Patent ID: 8130412
Filing Date: 2012-03-06
Classification: G06K

Abstract:
1. An image processing method applicable to an image output device for forming a color image on a sheet with a background color material and process color materials, said color image having colors determined by a total amount of the color materials that are applied per pixel, said image processing method comprising: a process of determining a total amount of the background color material and the process color materials which are to be applied per pixel based on an input pixel signal; and a number-of-application adjusting process of, if the determined total amount of the color materials is of a value in excess of a total-amount-of-color-material upper limit for the image output device for applying the color materials per pixel, reducing the number of applications of the background color material or the process color materials without color changes, so that the total amount of the color materials is equal to or lower than said total-amount-of-color-material upper limit, wherein if the determined total amount of the color materials is of a value equal to or less than the upper limit, the color materials of the background color material and the process color materials are added on without reducing the number of applications in the number-of-application adjusting process; and further comprising: a process of determining a number of applications of the process color materials; wherein, in the number-of-application adjusting process, if the determined number of applications of the process color materials is three or more, said background color material is not applied; wherein if said background color material comprises a white color material, said process color materials comprise C, M, Y, K color materials, and said total-amount-of-color-material upper limit represents a number-of-application upper limit of three, then when said number of applications determined for a certain pixel is four for applying the white color material once and applying each of the C, M, Y color materials once, said number-of-application adjusting process reduces the number of applications to two for applying the white color material once and applying the K color material once; when said number of applications determined for a certain pixel is four for applying the white color material once, applying the K color material once, and applying two of the C, M, Y color materials once, said number-of-application adjusting process reduces the number of applications to three without adding the white color material; and when said number of applications determined for a certain pixel is five for applying the white color material once and applying each of the C, M, Y, K color materials once, said number-of-application adjusting process reduces the number of applications to three for applying the white color material once and the K color material twice.