Automatic graphical pattern placement and adjustment
AssigneeAdobe Systems Incorporated
InventorPaul J. Asente
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Methods and apparatus implementing a technique for positioning and editing graphical elements repeated along a path in an electronic document. The technique includes creating an enhanced path, which has a graphical element, a path, and a set of one or more reproduction parameters specifying how copies of the element are to be displayed along the path; drawing copies of the element in an electronic document according to the enhanced path; allowing a user to edit the enhanced path; and redrawing copies of the element according to the edited enhanced path.
Claims18
A computer-implemented method for drawing in an electronic document, the method comprising:
- providing an enhanced path defining a placement pattern for placement of copies of a graphical element in an electronic document, the enhanced path including a graphical element, a spatial path, and a set of one or more variable reproduction parameters specifying how copies of the graphical element are to be displayed simultaneously along the path in a single, static image, the variable reproduction parameters including one or more of a spacing parameter specifying a variable separation between adjacent copies of the graphical element along the spatial path or a displacement parameter specifying a variable displacement of the copies of the graphical element from the spatial path;
- drawing copies of the graphical element in the electronic document at a first set of positions defined by the placement pattern;
- in response to a user request, editing the enhanced path by modifying at least one of the spatial path or one or more of the set of variable reproduction parameters to define a modified placement pattern;
- and
- redrawing copies of the graphical element in the electronic document at a second set of positions defined by the modified placement pattern;
- wherein at least one of the placement pattern or the modified placement pattern provides for placement of copies of the graphical element such that at least a first pair of adjacent copies are separated by a first spacing that is different from a second spacing separating a second pair of adjacent copies, or such that at least a first copy is displaced from the spatial path by a first displacement that is different from a second displacement by which a second copy is displaced from the spatial path.
Apparatus comprising a computer-readable storage medium tangibly embodying program instructions defining a computer program application for performing operations on an electronic document in response to input from a user of the apparatus, the program comprising instructions operable for causing a computer to:
- draw repeated simultaneous copies of a selected graphical element in a single, static image at a first set of positions relative to a selected spatial path in accordance with a set of one or more variable reproduction parameters set by a user to provide an enhanced path defining a placement pattern for placement of copies of the graphical element in the image, the variable reproduction parameters including one or more of a spacing parameter specifying a variable separation between adjacent copies of the graphical element along the spatial path or a displacement parameter specifying a variable separation of the copies of the graphical element from the spatial path;
- in response to input from a user, alter the enhanced path by altering at least one of the spatial path or one or more of the set of variable reproduction parameters to define an altered placement pattern;
- and
- redraw repeated simultaneous copies of the selected graphical element in the static image at a second set of positions defined by the altered placement pattern;
- wherein at least one of the placement pattern or the altered placement pattern provides for placement of copies of the graphical element such that at least a first pair of adjacent copies are separated by a first spacing that is different from a second spacing separating a second pair of adjacent copies, or such that at least a first copy is displaced from the spatial path by a first displacement that is different from a second displacement by which a second copy is displaced from the spatial path.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.