Patent ID: 6400467
Filing Date: 2002-06-04
Classification: G06T

Abstract:
A method for mapping an original color of an image element boundary, the image element comprising a plurality of pixels, where a subset of the plurality of pixels located around the periphery of the image element form the image element boundary, each pixel in the image element being defined by a plurality of color separations, and where the image element is nominally rendered by a halftoning process so as to represent the image element as a plurality of original color marks spaced apart from one another, wherein the method maps the original color of the image element to a solid color that appears continuous when reproduced, comprising the steps of:locating a section of the image element boundary that would nominally be rendered by a halftoning process as a plurality of original color marks spaced apart from one another along the boundary; determining whether the image element boundary section located in said locating step is comprised of true boundary pixels of the color image; and mapping, in response to a determination that the image element boundary section is comprised of true boundary pixels, the color separation of the image element boundary section to produce a solid color along at least the image element boundary section so as to produce a continuous color boundary and to preserve edge detail of the image element being rendered.