PATRAM - a handwritten word processor for Indian languages

In this paper, we present PATRAM, a comprehensive handwritten wordprocessing system specially designed for Indian languages. In typical existing ink capture programs, handwriting is entered in a 'paint-on-a-wall' style without any syntactical structure imposed on the handwritten text. The PATRAM document page is classified into text (ruled space) and drawing (unruled space) areas. While inking the text region, the writer stays within the lines. The drawing region does not have such a restriction. While this arrangement accommodates unconstrained inking (in drawing area), it provides a more intuitive and convenient editing style for the text area. The standard operations including insert, cut, copy, paste, delete, select, justify etc. are defined which operate on text or drawing objects in characteristic fashion. The document is saved in a specific format (.pat) which makes off-line character recognition possible. We finally demonstrate recognition capability in Tamil language.