Patent ID: 6976425

Claim:
An ink feeding rate control method for adjusting ink feeding rates of a printing machine when performing a printing operation using printing plates with an image recorded thereon based on printing data, said method comprising: a reference print preparing step for making a first printing plate by recording an image thereon based on first image data for recording a reference chart including a plurality of color patches set beforehand, and printing a reference print with said first printing plate; a reference print color density measuring step for obtaining color data of said reference print by reading said reference print prepared in said reference print preparing step; a conversion table creating step for creating a conversion table based on said first image data and said color data of said reference print and showing a relationship between said first image data and said color data; a reference color data converting step for converting data of predetermined measurement positions of second image data for recording a desired image on the printing plates for use in printing, into reference color data by using said conversion table; a print preparing step for making a second printing plate by recording an image thereon based on said second image data, and printing a print with said second printing plate; a print color density measuring step for obtaining print color data of positions corresponding to said measurement positions by reading said print prepared in said print preparing step; and an ink feeding rate adjusting step for adjusting the ink feeding rates of said printing machine based on a result of comparison between said reference color data obtained in said reference color data converting step and said print color data.