Selecting and formatting warped text

• US 20070136664A1
• Filed: 12/12/2005
• Published: 06/14/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/12/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Zhang, Dachuan, Schoeller, Jonathan, Arvold, Michael, Brown, Sara
• Granted Patent: US 7,712,018 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/236
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/109 Font handling; Temporal or kinetic typography

Abstract

Selecting and formatting warped text is disclosed. Text effects such as an underline effect and/or a strikethrough effect may be transformed along with rectangular text to form a warped text element. In such a situation, the text effects are warped with the characters of the text. Also, warped text may be accurately selected or “hit.” The coordinates of a selection of warped text are inversely transformed to map the selection to the rectangular text. The inverse transform provides an accurate manner to determine the scope and location of the selection. When the scope and location are determined, the graphical representation of the selection may be transformed to provide a user with an accurate representation of a warped selection.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for selecting and formatting warped text, the method comprising:

obtaining a warped text element that includes a transform of a rectangular text element;

obtaining a selection of the warped text element;

applying an inverse transform to the selection of the warped text element;

determining a scope of the selection; and

applying the transform to the selection to accurately display the scope of the selection in association with the warped text element.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the warped text element includes at least one of:

a character, a letter, a number, a word, a symbol, a graph, and a picture.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the warped text element includes at least one text effect.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein the text effect includes at least one of:

a selection, an underline, and a strikethrough.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the selection includes determining a cursor location in the warped text element.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the selection includes determining a location of a highlighted portion of the warped text element.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the inverse transform includes an inverse of a transform associated with the warped text element.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining the scope of the selection includes determining the position of the selection.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining the scope of the selection includes determining the scope of a selected portion of the warped text element.

10. A computer-readable medium having computer executable instructions for selecting and formatting warped text, the instructions comprising:

obtaining a warped text element, wherein the warped text element includes a transform of a rectangular text element;

detecting a selection associated with the warped text element;

applying an inverse of the transform to the detected selection, wherein the inversely transformed selection indicates the scope of the selection in association with the rectangular text element;

transforming the detected selection with the transform to provide an accurate graphical representation of the selection in association with the warped text element.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the warped text element includes at least one of:

a character, a letter, a number, a word, a symbol, a graph, and a picture.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the warped text element includes at least one text effect.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the text effect includes at least one of:

a selection, an underline, and a strikethrough.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the selection includes determining a cursor location in the warped text element.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the selection includes determining a location of a highlighted portion of the warped text element.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein applying an inverse of the transform to the detected selection includes determining the position of the selection in association with the rectangular text element.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein applying an inverse of the transform to the detected selection includes determining the scope of a selected portion of the warped text element in association with the rectangular text element.

18. A computer-implemented method for applying text effects to warped text, the method comprising:

generating a rectangular text element, wherein the rectangular text element has at least one of an underline and a strikethrough;

transforming the rectangular text element with a transform algorithm;

displaying the transformed rectangular text element as a warped text element, wherein the warped text element includes a warp of at least one of the underline and the strikethrough.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 18, further comprising:

obtaining a selection of the warped text element;

applying an inverse transform to the selection of the warped text element;

determining a scope of the selection; and

applying the transform to the selection to accurately display the scope of the selection in association with the warped text element.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 18, wherein the selection includes determining a cursor location in the warped text element.