Patent ID: 7210757

Claim:
An image processing method for producing recording data from first image data corresponding to each pixel with a first number of gradations so as to supply the recording data to a recording apparatus, which expresses each pixel with a number of gradations smaller than the first number of gradations, the image processing method comprising: producing second image data by converting said first image data into a color space that can be output by said recording apparatus, the second image data having a second number of gradations; producing third image data based on the second number of gradations of the second image data so that the third image data has a third number of gradations; and producing said recording data by applying a halftone process to the third image data, wherein producing the third image data includes adjusting the third number of gradations of the third image data to be equal to or larger than the second number of gradations of the second image data in accordance with a number of colors for each pixel used in the second image data.