Patent ID: 8259356

Claim:
An image processing apparatus, comprising: a first color determining device configured to obtain input image data and to determine whether a first area of the input image data is color image or monochrome image to generate a first determination result; a storage device configured to store the input image data and the first determination result; a controller configured to obtain a user instruction for outputting a second area of the input image data as output image data, to compare between the first area of the input image data and the second area of the input image data to generate a comparison result; a second color determining device configured to obtain the input image data read from the storage device and to determine whether the second area of the input image data is monochrome image or color image to generate a second determination result, when the comparison result indicates that the second area of the input image data does not match the first area of the input image data; and an output image processing device configured to read the input image data from the storage device, and to apply image processing to at least the second area of the input image data, wherein: when the comparison result indicates that the second area of the input image data does not match the first area of the input image data, the controller causes the second color determining device to generate the second determination result and causes the output image data to be generated based on the second determination result, and wherein: when the comparison result indicates that the second area of the input image data matches the first area of the input image data, the controller causes the output image processing device to apply image processing determined based on the first determination result to the input image data to generate the output image data based on the first determination result.