Patent ID: 7365878

Claim:
A method for color adjustment by entering image data which expresses an input image in terms of more than one kind of color component value for a large number of pixels individually and then generating adjusted image data which expresses an adjusted image to be printed by a printing apparatus, with the input image color-adjusted, said method comprising: a step of outputting a preview image of said input image according to said image data and acquiring information about unadjusted color which expresses a color to be adjusted and which is contained in said preview image; a step of controlling said printing apparatus such that it prints a plurality of colors among from the color and its neighboring colors represented by said information about unadjusted color, according to said information about unadjusted color which has been acquired; a step of specifying information about adjusted color which represents any of the plurality of printed colors, as standard information at the time of color adjustment; a step of generating varying region image data and outputting a varying region image that shows just a region having color changes due to color adjustment on said input image based on the information about the unadjusted color and the adjusted color, wherein said varying region image data is expressed in achromatic color obtained from component value differences between said input image data and said adjusted image data; and a step of generating the data for adjusted image which expresses the adjusted image to be printed by said printing apparatus from said image data, according to said information about unadjusted color and said information about adjusted color.