Reshaping freehand drawn lines and shapes in an electronic document
First Claim
1. A system for reshaping freehand drawn lines and shapes in a computing system having a display and a pointing device for drawing lines and shapes on the display, the system comprising:
- a polyline recognition module analyzing freehand drawn lines and shapes and generating a polyline made up of sequential straight line segments when the polyline does not form a closed line and generating a polyline shape when the polyline forms a closed line;
a basic shape recognition module responsive to the polyline recognition module and selecting a basic shape from reference ideal shapes as the basic shape of the polyline shape; and
a shape adjustment module responsive to the basic shape recognition module and adjusting the basic shape to provide a specific shape as an improved polyline shape; and
wherein the basic shape recognition module comprises;
a transform module transforming the reference ideal shapes into transformed shapes relative to the polyline shape;
a comparison module matching each transformed shape to the polyline shape and storing a similarity value for each transformed shape indicating similarity between the polyline shape and the transformed shape;
a selection module selecting the transformed shape with the highest similarity value as the basic shape of the polyline shape.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The invention improves the appearance of freehand drawn lines and shapes in an electronic document by first recognizing freehand drawn lines and shapes and generating a line made up of sequential straight line segments for the freehand drawn line when the line does not form a closed line and generating a multiple straight-line-segment shape when the line forms a closed line. If a multiple segment shape is being reshaped, a basic shape is selected from reference ideal shapes as the basic shape of the multiple segment shape. The basic shape is adjusted to provide a specific shape as an improved shape for the freehand drawn shape. The recognition of the freehand drawn lines and shapes is accomplished by comparing source segments of a source freehand drawn line to a straight line and substituting a straight line segment for a source segment if the deviation between the source segment and the straight line is below a predetermined value. Sequential source segments of a source freehand drawn line are evaluated to determine if they are an angle segment. A segment pair of sequential source line segments are defined as an angle segment having two straight line segments intersecting at a common end point if both source segments of the segment pair are within a predetermined deviation value from a straight line. The straight line segments and angle segments are combined to form a multiple segment line if the line does not close on itself and a multiple segment shape if the line does close on itself.
19 Citations
12 Claims
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1. A system for reshaping freehand drawn lines and shapes in a computing system having a display and a pointing device for drawing lines and shapes on the display, the system comprising:
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a polyline recognition module analyzing freehand drawn lines and shapes and generating a polyline made up of sequential straight line segments when the polyline does not form a closed line and generating a polyline shape when the polyline forms a closed line; a basic shape recognition module responsive to the polyline recognition module and selecting a basic shape from reference ideal shapes as the basic shape of the polyline shape; and a shape adjustment module responsive to the basic shape recognition module and adjusting the basic shape to provide a specific shape as an improved polyline shape; and wherein the basic shape recognition module comprises; a transform module transforming the reference ideal shapes into transformed shapes relative to the polyline shape; a comparison module matching each transformed shape to the polyline shape and storing a similarity value for each transformed shape indicating similarity between the polyline shape and the transformed shape; a selection module selecting the transformed shape with the highest similarity value as the basic shape of the polyline shape. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. An apparatus for improving the appearance of freehand drawn lines and shapes displayed in an electronic document, said apparatus comprising:
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recognizing freehand drawn lines and shapes and generating a line made up of sequential straight line segments for the freehand drawn line when the line does not form a closed line and generating a multiple straight-line-segment shape when the line forms a closed line; means responsive to the multiple straight-line-segment shape for selecting a basic shape from reference ideal shapes as the basic shape of the freehand drawn shape; and means responsive to the basic shape for adjusting the basic shape to provide a specific shape as an improved shape for the freehand drawn shape;
wherein said means for selecting a basic shape comprises;means for matching each transformed shape to the multiple segment shape and storing a similarity value for each transformed shape indicating similarity between the multiple segment shape and the transformed shape; a means for selecting the transformed shape with the highest similarity value as the basic shape of the freehand drawn shape. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6)
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7. A computer readable medium for executing instructions for improving the appearance of freehand drawn lines and shapes, said instructions including instructions, the when executed, perform steps comprising:
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recognizing freehand drawn lines and shapes and generating a line made up of sequential straight line segments for the freehand drawn line when the line does not form a closed line and generating a multiple straight-line-segment shape when the line forms a closed line; selecting a basic shape from reference ideal shapes as the basic shape of the multiple segment shape; and adjusting the basic shape to provide a specific shape as an improved shape for the freehand drawn shape; and wherein said act of selecting a basic shape comprises; transforming the reference ideal shapes into transformed shapes similar to the multiple segment shape; matching each transformed shape to the multiple segment shape and storing a similarity value for each transformed shape indicating similarity between the multiple segment shape and the transformed shape; and selecting the transformed shape with the highest similarity value as the basic shape of the freehand drawn shape. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9)
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10. A method for reshaping freehand drawn lines and shapes in a computing system having a display and a pointing device for drawing lines and shapes on the display, the method comprising the acts of:
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analyzing freehand drawn lines and shapes and generating a polyline made up of sequential straight line segments when the polyline does not form a closed line and generating a polyline shape when the polyline forms a closed line; if the polyline forms a closed line, selecting a basic shape from reference ideal shapes as the basic shape of the polyline shape; and adjusting the basic shape to provide a specific shape as an improved polyline shape; and
wherein selecting a basic shape comprises;transforming the reference ideal shapes into transformed shapes relative to the polyline shape; matching each transformed shape to the polyline shape and stroing a similarity value for each transformed shape indicating similarity between the polyline shape and the transformed shape; and selecting the transformed shape with the highest similarity value as the basic shape of the polyline shape. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12)
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Specification