Patent ID: 7450281
Filing Date: 2008-11-11
Classification: H04N

Abstract:
1. An image processing apparatus comprising: a first storage unit adapted to store a plurality of input color profiles; a second storage unit adapted to store output color profile groups, each of the output color profile groups being prepared for a corresponding output device, and each single output color profile group including output color profiles each of which is prepared for a corresponding area; a first acquisition unit adapted to acquire an input color profile from said first storage unit; a designation unit adapted to designate a plurality of areas, an output device, and composition ratios; a second acquisition unit adapted to specify a output color profile group that is stored in said second storage unit, corresponding to the designated output device, and to acquire output color profiles corresponding to the designated areas from the specified output color profile group; a composition unit adapted to generate a composed output color profile by composing output color profiles acquired by said second acquisition unit according to the designated composition ratios; and a conversion unit adapted to color-convert an image based on the input color profile acquired by said first acquisition unit and the composed output color profile, wherein an output color profile corresponding to an area of interest defines a color conversion which can realize color preference specific to the area of interest, wherein said first and second storage units are external units of an image processing unit comprising said first and second acquisition units, said composition unit, and said conversion unit, wherein said designation unit displays a user interface so that as a user designates a point within a triangle or a point on an edge of the triangle, each apex of the triangle is associated with a corresponding area, wherein if the user designates a point on the edge, said designation unit designates areas corresponding to two end points A and B of the designated edge, and calculate composition ratio rA=1−Dist/Len of the end point A and composition ratio rB=Dist/Len of the end point B, where Len denotes distance between the two end points A and B, and Dist denotes distance between the designated point and the end point A, said second acquisition unit acquires output color profiles A and B corresponding to the designated areas from the specified output color profile group, and said composition unit generates the composed output color profile as a calculation result of (the output color profile A*rA+the output color profile B*rB), wherein if the user designates a point within the triangle, said designation unit designates areas corresponding to apexes A, B, and C of the triangle, and calculate composition ratio rA=1−2a/(a+b+c) of the apex A, composition ratio rB=1−2b/(a+b+c) of the apex B, and composition ratio rC=1−2c/(a+b+c) of the apex C, where a denotes distance between the designated point and the apex A, b denotes distance between the designated point and the apex B, and c denotes distance between the designated point and the apex C, said second acquisition unit acquires output color profiles A, B, and C corresponding to the designated areas from the specified output color profile group, and said composition unit generates the composed output color profile as a calculation result of (the output color profile A*rA+the output color profile B*rB+the output color profile C*rC).