Patent ID: 7706604

Claim:
An apparatus for performing color conversion with reference to a profile defining correspondence between colorimetric value data and ink amount data, comprising: a profile memory for storing a plurality of profiles, each profile being produced using plural sample ink amount data selected based on an evaluation index including a color difference index and an image quality index, the color difference index representing a color difference between a sample color which is calculated from spectral reflectance of a virtual sample patch to be printed with ink amounts represented by the sample ink amount data and a comparative color which is selected as a basis for comparison, the image quality index representing image quality of the virtual sample patch, the evaluation index for the plurality of profiles being defined to have different functional forms, the color difference index not being calculated from differences in the spectral reflectance of the sample color and the comparative color but rather being calculated from differences in colorimetric values of the sample color and the comparative color, the colorimetric values being either CIE-L*a*b* values or CIE-XYZ values, and the image quality index being a function of both of a graininess index (GI) indicating graininess of a print and an ink amount index indicating an ink usage amount of colorant inks; and a color converter for selecting one of the plurality of profiles and for converting given colorimetric data into ink amount data with reference to the selected profile.