Patent ID: 7239318

Claim:
A method for processing outline fonts comprising: (a) a step of reading font data from an outline font dictionary that stores the outline data of an outline font which is divided into a plurality of sections, (b) a step of preparing a plurality of element structures comprised of the data that causes the outline of an outline font to be plotted, based on the aforementioned font data, which has been read, and constructing a polygonal cyclic graphic path by connecting each element structure in sequence, (c) a step of determining whether or not the element structures that constitute the aforementioned polygonal cyclic graphic path intersect element structures that constitute another graphic path, adding a nodal point at the intersecting point of the graphic paths, and exchanging the graphic paths at this nodal point to avoid element structures constituting each polygonal cyclic graphic path from intersecting one another, (d) a step of determining whether or not, within one polygonal graphic path, there is another polygonal graphic path that is completely contained and has the same cyclic direction as said one polygonal/graphic path, and deleting said other polygonal graphic path, (e) a step of moving the element structures that constitute the aforementioned polygonal cyclic graphic path by a predetermined distance to the direction of character width based on the character width of this outline font, thereby to generate a plurality of line segments comprised by eliminating the character width of the aforementioned outline font, the plurality of line segments together forming a skeletal structure of the aforementioned outline font; (f) a step of applying ornamental modification to the skeletal structure to generate an ornamented font outputting the ornamented font to an output device.