Patent ID: 7366350

Claim:
An apparatus for performing image processing on image data, comprising: a characteristic value calculation part calculating a characteristic value from the image data; an area extraction part extracting a specific color area of a specific color and a background area thereof from the image data, using the characteristic value and color information of a memory color stored in a storage part; a target value calculation part calculating a target value for correcting a preferable color of the specific color from the characteristic value, the extracted specific color and background areas, and color information of the preferable color stored in the storage part; and an image data color correction part calculating an amount of correction for correcting the preferable color based on the calculated target value and the characteristic value, and correcting a color of the specific color area based on the calculated amount of correction and the characteristic value, wherein said target value calculation part sets an intersection of a straight line and an ellipsoid as the target value of the preferable color, the straight line being parallel to a segment connecting chromaticity coordinates of the background area and an origin, and passing through chromaticity coordinates of the preferable color of the specific color, the ellipsoid being formed by a range of the preferable color of the specific color.