Patent ID: 7079284

Claim:
An image processing apparatus which processes a plurality of supplied color image signals and outputs the processed signals to an image forming apparatus, the image processing apparatus comprising: a conversion section which converts said plurality of supplied color image signals to a plurality of color signals; a discrimination section which discriminates attributes of said plurality of supplied color image signals; a determination section which determines, based on the plurality of color signals converted by the conversion section, a plurality of color signals outside a color gamut capable of image formation in the image forming apparatus; a processing section which changes the plurality of color signals outside the color gamut determined by the determination section to a plurality of color signals in the color gamut of the image forming apparatus in accordance with a discrimination result of the discrimination section; and an output section which matches the plurality of color signals from the conversion section and the plurality of color signals from the processing section and delivers the matched result to the image forming apparatus, wherein said processing section performs, when the discrimination result of the discrimination section is a character portion, a process of matching a hue and effecting shift to an outermost color gamut region closer in chroma than in brightness, and performs, when the discrimination result of the discrimination section is a non-character portion, a process of matching a hue and effecting shift to an outermost color gamut region closer in luminance than in chroma.