JPH0815796B2 - Character font generation method - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a character font generation method in a Japanese word processor or desktop publishing,
In particular, the present invention relates to a method of expanding an outline font into a bitmap to generate a dot display type character font of arbitrary size.

2. Description of the Related Art Outline fonts have been developed as a method of generating higher quality characters than dot fonts, and have been put to practical use in word processors, desktop publishing, etc. (Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 53-15624 and 53-41017). .

Even in the case of outline fonts, when outputting characters on a display or printer, the outline font source data is expanded into a bitmap and converted to a dot display type character font. Of course, the output size (generation size) of characters can be changed. When the character generation size is specified, when the outline font is bitmap-expanded, enlargement / reduction processing is performed according to the specified size.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention In the above-mentioned conventional method, the character generation size is changed by simply enlarging / reducing the character font of a certain design, so even if the size is different, all of the character fonts of similar shape are created. Was becoming.

It cannot be said that high-quality characters have similar character shapes regardless of the size of the characters. With reduced characters, variations in line width and crushed characters become problems. With enlarged characters, the relationship between the vertical and horizontal bar widths of the characters is unbalanced. Therefore, some devices have different outline fonts with different designs for characters of a certain size or larger, but this is very expensive.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems, and provides a character font generation method capable of expanding a character font having an appropriate proportion according to an output size into a bitmap based on an outline font having a certain design. To do.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a predetermined method for generating a dot display type character font by bitmap-expanding outline font source data at an arbitrary enlargement / reduction ratio. The character font is enlarged / reduced to the desired size with the contour line width and drawn in the memory, and then the enlargement / reduction ratio of the character font and the increased number of contour lines in the vertical and horizontal directions are stored in association with each other. The outline width of the character font is made thicker by referring to the parameter table.

Effect The present invention stores the increase amount of the contour line width optimal for the enlargement / reduction ratio of the character font in advance in the table and holds it, and when enlarging / reducing the character font, the character font is temporarily enlarged or reduced. The contour line width of the thin line is expanded on the memory, the increase value is obtained by referring to the table, and the contour line of the character font is added to the vertical and horizontal thicknesses by the increment while scanning in the vertical and horizontal directions. This makes the outline font design before enlargement / reduction basic,
Appropriate proportions according to the size after enlargement / reduction,
Generation of design character fonts is possible with a simple configuration and processing.

Third Embodiment FIG. 3 shows a schematic configuration of a character font generation device to which the present invention is applied. Various information such as a character code and a character output size is input to the processor 2 using an input unit 1 such as a keyboard. The processor 2 generates a designated character font on the bitmap memory 6 by the procedure described below and supplies it to the output unit 3 such as a display or a printer. The outline font source data is stored in the memory 4, and the correction parameter table 5 is preset with the enlargement ratio and the number of widening dots in the X and Y directions corresponding to the character output size, as shown in FIG. .

When the code of the character to be generated and the output size thereof are specified, the processor 2 retrieves the outline font of the character from the memory 4, and enlarges the corresponding size from the table 5, the number of X-direction widening dots, and the Y-direction widening. Read the number of dots. For example, as the character size (5 ×
5) is specified and the enlargement ratio (5), the X-direction widening dot number (4), and the Y-direction widening dot number (1) are extracted from the table 5. In this case, the processor 2 expands the outline font into the memory 6 by bit map and draws the outline of the character. At the same time, the processor 2 simultaneously enlarges the original size of the character by 5 times in each of the vertical and horizontal directions, and the character outline having the enlarged size is displayed. Drawing in the memory 6 with a thin line having a width of 1 dot.

FIG. 1 (A) exemplifies the character outline drawn in the memory 6 by being bit-mapped as described above. The processor 2 then executes widening processing in the X and Y directions. It is assumed that the number of widening bits in the X direction is 4 as described above. The processor 2 sets the bitmap memory 6 to X
Scan from top to bottom in the direction, and the first "1" on one scan line
When a dot is detected (point a in FIG. 1), the four dots to the left of that dot are set to "1". Next, when the second "1" dot is detected at point b, the four dots to the right of that dot are "1"
To Next, when the third "1" dot is detected at point c, the four dots to the left of that dot are set to "1". Next, when the fourth "1" dot is detected at point d, the four dots to the right of that dot are set to "1". As a result, the character outline in FIG. 1A is widened by 4 dots on both sides in the X direction.

Next, a process of widening one dot on both sides in the Y direction is performed. As shown in FIG. 1 (A), the bitmap memory 6
When the first "1" dot group is detected at the point e by sequentially scanning the upper part in the Y direction, one dot above the dot group is set to "1". Next, when the second "1" dot group is detected at point f,
The lower dot of the dot group is set to "1". Then 3 at point g
When the second "1" dot group is detected, one dot above the dot group is set to "1". Next, when the fourth "1" dot group is detected at the point h, the lower 1 dot of the dot group is set to "1".

As a result of the above widening processing, the character outline on the bitmap memory 6 changes from FIG. 1 (A) to (B), and the line width of the character is expanded by the number of bits set vertically and horizontally, Character proportions and designs change. That is, the character shape in FIG. 1 (B) is not congruent with (A), and is therefore not similar to the original size character shape of the outline font. After that, as well known, spline processing and polygon processing are performed, and further, the dots surrounded by the character outline are all set to "1" by the filling processing. The above processing procedure is shown in the flowchart of FIG.

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, an increase amount of the contour line width which is optimal for the enlargement / reduction ratio of a character font is stored and held in a table in advance, and when the character font is enlarged / reduced. , Once expand or shrink the character font and expand it in the memory with the outline width of the thin line, obtain the increased value by referring to the table, scan the vertical and horizontal directions, and increase the outline of the character font by the increment By adding thickness to each of the vertical and horizontal directions, the outline font design before enlarging / reducing can be used as a basis, while the appropriate proportions according to the size after enlarging / reducing and the generation of a character font of the design can be easily configured and processed. It has the effect of being possible.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of a character font generation process according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of an embodiment method according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a character font generation device to which the present invention is applied. A block diagram and FIG. 4 are conceptual diagrams of the table contents in FIG.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. When a source data of an outline font is bitmap-expanded at an arbitrary enlargement / reduction ratio to generate a character font of a dot display type of an arbitrary size, a character font having a predetermined contour line width and a desired size can be used. After drawing in the memory after enlarging / reducing the size of the character font, refer to the correction parameter table that stores the enlargement / reduction ratio of the character font and the increased number of dots in the vertical / horizontal direction in correspondence with the outline of the character font. A character font generation method characterized by widening the width.