Patent ID: 7420708

Claim:
An image processing method: receiving color image data comprising a plurality of color separations, each color separation including a plurality of scanlines, each scanline having a plurality of separation pixels with each separation pixel being located at a pixel position within the scanline; generating a sum S of a first separation pixel and a second separation pixel, the first separation pixel being located at an input pixel position within a current scanline within a first color separation and the second separation pixel being from a second color separation, wherein the second separation pixel is located at the input pixel position within the current scanline; receiving a stamp field value associated with a previously printed dot, the stamp field value being a distance-order preservation metric, the distance-order preservation metric including a distance metric, the distance-order preservation metric preserving an ordering of distances from previously printed dots; determining, using the stamp field value, a distance from the input pixel position within the current scanline to a previously printed dot within at least one of the first color separation and the second color separation by incrementing the stamp field value; deriving a threshold value based on the determined distance; and generating a first output value for the first separation pixel and a second output value for the second separation pixel based on a comparison of the sum S with the threshold value.