https://wiki.evilmadscientist.com/index.php?title=Capturing_Handwriting&feed=atom&action=historyCapturing Handwriting - Revision history2024-03-29T07:53:31ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.28.2https://wiki.evilmadscientist.com/index.php?title=Capturing_Handwriting&diff=3995&oldid=prevWindell: add big jsignature2022-06-06T19:20:24Z<p>add big jsignature</p>
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<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>If you need to start with a printed signature, this method can still be used. Print out the signature, place it on your phone (or other touch surface) and trace along it, just as you would if you were signing for the first time.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>If you need to start with a printed signature, this method can still be used. Print out the signature, place it on your phone (or other touch surface) and trace along it, just as you would if you were signing for the first time.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">If you would like a version of jSignature with a larger writing area, we have a version available [https://evil-mad.github.io/jSignature/ here].</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>== Using a graphics tablet for direct capture==</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>== Using a graphics tablet for direct capture==</div></td></tr>
</table>Windellhttps://wiki.evilmadscientist.com/index.php?title=Capturing_Handwriting&diff=3918&oldid=prevWindell at 16:46, 25 October 20212021-10-25T16:46:37Z<p></p>
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<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Several commercial software utilities now exist that allow you to use your existing touchscreen tablet computer (such as an iPad or sometimes even smartphones) as an external graphics tablet and monitor for your Mac or Windows computer. This, combined with the addition of a stylus (an included or third-party touchscreen stylus, or the Apple Pencil on the iPad Pro) can make a very effective graphics tablet -- and at relatively low cost if you already own such a tablet.  </div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Several commercial software utilities now exist that allow you to use your existing touchscreen tablet computer (such as an iPad or sometimes even smartphones) as an external graphics tablet and monitor for your Mac or Windows computer. This, combined with the addition of a stylus (an included or third-party touchscreen stylus, or the Apple Pencil on the iPad Pro) can make a very effective graphics tablet -- and at relatively low cost if you already own such a tablet.  </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>[https://www.duetdisplay.com Duet] and [http://astropad.com AstroPad] are two solutions for using an iPad as a graphics tablet. Duet is available for both Mac and Windows and supports both iPad and iPhone. AstroPad is for Mac and iPad only. Both offer different levels of service at different costs. You can read a comparative review of them [https://www.imore.com/astropad-vs-duet-display-which-second-screen-drawing-tablet-ipad-pro-reigns-supreme here]. (We have tried Duet with an iPad Pro and found that it works quite well.)  If you have a recent-generation Mac running MacOS Catalina and <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">an iPad</del>, you may also be able to use Apple's [https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210380 sidecar] feature, built into the operating system, without purchasing separate software.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>[https://www.duetdisplay.com Duet] and [http://astropad.com AstroPad] are two solutions for using an iPad as a graphics tablet. Duet is available for both Mac and Windows and supports both iPad and iPhone. AstroPad is for Mac and iPad only. Both offer different levels of service at different costs. You can read a comparative review of them [https://www.imore.com/astropad-vs-duet-display-which-second-screen-drawing-tablet-ipad-pro-reigns-supreme here]. (We have tried Duet with an iPad Pro and found that it works quite well.)  If you have a recent-generation Mac running MacOS Catalina <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">or newer with a compatible iPad </ins>and <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Apple Pencil</ins>, you may also be able to use Apple's [https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210380 sidecar] feature, built into the operating system, without purchasing separate software.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>While not quite at the same level of polish, the free [http://www.sunnysidesoft.com/virtualtablet/supported-devices/ VirtualTablet] software allows a similar functionality with certain Android or Microsoft Surface tablets.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>While not quite at the same level of polish, the free [http://www.sunnysidesoft.com/virtualtablet/supported-devices/ VirtualTablet] software allows a similar functionality with certain Android or Microsoft Surface tablets.</div></td></tr>
</table>Windellhttps://wiki.evilmadscientist.com/index.php?title=Capturing_Handwriting&diff=3757&oldid=prevWindell at 00:08, 1 March 20202020-03-01T00:08:07Z<p></p>
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<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Several commercial software utilities now exist that allow you to use your existing touchscreen tablet computer (such as an iPad or sometimes even smartphones) as an external graphics tablet and monitor for your Mac or Windows computer. This, combined with the addition of a stylus (an included or third-party touchscreen stylus, or the Apple Pencil on the iPad Pro) can make a very effective graphics tablet -- and at relatively low cost if you already own such a tablet.  </div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Several commercial software utilities now exist that allow you to use your existing touchscreen tablet computer (such as an iPad or sometimes even smartphones) as an external graphics tablet and monitor for your Mac or Windows computer. This, combined with the addition of a stylus (an included or third-party touchscreen stylus, or the Apple Pencil on the iPad Pro) can make a very effective graphics tablet -- and at relatively low cost if you already own such a tablet.  </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>[https://www.duetdisplay.com Duet] and [http://astropad.com AstroPad] are two solutions for using an iPad as a graphics tablet. Duet is available for both Mac and Windows and supports both iPad and iPhone. AstroPad is for Mac and iPad only. Both offer different levels of service at different costs. You can read a comparative review of them [https://www.imore.com/astropad-vs-duet-display-which-second-screen-drawing-tablet-ipad-pro-reigns-supreme here]. (We have tried Duet with an iPad Pro and found that it works quite well.)</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>[https://www.duetdisplay.com Duet] and [http://astropad.com AstroPad] are two solutions for using an iPad as a graphics tablet. Duet is available for both Mac and Windows and supports both iPad and iPhone. AstroPad is for Mac and iPad only. Both offer different levels of service at different costs. You can read a comparative review of them [https://www.imore.com/astropad-vs-duet-display-which-second-screen-drawing-tablet-ipad-pro-reigns-supreme here]. (We have tried Duet with an iPad Pro and found that it works quite well.) <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline"> If you have a recent-generation Mac running MacOS Catalina and an iPad, you may also be able to use Apple's [https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210380 sidecar] feature, built into the operating system, without purchasing separate software.</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>While not quite at the same level of polish, the free [http://www.sunnysidesoft.com/virtualtablet/supported-devices/ VirtualTablet] software allows a similar functionality with certain Android or Microsoft Surface tablets.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>While not quite at the same level of polish, the free [http://www.sunnysidesoft.com/virtualtablet/supported-devices/ VirtualTablet] software allows a similar functionality with certain Android or Microsoft Surface tablets.</div></td></tr>
</table>Windellhttps://wiki.evilmadscientist.com/index.php?title=Capturing_Handwriting&diff=3044&oldid=prevWindell: update amazon links2019-05-15T20:21:52Z<p>update amazon links</p>
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<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>=== Capturing with a simple graphics tablet ===</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>=== Capturing with a simple graphics tablet ===</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>One solution for capturing writing is to use a dedicated graphics tablet such as <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">a </del>[https://www.amazon.com<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">/Wacom-Bamboo-CTL471-Tablet-Black</del>/dp/<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">B00EVOXM3S/ Wacom Bamboo] or [https://www.amazon.com/Wacom-CTL490DB-Digital-Drawing-Graphics/dp/B010LHRFWW/ </del>Wacom Intuos Draw]. These are relatively inexpensive (< $100) input devices with a stylus. You can use the stylus just like a pen, within almost any application that supports drawing and creating vector graphics. (Be sure to use a ''vector graphics'' application such as Inkscape or Adobe Illustrator, and not a bitmap graphics application such as Photoshop.)</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>One solution for capturing writing is to use a dedicated graphics tablet such as <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">the </ins>[https://www.amazon.com/dp/<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">B07PPQH867 </ins>Wacom Intuos Draw]. These are relatively inexpensive (< $100) input devices with a stylus. You can use the stylus just like a pen, within almost any application that supports drawing and creating vector graphics. (Be sure to use a ''vector graphics'' application such as Inkscape or Adobe Illustrator, and not a bitmap graphics application such as Photoshop.)</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>While you can certainly write freehand on a tablet like this while watching your screen alone, another approach is to trace existing writing or artwork on a piece of paper. You can attach a piece of paper to the top of your graphics tablet and use the stylus on top of that, to trace handwriting or other artwork.  </div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>While you can certainly write freehand on a tablet like this while watching your screen alone, another approach is to trace existing writing or artwork on a piece of paper. You can attach a piece of paper to the top of your graphics tablet and use the stylus on top of that, to trace handwriting or other artwork.  </div></td></tr>
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<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>=== Capturing with a hybrid graphics tablet/monitor ===</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>=== Capturing with a hybrid graphics tablet/monitor ===</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>There are also high end graphics tablets that are more aptly described as computer monitors which accept stylus input.  A good example is the [https://www.amazon.com<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">/Wacom-Cintiq-21-Inch-Display-DTK2200</del>/dp/<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">B008HB5K5O/ </del>Wacom Cintiq], available in various sizes. These tend to be considerably more expensive than a stand-alone tablet, and you may wish to consider a general-purpose tablet computer (e.g., iPad) as an alternative. (Hints on using a tablet computer are in the section below.)</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>There are also high end graphics tablets that are more aptly described as computer monitors which accept stylus input.  A good example is the [https://www.amazon.com/dp/<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">B07L77GTTY </ins>Wacom Cintiq], available in various sizes. These tend to be considerably more expensive than a stand-alone tablet, and you may wish to consider a general-purpose tablet computer (e.g., iPad) as an alternative. (Hints on using a tablet computer are in the section below.)</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>A graphics tablet with a display is excellent for freehand writing since it provides instant feedback. However it requires a different approach if you wish to trace existing writing or artwork. Use a scan or photograph of the handwriting or artwork that you wish to follow, and display it in the background of the area where you are tracing.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>A graphics tablet with a display is excellent for freehand writing since it provides instant feedback. However it requires a different approach if you wish to trace existing writing or artwork. Use a scan or photograph of the handwriting or artwork that you wish to follow, and display it in the background of the area where you are tracing.</div></td></tr>
</table>Windellhttps://wiki.evilmadscientist.com/index.php?title=Capturing_Handwriting&diff=2919&oldid=prevWindell at 21:58, 20 December 20172017-12-20T21:58:49Z<p></p>
<table class="diff diff-contentalign-left" data-mw="interface">
<col class='diff-marker' />
<col class='diff-content' />
<col class='diff-marker' />
<col class='diff-content' />
<tr style='vertical-align: top;' lang='en'>
<td colspan='2' style="background-color: white; color:black; text-align: center;">← Older revision</td>
<td colspan='2' style="background-color: white; color:black; text-align: center;">Revision as of 21:58, 20 December 2017</td>
</tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l8" >Line 8:</td>
<td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 8:</td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>== Capturing a signature with jSignature ==</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>== Capturing a signature with jSignature ==</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>For very small amounts of text &mdash; for example a single signature &mdash; a convenient software tool is [https://willowsystems.github.io/jSignature/#/demo/ jSignature]. jSignature can create and save an SVG file which can be opened in Inkscape. jSignature can be used from your computer, smartphone, or tablet.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>For very small amounts of text &mdash; for example a single signature &mdash; a convenient software tool is [https://willowsystems.github.io/jSignature/#/demo/ jSignature]. jSignature can create and save an SVG file which can be opened in Inkscape. jSignature can be used from your computer, smartphone, or tablet<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">.  You'll often get the best results using a stylus that you hold like a pen, rather than your finger</ins>.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>To use it from your computer, sign your signature, and then select "SVG" from the "Extract signature data as" pop-up menu.  It should then display your signature as an image below that pop-up menu. Right-click on the image, and select from the menu there "Save image as..." (the exact wording of this option will vary depending on your browser), and save the result with a name like "signature.svg". You can then open up this SVG file from within Inkscape and print to the AxiDraw. For other platforms (smartphone and tablet), you'll need to send the signature to your desktop computer, by a means such as e-mail, before proceeding.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>To use it from your computer, sign your signature, and then select "SVG" from the "Extract signature data as" pop-up menu.  It should then display your signature as an image below that pop-up menu. Right-click on the image, and select from the menu there "Save image as..." (the exact wording of this option will vary depending on your browser), and save the result with a name like "signature.svg". You can then open up this SVG file from within Inkscape and print to the AxiDraw. For other platforms (smartphone and tablet), you'll need to send the signature to your desktop computer, by a means such as e-mail, before proceeding.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">If you need to start with a printed signature, this method can still be used. Print out the signature, place it on your phone (or other touch surface) and trace along it, just as you would if you were signing for the first time.</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>== Using a graphics tablet for direct capture==</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>== Using a graphics tablet for direct capture==</div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l21" >Line 21:</td>
<td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 24:</td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>If you are tracing something small (for example a signature), it is sometimes helpful to start with an extra large version of your signature (perhaps, the full size of your tablet's input area), and shrink the result down when you are done. This helps to minimize any artifacts from your tracing.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>If you are tracing something small (for example a signature), it is sometimes helpful to start with an extra large version of your signature (perhaps, the full size of your tablet's input area), and shrink the result down when you are done. This helps to minimize any artifacts from your tracing.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>=== Capturing with a hybrid graphics tablet/monitor ===</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>=== Capturing with a hybrid graphics tablet/monitor ===</div></td></tr>
</table>Windellhttps://wiki.evilmadscientist.com/index.php?title=Capturing_Handwriting&diff=2910&oldid=prevWindell: Add manual tracing section2017-11-17T18:53:44Z<p>Add manual tracing section</p>
<table class="diff diff-contentalign-left" data-mw="interface">
<col class='diff-marker' />
<col class='diff-content' />
<col class='diff-marker' />
<col class='diff-content' />
<tr style='vertical-align: top;' lang='en'>
<td colspan='2' style="background-color: white; color:black; text-align: center;">← Older revision</td>
<td colspan='2' style="background-color: white; color:black; text-align: center;">Revision as of 18:53, 17 November 2017</td>
</tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l66" >Line 66:</td>
<td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 66:</td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>==== Tracing <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">bitmaps </del>====</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>==== <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Bitmap </ins>Tracing ====</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>When you scan or take a picture of vector artwork, or convert vector artwork into a bitmap format (for example by saving as a JPG file), you are ''removing the directional information from the artwork''. You are removing the data that says where each stroke starts and stops, and replacing it with a grid of color values.  </div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>When you scan or take a picture of vector artwork, or convert vector artwork into a bitmap format (for example by saving as a JPG file), you are ''removing the directional information from the artwork''. You are removing the data that says where each stroke starts and stops, and replacing it with a grid of color values.  </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>To convert back from that grid of colored pixels into a list of strokes and directions is a complex problem that does not always have a clear solution. A simplistic approach is to draw vector contours around brightness levels -- this the type of "outline tracing" that Inkscape's Trace Bitmap tool uses. You can find this tool in the menu as Path > Trace Bitmap.  This type of tracing tool is well suited to simple outline shapes that do not have complex internal structure.  </div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>To convert back from that grid of colored pixels into a list of strokes and directions is a complex problem that does not always have a clear solution. A simplistic approach is to draw vector contours around brightness levels -- this the type of <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">automatic </ins>"outline tracing" that Inkscape's Trace Bitmap tool uses. You can find this tool in the menu as Path > Trace Bitmap.  This type of tracing tool is well suited to simple outline shapes that do not have complex internal structure.  </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>This type of tracing usually results in plotting "double" lines around each stroke, since it is showing the outlines, and that can result in plotted letters that look hollow. In some cases a broad-nibbed fountain pen (or Sharpie) has a width that is sufficient to hide the fact. You can help a little bit by using an inset operation (In Illustrator, Effect > Path > Offset path), to make the width smaller. You might also consider using a smaller nibbed pen, but filling the text in the usual way so that it is not hollow.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>This type of tracing usually results in plotting "double" lines around each stroke, since it is showing the outlines, and that can result in plotted letters that look hollow. In some cases a broad-nibbed fountain pen (or Sharpie) has a width that is sufficient to hide the fact. You can help a little bit by using an inset operation (In Illustrator, Effect > Path > Offset path), to make the width smaller. You might also consider using a smaller nibbed pen, but filling the text in the usual way so that it is not hollow.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>==== <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Center tracing </del>====</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>==== <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Centerline Tracing </ins>====</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>A slightly more advanced type of bitmap tracing tries to draw centerlines through these contours, in order to estimate where the initial lines were located. This is called "center" or "centerline" tracing. And, while it sounds like a good idea in practice, the results are rarely good enough to pass for human handwriting, since the tracing tool has no intuition about how the lines should connect together, or appear when they overlap.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>A slightly more advanced type of bitmap tracing tries to draw centerlines through these contours, in order to estimate where the initial lines were located. This is called "center" or "centerline" tracing. And, while it sounds like a good idea in practice, the results <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">of automated centerline tracing software </ins>are rarely good enough to pass for human handwriting, since the tracing tool has no intuition about how the lines should connect together, or appear when they overlap.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Here is an online program that can take your scanned text and convert it by center tracing to an SVG file that can opened in Inkscape: http://online.rapidresizer.com/tracer.php   </div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Here is an online program that can take your scanned text and convert it by center tracing to an SVG file that can opened in Inkscape: http://online.rapidresizer.com/tracer.php   </div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l86" >Line 86:</td>
<td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 86:</td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>''Aside:'' Going several steps further, automatically interpreting from a scanned image to determine not where the lines are, but instead the human's intent and drawing method is a decades-old, challenging problem in computer vision and AI, called "stroke extraction." In the context of handwriting, this problem is called "handwriting trajectory recovery." It is a specialized application, and not one that we advertise as a capability. Very little commercially (or freely) available software currently exists that can perform that task to an appreciable degree of satisfaction.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>''Aside:'' Going several steps further, automatically interpreting from a scanned image to determine not where the lines are, but instead the human's intent and drawing method is a decades-old, challenging problem in computer vision and AI, called "stroke extraction." In the context of handwriting, this problem is called "handwriting trajectory recovery." It is a specialized application, and not one that we advertise as a capability. Very little commercially (or freely) available software currently exists that can perform that task to an appreciable degree of satisfaction.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">==== Manual Tracing ====</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Aside from using automatic tracing software, you can also ''manually'' trace a scan, in order to produce AxiDraw compatible vector curves. This process is labor intensive, but can also produce extremely high quality output. It is a good method when you need to reproduce ''short'' samples (short notes or a signature) of someone's existing handwriting.</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">As an example, suppose that you need to trace an existing (historical) signature, so that it can be printed as a single vector path. You might start with a photograph or scan of the signature. After importing the graphic into Inkscape, use the “pencil” tool to trace along the strokes, and use the additional path editing tools within Inkscape to adjust the strokes until they look proper.  (You can use similar tools and methods within other vector graphics such as Adobe Illustrator or Corel Draw, just as well.)  If you are using Inkscape to do this kind of manual tracing, see "Inkscape settings for handwriting capture" above for some settings that might be helpful.</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">With a little practice, this can become quite quick and effective.</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l93" >Line 93:</td>
<td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 102:</td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Here are a few possible starting points:</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Here are a few possible starting points:</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>* If your goal is to to exactly copy a small number of handwritten notes a great number of times, <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">then take your </del>scan <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">into Illustrator or Inkscape</del>, <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">and </del>manually <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">trace along the strokes with </del>the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">pen tool</del>, <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">ideally using a graphics tablet. With a little practice, this can be quite quick. (Additional notes on the topic of direct handwriting capture can be found further up this page</del>.<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">)</del></div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>* If your goal is to to exactly copy a small number of handwritten notes<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">, </ins>a great number of times, <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">and you need to start with a photograph or </ins>scan, <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">then consider </ins>manually <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">tracing </ins>the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">file</ins>, <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">as described above</ins>.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>* If your goal is to generate a great many notes that look reasonably "hand written" but do not need to match someone's exact style, then use regular computer fonts or Hershey-style single-stroke fonts.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>* If your goal is to generate a great many notes that look reasonably "hand written" but do not need to match someone's exact style, then use regular computer fonts or Hershey-style single-stroke fonts.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>* If your goal is to digitize signatures, or other very small amounts of text, and do not have to start with scans, then use the jSignature tool discussed earlier or trace the text/signature with a graphics tablet.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>* If your goal is to digitize signatures, or other very small amounts of text, and do not have to start with scans, then use the jSignature tool discussed earlier or trace the text/signature with a graphics tablet.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>* If your goal is to reproduce complex artwork that starts as a bitmap image, then you may have no choice but to try and use some kind of bitmap tracing tool.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>* If your goal is to reproduce complex artwork that starts as a bitmap image, then you may have no choice but to try and use some kind of bitmap tracing tool.</div></td></tr>
</table>Windellhttps://wiki.evilmadscientist.com/index.php?title=Capturing_Handwriting&diff=2895&oldid=prevWindell at 20:33, 1 October 20172017-10-01T20:33:43Z<p></p>
<table class="diff diff-contentalign-left" data-mw="interface">
<col class='diff-marker' />
<col class='diff-content' />
<col class='diff-marker' />
<col class='diff-content' />
<tr style='vertical-align: top;' lang='en'>
<td colspan='2' style="background-color: white; color:black; text-align: center;">← Older revision</td>
<td colspan='2' style="background-color: white; color:black; text-align: center;">Revision as of 20:33, 1 October 2017</td>
</tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l70" >Line 70:</td>
<td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 70:</td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>When you scan or take a picture of vector artwork, or convert vector artwork into a bitmap format (for example by saving as a JPG file), you are ''removing the directional information from the artwork''. You are removing the data that says where each stroke starts and stops, and replacing it with a grid of color values.  </div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>When you scan or take a picture of vector artwork, or convert vector artwork into a bitmap format (for example by saving as a JPG file), you are ''removing the directional information from the artwork''. You are removing the data that says where each stroke starts and stops, and replacing it with a grid of color values.  </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>To convert back from that grid of colored pixels into a list of strokes and directions is a complex problem that does not always have a clear solution. A simplistic approach is to draw vector contours around brightness levels -- this the type of "outline tracing" that Inkscape's Trace Bitmap tool uses.  </div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>To convert back from that grid of colored pixels into a list of strokes and directions is a complex problem that does not always have a clear solution. A simplistic approach is to draw vector contours around brightness levels -- this the type of "outline tracing" that Inkscape's Trace Bitmap tool uses<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">. You can find this tool in the menu as Path > Trace Bitmap.  This type of tracing tool is well suited to simple outline shapes that do not have complex internal structure</ins>.  </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>This type of tracing usually results in plotting "double" lines around each stroke, since it is showing the outlines, and that can result in plotted letters that look hollow. In some cases a broad-nibbed fountain pen (or Sharpie) has a width that is sufficient to hide the fact. You can help a little bit by using an inset operation (In Illustrator, Effect > Path > Offset path), to make the width smaller. You might also consider using a smaller nibbed pen, but filling the text in the usual way so that it is not hollow.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>This type of tracing usually results in plotting "double" lines around each stroke, since it is showing the outlines, and that can result in plotted letters that look hollow. In some cases a broad-nibbed fountain pen (or Sharpie) has a width that is sufficient to hide the fact. You can help a little bit by using an inset operation (In Illustrator, Effect > Path > Offset path), to make the width smaller. You might also consider using a smaller nibbed pen, but filling the text in the usual way so that it is not hollow.</div></td></tr>
</table>Windellhttps://wiki.evilmadscientist.com/index.php?title=Capturing_Handwriting&diff=2874&oldid=prevWindell at 17:07, 1 August 20172017-08-01T17:07:46Z<p></p>
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<td colspan='2' style="background-color: white; color:black; text-align: center;">Revision as of 17:07, 1 August 2017</td>
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<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>{{AxiDrawDocs}}</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>{{AxiDrawDocs}}</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>The best way to transform some handwritten text into something that the AxiDraw can plot is to capture <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">that handwriting </del>''<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">in </del>real time<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">''</del>. In <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">real-time </del>capture, you use your computer to record each stroke as it is written, and then save the resulting set of paths as a vector artwork file. This method can also be used when replicating handwriting. For example when replicating historical signatures, it is necessary to trace along the strokes of existing writing and to capture <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">that again in real time</del>.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>The best way to transform some handwritten text into something that the AxiDraw can plot is to <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">use ''direct handwriting </ins>capture''<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">, or what you might refer to as "</ins>real<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">-</ins>time<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">" capture</ins>. In <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">direct </ins>capture, you use your computer to record each stroke as it is written, and then save the resulting set of paths as a vector artwork file. This method can also be used when replicating handwriting. For example when replicating historical signatures, it is necessary to trace along the strokes of existing writing and to capture <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">those strokes as you trace them</ins>.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>This page discusses some approaches to <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">real-time </del>capture (including tracing with a stylus), as well as some alternatives. Naturally, these same approaches can be used for capturing sketching and other non-handwriting types of artwork as well.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>This page discusses some approaches to <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">direct </ins>capture (including tracing with a stylus), as well as some alternatives. Naturally, these same approaches can be used for capturing sketching and other non-handwriting types of artwork as well.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l12" >Line 12:</td>
<td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 12:</td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>To use it from your computer, sign your signature, and then select "SVG" from the "Extract signature data as" pop-up menu.  It should then display your signature as an image below that pop-up menu. Right-click on the image, and select from the menu there "Save image as..." (the exact wording of this option will vary depending on your browser), and save the result with a name like "signature.svg". You can then open up this SVG file from within Inkscape and print to the AxiDraw. For other platforms (smartphone and tablet), you'll need to send the signature to your desktop computer, by a means such as e-mail, before proceeding.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>To use it from your computer, sign your signature, and then select "SVG" from the "Extract signature data as" pop-up menu.  It should then display your signature as an image below that pop-up menu. Right-click on the image, and select from the menu there "Save image as..." (the exact wording of this option will vary depending on your browser), and save the result with a name like "signature.svg". You can then open up this SVG file from within Inkscape and print to the AxiDraw. For other platforms (smartphone and tablet), you'll need to send the signature to your desktop computer, by a means such as e-mail, before proceeding.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>== Using a graphics tablet for <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">real-time </del>capture==</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>== Using a graphics tablet for <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">direct </ins>capture==</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>=== Capturing with a simple graphics tablet ===</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>=== Capturing with a simple graphics tablet ===</div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l93" >Line 93:</td>
<td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 93:</td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Here are a few possible starting points:</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Here are a few possible starting points:</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>* If your goal is to to exactly copy a small number of handwritten notes a great number of times, then take your scan into Illustrator or Inkscape, and manually trace along the strokes with the pen tool, ideally using a graphics tablet. With a little practice, this can be quite quick. (Additional notes on <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">this </del>topic can be found further up this page.)</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>* If your goal is to to exactly copy a small number of handwritten notes a great number of times, then take your scan into Illustrator or Inkscape, and manually trace along the strokes with the pen tool, ideally using a graphics tablet. With a little practice, this can be quite quick. (Additional notes on <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">the </ins>topic <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">of direct handwriting capture </ins>can be found further up this page.)</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>* If your goal is to generate a great many notes that look reasonably "hand written" but do not need to match someone's exact style, then use regular computer fonts or Hershey-style single-stroke fonts.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>* If your goal is to generate a great many notes that look reasonably "hand written" but do not need to match someone's exact style, then use regular computer fonts or Hershey-style single-stroke fonts.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>* If your goal is to digitize signatures, or other very small amounts of text, and do not have to start with scans, then use the jSignature tool discussed earlier or trace the text/signature with a graphics tablet.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>* If your goal is to digitize signatures, or other very small amounts of text, and do not have to start with scans, then use the jSignature tool discussed earlier or trace the text/signature with a graphics tablet.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>* If your goal is to reproduce complex artwork that starts as a bitmap image, then you may have no choice but to try and use some kind of bitmap tracing tool.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>* If your goal is to reproduce complex artwork that starts as a bitmap image, then you may have no choice but to try and use some kind of bitmap tracing tool.</div></td></tr>
</table>Windellhttps://wiki.evilmadscientist.com/index.php?title=Capturing_Handwriting&diff=2873&oldid=prevWindell at 09:16, 1 August 20172017-08-01T09:16:34Z<p></p>
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<td colspan='2' style="background-color: white; color:black; text-align: center;">← Older revision</td>
<td colspan='2' style="background-color: white; color:black; text-align: center;">Revision as of 09:16, 1 August 2017</td>
</tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l1" >Line 1:</td>
<td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 1:</td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>{{AxiDrawDocs}}</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>{{AxiDrawDocs}}</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>The best way to transform <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">actual human handwriting </del>into something that the AxiDraw can plot is to capture that handwriting ''in real time''. In real-time capture, you use your computer to record each stroke as it is written, and then save the resulting set of paths as a vector artwork file. This method can also be used when replicating handwriting. For example when replicating historical signatures, it is necessary to trace along the strokes of existing writing and to capture that again in real time.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>The best way to transform <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">some handwritten text </ins>into something that the AxiDraw can plot is to capture that handwriting ''in real time''. In real-time capture, you use your computer to record each stroke as it is written, and then save the resulting set of paths as a vector artwork file. This method can also be used when replicating handwriting. For example when replicating historical signatures, it is necessary to trace along the strokes of existing writing and to capture that again in real time.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>This page discusses some approaches to real-time capture (including tracing), as well as some alternatives. Naturally, these same approaches can be used for capturing sketching and other non-handwriting types of artwork as well.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>This page discusses some approaches to real-time capture (including tracing <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">with a stylus</ins>), as well as some alternatives. Naturally, these same approaches can be used for capturing sketching and other non-handwriting types of artwork as well.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l51" >Line 51:</td>
<td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 51:</td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>== Alternatives to real-time capture ==</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>== Alternatives to real-time capture ==</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>In some circumstances, there is no alternative but to start from a scan or image of artwork or text and to attempt to automatically convert it into a vector format by tracing.  </div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>In some circumstances, there is no alternative but to start from a scan or image of artwork or text and to attempt to automatically convert it into a vector format by <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">using a </ins>tracing <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">program</ins>. <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">(Note that we are referring to a computer program that attempts to trace a scan here, rather than the process of tracing strokes with a stylus, as discussed earlier on this page.) </ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>While there are a number of approaches to this, a good rule of thumb is that automatic tracing rarely yields results of particularly high quality.  <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Simple </del>approaches such as centerline tracing rarely approximate the quality and character of real human handwriting.  If at all possible, avoid tracing and either start with fonts, vector artwork, or one of the methods described in the previous sections; these will almost always yield results superior to those obtained by tracing bitmaps.  </div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>While there are a number of approaches to this, a good rule of thumb is that automatic tracing rarely yields results of particularly high quality.  <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Even </ins>approaches such as <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">automatic </ins>centerline tracing rarely approximate the quality and character of real human handwriting.  If at all possible, avoid <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">automatic </ins>tracing and either start with fonts, vector artwork, or one of the methods described in the previous sections; these will almost always yield results superior to those obtained by tracing bitmaps.  </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l77" >Line 77:</td>
<td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 77:</td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>==== Center tracing ====</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>==== Center tracing ====</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>A slightly more advanced type of tracing tries to draw centerlines through these contours, in order to estimate where the initial lines were located. This is called "center" or "centerline" tracing. And, while it sounds like a good idea in practice, the results are rarely good enough to pass for human handwriting, since the tracing tool has no intuition about how the lines should connect together, or appear when they overlap.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>A slightly more advanced type of <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">bitmap </ins>tracing tries to draw centerlines through these contours, in order to estimate where the initial lines were located. This is called "center" or "centerline" tracing. And, while it sounds like a good idea in practice, the results are rarely good enough to pass for human handwriting, since the tracing tool has no intuition about how the lines should connect together, or appear when they overlap.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Here is an online program that can take your scanned text and convert it by center tracing to an SVG file that can opened in Inkscape: http://online.rapidresizer.com/tracer.php   </div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Here is an online program that can take your scanned text and convert it by center tracing to an SVG file that can opened in Inkscape: http://online.rapidresizer.com/tracer.php   </div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l88" >Line 88:</td>
<td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 88:</td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>=== Consider alternatives to tracing  ===</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>=== Consider alternatives to tracing <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">bitmaps </ins> ===</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>With those things in mind, there are a great many different approaches that you might take towards your particular goal. The best approach for you will depend entirely on what your actual application is.  </div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>With those things in mind, there are a great many different approaches that you might take towards your particular goal. The best approach for you will depend entirely on what your actual application is.  </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Here are a few possible starting points:</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Here are a few possible starting points:</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>* If your goal is to to exactly copy a small number of handwritten notes a great number of times, then take your scan into Illustrator or Inkscape, and trace along the strokes with the pen tool, ideally using a graphics tablet. <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">If you train someone to do </del>this<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">, they may </del>be <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">able to get </del>quite <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">efficient at it</del>.  </div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>* If your goal is to to exactly copy a small number of handwritten notes a great number of times, then take your scan into Illustrator or Inkscape, and <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">manually </ins>trace along the strokes with the pen tool, ideally using a graphics tablet. <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">With a little practice, </ins>this <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">can </ins>be quite <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">quick. (Additional notes on this topic can be found further up this page</ins>.<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">)</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>* If your goal is to generate a great many notes that look reasonably "hand written" but do not need to match someone's exact style, then use regular computer fonts or Hershey-style single-stroke fonts.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>* If your goal is to generate a great many notes that look reasonably "hand written" but do not need to match someone's exact style, then use regular computer fonts or Hershey-style single-stroke fonts.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>* If your goal is to digitize signatures, or other very small amounts of text, and do not have to start with scans, then use the jSignature tool discussed earlier or trace the text/signature with a graphics tablet.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>* If your goal is to digitize signatures, or other very small amounts of text, and do not have to start with scans, then use the jSignature tool discussed earlier or trace the text/signature with a graphics tablet.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>* If your goal is to reproduce complex artwork that starts as a bitmap image, then you may have no choice but to try and use some kind of bitmap tracing tool.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>* If your goal is to reproduce complex artwork that starts as a bitmap image, then you may have no choice but to try and use some kind of bitmap tracing tool.</div></td></tr>
</table>Windellhttps://wiki.evilmadscientist.com/index.php?title=Capturing_Handwriting&diff=2871&oldid=prevWindell at 09:06, 1 August 20172017-08-01T09:06:31Z<p></p>
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<td colspan='2' style="background-color: white; color:black; text-align: center;">← Older revision</td>
<td colspan='2' style="background-color: white; color:black; text-align: center;">Revision as of 09:06, 1 August 2017</td>
</tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l1" >Line 1:</td>
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<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>{{AxiDrawDocs}}</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>{{AxiDrawDocs}}</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>The best way to transform actual human handwriting into something that the AxiDraw can plot is to capture that handwriting in <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">"</del>real time.<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">" </del>In real-time capture, you use your computer to record each stroke as it is written, and then save the resulting set of paths as a vector artwork file. This method can also be used when replicating handwriting. For example when replicating historical signatures, it is necessary to trace along the strokes of existing writing and to capture that again in real time.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>The best way to transform actual human handwriting into something that the AxiDraw can plot is to capture that handwriting <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">''</ins>in real time<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">''</ins>. In real-time capture, you use your computer to record each stroke as it is written, and then save the resulting set of paths as a vector artwork file. This method can also be used when replicating handwriting. For example when replicating historical signatures, it is necessary to trace along the strokes of existing writing and to capture that again in real time.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>This page discusses some approaches to real-time capture (including tracing), as well as some alternatives. Naturally, these same approaches can be used for capturing sketching and other non-handwriting types of artwork as well.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>This page discusses some approaches to real-time capture (including tracing), as well as some alternatives. Naturally, these same approaches can be used for capturing sketching and other non-handwriting types of artwork as well.</div></td></tr>
</table>Windell