion of the image data, the characters input in the inputting step are arranged vertically. 5. The layout processing method according to claim 4, wherein: