Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system – Computer graphics processing – Shape generating
Reexamination Certificate
2001-08-31
2004-10-19
Razavi, Michael (Department: 2672)
Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system
Computer graphics processing
Shape generating
Reexamination Certificate
active
06806878
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a graphic editing apparatus for editing two-dimensional graphics including at least one curve and its method.
2. Description of the Related Art
An automatic fingerprint identifying system (AFIS) scans an image of a fingerprint image using a scanning, extracts curves, which are referred to as core lines corresponding to a rising portion of the scanned fingerprint (see FIG.
6
), and performs identification of fingerprint based on information of edge points and intersecting points of this core line. Processing for extracting the core line from the image of fingerprint is automatically performed by AFIS in the normal case. However, among the images of fingerprints collected at the scene of a crime, there are many images from which the core line cannot be extracted because of the low quality of image. In such a case, a person operates a computer by interactive processing and adds/deletes the core line.
In connection with the operations for correcting the core line, an operation for newly adding a core line of a portion where a fingerprint is unclear and an operation for deleting curves other than the fingerprint, which are extracted later, are often carried out. At the portion where the adjacent core lines are in delicately contact with each other, the core line cannot be automatically extracted in many cases. Processing for correcting a core line having an intersecting point
701
illustrated in
FIG. 7
to a core line having an edge point
801
illustrated in
FIG. 8
; conversely, processing for correcting the core line having the edge point
801
illustrated in
FIG. 8
to the core line having the intersecting point
701
illustrated in
FIG. 7
are performed. Namely, the core line correcting operation is an operation for editing the image of graphics, and a graphic editing apparatus using interactive processing is resultantly used.
In the conventional graphic editing apparatus for performing such a core line correction, an operator controls an operation specification using an operation mode specifying button, a menu, and a keyboard so as to specify either processing for adding a curve as a core line or processing for deleting a curve line. However, in the conventional graphic editing apparatus, as the need for repeating the addition/deletion of curve frequently comes about, the operator must also frequently control the operation specification and this causes a problem in which the usability is poor.
For instance, in the case where the operation mode is changed by the menu selection, three operations, which include a mouse click for opening a menu, a mouse movement for selecting an item, and a mouse click for executing the selected item, are required. In the case where the operation mode is changed by the operation mode specifying button, the number of clicks of the mouse button may be one, but the mouse must be moved to the operation mode specifying button from a graphic area and returned to the graphic area again. In the case where the operation mode is changed by the keyboard, there are problems in which it takes much time for the operator to become accustom to perform the keyboard operation and the use of keyboard is limited in the other purpose.
A conventional method for deleting the graphics during editing by the graphic editing apparatus includes a method for specifying a rectangular area to delete the graphics in the area, a method for moving a brush by the mouse operation to delete the graphics, a method for selecting a specific curve to delete the curve, and the like. However, in the case where the curves are densely formed as the image illustrated in
FIG. 6
, there is a problem in which the operation for deleting the specific curve becomes troublesome even if any method is selected from among these methods.
As a document that discloses the technique close to such a graphic editing apparatus, there are Unexamined Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication No. S62-128367, Unexamined Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publications Nos. H10-11598 and H11-328431 and the like. However, there is a problem in which the technique disclosed in any of these publications is not suitable for application to the correction of the core line extracted from the image of fingerprint set forth below.
For example, the technique disclosed in Unexamined Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication No. S62-128367 is one that corrects a passing point of a spline curve to deform the curve, and this cannot be applied to processing for the curve shown by a dot pattern as in the core line.
The technique disclosed in Unexamined Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication No. H10-11598 is one that inputs a new line with respect to the line already inputted to automatically determine as to which of these corrections, including a mid-segment correction, an extension correction and a vertex movement correct, should be performed to respect to the line already inputted from coordinates of both lines. However, in the case where an operation that deletes a part of the inputted line to be divided into two lines or a adds a new line is carried out, the operation mode must be changed by the operator.
The technique disclosed in Unexamined Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication No. H11-328431 is one that inputs a sketch curve to search a curve in the graphics close to the sketch curve and deforms the searched curved in the graphics is made close to the sketch curve. However, the same problem as that of the technique disclosed in Unexamined Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication No. H10-11598 exists in this technique.
As mentioned above, the graphic editing apparatus, which is suitable for processing for correcting the curve such as a core line extracted from the fingerprint, has not been known well in convention. Hence, there has been desired a graphic editing apparatus that can efficiently perform an operation that deletes a curve included in graphics to be edited or adds a new curve to the graphics.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to efficiently perform the operations in which a curve is added to a two-dimensional graphics or a curve is deleted from the graphics.
In order to attain the above object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a graphic editing apparatus comprising a program memory for storing a program; a data memory for storing data; a display device for displaying an image; a coordinate input device for inputting two-dimensional coordinate data; and a processor, which is connected to the program memory, the data memory, the display device and the coordinate input device, for executing a predetermined calculation in accordance with the program stored in the program memory and for controlling the data memory, the display device and the coordinate input device, wherein the graphic editing apparatus edits a two-dimensional graphics including at least one curve in accordance with an operator's operation of the coordinate input device, the data memory including an area where two-dimensional data of the graphics to be edited is stored; and an area where coordinate data inputted from the coordinate input device is stored, the program including a graphic storing step of storing data of the graphics in the data memory, a graphic displaying step of displaying an image of the graphics stored in the data memory on the display device; a coordinate inputting step of inputting, from the coordinate input device, coordinate data of a plurality of points in a two-dimensional space where the graphics exists in accordance with the displayed graphics to be edited; a coordinate storing step of storing the inputted coordinate data of the plurality of points in the data memory; an addition/deletion determining step of determining whether a new curve should be added to the graphics or a curve included in the graphic should be deleted based on the coordinate data of the plurality of points and data of the graphics in the data memory; and a graphi
Hara Masanori
Satou Kan
Good-Johnson Motilewa
NEC Corporation
Razavi Michael
Sughrue & Mion, PLLC
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