Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Craig A Macomber

Travis Paul Dorschel

Joshua M Smithrud

Simon J Schaffer

Paul J Kwiatkowski

Taylor S Williams

Christine M Johnson

Michael Tang

Andras Nagy

Nicholas J Wilson

Marcel Lugosan

James Robert Olyha

Shane J Clifford

Techniques are presented for enhanced erasing of digital ink. The ink erasing feature of a content creation application can preserve the complex shapes that can result from partial erasure of ink strokes. The ink erasing feature can receive ink stroke data from an ink stroke and display the ink stroke. The ink erasing feature can then receive and display an eraser stroke that contacts the ink stroke. Once the eraser stroke is received, the ink erasing feature can determine whether any eraser segment of the eraser stroke contacts the ink stroke. If an eraser segment does not contact the ink stroke, the ink erasing feature discards the eraser segment. If an eraser segment does contact the ink stroke, the ink erasing feature can update the ink stroke data based on amount of overlap and location of contact between the eraser stroke and the ink stroke.

Enhanced digital ink erasing

Techniques and systems for generating ink effects for an ink stroke are described. In particular, ink gradients for digital ink strokes are provided. The described techniques allow for inking input to be transformed into a structure in which conventional and unconventional graphics techniques can be applied. A digital ink system can receive an ink stroke having ink stroke information. The outline of the ink stroke can be identified, and the ink stroke information can be transformed into surface information within the outline of the ink stroke. A graphic effect can be applied to the ink stroke using the surface information.

Generating ink effects for a digital ink stroke

Techniques and systems for applying an ink effect to the drawing of an ink stroke can include absolute age for a digital ink stroke. A digital ink system can identify a reference time from which to represent a current time. The system can generate an absolute age of each ink point of the ink stroke based on the reference time. Then the ink effect can be applied to the ink stroke with a rhythm derived from when the ink stroke was originally drawn by using the absolute age of each ink point. In some cases, the rhythm can be the same rhythm as when the ink stroke was originally drawn. In other cases, the rhythm can be modified based on the rhythm the ink stroke was originally drawn. For example, the original rhythm may be accelerating, decelerating, skewed, compressed, affine, or non-affine.

Absolute age for a digital ink stroke

Techniques and systems for managing visual layouts of ink strokes are described. In particular, an ink space coordinate system for a digital ink stroke is provided. A digital ink system can receive ink stroke data of an ink stroke. The system can define an ink space coordinate system along the ink stroke. Defining the ink space coordinate system can include assigning a reference line of the ink stroke and an origin point on the reference line, as well as creating ink space coordinates. Creating the ink space coordinates can include defining ink space x-coordinate values representing a distance along the reference line relative to the origin point and defining ink space y-coordinate values representing a distance along an axis perpendicular to the reference line of the ink stroke. Then the system can perform a warping to create curvature in the ink space coordinate system.

Ink space coordinate system for a digital ink stroke

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Seattle, WA, United States of America

Craig A Macomber