Patent ID: 7336397

Claim:
A method for image processing data representing a page to be printed, the method comprising the steps of: respectively receiving, in a data processing apparatus, external to a printer, data representing a bi-level black layer and a contone layer of a page to be printed; applying, in the data processing apparatus, a halftoning process to data representing the contone layer to form a bi-level cyan, yellow, magenta, and black (CYMK) layer; applying, in the data processing apparatus, a compositing process to data representing the bi-level black layer to composite the bi-level black layer over the bi-level CYMK layer to form a bi-level CYMK image of the page to be printed; compressing the data representing the halftoned and composited layers to generate compressed image data; writing the compressed image data to the printer; applying, in the printer, an expansion process to the compressed image data to generate data representing the page to be printed; and printing the page with the printer.