Patent ID: 6977663

Claim:
An error distribution reduction method for controlling color bleed in relation to a system-invoked halftone color-image process which involves the practice of error diffusion in the context of a fixed-values output color palette, said method comprising selecting a location in the system which is downstream therein relative both to where such error diffusion takes place, and to the location of the mentioned fixed values output color palette, at that selected location, performing diffusion-accumulated error calculation, at another location in the system which is downstream from where said performing takes place, applying error filtering to define a numerically weighted pixel-neighbor distribution pattern for such calculated accumulated error, where the numbers associated with that pattern add to a defined distribution-weight totality number, and then, using an error distribution reduction number which is independent of error diffusion and filtering, preparing, for use in a next-pixel error-diffusion event, a chosen distribution-weight totality number which is less than the defined distribution-weight totality number, said preparing being performed by a predetermined numeric reduction in the distributable error which nominally results from the step of applying error filtering.