JPH04125590A - Character pattern information conversion method and device - 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 the generation of character pattern information by a computer, and relates to a method of converting contour information on a stroke-by-stroke basis into contour information on a character-by-character basis. The present invention also relates to a character pattern conversion device using this conversion method. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a document output device using the above character conversion method.

[Conventional technology]

A method for outputting a character pattern while retaining outline information for each character is called an outline character method or a vector character method, and is a method that has recently attracted attention and is becoming standardized.

With this method, compared to the conventional method of holding character patterns as a matrix of dots, it is possible to convert the size and slope, so if one set of patterns is prepared, it can be used for outputting various sizes. effective. The standard method for expressing this contour curve is a series of straight lines and so-called Bezier curves. Traditionally, a Bezier curve is
CAD is a computer-aided design technology for car shapes, etc.
This is a shape representation that was used for curved surfaces in the field of , but this curve representation is used for character patterns. This defines a Bezier curve element with 3 or 4 control points, and 2 of these 3 or 4 points are the end points of the defined curve element, but the other 1 or 2 points is generally a point that is not on the curve. For information on this Bezier curve, its size, and rotation conversion method, see, for example, "Page Description Language PO5TSCRIPT Reference Manual J
(written by Adobe 5ystea+s, translated by Matsumura, published by ASCII Publishing Bureau, 1988, originally published in 1985). An older example of expressing character patterns using outline information is COMPIJTER, May 1984.
pp, 40-48. IEEE) to J.

Illustrated by Flowers. An outline character pattern is one in which a character pattern of one character is considered to be one figure, and is expressed by its outline.

There are two types of contours: outer contours and inner contours.

Character pattern expression using the outline character method is simply referred to as character outline expression here.

One way to obtain this character outline representation is to read a character pattern drawn in advance on paper and generate the character outline, but in this case, there is a problem in that it is difficult to change the shape such as the thickness. In other words, it is difficult to generate character patterns of the same size but with different thicknesses, or to achieve a thickness expansion rate that is greater than the size expansion rate.

By the way, a method for generating character patterns of arbitrary thickness using stroke skeleton information and shape data was proposed in a patent application published in 1983.
-104246 and therein.

It is stated that in the process of generating a character pattern from skeleton information, contour information for each stroke of the desired thickness and edge shape can be obtained. This method is called the skeletal vector method, and the character expressions expressed using this method are called skeletal vector characters. In this way, a stroke contour curve consisting of a series of straight lines and Bezier curves is obtained. From pages 1111 to 1118 of issue 9, 1989, of the journal published by the Information Processing Society of Japan, a linear-format character outline is generated from a linear-format stroke outline representation generated by controlling the thickness etc. from skeleton vector character information. A method for generating representations is shown.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

Outline character patterns have a problem in that it is difficult to change the thickness. The above-mentioned conventional technology, which was conceived as a method to address this problem, converts stroke contour information consisting only of straight lines into character contour information.This makes it possible to realize changes in thickness, etc., but the quality of the contour curve I have a problem with it falling.

The first object of the present invention is to use contour information for each stroke, whose shape such as thickness can be controlled, as the source data for conversion, so as to create a stroke shape with a desired thickness, etc. Provides a method for converting character pattern information that makes it possible to obtain character contour information, and expresses the contour information of the conversion source and destination as a curved line using the control points described above. The object of the present invention is to realize the above conversion method which can give a quality character representation.

A second object of the present invention is to further realize the above conversion method which expresses the contour information of the conversion source and conversion destination using straight lines and Bezier curves, and provides standard and high-quality character expression. It is.

A third object of the present invention is to generate stroke information of a desired shape from skeletal information for each stroke, and then generate character contour information corresponding to the stroke information, thereby obtaining character contour information of various shapes. The purpose is to realize a conversion method.

A fourth object of the present invention is to provide character pattern information that can store contour information or skeleton information for each stroke as a conversion source for a complete set of characters, perform the above conversion on them, and generate and save a set of character contour information. An object of the present invention is to provide a conversion device.

Furthermore, a fifth object of the present invention is to apply the above conversion to each character of a given character string, and use the character outline information obtained as a result of the conversion to print a character pattern string of a desired thickness on a printer or An object of the present invention is to provide a document output device capable of outputting to a display.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the first objective above, stroke contour information representing the contour figure of each stroke constituting a character pattern having a desired thickness and other shapes is retained, and Intersection coordinates between stroke contours are calculated, and outer contour line and inner contour line information are calculated based on the information, thereby generating character contour information that provides contour information for each character. Here, stroke contour information and character contour information are held as a series of partial line elements defined by multiple control points, and the outer contour and inner contour obtained in the conversion process are also a series of curve elements of the same format. Find and express the control point sequence to define .

In order to achieve the above second objective, stroke contour information and character contour information are held as a series of line segments and Bezier curves, and the outer contour and inner contour obtained in the conversion process are Expressed in an expression format that is a series.

In order to achieve the third objective, a skeletal character representation including skeletal information for each stroke and shape data such as thickness, and stroke outline information of the character are generated from the skeletal character representation.

In order to achieve the fourth object, a means is used for holding stroke outline information for a set of a plurality of characters, which represents outline figures in units of strokes constituting a character pattern having a target thickness.

In order to achieve the fifth objective, a printer and a display device capable of printing and displaying character patterns expressed by single character outline information, and stroke outline information of each character from a given character code string are provided. A means of extracting the data and performing the above transformation is used.

[Effect]

Stroke contour information with adjusted thickness and edge shape can be obtained from skeleton vector characters. The intersection points of the outlines of each stroke can be approximately found even when the outlines are given as curved lines. Of the character contour information, the outer contour curve is traced starting from the maximum or minimum value among the points necessary to generate the stroke contour, and if there is a branch point, the sign is determined by taking the cross product of the vectors. It can be generated by determining the trace direction. On the other hand, the inner contour information recognizes a closed figure that does not include a part of the already extracted outer contour line, determines whether the closed figure is included inside the stroke, and determines if it is not included. It can be generated by using inner contour information. In order to express this result in the character contour information to be converted, a means for expressing the character contour information in a format such as a curve type is used. At this time, control points that define the partial line element of the conversion destination are determined from the control points that define the relevant official line element of the conversion source and the related intersection points of the above-mentioned stroke outlines. In particular, when expressing contour information using Bezier curves, points on the inner contour or outer contour obtained in the above conversion process, curve information in the original stroke contour information, curve information and coordinate point sequence are A method including partial hesi-bicurve generation is used to express the character contour information of the conversion result.

The stroke outline information holding means is used to hold the information for a set of characters, and serves as source information for converting and creating character outline information necessary for displaying and outputting character strings. The stroke skeleton information, shape data, and character contour information generation means based thereon provide means for converting and generating stroke contour information consisting of straight lines and Bezier curves. The character contour information holding means holds a set of character contour information as a result of conversion, and provides the character contour information necessary when displaying and outputting a character string.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a general procedure for converting stroke contour information, which is contour data on a stroke-by-stroke basis, to character contour information, which is contour data on a character-by-character basis, in the present invention. Hereinafter, this figure will be described and explained according to the symbols attached to each processing step in the flowchart.

Process 11: Read stroke outline information for a specified character from a stroke outline dictionary that stores the information for each character. Stroke outline information for one character includes stroke outline information for the number of strokes making up that character. The stroke outline information of a single stroke is a sequence of outline part information representing the outline part curve of that stroke. This contour portion information consists of a sequence of control points for generating a contour curve and the type of curve.

Process 12: From the information read in process 11, find the intersection of the contours of the strokes that make up the character.

Store in memory. At this time, a plurality of stroke groups having intersection points are stored as a group. Of course, the number of groups varies depending on the character. In addition, when there is no intersection like the character 2'', the vertex coordinate string of each element is used as the outer contour information, and the following processes 13 to 15 are skipped.

Process 13: Generate outer contour line information that defines the outer contour line of a figure that is a combination of a plurality of strokes that touch or intersect each other within the same group, from the stroke contour portion information and the already determined intersection point coordinates.

The format of this outer contour information is the same as the format of stroke contour information.

Process 14: Generate inner contour line information that defines the inner contour line of a figure that is a combination of a plurality of strokes that touch or intersect each other within the same group from the stroke contour information and the already determined intersection point coordinates.

The format of this inner contour information is the same as the format of stroke contour information.

Process 15: This is a repeat determination process for executing Processes 13 and 14 for each group determined above.

Process 16: Process 16 is a process called from Process 13 and Process 14, and has 4 points 01, 02°03, and
Two points 01 and 04 of the Bezier curve described below with 04 as the control point
The division ratio of the intersection point in the curve segment having the end points is determined, the control points are divided at the same ratio, and a partial Bezier curve is determined using this division point as a new control point.

It is called a partial Bezier curve because it is a part of the original Bezier curve.

Through the above processing, outer outline information and inner outline information required as character outline information can be generated.

Here, using Figure 2 and taking the character ``Paday'' as an example,
The above conversion process will be explained.

FIG. 2(A) shows two vertical strokes 20 and 22.3 horizontal strokes 21. which make up the character "日".
23.24 is shown. In this figure, white circles such as 25 are control points that are end points of the partial contour information of the stroke.

Figure 2 (B) is a diagram that represents the character ``日'' by combining the strokes in (A). White circles such as 26 represent points where the end points of the partial outlines of the strokes overlap. , 27, etc. are the intersections of stroke outlines other than in this case.

FIG. 2(C) shows character contour information obtained as a result of the conversion process shown in FIG. 1, which is composed of outer contour information 28 and inner contour information 29.

From the character outline information generated by the above processing.

To convert to a dot image, first fill in the inside surrounded by the outer contour line representing the outer contour line information with on dots,
- By returning the inner side of the filled area surrounded by the inner contour line representing the inner contour line information to the state before being filled with off-dots. This completes the dot character with only the necessary parts filled in. Note that as another filling method, it is possible to fill in without distinguishing between the outer contour line and the inner contour line, but it is possible to fill in the line more quickly by distinguishing between the outer contour line and the inner contour line.

Next, the method for acquiring the outer contour line information shown in process 12 of FIG. 1 will be explained in detail using FIG. 3. In this figure, the meanings of the white and black circles are as before. Points A, B,
Stroke (code 31) consisting of E and L, dot, F
, N, and J (symbol 32) overlap and have a plurality of intersection points. Note that, in order to simplify the explanation, FIG. 3 shows an example where two strokes have an intersection, but the same applies to a case where two or more strokes overlap. First, among the white circle points (referred to as vertices) and the black circle points (referred to as intersection points), for example, a point A located at the lower right corner is extracted as a starting point.

Trace along the contour counterclockwise from point A. Since the first point B is not an intersection point, the portion AB is determined as part of the outer contour information. Since the only point connected from point B is point C, line segment BC is also determined as part of the outer contour line information. Next, from point C, there are three directions (points).

E, F directions), it is necessary to decide which direction to branch. Since we are tracing the outer contour line, we need to branch to the outermost point F. This selection of point F is possible by taking the cross product of the vectors and determining its sign. That is, when the cross products of vectors BC and BD, vectors BC and BE, and vectors BC and BF shown by broken line arrows are taken, their signs are negative, zero, and positive, respectively. When tracing the outer contour line in a counterclockwise direction as shown in FIG. 3, first, a vector with a negative sign is searched for, and if there is no vector, the vectors are searched in the order of zero and then positive. In FIG. 3, vector BF is selected and will go from point C to point F. If the result of taking the outer product of the vectors is that there are multiple vectors with the same sign, take the inner product of the unit vectors of each vector, and select the vector with the largest value. By repeating the above operations until returning to the starting point, outer contour line information consisting of a vertex and intersection coordinate string can be obtained in the tracing order.

Next, using the example of FIG. 4, the method of obtaining the inner contour line information shown in process 14 of FIG. 1 will be explained. Note that FIG. 4 shows an example in which there is one inner contour line to simplify the explanation. The outline of the process is to find all the smallest closed shapes that do not include the line segments of the outer contour that have already been found, and if those closed shapes are not inside any of the strokes in the same group, the vertices that make up the closed shape are and the intersection coordinate string as inner contour line information. This will be explained in detail below.

In FIG. 4, the following point sequence has already been selected as the coordinate sequence of the outer contour information using the method shown in FIG.

B3. B2. Y3. Y2. A3. A2. Al.

A4. Xi, X4. Bl, B4. B3 The minimum closed figure that does not include line segments and is made up of these point sequences is as follows.

Closed figure H:X2. C2, C1, Xi, X2 closed figure:
X3. X4. C4, C3, X3 closed figure L: X2. X3.
Y4. Yl, X2 closed figure M: Yl, Y2. D2. Di,
Yl closed figure Q: Y4. D4. D3. Y3. The vertex sequence of the Y4 stroke is as follows.

Stroke c: A1. A2. A3. A4 stroke d
: C1, C2, C3, C4 stroke e: Dl,
D2. D3. D4 stroke f: B1. B2. B3. B
4 Among these closed figures, the closed figure H has a stroke c
(44) and stroke d (45), the closed figure has stroke d and stroke f (47), the closed figure M has stroke C and stroke e (46), the closed figure Q has stroke e and stroke respectively included in f. As a result, since it is not included in the strokes of the closed figure's corners, it becomes a closed figure representing an inner contour line. Note that some characters do not have an inner outline.

By performing the above processing, outer outline information and inner outline information, which are necessary information as character outline information, have been obtained from stroke outline information.

Now, in the above explanation, in order to understand the flow of processing, we took a simple example in which the outline of a stroke is expressed as a straight line, following the paper published in the Information Processing Society of Japan's journal, but in reality, Contour representations that combine straight lines and Bezier curves are becoming standardized. Therefore, it would be very effective if the above-mentioned conversion could be performed in accordance with the flow shown in FIG. 1 for this curve representation as well. In the case of this curve as well, means for obtaining the outer contour line and inner contour line information by similar processing will be described below.

Before explaining this conversion method, a method of expressing contour curve information is shown in FIG. Stroke contour information of one character and character contour information are both part of the 8th series of contour information of figures that make up the character.
It is expressed as shown in Figure 1).

Among these, reference numeral 80 indicates the number of figures constituting the character, and reference numeral 81 indicates a sequence of outline information of each figure. The format of each figure contour information is as shown in Fig. 8 2), information indicating whether it is an inner contour line or an outer contour line, information indicating the number of pieces of partial contour information constituting the figure contour information, and the number of pieces. This is a sequence with the partial contour information string for . In the case of stroke contour information, the information indicating the distinction between an inner contour line and an outer contour line is set to inner contour■, and in the case of character contour information, either value is set depending on the figure contour information. Ru.

Next, the contents of the 1 partial contour curve information include information indicating whether the partial contour curve is a straight line or a Bezier curve as the type of the partial contour curve, and the partial contour information indicating the number of control points. This is a series of information and control point coordinates corresponding to the number of pieces of information.

In the case of this curve, the means for obtaining the outer contour line and inner contour line information using the same processing procedure as described above will be described below. This applies to the handling of vertices in the example described above for processes 13 and 14 in FIG.
In this case, by adding the treatment of straight lines and Bezier curves). As a result, the above-mentioned string of partial contour information is obtained as character contour information, and this partial contour information is represented by a control point string and a curve type.

Here, I would like to refer to "Shape processing engineering using computer displays [II]" by Fujio Yamaguchi (Nippon F'J Kogyo Shinbunsha,
We will show the representation of Bezier curves and their properties as revealed in Chapter 5 of 1982). In FIG. 6 (1), a curve 61 starting from Q and ending at Q is a cubic Bezier curve with four control points: Qo, Q, , Q2, and Q3. This curve has control points Q at both ends. and Q, and let the tangent vectors there be Q10 and Q10, respectively. It is a cubic curve where the parameter is 1 (0≦t≦1) and is expressed by the following equation.

P(t)=(1-t)'QO+3t(1-t)2Q,
+3(1-t)t2Q2+t'Q.

This curve passes through point Q0 when 1=0, and passes through point Q when t=1.

Next, in FIG. 7 1), a curve 71 starting from Qo and ending at Q2.
is a quadratic Bezier curve whose control points are Qo, Q-factor, and Q2. This curve has control points Q at both ends. and Q2
, and the tangent hector there, respectively, is Q. It is a quadratic curve with Q-work and Q-work Q2, and the parameter is t (
○≦t≦1), it is expressed by the following formula.

P(t)=(1-t)2Q0+2t(1-t)Q□+t
2Q2 This curve passes through point Q0 when 1=0, and passes through point Q2 when 1=1. This quadratic Bezier curve is converted to a cubic Bezier curve Ri (i
=o, 1, 2.3).

Here, R1 and R2 are QoQ and Q, respectively.
This is the point where Q2 is divided into 2:1 and 1:2.

Next, in Figure 6 2), one of the control points at both ends of the cubic Bezier curve (here, the first control point) and any one point on this cubic Bezier curve are defined as the control points at both ends. We will show how to find the cubic Bezier curve, that is, how to find the two intermediate control points. It is clear that by repeating this process, a cubic Bezier curve with two arbitrary points on the cubic Bezier curve as both end control points can be obtained. FIG. 6 2) shows the first control point Q of the cubic Bezier curve 61 that extends from the control point Q0 to the control point QJ. And, how to find a cubic Bezier curve with arbitrary point C on this cubic Bezier curve as both end control points, that is, how to find 5 control points R8=Qo, R, R2 and R,=C. Explain. Of these, the two points at both ends are already clear, so what we are looking for is the two points in the middle, that is, R1 and R
2. According to the above document, point C on curve 61
If the value of ts corresponding to is ts, then the point R can be found as the point 1 that divides Q and Q into 1:S. Next, Q,
Q,,Q10. Let S and T be the points that divide the line segment ST in the same way, and the claimable point R2, which is the point that divides the line segment ST in the same way, is the point that divides the line segment R in a ratio of 1:ts. This point is also the point where the extension of UC intersects with the line segment R1S. It is also possible to obtain point R2 as the point where the tangent at point C intersects with line segment R1S. That’s all, 3
Parameter ts that gives any one point C on the Bezier curve
From this, a known method has been described in which the leading control point and point C of the original cubic Bezier curve are taken as both end control points, and a new cubic Bezier curve that overlaps with the original cubic Bezier curve is obtained. In this method, the same effect can be obtained even if the last control point is used instead of the first control point. By repeating this method twice, arbitrary two points on the cubic Bezier curve are set as both end control points, and a cubic Bezier curve passing on the original curve is obtained. Next, how to find the parameter ts that gives C, this is as follows: C=(1-t)'Q, +3t(1-t)2Qtech+3(
It is obtained by solving t that satisfies the cubic equation given by 1-t)t2Q2+t'Q) under the condition of 0≦t≦1.

Above, using Figures 6 and 7, we have explained how to convert a quadratic Bezier curve to a cubic Bezier curve, and how to convert the original cubic Bezier curve by giving two points on the cubic Bezier curve. We have shown a method for finding a Bezier curve that passes through a curve and uses these two points as both end control points.

The outline curves of recent outline character patterns are often expressed by a combination of quadratic or cubic Bezier curves and straight lines. As for other line types that are sometimes used, it has been shown in the literature that a circle can be approximated with high accuracy by a cubic Bezier curve, and that a so-called cubic spline curve can be converted into a cubic Bezier curve. ing. Thereby, the contour curve expressed by the combination of the above line types can be converted into a combination of a straight line and a cubic Bezier curve.

Now, with the above-mentioned known techniques in mind, the processing procedure shown in FIG. 1 will be explained regarding such a curved contour.

Previously, the stroke contours in Figures 3 and 4 used in the explanation of Figure 1 were shown as an example of a series of partial contour information represented by line segments. It is assumed that the contour information is expressed by a series of partial contour information expressed by a Bezier curve. All of these are represented by information according to FIG. On the other hand, the processing procedure shown in FIG. 1 can be applied as is. The explanations regarding FIGS. 3 and 4 also do not depend on the type of curve. The following two processes depend on the type of curve.

The first is the process of finding the intersection between partial contours of two strokes expressed by line segments or cubic Bezier curves, but this simply means that the orders of the equations to be solved are different.

The second process is to generate new partial contour information for the outer and inner contours expressed by line segments or cubic Bezier curves from the intersection points found above and the original partial contour curve information. It is. This is achieved by applying the known transformation method for Bezier curves mentioned above. This process is
Although shown as the process 16 which is commonly used from the process 13 and the process 14 in FIG. 1, an example of a processing method for realizing this is shown in FIG.

FIG. 9 shows a process for generating a partial Bezier curve. From the process 13 in FIG. 1 and the process 4 in FIG.
Code 16 that is called by using points P1 and P2 as parameters
This shows more specifically the flow of the subprogram that provides the processing.

Here, when the partial contour information PartI represents a Bezier curve, Pl is P2 with respect to the parameter t of the Bezier curve.
It corresponds to a smaller t.

Reference numeral 90 represents a process of taking in the two parameters. The function of this subprogram is to generate curve information between points P1 and P2, which is the part of the curve given by Part I, as partial contour information PartO. Reference numeral 91 is a process for determining whether the curve given in Part I is a line or a Bezier curve, and reference numeral 93 is a process for generating partial contour information PartO when this is a line, the curve type is a straight line, and the number of control points is 2. The control point coordinates are simply 01=P
1,02=P2. This ends the processing in this case. On the other hand, reference numeral 92 is a process when the determination at reference numeral 91 is a Bezier curve, the curve type of the partial contour information PartO is a Bezier curve, and the number of control points is 4.
shall be. The control point coordinate sequence 01 is obtained by the process 94 and subsequent steps. First, in the process 94, it is determined whether one point P1 or one point P2 coincides with a control point of the input partial contour. Based on the above assumption and the fact that the control point in the middle of the Bezier curve is not on the curve, this determination is P1=11 or P2=I4
This is a determination that either of the following holds true. If this holds true, the process proceeds to code 99; if not, code 9
Proceed to step 5. First, in the process with code 9, either the two points PL or P2 match either of the control points at both ends, and if ○1=PL and 04=P2, then in the process with code 910, the part that is another subprogram The Bezier calculation is called with the first parameter as ○i and the second parameter as Ii.

This subprogram implements the method explained above using 2) in Figure 6. It is given one point on the cubic Bezier curve, sets it as one of the control points at both ends, and Find a new cubic Bezier curve that passes on the cubic Bezier curve. Specifically, the control point sequence of the original Bezier curve is taken as the second parameter, and the control point sequence of the Bezier curve to be returned as a result is taken as the first parameter. However, among the latter four control points, the first control point and the fourth control point are set as input information. One of these coincides with both end control points of the original Bezier curve, and the other is a point passing on the original cubic Bezier curve. This subprogram determines the second and third control points from the control point sequence of the first parameter, and returns the other two points as input. It is clear from the navigational explanation that this is the desired partial Bezier curve.

Now, when the determination 94 is not satisfied, the process proceeds to 95, but this is the process when two points are given that pass on the original cubic Bezier curve and do not coincide with either of the control points at both ends. In the process 95, a temporary control point coordinate sequence Ti is used, the first control point T1 is set as the first control point 11 of the original Bezier curve, the fourth control point T4 is set as the input point P2, and the partial Bezier calculation sub Call the program with Ti as the first parameter and Ii as the second parameter. As a result, due to the order relationship between PL and P2 assumed above, the first
Control point ■1 is the first control point T1, input point P2 is the fourth control point T4, and a new Bezier curve control point sequence that forms the part of the original Bezier curve that passes through the input point P1 is returned to Ti. . At this stage, P2 of the two points PL and P2 coincides with the fourth control point of the Bezier curve Ti, and the remaining processing is as follows.
This is the same as in reference numeral 99. However, in this case, the second parameter of the partial Hezier calculation is the temporary control point sequence T1.

In other words, in the process 97, 01=PL and 04=P2, and in the process 98, the partial Bezier calculation is performed as the first
The parameter is called ○i, and the second parameter is called Ti. By the process 910 or 98, the control point sequence of the cubic Bezier curve obtained from the control point sequence Oi is completed. Other information of the partial contour information PartO has already been set in the process 92.

When calling the subprogram in FIG. 9 from the processes 13 and 14 in FIG. 1, partial contour curve information and 2
All you have to do is pass the intersection coordinates of the points to this subprogram in the order described above. This call is repeated if the partial contour curve has three or more intersection points. If there is only one point of intersection, one of the control points at both ends included in the resulting partial curve is found, and the subprogram is called as either PL or P2. As a result, partial contour information 84 shown in FIG. 8 is obtained. Other information on the character contour information to be obtained is the number 83 of constituent part contour information indicated by reference numeral 83 in FIG. Among these, 82 is set to a corresponding value in each of the processes 13 and 14. 80 is set as the number of groups determined by reference numeral 12. 83 is the code 13 and 14
It is set within the process.

FIG. 5 shows an example in which the conversion method described above is applied to a document processing device. A character string input from the keyboard 505 is transferred to the CPU 502 via the L5 and the bus 500. If kana-kanji conversion is necessary, the CPU 502 converts the corresponding characters by kana-kanji conversion, and
As a character code for identifying characters from 2, bus 5
00, the stroke outline dictionary 503 is accessed, and stroke outline information giving the position and shape of each stroke of the character is read therefrom. This information is transferred to L3,
500. The information is sent to the converter 510 from stroke outline information to character outline information via L8. Here, first, it is transferred to the element contour information extraction unit 511. 511
transfers outline information for each stroke to the character outline information generation unit 513 via the LIO. At step 513, the process shown in FIG. 1 is performed to generate outer contour line information and inner contour line information. This result is output via Li2 and L6 or L7 to a display device or printer capable of outputting character contour information. Alternatively, this character contour information is stored in the character contour dictionary 504 via Li2 and L4. Furthermore, the filling processing unit 514 fills in the inside of the outline using a known method and develops it into a dot image, Li2. L6 or L7
The data is output to a display device 506 or a printer 507 via the .

Furthermore, the skeleton information dictionary 520 holds character skeleton information and shape data, and is inputted via L20 to a converter from skeleton information to stroke contour information 521, where the stroke contour is converted from known skeleton information. Stroke contour information expressed by straight lines and Bezier curves resulting from the conversion into information is stored in the stroke dictionary 503 via L21.

This information is used as described above. The stroke contour information obtained by the conversion unit 521 is sent to the conversion unit 51 from stroke contour information to character contour information via L21.
The character outline information obtained as a result of conversion is used in the same way as described above.

〔Effect of the invention〕

It is now possible to convert straight lines and cubic Bezier curves into character contour information based on straight lines and cubic Bezier curves, which have recently been standardized, without degrading quality as character contour information for each stroke. By using the skeleton character method to generate deformed patterns of thickness and other shapes as character outline information for each stroke, it is possible to automatically generate high-quality character outline fonts, which can be directly printed on a printer or displayed. Can be output to a device. Furthermore, the production efficiency of the various deformed fonts that will be needed in the future as character outline fonts can be greatly improved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure for converting stroke contour information to character contour information, Figure 2 (A) is an example of a stroke contour pattern, and (B) is an example of a combination of these to express a character pattern. , (C) is an example in which the character expressed in (B) is expressed as character outline information, Figure 3 is a diagram showing how to trace the outer outline, and Figure 4 is a diagram showing how to trace the outer outline. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the connection state of . An example of the configuration of a document processing device to which the present invention is applied, FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the properties of a cubic Bezier curve, and FIG.
FIG. 8, which is a diagram explaining the properties of a quadratic Bezier curve, is a diagram showing an example of the expression format of stroke contour information and character contour information expressed as a series of line segments and cubic Bezier curves. FIG. 9 specifically shows the process 16 in FIG. 1, and the processing procedure of a subprogram that executes partial Bezier curve generation processing for generating partial contour information of a stroke contour is shown in FIG. Figure 4 Figure 6 α Figure 7 1) Format of stroke outline information and character outline information for one character 2) Format of each figure outline information 3) Format of partial outline information

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Find the intersection points of the contours of a plurality of strokes constituting a character pattern, use one of the found intersection points among the contours of each of the plurality of strokes as an end point, and use it as the character pattern. In the character pattern information conversion method, each stroke information is defined by a plurality of control points that are not necessarily on a curve, and each stroke is defined by a plurality of control points that are not necessarily on a curve. Provide a series of partial contour curve information representing a plurality of partial curves that constitute each stroke, and use that to find the intersection points of the contours of different strokes; For one partial curve that includes an intersection point, find control points that define a part of that one partial curve (modified partial curve) that starts from the intersection point and is used as a character outline, and then convert this modified partial curve to these points. A character pattern information conversion method characterized by generating contour information expressed based on control points. 2. Claim 1 from stroke contour information to character contour information
In the conversion method, both the source and destination contour information are given as a series of partial contour curve information consisting of line segments or so-called Bezier curves, and the line segment information is expressed using two points at both ends as control points. The expression format of a Bezier curve has 3 or 4 points as control points consisting of both end points and 1 or 2 points outside the curve, and the generation of this curve takes a value of 0 at the start end, a value of 1 at the end, and 0. It is assumed that the parameters having a range from The method is characterized in that a line segment between adjacent control points is divided at a division ratio for the entire area, and character contour information representing a partial Bezier curve passing on the original Bezier curve is generated using the dividing point as a control point. The character pattern information conversion method according to claim 1. 3. Generating stroke contour information of various shapes from the skeleton line of each stroke constituting a character and shape data such as thickness, etc. using the shape representation of claim 1 or 2, and character contour information from the generated stroke contour information. 3. The method of converting character pattern information according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the method generates character pattern information. 4. Holding means for holding stroke contour information or skeleton character information for a plurality of characters representing outline figures of stroke units constituting a character pattern, and means for extracting the stroke information corresponding to a specified character from the holding means; 4. A character pattern information converting device comprising means for generating character contour information of the character by the character pattern information converting method according to claim 1, 2 or 3. 5. In the character pattern information conversion method according to claim 1, 2 or 3, a printer or display device that prints or displays a character pattern expressed by character outline information, and a printer or display device that prints or displays a character pattern expressed by character outline information, and a means for extracting stroke contour information or skeleton character information, and character contour information obtained by converting the information according to claim 1, 2 or 3, to display and output the character string on the printing or display device. A document output device characterized by having means.