Rendering ink strokes of variable width and angle

• US 20050162413A1
• Filed: 03/10/2005
• Published: 07/28/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 08/01/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Dresevic, Bodin, Kallay, Michael
• Application Number:
  US11/075,727
• Publication Number:
  US 20050162413A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/179
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/203 Drawing of straight lines or curves

Abstract

Apparatus and methods for dynamically rendering digital ink strokes of arbitrary stroke width while a user is drawing the ink strokes. An ink rendering system may receive sampled pen tip positions associated with a stylus or pen on a digitizer. The ink rendering system may further determine pen tip instances having particular shapes, sizes, and/or rotations, and may determine connecting shapes, preferably quadrangles, that connect between the pen tip instances. Smoothing techniques may also be used for existing digital ink.

Claims

1. A method for rendering a digital ink stroke, comprising the steps of:

receiving a first pen tip instance;

receiving a second pen tip instance; and

determining a quadrangle based on the first and second pen tip instances,

wherein the first and second pen instances each are associated with data representing at least one of a size, shape, or rotation of the respective pen tip instance.

2. The method of claim 1, further including the step of displaying a representation of the first pen tip instance, the second pen tip instance, and the quadrangle.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second pen instances each are associated with data representing at least one of a size, shape, or rotation of the respective pen tip instance.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining the quadrangle includes determining the quadrangle to connect the first pen tip instance to the second pen tip instance.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the first pen tip instance is a rectangle, the step of determining including determining two sides of the quadrangle to each have one endpoint at a corner of the rectangle.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the rectangle is a square.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the first pen tip instance is a triangle, the step of determining including determining two sides of the triangle to each have one endpoint at a corner of the triangle.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the digital ink stroke is opaque.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second pen tip instances each have an area defined by a contour.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second pen tip instances are of different sizes or different shapes.

16. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing the steps recited in claim 1.

9. A method for rendering a digital ink stroke, comprising the steps of:

receiving a first pen tip instance;

receiving a second pen tip instance; and

determining a region connecting the first and second pen tip instances,

wherein the first and second pen tip instances are each associated with data representing an area defined by a contour of the respective pen tip instance.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein the region overlaps a portion of the area of each of the first and second pen tip instances.

17. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing the steps recited in claim 9.

10. A method for rendering a digital ink stroke, comprising the steps of:

receiving a first pen tip instance;

receiving a second pen tip instance;

determining a plurality of quadrangles based on the first and second pen tip instances; and

determining a union of the plurality of quadrangles.

11. The method of claim 10, further including the step of displaying a representation of the first pen tip instance, the second pen tip instance, and the plurality of quadrangles.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the first pen tip instance is a rectangle, the step of determining including determining two sides of each of the plurality of quadrangles to each have one endpoint at a corner of the rectangle.