US05CBCA02 – Computer Graphics Unit - 2

Unit 2 – Output Primitives and their Attributes

Shapes and colors of the objects can be described internally with pixel arrays or
with sets of basic geometric structures, such as straight line segments and polygon
color areas. The scene is then displayed either by loading the pixel arrays into the
frame buffer or by scan converting the basic geometric-structure specifications into
pixel patterns. Typically, graphics programming packages provide functions to
describe a scene in terms of these basic geometric structures, referred to as
output primitives, and to group sets of output primitives into more complex
structures. Each output primitive is specified with input coordinate data and other
information about the way that object is to be displayed. Points and straight line
segments are the simplest geometric components of pictures. Additional output
primitives that can be used to construct a picture include circles and other conic
sections, quadric surfaces, spline curves and surfaces, polygon color areas, and
character strings.

Line Drawing Algorithms:

Line drawing is achieved by calculating intermediate points along a line

path between two specified end point positions. These intermediate points
are calculated from the equation of the line.
The Slope-Intercept Equation of line is:
y = mx + b
where m represents the slope of the line and b represents the intercept
at y-axis.If the two endpoints of the line are (x1, y1) and (x2, y2), the
slope and intercept is calculated as:
m = (y2 – y1)/(x2 – x1)
and b = y1 – m.x1
Algorithms for displaying straight lines are based on these equations and
calculations. For any given x interval x, we can calculate corresponding
y interval y as
y = m. x
Similarly, we can calculate x corresponding to a specified y as
x = y/m
For lines with slope value |m| < 1, x is increased and y calculated,
whereas for slopes |m| > 1, y is increased and x calculated.

DDA(Digital Differential Analyser) Line Drawing Algorithm

The DDA algorithm is a line algorithm based on calc ulating either x or

y.
We know the Slope-Intercept Equation of line is:
y = mx + c
m = y / x i.e., m = (y2 – y1)/(x2 – x1)

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Case 1: Slope is positive and less than one:

Consider the line with positive slope. If the slope value is less than or
equal to 1 then x = 1 and we have to calculate y value.

y = m.x
y = m (since x = 1)
y k+1 - y k = m
y k+1 = y k + m (Eq.1)

Here ‘k’ is integer value that starts from 1 and always increases by 1.
Here ‘m’ is float value so we have to round off the ‘y’ value to nearest
integer value.

Case 2: Slope is positive and greater than one:

For slope greater than 1 then y = 1 and we have to calculate x value.

y = m.x
x = y / m
x = 1 / m (since y = 1)
x k+1 - x k = 1 / m
x k+1 = x k + (1 / m) (Eq. 2)

For negative slope:

For negative slope the above same cases are possible but depends of the
value of x or y we have to either increase or decrease their values.

Summary:
In short, for | m | < 1 we have to increase or de crease the x value by 1
depends on the value of x. If x is positive then we have to increase its
and if x is negative then we have to decrease its value. Then we have to
calculate the value of y based on (Eq. 1). If y is positive then y value
is incremented by ‘m’ and if y is negative then y is decremented by ‘m’.

Similar case is possible for |m| > 1 but here the action of x and y is
interchanged.

Algorithm:
1. Read (x1, y1) and (x2, y2) (First and second coordinate of line)
2. dx = x2 – x1;
dy = y2 – y1;
3. If absolute(dx) > absolute(dy) then
s = absolute(dx)
Else
s = absolute(dy)
End if
4. xinc = dx / s
yinc = dy / s
5. x = x1;
y = y1;

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6. setpixel(round(x), round(y), color)

7. For i = 1 to s
x = x + xinc
y = y + yinc
setpixel(round(x), round(y), color)
End for
8. Exit
Disadvantages:
In DDA line drawing algorithm we have to perform rounding of the float
value and this rounding may cause the line to change from original pixel
position. Also this rounding requires more time. Along with the rou nding
operation it also involves the floating-point arithmetic operation, which
also requires more time.

Bresenham’s Line Drawing Method

To remove the drawbacks of DDA algorithm Bresenham has given new

line drawing algorithm based on integer increment/dec rement in x and y
value.

Consider the line having positive slope and slope value is less than 1.
First the pixel is plotted at co-ordinates (x k , y k ). Then the x value is
always increased by 1 and find out whether the y value is incremented by
1 or not. So the next pixel position is either (x k +1,y k ) or (x k +1, y k +1).

From the line equation we get the original y value at x k + 1 as under:

y = m (x k + 1) + b (3.1)
As shown in figure, the distance between y k and y is d1 and distance
between y k + 1 and y is d2.

yk +1
d2
y
d1
yk

xk xk +1

Bresenham Line Drawing method

d1 = y - y k
d1 = m (x k + 1) + b - y k (From eq. (3.1))

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and d2 = (y k + 1) – y
d2 = (y k + 1) – m (x k + 1) – b

 d1 – d2 = m (x k + 1) + b - y k - [y k + 1) – m (x k + 1) – b]
 d1 – d2 = 2m (x k + 1) - 2y k + 2b – 1
 d1 – d2 = [2 y (x k + 1) / x] - 2y k + 2b – 1
 x (d1-d2) = 2 y (x k + 1) – 2 x y k + 2 x b – x
 x (d1-d2) = 2 y x k + 2 y - 2 x y k + 2 x b – x
 x (d1-d2) = 2 y x k - 2 x y k + 2 x b – x + 2 y (3.2)

In eq. (3.2) last three terms are constant so we can put some constant b’
in place of them. Also we put x (d1-d2) = p k as decision parameter.

 p k = 2 y x k - 2 x y k + b’ (3.3)

As like eq. (3.3) we can find the value p k+1 as under:

 p k+1 = 2 y x k+1 - 2 x y k+1 + b’ (3.4)

By subtracting eq. (3.3) from (3.4) we get:

p k+1 - p k = 2 y x k+1 - 2 x y k+1 + b’ - (2 y x k - 2 x y k + b’)

 p k+1 - p k = 2 y (x k+1 - x k ) - 2 x (y k+1 - y k )
 p k+1 = p k + 2 y - 2 x (y k+1 - y k ) (Since x k+1 = x k +1) (3.5)

Here from eq. (3.5) we can take the decision whether we have to
increase y value or not. If decision parameter p is < 0 then d1 < d2 that
means y is more closer to y k so we have to plot (x k ,y k ) and if decision
parameter p is > 0 then d1 > d2 that means y is more closer to (y k + 1)
so we have to plot (x k , y k + 1).

Here we are calculating the decision parameter value from previous value
but for initial point we can determine decision parameter by:

 p 0 = 2 y - x (3.6)

Here we have only considered the case of positive slope with less than or
equal to 1. Similarly we can derive the equation for the slope greater
than 1 but for that purpose the action of x and y is interchanged.

Algorithm of Bresenham for |m| < 1:

1. Read (x1, y1) and (x2, y2) (First and second coordinate of line)
2. dx = absolute(x2 – x1)
dy = absolute(y2 – y1)
3. p = 2 * dy – dx
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4. if x1 > x2 then
x start = x2
y start = y2
x end = x1
y end = y1
else
x start = x1
y start = y1
x end = x2
y end = y2
end if
5. setpixel(x start , y start , color)
6. Repeat steps 7 to 9 for i = x start to x end
7. x start = x start + 1
8. if p < 0 then
p = p+ 2 * dy
else
if (((y2-y1)/(x2-x1)) > 1) then
p = p+ 2*(dy – dx)
y start = y start + 1
else
p = p+ 2*(dy – dx)
y start = y start – 1
end if
endif
9. setpixel(x start , y start , color)
10. Exit

Circle Drawing Algorithms:

A circle is defined as the set of points that are all at a distance ‘r’, called the
radius, from a centre position (x c , y c ).

Midpoint Circle Drawing Method:

For midpoint method we are using circle function:

f(x,y) = x 2 + y 2 – r 2 (1)

For any point (x,y) we have following three possibilities

<0 If (x,y) is inside circle boundary

=0 If (x,y) is on circle boundary
f(x, y)
>0 If (x,y) is outside circle boundary

So here we are using circle function as decision parameter.

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yk

yk - 1

yk - 2

xk xk+1 xk+2

Suppose we have plot the first point at ( x k , y k ) coordinate. Now we have

to decide whether the next coordinate is (x k + 1, y k ) or (x k + 1, y k –1).
For that we are using decision parameter at midpoint of y k & y k –1.

p k = f (x k + 1, y k – ½)
= (x k + 1) 2 + (y k – ½) 2 – r 2
= (x k + 1) 2 + y k 2 – y k + ¼ – r 2 (2)

If p k < 0 then the midpoint is inside the circle so y k is closer to the circle
boundary so our point is (x k + 1, y k ) otherwise the point is (x k + 1, y k –
1). Similarly we have next decision parameter is p k+1 .

p k+1 = f (x k+1 + 1, y k+1 – ½)

= ((x k + 1) + 1) 2 + (y k+1 – ½) 2 – r 2
= (x k + 1) 2 + 2(x k + 1) + 1 + y k+1 2 – y k+1 + ¼ – r 2 (3)

p k+1 – p k = 2(x k + 1) + 1 + y k+1 2 – y k+1 – (y k 2 – y k )

= 2(x k + 1) + (y k+1 2 – y k 2 ) – (y k+1 – y k ) + 1

p k+1 = p k + 2(x k + 1) + (y k+1 2 – y k 2 ) – (y k+1 – y k ) + 1 (4)

If p k < 0 then

y k+1 = y k
p k+1 = p k + 2(x k + 1) + (y k 2 – y k 2 ) – (y k – y k ) + 1
p k+1 = p k + 2x k+1 + 1 (5)

else
y k+1 = y k – 1
p k+1 = pk + 2(x k + 1) + ((y k – 1) 2 – y k 2 ) – ((y k – 1) – y k ) + 1
= pk + 2x k+1 + (-2y k + 2) + 1
= pk + 2x k+1 - 2(y k - 1) + 1
p k+1 = pk + 2x k+1 - 2y k+1 + 1 (6)

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Derivation of initial parameter p 0 :

Here we have initial coordinate is (0, r) with respect to center coordinate
(0,0). Next point is either (1, r) or (1, r -1). So decision parameter

p0 = f(1, r – ½)
= 1 + (r – ½) 2 – r 2
= 1 + r2 – r + ¼ - r2
= 1 – r + ¼
= 5/4 – r (7)

Algorithm:

1. Read centre coordinate (x c , y c ) and radius r

2. x = 0
y = r
3. p = 1 – radius
4. Calculate the symmetry points for all the eight octants and add the
centre coordinate (x c , y c ) to each calculated point. Then plot that
point.
5. Repeat steps 6 to 8 while x < y
6. x = x + 1
7. if p < 0 then
p = p + 2 * x + 1
else
y = y –1
p = p + 2 * (x – y) + 1
end if
8. Calculate the symmetry points for all the eight octants and add the
centre coordinate (x c , y c ) to each calculated point. Then plot that
point.
9. Exit

Filled Area Primitives

A standard output primitive in general graphics packages is a solid -color
or patterned polygon area. Other kinds of area primitives are sometimes
available, but polygons are easier to process since they have linear
boundaries

There are two basic approaches to area filling on raster systems. One
way to fill an area is to determine the overlap intervals for scan lines that
cross the area. Another method for area filling is to star t from a given
interior position and paint outward from this point until we encounter the
specified boundary conditions. The scan-line approach is typically used in
general graphics packages to fill polygons, circles, ellipses, and other
simple curves. Fill methods starting from an interior point are useful with
more complex boundaries and in interactive painting systems

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Scan Line Polygon Fill Algorithm

A standard output primitive in general graphics package is a solid color or
patterned polygon area. There are two basic approaches to filling on
raster systems. Determine overlap Intervals for scan lines that cross that
area. Start from a given interior point and paint outward from this point
until we encounter the boundary. The first approach is mostly used in
general graphics packages, however second approach is used in
applications having complex boundaries and interactive painting systems.

For each scan line crossing a polygon is then sorted from left to right, and
the corresponding frame buffer positions between each intersection pair are set to
the specified color. These intersection points are then sorted from left to right ,
and the corresponding frame buffer positions between each intersection pair are
set to specified color.

In the given example, four pixel intersections define stretches from x=10 to x=14
and x=18 to x=24

Some scan-Line intersections at polygon vertices require special handling:

A scan Line passing through a vertex intersects two polygon edges at that
position, adding two points to the list of intersections for the scan Line

In the given example , scan Line y intersects five polygon edges and the scan
Line y’ intersects 4 edges although it also passes through a vertex y' correctly
identifies internal pixel spans ,but need some extra processing

The topological difference between scan line y and scan line y’ is identified by
noting the position of the intersecting edges relative to the scan line. For Scan
line y, the two intersecting edges sharing a vertex are on opposite sides of the
scan line. But for scan line y’, the two intersecting edges are both above the scan
line. Thus, the vertices that require additional processing are those that have
connecting edges on opposite sides of scan line.

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We can identify these vertices by tracing around the polygon boundary either in
clock-wise or anti-clockwise order and observing the relative changes in vertex y
coordinates as we move from one edge to the next.

If the endpoint y values of two consecutive edges monotonically increase or

decrease, we need to count the middle vertex as a single intersection point for
any scan line passing through that vertex.

Otherwise, the shared vertex represents a local extremum (min. or max.) on the
polygon boundary, and the two edge intersections with the scan line passing
through that vertex can be added to the intersection list.

One way to resolve this is also to shorten some polygon edges to split those
vertices that should be counted as one intersection. Non horizontal edges around
the polygon boundary in the order specified, either clockwise or anti-clockwise.
When the end point y coordinates of the two edges are increasing, the y value of
the upper endpoint for the current edge is decreased by 1. When the endpoint y
values are monotonically decreasing, we decrease the y coordinate of the upper
endpoint of the edge following the current edge.

Algorithm:

1. Set y to the smallest y coordinate that has an entry in the ET; i.e, y for the
first nonempty bucket.

2. Initialize the AET to be empty.

3. Repeat until the AET and ET are empty:

3.1 Move from ET bucket y to the AET those edges whose y_min = y
(entering edges).

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3.2 Remove from the AET those entries for which y = y_max (edges not
involved in the next scanline), the sort the AET on x (made easier
because ET is presorted).

3.3 Fill in desired pixel values on scanline y by using pairs of x

coordinates from AET.

3.4 Increment y by 1 (to the coordinate of the next scanline).

3.5 For each nonvertical edge remaining in the AET, update x for the new y.

4. Exit

Inside Outside Tests

Area-filling algorithms and other graphics processes need to find inside
regions of objects. Graphics packages normally use either the odd -even
rule or the nonzero winding number to identify interior regions of an
object .

1. Odd-Even Method

In Odd-Even Method, we conceptually draw a line from a position P to a

point outside the region of the object and counting the number of edges
of the object crossing the line. We can find a point outside a polygon, for
example, by picking a point with the x-coordinate smaller than the
smallest x-coordinate of the polygon’s vertices.
If the number of polygon edges crossed by this line is odd, then the point
P is inside the region. Otherwise, P is an exterior point. To get an
accurate edge count, the line path should not cross any endpoint of the
polygon.
Non-zero Winding Number Method

Another method for defining interior regions is the nonzero winding

number method. In this method also we start be imagining a line drawn
from any position P to a point beyond the coordinate region of the object.
The line we choose should not pass through any vertices (end points). We
count the number of edges that cross the line in each direction. We add 1
to the winding number every time we intersect a polygon edge that
crosses the line from right to left or from above the line to below the line
and we subtract 1 every time we intersect an edge that crosses the line
from left to right or from below the line to above the line.
The final value of the winding number, after the entire edge crossings
have been counted, determines the position of P. If the winding number

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is nonzero then the point is inside the region. Otherwise, if winding

number is zero, the point is outside the region.
For standard polygons and other simple shapes, the nonzero winding
number rule and odd-even rule give the same results. But for complicate
set-intersecting polygons , the two methods may give different results,
as given below.

Odd even rule Non zero winding number rule

Boundary Fill Algorithm

One approach to filling an area is to start at a point inside a region and

fill interior outwards pixel by pixel tow ards the boundary until boundary
colour is encountered. This method is known as the Boundary Fill
Method.

This method is generally used in interactive painting packages, where

interior points are easily selected. A boundary fill procedure accepts
three parameters - a point inside the region (x, y), the boundary colour
and the filling colour. Starting from (x, y), its neighbouring positions are
tested to determine whether they are of the boundary colour. If not, they
are painted with fill colour, and their neighbouring points are tested. This
process continues until all pixels up to the boundary colour for the area
have been tested.

There are two methods for going to neighbouring pixels from the current
position. For the given point, its neighbouring four p oints, that is, left,
right, top and bottom, are tested. This method is known as 4-
connected.

Another method to test neighbouring pixel is 8-connected. In this the

four neighbouring points as well as the diagonal points are tested.

4-connected 8-connected

An 8-connected boundary-fill algorithm can fill more complex regions as

compared to 4-connected boundary-fill algorithm.
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Algorithm:

The algorithm for boundary fill using recursion is given by 4 -connected

method is given. (x,y) is the point insid e the polygon. ‘fillcolour’ is the
colour by which the polygon is to be filled. ‘bordercolour’ is the colour of
the border.

BoundaryFill (x, y, fillcolour, bordercolour)

1. colour = getpixelcolour(x,y)
2. if (colour != bordercolour and colour != fillcolour), t hen
(a) setpixelcolour (x, y, fillcolour)
(b) BoundaryFill(x+1, y, fillcolour, bordercolour)
(c) BoundaryFill(x–1 , y, fillcolour, bordercolour)
(d) BoundaryFill(x, y+1, fillcolour, bordercolour)
(e) BoundaryFill(x, y–1 , fillcolour, bordercolour)
3. Return

For 8-connected, call the BoundaryFill() function four more times with the
coordinate values of the diagonal points, that is, the right -top (x+1,
y+1), the right-bottom (x+1, y-1), the left-top (x-1, y+1) and the left-
bottom (x-1, y-1).

Recursive boundary-fill algorithm may not fill regions correctly if some

interior pixels are already displayed in fill colour. This occurs because the
algorithm checks neighbouring pixels for boundary colour and for fill
colour. If there is already a pixel with fill colour, the recursive loop w ill
stop and may leave other interior pixels unfilled.

Flood Fill Method

If we want to fill an area whose boundaries have many different colours,

then another approach is followed for filling the polygon. We paint by
replacing a specific interior colour with the fill colour. This method is
known as Flood Fill Method.

We start from a specific interior point (x, y) and reassign the pixels with
current interior colour with the specified fill colour. Using either 4 -
connected or 8-connected approach, we pass through pixel positions until
all interior points have been repainted.
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Algorithm:

The algorithm for flood fill using recursion is given by 4 -connected

method is given. (x,y) is the point inside the polygon. ‘fillcolour’ is the
colour by which the polygon is to be filled. ‘oldcolour’ is the existing
interior colour.

FloodFill (x, y, fillcolour, oldcolour)

1. colour = getpixelcolour(x,y)
2. if (colour == oldcolour), then
(a) setpixelcolour (x, y, fillcolour)
(b) FloodFill(x+1, y, fillcolour, oldcolour)
(c) FloodFill(x–1 , y, fillcolour, oldcolour)
(d) FloodFill(x, y+1, fillcolour, oldcolour)
(e) FloodFill(x, y–1 , fillcolour, oldcolour)
3. Return

Character Generation
Letters, numbers and other characters can be displayed in a variety of
sizes and styles. The design style for a set of ch aracters is called a
Typeface or Font.

Typefaces or Fonts can be divided into two broad groups: Serif and Sans
Serif. Serif type has small lines at the ends of the main character strokes
(called accents), while Sans Serif does not have accents. Serif type is
generally more readable, that is, it is easier to read in large amount of
texts. On the other hand, the individual characters in sans -serif type are
easier to identify. So, Sans-Serif type is said to be more legible and is
good for labelling and short heading.

Two different methods are used for storing computer fonts:

Bitmap Method or Dot-Matrix Method: In this, the character shapes in

a particular font are represented in form of rectangular grid patterns. The
set of characters are then referred to as a Bitmap Font.

Bitmap fonts are simplest to define and display. The character grid only
needs to be mapped to a frame-buffer position. But bitmap fonts require
more space. It is possible to generate different sizes and other
variations, such as bold, italics, etc., but usually the results are not
good.

Outline Method or Vector Method or Stroke Method: In this method,

the characters are described using straight lines and curve sections. The
set of characters is called an Outline Font.

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Outline fonts require less storage. Different variation or sizes can be

produced by manipulating the curve definitions for character outlines and
the results are also good. But it takes more time to process the outline
fonts.

Attributes
The features or characteristics of an output primitive are known as
Attribute. In other words, any parameter that affects the way a
primitive is to be displayed is known as Attribute. Some attributes, such
as colour and size, are basic characteristics of primitive. Some attributes
control the basic display properties of primitives. For example, lines can
be dotted or dashed, thin or thick. Areas can be filled with one colour or
with multiple colours pattern. Text can appear from left to right, slanted
or vertical.

Line Attributes:

Basic attributes of a straight line are its type, its width, and its colour. In
some graphics packages, line can also be displayed using selected pen or
brush options.
1. Line Type: The line type attribute includes solid lines, dashed lines,
and dotted lines. We modify the line drawing algorithm to generate such
lines by setting the length and space. A dashed line could be displayed by
generating spaces that is equal to length of solid part. A dotted line can
be displayed by generating very short dashes with spacing eq ual to or
greater than the dash size. Similar methods are used to produce other
line-type variations.

Raster line-algorithms displays line type attribute by plotting pixels. For

various dashed, dotted patterns, the line -drawing algorithms outputs part
of pixels followed by spaces. Plotting dashes with a fixed number of
pixels results in unequal-length dashes for different line angles. For
example, the length of dash diagonally is more than horizontal dash for
same number of pixels. For precision drawings, dash length should

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remain approximately same for any line angle. For this, we can adjust the
pixel number according to line slope.

2. Line Width: A line with more width can be displayed as parallel lines
on a video monitor. In raster lines, a standard widt h line is generated
with single pixels at each point. Width lines are displayed by plotting
additional pixels along next parallel line paths. For lines with slope less
than 1, we can display thick lines by plotting a vertical length of pixels at
each x position along the line. Similarly, for lines with slope greater than
1, we can plot thick lines with horizontal widths for each point.

The problem with implementing width options using horizontal and

vertical pixel widths is that the width of line is depende nt on the slope. A
45-degree line will be displayed thinner as compared to vertical or
horizontal line plotted with same number of pixel widths.

Another problem is that it produces lines whose ends are either

horizontal or vertical. We can adjust the shape of the line ends by adding
Line Caps.

One kind of line cap is the Butt Cap. It is obtained by adjusting the end
positions of lines so that the thick line is displayed with square ends that
are perpendicular to the line. Another line cap is the Round Cap
obtained by adding a filled semicircle to each butt cap. The semicircle has
diameter equal to thickness of line. The third type of line cap is the
Projecting Square Cap. Here, the butt cap is extended to half of line
width.

(a) (b) (c)

Thick Lines drawn with (a) Butt Cap (b) Round Cap and (c) Projecting Square Cap
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Generating thick connected line segments require other considerations.

The methods that we have considered for displaying thick lines will not
produce smoothly connected line segments. It leaves gaps at the
boundaries between lines of different slope. There are three possible
methods for smoothly joining two line segments. A Miter Join is obtained
by extending the outer boundaries of each of the two lines until they
meet. A Round Join is produced by covering the connection between the
two segments with a circular boundary whose diameter is equal to the
line width. A Bevel Join is generated by displaying the line with butt
caps and filling in the triangular gap where the segments meet.

Line without Joins Bevel Join

Miter Join Round Join

3. Pen and Brush Options: In some graphic packages, lines can be

displayed with pen or brush selection. Options in this category include
shape, size and pattern. These shapes are stored in a Pixel Mask that
identifies the pixel positions that are to be set along the line path. Lines
generated with pen or brush shaped can be displayed in various widths
by changing the size of the mask. Lines can also be displayed with
selected patterns.

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4. Line Colour: A system displays a line in the current colour by setting

the colour value in the frame buffer at pixel locations. The number of
colour choices depends on the number of bits available per pixel in the
frame buffer. A line drawn in the background colour is invisible.
Area-Fill Attributes:
Options for filling a region include a choice between a solid colour and a
patterned fill. These options can be applied to polygon regions or regions
with curved boundaries.
Areas can be displayed with various fill styles: hollow, solid, pattern and
hatch.
Hollow areas are displayed using only the boundary outline, with interior
colour the same as the background colour.
A Solid fill is displayed in a single colour including the bord ers. Fill style
can also be with a specific pattern or design. The Hatch fill is used to fill
area with hatching pattern.

Hollow Solid Pattern

Polygon fill styles

Diagonal hatch Diagonal Cross-hatch

Polygon fill using hatch patterns

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Other fill options include specifications for the edge type, edge width and
edge colour. These attributes are same as the line attributes. That is, we
can display polygon edges as dotted, dashed, thick or of different
colours, etc.
Soft Fill
We may want to fill area again due to 2 reasons:
• It is blurred (unclear) when painted first time, or
• It is repainting of a color area that was originally filled with
semitransparent brush, where current color is then mixture of the
brush color and the background color “ behind” the area.
So that the fill color is combined with the background colors are referred
to as Soft-fill.
Character Attributes:
The appearance of displayed characters is controlled by attributes such
as font, size, colour and orientation. Attributes can be set both for entire
character strings and for individual characters, known as Marker symbols.
1. Text Attributes: There are many text options available, such as font,
colour, size, spacing, and orientation.
 Text Style: The characters in a selected font can also be displayed in
various underlining styles (solid, dotted, dashed, double), in bold, in
italics, s h a d o w style, etc. Font options can be made available as
predefined sets of grid patterns or as character sets designed with
lines and curves.
 Text Colour: Colour settings for displayed text are stored in the
system attribute list and transferred to the frame buffer by character
loading functions. When a character string is displayed, the current
colour is used to set pixel values in the frame buffer corresponding to
the character shapes and position.
 Text Size: We can adjust text size by changing the overall
dimensions, i.e., width and height, of characters or by changing only
the width. Character size is specified in Points, where 1 point is
0.013837 inch or approximately 1/72 inch. Point measurements specify
the size of the Character Body. Different fonts with the same point
specifications can have different character sizes depending upon the
design of the font.
Topline Kern
Capline

H
Character Body
Character

Height Baseline
Bottomline
f q Descenders

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The distance between Topline and Bottomline is same for all

characters in a particular size and font, but the width may be different.
A smaller body width is assigned to narrow characters such as i, j, l,
etc. compared to broad characters such as W or M. The Character
Height is the distance between the Baseline and Capline of
characters. Kerned characters, such as f and j, extend beyond the
character-width limits. And letters with descenders, such as g, j, p, q,
extend below the baseline.
The size can be changed in such a way so that the width and spacing of
characters is adjusted to maintain the same text proportions. For
example, doubling the height also doubles the character width and the
spacing between characters. Also, only the width of the character s can
be changes without affecting its height. Similarly, spacing between
characters can be increased without changing height or width of
individual characters.
The effect of different character-height setting, character-width
setting, and character spacing on a text is shown below.

HEIGHT1 WIDTH1 SPACING1

HEIGHT2 WIDTH2 SPACING2

HEIGHT3 WIDTH3 SPACING3

Effect of changing Height, Width and Spacing

 Text Orientation: The text can be displayed at various angles, known

as orientation. A procedure for orienting text rotates characters so
that the sides of character bodies, from baseline to topline at aligned
at some angle. Character strings can be arranged vertically or
horizontally.
O
n
rie
io

Orientation
at

nt
nt

at
rie

io
n
O

A text orientated by 45 degrees in anticlockwise and clockwi se direction

 Text Path: In some applications the character strings are arranged

vertically or horizontally. This is known as Text Path. Text path can be
right, left, up or down.

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g
n
i
r
t
s A text displayed with the four text-path
options
gnirts String
s
t
r
i
n
g

 Text Alignment: Another attribute for character strings is alignment.

This attribute specifies how text is to be positioned with respect to the
start coordinates. Vertical alignment can be top, cap, half, base and
bottom. Similarly, horizontal alignment can be left, centre and right.

top
cap
half
TEXT ALIGNMENT base
bottom

left center right

Alignment values for a string

Compiled By: Mr. Navtej Bhatt, Assistant Professor,

BCA Department, V.P. & R.P.T.P. Science College, VV Nagar
Class: BCA SEM V
Subject: US05CBCA02 – Computer Graphics

Declaration: This material is developed only for the reference for lectures in the
classrooms. Students are required library reading for more study. This study
material compiled from Book “Computer Graphics by Donald Hearn & M. Pauline
Baker, PHI, 1995

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