JPS63210885A - Graphic generation system for character shape - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a method for generating character shapes used for computer output, and in particular, to a method for generating high-quality character shapes of various sizes from one basic pattern. This invention relates to a graphical generation method for character shapes suitable for.

[Prior Art] The currently widely used dot matrix character system uses a dot matrix of MXN as a predetermined type (M.

N) is held in the output device. However, as the need for outputting characters of various sizes has increased, the following problem with this method has become apparent.

(1) In order to maintain character patterns for various types of (M, N), the number of kanji characters (more than 6,000 characters according to the JIS standard) is required.
Considering this, the amount of memory becomes too large.

(2) Creating character patterns for various types of (M, N) requires a large amount of manual labor.

Therefore, attempts have been made to transform the dot matrix characters, such as enlarging and reducing them. However, although these methods are meaningful as means for realizing a low-cost output device, they are insufficient from the viewpoint of high-quality output.

Several graphical methods have been proposed as new character pattern retention and generation methods to solve this problem.
For example, Kikuchi et al., ``A high-quality kanji font generation method using a method for attaching parametric basic elements to fonts'' (Information Processing Society of Japan's 28th Kanji National Convention, 1984)
．． pp. 1435-1436), there is a first transformation that generates the contour shape of each stroke by inputting the type of stroke of a kanji, its skeleton point coordinates, and parameter information, and a first transformation that generates the contour shape of each stroke. A dot pattern of the generated character shape is obtained by applying a second conversion to the outline character shape obtained by pasting the characters in the position and composing the character to be generated, and then performing a filling process. In this second conversion, the character size is enlarged or reduced.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

In principle, the above character shape generation method can generate character shapes of any size. but.

In reality, when applied to small-sized characters, there is a quality problem.When the size is small, it means that there are fewer dots to represent the shape of the character when output. In the character generation method cited above, highly accurate calculations are performed in the range of real numbers in the intermediate stage of reduction calculations, but ultimately it is necessary to express the character pattern as a grid of dots. If the font size (i.e. the number of dots) after reduction is large (many) to a certain extent, the rounding to the dot grid can be practically ignored, but if the font size (i.e. the number of dots) falls below a certain level, this error becomes becomes obvious. The above-mentioned prior art does not take this problem into account. Figure 2 shows an example specifically explaining this problem.
Figure 2(b) shows an example of a character of 384 x 384 dots, which is the standard size for this method (that is, the scaling ratio = ]), and Figure 2 (b) shows an example of a character of 80 x 80 dots, which is a reduced size. , 384 x 384 dots, high quality characters are 80 x 80 dots, there are no spaces between strokes, making them difficult to read, and creating a pattern that cannot be called a correct character.

In order to solve this problem, it is possible to thin the thickness of each stroke in characters of standard size in advance, but this method has the problem that, conversely, when large characters are generated, the blank areas are large. will occur.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve this problem of the prior art and to provide a method for graphically generating character shapes that can generate both large and small characters with high quality.

[Means for solving problems]

The above purpose is to provide a means for storing skeleton pattern information of one character and stroke thickness information of a character for each character type, a means for enlarging/reducing the skeleton pattern information, and a means for expanding/reducing the stroke thickness information and the skeleton pattern information. means for determining the thickness of the generated stroke based on the generated stroke; and means for generating the outline shape of the character from the skeleton pattern information and the determined thickness of the generated stroke; This is achieved by providing a means that can determine the scaling ratio of the thickness of each stroke of the character as a value different from the scaling ratio of the skeleton pattern information when generating an outline shape from the skeleton pattern information after reduction. Ru.

[Effect]

The stroke thickness information represents the stroke thickness of the original pattern serving as a reference, and is held for each stroke of each character. Let WO be the value of the thickness information of the stroke to be generated of the character to be generated, and let RL be the scaling ratio of the skeleton pattern information. RL>1 when enlarging, and RL<1 when reducing. The thickness W of the generated stroke is determined by the product of WO and the stroke thickness enlargement rate R8. This R8 is R
5=f(RL), and this function f has the following properties. In other words, when RL = 1, f(RL)=1RL>1
When f(RL)>RLR4, when f(R
L) The relationship of <RL should be satisfied. Furthermore, the function f(R
L) is a weakly increasing function for RL. Such a function f is determined in advance and operated as a means for determining the thickness after generation. As a result, the thickness of the generated stroke can be made thinner when the character size is reduced than in the case of similar reduction, and thicker when the character size is enlarged than in the case of similar enlargement. In other words, the problems of the prior art, such as the space between lines being crushed when the character size is reduced, and the space between lines being too large when the character size is expanded, can be solved.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. This embodiment is based on the idea in the character design field that a character shape can be expressed by a combination of a relatively small number of stroke types, such as horizontal lines and strokes. This means is applied to each stroke constituting the character, and the shape of one character is generated by combining and arranging these strokes.

FIG. 6 is a hardware configuration diagram of this embodiment.

In FIG. 6, 100 is a processing device, 101 is a keyboard, 1
02 is a display device, 103 is a disk device, 11
1 is a keyboard control device that controls input from the keyboard 101; 112 is a display control device that controls output to the display device Ff 102; 113 is a disk control device that controls input from the disk device 103;
0 is a main memory, and 121 is a display memory that holds data to be output to a display device.

The characters to be generated and their sizes are specified from the keyboard 101, and the generated characters are displayed on the display device 102. The main memory 120 stores a character generation program and thickness control information. This character generation program is executed in the processing bag [100, and generates a character pattern according to the designation of the character to be generated and the size inputted from the keyboard 101 via the keyboard control device 111, and sets it in the display memory 121. The character pattern is displayed on the display device 102.

Details of the thickness control information will be shown later.

The disk device 103 stores skeleton pattern information, parameters, and thickness information. The thickness information is the thickness of the stroke in the reference size, and the parameters are the angles of the start and end of the stroke.

The skeleton pattern information represents the position and size of the strokes that make up the character, and its format is as shown in FIG. FIG. 4 shows skeleton pattern information for one character. Skeletal pattern information is broadly divided into four fields. The first field stores the character code representing the character, the second field stores the font of the character, and the third field stores the length of the fourth field. Fourth
The field stores information about the strokes that make up the character. The number N of strokes composing the character is stored at the beginning of the fourth field. Thereafter, N pieces of stroke information are stored in the fourth field. The stroke information consists of the type of stroke, the data amount of the stroke information, and the coordinate string of the skeleton points that constitute the stroke of the type.

In order to concretely illustrate the structure of the skeleton pattern information and its concept, the stroke type "left stroke" will be explained as an example.

``Habari j'' is a stroke that moves the brush from the top to the bottom left.
Figure 3 shows the structure of the [left sweep] stroke in Gothic font, where the first stroke is "left sweep". The "left sweep" stroke has three skeleton points, 401° 402 and 403 in Figure 3. For example, in the skeleton pattern information 102 for the character ``Kyaku'' (0 where 0 is the skeleton point), the stroke type of the 16th stroke information in the 4th field in FIG. 4 represents ``left hand''. Furthermore, the frame point coordinate string considers the square frame in figure fjS2 (n) to be the standard size,
This is a row of four XYP marks of the skeleton points of the stroke when the XY coordinates with the lower left vertex as the origin are set. For example, in the case of the "left pay" stroke 201 in FIG.
The skeleton point coordinate string of the 16th stroke information in the 4th field in the figure is (X1et, Ytez) + (Xtez,
It consists of three points: Ysθ2) and (Xraa, Ytga). The values of these coordinates are as follows. That is, the third
Skeletal points 401, 402 and 403 are arranged in the square frame of FIG. 2(a) to obtain the 21mth stroke 201 of FIG.
(7) The XY coordinate values are each '2 (X 181 r Y 1
1+1) +(X1821 Yt6a), (X1
83. Y1118) There is. That is, the three skeleton points 401, 402, 403 of the stroke "left sweep" in FIG.
by properly positioning the ``left hand'' stroke in relation to the target stroke in the target character.

You can place it at the appropriate position within the character.

Furthermore, it becomes possible to appropriately define the shape of the "left-handed" stroke.

Next, an outline of the operation of the character generation program stored in the main memory 120 in FIG. 6 will be explained. FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing an overview of the operation of the character generation program.

In FIG. 1, 601 is a process of reading the code and size of the character to be generated inputted from the keyboard 101 in FIG.
602 is a process for reading skeleton pattern information, parameters, and thickness information stored in the disk drive M103 in FIG. 603 is a process of obtaining skeleton pattern information of the size to be generated from the size of the character to be generated read in 601 and the skeleton pattern information read in 602. More specifically, this is a process of converting the skeletal coordinate string in the fourth field of FIG. 4 into a skeletal true coordinate string corresponding to the size to be generated. That is, the skeleton point coordinates of the skeleton pattern information read in 602 are CB.

When the reference size is Sa and the size of the generated character read in 601 is SE, the skeleton point coordinates Ce of the skeleton pattern information obtained in 603 are as follows: Cp==Ca* S! ! ÷SO Here, the result of se÷Sa will be called the character pattern enlargement/reduction ratio. 604 is a process for determining the stroke thickness. The thickness of the stroke is shown in Figure 5 (a).
Using the correspondence table between the character pattern scaling ratio and the stroke thickness scaling ratio (thickness control information) shown in , find the stroke thickness scaling ratio from the character pattern scaling ratio and read it at 602゛. It is determined by multiplying the solder thickness information.

For example, when the character pattern enlargement/reduction ratio of a character whose thickness information includes 30 strokes is 0.5, the thickness of the stroke is determined as follows. From the correspondence table in FIG. 5(a), the scaling ratio Rs of the stroke thickness is determined.

Rs=0.5X0.8=0.4, and when this is multiplied by the thickness information, the thickness Ws of the generated stroke becomes Ws=30XO,4=12. As a result, the thickness of the stroke generated in this example is 12 dots.

Here, another method for the thickness determination process 604 will be described.

In this method, the correspondence table between the character pattern enlargement/reduction ratio and the stroke thickness shown in FIG. 5(b) is used as the thickness control information. In addition, the thickness information at this time stores the thickness type.
Summary of stages 0 is the name given to each stage In this embodiment, the thickness type is represented by a number from 1 to 5. In the thickness determination process 604, the thickness of the stroke to be generated from the thickness type obtained from the thickness information and the character pattern scaling rate is determined using the correspondence table shown in FIG. 5(b).For example, the thickness type is 0. The character pattern enlargement/reduction ratio of a character containing a stroke of 2 is 0.
5, the thickness of the stroke is 12 from Fig. 5(b).
It can be decided. 605 is a stroke generation process. The operation of the stroke generation process will be explained below using a "left-handed stroke" as an example.

There are three types of input information for stroke generation processing. The relationship between these input information and the stroke contour generated by the stroke generation process 605 is shown in FIG. In Figure 3, 40
1, 402 and 403 indicate each skeleton point, the stroke type "r mowing" and this skeleton point information are 603
It is given as the relevant stroke information obtained in . The angles At and A2 shown in FIG. 3 are the parameters read in 602. Moreover, the distances Wl, W2 and W3 shown in FIG.
is the thickness of the generated stroke determined in the thickness determination process 604. Stroke generation processing 605 first generates contour points 411°, 412, 413, 414 based on the above input information.
, 415 and 416. Here, contour point 411
416 is a 0 contour point 413, which is a point obtained by moving the skeleton point 401 left and right by W1/2 on a straight line obtained by connecting the skeleton points 401 and 402 and rotating the straight line by the parameter A1 to the left around the skeleton point 401, 414 is obtained in the same manner.

Contour points 412 and 415 are skeleton points 401, 402 and 40
Move the skeleton point 402 to the left and right on the bisector of the angle formed by 3.
First-order stroke generation processing 6 with a point moved by 2
05 is 411, 412 and 413 with spline curves,
The contour of the stroke is generated by connecting 413 and 414 with a straight line, 414, 415, and 416 with a spline curve, and 416 and 411 with a straight line. This contour curve represents one closed figure.The inside of this contour curve is first filled by a known closed area filling method to generate a fill pattern for strokes 1 to 1.

Each time a fill pattern of one stroke is generated, control is transferred to stroke synthesis processing 606. The stroke synthesis process 606 superimposes the fill pattern of the stroke in the area where the generated character pattern is to be placed, that is, the display memory 121 in FIG. When a binary representation is adopted in which black dots are represented by a value of 1, the current value of each point constituting the character pattern area in the display memory 121 and the value of the corresponding fill pattern obtained in the stroke generation process 605 are calculated. This can be achieved by calculating the logical sum and using it as the value of the original point in the character pattern area in the display memory 121. In this case, the initial value of the character pattern area in the display memory 121 is set to O. 607 is a check to see if all the strokes constituting one character have been generated. When all strokes have not been generated, control is transferred to stroke generation processing 605, and the strokes that have not yet been generated are generated.

When all the strokes are generated, control is transferred to 608. 608 is a character display process, in which the character pattern area in the display memory 121 in FIG. 1 is displayed on the display via the display control device 112 in FIG. Device 1
Display on 02.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, since character size and stroke thickness can be handled independently, quality can be improved when characters of various sizes are generated from one character pattern by enlarging/reducing it. FIGS. 2(b) and 2(Q) show examples of character pattern output. The character patterns shown in FIGS. 2(b) and 2(c) are obtained by reducing the 384-dot square character pattern of FIG. 2(a) to 80 dots per square. (b) is an example of a character generated by treating the character size and stroke thickness uniformly, and (C) is a character string generated using this method. (
In b), there is no space between the strokes and the character is not correct; in (C), the space between the strokes remains correct.

The above are the direct effects of this method. As a result, characters of various sizes can be generated with high quality from one character pattern, and as a result, the amount of memory for storing character patterns can be reduced, and the number of man-hours for creating nine-character patterns can be reduced. The degree of effectiveness is 1/10 to 1/100 in terms of memory reduction, and approximately 1/1/1 in reduction in the number of man-hours for creating character patterns, when comparing the current dot matrix character method to create characters of various sizes. ] is predicted to be 0.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a program executed by the processing device according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an example of an original pattern of a standard size, a character pattern reduced without using this method, and a character pattern reduced using this method. , Fig. 3 is an explanatory diagram of stroke generation processing, Fig. 4 is a diagram showing the format of skeleton pattern information, Fig. 5 is a diagram showing thickness control information, and Fig. 6 is a hardware configuration of an embodiment of this method. It is a diagram. 100... Processing device, 101... Keyboard, 10
2...Display device, 103...Disk device, 111...Keyboard control device, 112...Display control device, 113...Disk control device, 1
20... Main memory, 121... Display memory. Agent: Patent Attorney Katsuma Ogawa 1'), ゝ, Toki l[! 1 Broom 2 Ward (α) (b) (0) Open
¥3E --- Bone offering 4th section 5th figure (α) ¥, 6 concave

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Means for holding character skeleton pattern information and character stroke thickness information for each character type; means for generating skeleton pattern information enlarged or reduced from the skeleton pattern information; A means for determining the thickness after generation based on the thickness information and a scaling ratio of the skeleton pattern information, and a means for generating an outline shape of the character from the skeleton pattern information of the character and the determined stroke thickness. means for determining the scaling ratio of the thickness of each stroke of the character as a value different from the scaling ratio of the skeletal pattern information when generating the outline shape of the character from the skeletal pattern information of the character. A method for graphically generating character shapes, characterized by comprising: 2. When generating large characters, the thickness of each stroke is made larger by increasing the expansion rate of the thickness of each stroke than the expansion rate of the skeleton pattern information, and when generating small characters, the thickness of the line is further increased. 2. The method for graphically generating a character shape according to claim 1, wherein the thickness of the line is further reduced by making the reduction rate of the thickness of each stroke smaller than the reduction rate of the thickness of each stroke. 3. It is equipped with a means for holding thickness control information corresponding to the range of enlargement/reduction ratio of the character size, and when generating a stroke in a character outline shape, the thickness information of the stroke of the character is used as a multiplicand, and the 2. The graphical character shape generation method according to claim 1, wherein the thickness of the stroke at the time of generation is determined by multiplication using thickness control information corresponding to a scaling factor as a multiplier. 4. A means for maintaining the thickness of each stroke constituting a character corresponding to the range of scaling ratio of the character size,
Graphical generation of a character shape according to claim 1, characterized in that when generating a stroke in a character outline shape, the thickness of the stroke of the character is set to the thickness of the stroke corresponding to the scaling ratio. method. 5. A plurality of types are provided to identify the thickness of the stroke of a character, a means is provided for retaining this type for each stroke constituting the character, and furthermore, it corresponds to a range of enlargement/reduction ratios of the size of the character. and a means for holding the thickness of each type for identifying the thickness of the stroke, and identifying the thickness of the stroke of the character when generating the stroke in the character outline shape. 2. A method for graphically generating a character shape according to claim 1, wherein the method is determined based on a type of character to be used and a value of a scaling ratio of the character.