Patent ID: 6384857
Filing Date: 2002-05-07
Classification: H04N

Abstract:
An image forming apparatus for forming a visible image on a recording medium based on input digital image data with a character image and a halftone image, said apparatus comprising:image forming means for forming visible images with multiple degrees of resolution; determining means for determining a size of an image area to be formed by said image forming means based on input digital image data; and control means for forming the character image included in said digital image data at a first degree of resolution and forming the halftone image included in said digital image data at a second degree of resolution which is lower than said first degree of resolution when the size determined by said determining means is larger than a predetermined size, and forming said character image at said first degree of resolution and forming said halftone image at a third degree of resolution that is higher than said second degree of resolution when the size determined by said determining means is the same as or smaller than the predetermined size.