Cursv

Inspiration

I have been searching for a while but I have not seen a cursive handwriting generator. When I'm talking about a generator, I'm not talking about a specific font. The generator has to be able to generate the characters that look like normal handwriting.

What it does

The engine stores characters as drawing instructions instead of pre-designed fonts. When the characters are generated, the engine can randomize some attributes to add real-life imperfection into the text. This ensures that no characters will look the same no matter how many times it's generated (well mostly. Computers are still discrete machines. They'll eventually run out of unique states.) The engine can then generate the realistic handwriting and save it as an image.

How I built it

I use mainly Java Swing API to build the GUI. I have a bit of knowledge about geometry and Bezier curves. I combined the two concept to create the engine.

Challenges I ran into

If you paid close attention (or not,) the only pronoun I've used to refer to the "team" so far is "I". That is because I could not find anyone to collaborate on the idea. I think it is because it is too mathematically intensive (even though I only used a Bezier function and its derivative) and it lacks the practicality aspect.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

Implement an abstract mathematical idea and it works.

What I learned

Problems lurk everywhere in the process.

What's next for Cursv

I want it use it to create a letter writing program for people who still write letters but doesn't have a large handwriting repertoire.

Built With

• java