Reshaping freehand drawn lines and shapes in an electronic document

An apparatus for improving the appearance of freehand drawn lines and shapes displayed in an electronic document, said apparatus comprising:

• 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.

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:

• 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.

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:

• 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.