Download 1 - DSpace@MIT

2
SOFTWARE TOOLS FOR THE GRAPHIC
DESIGNER
by
Nardy Henigan
Submitted to the Department of Archtecture on May 5, 1983,
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of
Master of Science in Visual Studies
Abstract
This thesis describes three packages of programs of
interest to the graphic designers: (1) a tool for pointing
at objects on the display monitor, (2) a tool for
organizing sets of programs into interactive menus, and
(3) a tool for digitizing type fonts.
The graphic designer at the computer uses at least three
spaces at once: the page he is designing, the device space
of the display monitor, and the device space of the
graphics tablet.
The first tool figures the transforms
necessary to map one space into another. This allows the
user to point at a location on the tablet and thereby
identify corresponding points on the screen and in
user-defined space.
Interactive page layout requires the orchestration of
large numbers of separate procedures.
Choosing
between these procedures can be made easier for the
user if he is presented with a menu of options when a
decision is required.
The second tool is a package of
programs to help the programmer create and manage
simple or complex menus.
Simulating type on a monitor requires digitized fonts.
The third tool is a package of programs which extracts
the edge of a letterform image in the frame buffer and
stores it as a chain code.
Thesis supervisor:
Muriel Cooper
Title: Associate Professor of Visual Studies