Font navigation tool

• US 6,512,531 B1
• Filed: 04/09/1999
• Issued: 01/28/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 04/09/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Adobe Systems Incorporated (Adobe Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Adobe Systems Incorporated (Adobe Inc.)
• Inventors: Gartland, Richard A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Cabeca, John
• Assistant Examiner(s): BAUTISTA, XIOMARA L
• Application Number:
  US09/289,489
• Time in Patent Office: 1,390 Days
• Field of Search: 345/467, 345/471, 345/748, 345/749, 345/764, 345/810, 345/853-855, 345/866, 707/529, 707/542
• US Class Current: 715/854
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/109 Font handling; Temporal or kinetic typography

Abstract

Methods and apparatus that enable a user to select a font from a collection of available fonts. The invention receives font data identifying each font in a collection of available fonts, identifies a location in a navigation space for each available font, receives a target location, and uses the target location to identify a candidate font in the collection of available fonts. The navigation space is defined by a set of navigation attributes. Each navigation attribute corresponds to a distinguishing font characteristic. Each location is defined by a set of navigation attribute values for all navigation attributes defining the navigation space. The target location is defined by input values for each navigation attribute specified by a navigation input received interactively from the user. The candidate font is a font with a location in the navigation space identical to the first target location if the collection of available fonts contains such a font. If the collection of available fonts does not contain such a font, the candidate font is a font in the collection of available fonts that is close to the first target location in the navigation space. Particular embodiments have the following features. The invention interactively receives a second navigation input specifying a second input value for one or more navigation attributes, where the second input values and the first input values define a second target location in the navigation space, and uses the second target location to identify a second candidate font in the collection of available fonts. The target location is defined by the attribute values defining the navigation space location of a current font and an input value designating a desired change in an attribute value of the current font. The user can select the candidate font from a collection of installed fonts for use in an application running on a computer, or can download the candidate font from the World Wide Web.

Claims

1. A method for enabling a user to select a font from a collection of available fonts, comprising:

receiving font data identifying each font in a collection of available fonts and identifying a location in a navigation space for each available font, the navigation space being defined by a set of navigation attributes, each navigation attribute corresponding to a visual font characteristic, each location being defined by a set of navigation attribute values for all navigation attributes defining the navigation space;

receiving from the user interactively a first navigation input that specifies a first input value for each of the navigation attributes in a subset of navigation attributes including less than all the navigation attributes, the first input values defining a first target location in the navigation space; and

using the first target location to identify a first candidate font in the collection of available fonts by identifying a font with a location in the navigation space identical to the first target location if the collection of available fonts contains such a font, and, if the collection of available fonts does not contain such a font, identifying a font in the collection of available fonts that is close to the first target location in the navigation space.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving from the user interactively a second navigation input that specifies a second input value for one or more navigation attributes, the second input values and the first input values defining a second target location in the navigation space; and

using the second target location to identify a second candidate font in the collection of available fonts.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving a first input value for each attribute in the subset of navigation attributes comprises:

determining the navigation space location of a current font;

receiving a first input value designating a desired change in an attribute value of the current font; and

using the attribute values defining the navigation space location of the current font and the first input value designating the desired change to define the first target location.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the first target location defines a volume in the navigation space and the font with a location in the navigation space identical to the first target location comprises a font with a location within the volume defined by the first target location.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

enabling the user to select the first candidate font for use in an application running on a computer.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein:

the collection of available fonts comprises a collection of installed fonts.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein:

the collection of available fonts comprises a collection of fonts stored at a location on the World Wide Web.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

downloading the new font from the location on the World Wide Web; and

installing the new font in the computer.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the navigation attributes are selected from the group consisting of family type, serif style, weight, proportion, contrast, stroke variation, arm style, letter form, midline and X height.

10. A method for enabling a user to select a font from a collection of available fonts, comprising:

receiving font information identifying each font in a collection of available fonts, the font information comprising a set of attribute values describing the visual appearance of each font;

identifying a set of navigation attributes defining a navigation space, each font in the collection of available fonts having a location in the navigation space defined by a plurality of the attribute values for the font;

identifying the attribute values of a current font;

receiving from the user one or more first input values designating a desired change in the appearance of the current font and corresponding to a change in one or more attribute values of the current font;

using one or more attribute values of the current font and the first input values to define a first target location; and

using the first target location to identify a first candidate font in the collection of available fonts by identifying a font with a location in the navigation space identical to the first target location if the collection of available fonts contains such a font, and, if the collection of available fonts does not contain such a font, identifying a font in the collection of available fonts that is close to the first target location in the navigation space.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

receiving from the user one or more second input values designating a desired change in the appearance of the current font or the first candidate font;

using the second input values to define a second target location in the navigation space; and

using the second target location to identify a second candidate font in the collection of available fonts by identifying a font with a location in the navigation space identical to the second target location if the collection of available fonts contains such a font, and, if the collection of available fonts does not contain such a font, identifying a font in the collection of available fonts that is close to the second target location in the navigation space.

12. A method for enabling a user to select a font from a collection of available fonts, comprising:

receiving font data identifying each font in a collection of available fonts and identifying a location in a font space for each available font, the font space being defined by a set of font attributes, each location being defined by attribute values for all font attributes defining the font space;

identifying a set of navigation attributes defining a navigation space, the navigation attributes being derived from font attributes;

receiving from a user interactively a navigation input that specifies an input value for each of the navigation attributes, the input values defining a target location in the navigation space; and

using the target location to identify a candidate font in the collection of available fonts by identifying a font with a location in the navigation space identical to the target location if the collection of available fonts contains such a font, and, if the collection of available fonts does not contain such a font, identifying a font in the collection of available fonts that is close to the target location in the navigation space.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein at least one navigation attribute is derived from a plurality of font attributes.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the navigation space is a proper subspace of the font space.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein at least one input navigation attribute value defines a range of font attribute values.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein the target location defines a volume in the navigation space and the font with a location in the navigation space identical to the target location comprises a font with a location within the volume defined by the target location.

17. A computer program product, tangibly stored on a computer-readable medium, for enabling a user to select a font from a collection of available fonts, the program comprising instructions to:

receive font data identifying each font in a collection of available fonts and identifying a location in a navigation space for each available font, the navigation space being defined by a set of navigation attributes, each navigation attribute corresponding to a visual font characteristic, each location being defined by a set of navigation attribute values for all navigation attributes defining the navigation space;

receive from the user interactively a first navigation input that specifies a first input value for each of the navigation attributes in a subset of navigation attributes including less than all the navigation attributes, the first input values defining a first target location in the navigation space; and

use the first target location to identify a first candidate font in the collection of available fonts by identifying a font with a location in the navigation space identical to the first target location if the collection of available fonts contains such a font, and, if the collection of available fonts does not contain such a font, identifying a font in the collection of available fonts that is close to the first target location in the navigation space.

18. The computer program product of claim 17, further comprising instructions to:

receive from the user interactively a second navigation input that specifies a second input value for one or more navigation attributes, the second input values and the first input values defining a second target location in the navigation space; and

use the second target location to identify a second candidate font in the collection of available fonts.

19. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein the instructions to receive a first input value for each attribute in the subset of navigation attributes comprise instructions to:

determine the navigation space location of a current font;

receive a first input value designating a desired change in an attribute value of the current font; and

use the attribute values defining the navigation space location of the current font and the first input value designating the desired change to define the first target location.

20. The computer program product of claim 19, wherein the first target location defines a volume in the navigation space and the font with a location in the navigation space identical to the first target location comprises a font with a location within the volume defined by the first target location.

21. The computer program product of claim 20, further comprising instructions to:

enable the user to select the first candidate font for use in an application running on a computer.

22. The computer program product of claim 21, wherein:

the collection of available fonts comprises a collection of installed fonts.

23. The computer program product of claim 21, wherein:

the collection of available fonts comprises a collection of fonts stored at a location on the World Wide Web.

24. The computer program product of claim 23, further comprising instructions to:

download the new font from the location on the World Wide Web; and

install the new font in the computer.

25. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein:

the navigation attributes are selected from the group consisting of family type, serif style, weight, proportion, contrast, stroke variation, arm style, letter form, midline and X height.

26. A computer program product, tangibly stored on a computer-readable medium, for enabling a user to select a font from a collection of available fonts, the program comprising instructions to:

receive font information identifying each font in a collection of available fonts, the font information comprising a set of attribute values describing the visual appearance of each font;

identify a set of navigation attributes defining a navigation space, each font in the collection of available fonts having a location in the navigation space defined by a plurality of the attribute values for the font;

identify the attribute values of a current font;

receive from the user one or more first input values designating a desired change in the appearance of the current font and corresponding to a change in one or more attribute values of the current font;

use one or more attribute values of the current font and the first input values to define a first target location; and

use the first target location to identify a first candidate font in the collection of available fonts by identifying a font with a location in the navigation space identical to the first target location if the collection of available fonts contains such a font, and, if the collection of available fonts does not contain such a font, identifying a font in the collection of available fonts that is close to the first target location in the navigation space.

27. The computer program product of claim 26, further comprising instructions to:

receive from the user one or more second input values designating a desired change in the appearance of the current font or the first candidate font;

use the second input values to define a second target location in the navigation space; and

use the second target location to identify a second candidate font in the collection of available fonts by identifying a font with a location in the navigation space identical to the second target location if the collection of available fonts contains such a font, and, if the collection of available fonts does not contain such a font, identifying a font in the collection of available fonts that is close to the second target location in the navigation space.

28. A computer program product, tangibly stored on a computer-readable medium, for enabling a user to select a font from a collection of available fonts, the program comprising instructions to:

receive font data identifying each font in a collection of available fonts, the font data identifying a location in a font space for each available font, the font space being defined by a set of font attributes, each location being defined by attribute values for all font attributes defining the font space;

identify a set of navigation attributes defining a navigation space, the navigation attributes being derived from font attributes;

receive from a user interactively a navigation input that specifies an input value for each of the navigation attributes, the input values defining a target location in the navigation space; and

use the target location to identify a candidate font in the collection of available fonts by identifying a font with a location in the navigation space identical to the target location if the collection of available fonts contains such a font, and, if the collection of available fonts does not contain such a font, identifying a font in the collection of available fonts that is close to the target location in the navigation space.

29. The computer program product of claim 28, wherein at least one navigation attribute is derived from a plurality of font attributes.

30. The computer program product of claim 28, wherein the navigation space is a proper subspace of the font space.

31. The computer program product of claim 28, wherein at least one input navigation attribute value defines a range of font attribute values.

32. A system for enabling a user to select a font from a collection of available fonts, comprising:

means for receiving font data identifying each font in a collection of available fonts and identifying a location in a navigation space for each available font, the navigation space being defined by a set of navigation attributes, each navigation attribute corresponding to a visual font characteristic, each location being defined by a set of navigation attribute values for all navigation attributes defining the navigation space;

means for receiving from the user interactively a first navigation input that specifies a first input value for each of the navigation attributes in a subset of navigation attributes including less than all the navigation attributes, the first input values defining a first target location in the navigation space; and

means for using the first target location to identify a first candidate font in the collection of available fonts by identifying a font with a location in the navigation space identical to the first target location if the collection of available fonts contains such a font, and, if the collection of available fonts does not contain such a font, identifying a font in the collection of available fonts that is close to the first target location in the navigation space.

33. The system of claim 32, further comprising:

means for receiving from the user interactively a second navigation input that specifies a second input value for one or more navigation attributes, the second input values and the first input values defining a second target location in the navigation space; and

means for using the second target location to identify a second candidate font in the collection of available fonts.

34. The system of claim 32, wherein the means for receiving a first input value for each attribute in the subset of navigation attributes comprises:

means for determining the navigation space location of a current font;

means for receiving a first input value designating a desired change in an attribute value of the current font; and

means for using the attribute values defining the navigation space location of the current font and the first input value designating the desired change to define the first target location.