Patent ID: 7232200

Claim:
A method of forming an image employing an image reading device and a recording head having a plurality of recording elements arranged in array, the method comprising the steps of: recording a corrective image onto a recording material; acquiring readout information from the corrective image read by the reading device; carrying out a calculation to obtain an amount of a correction for recording characteristics, each of which corresponds to each of the plurality of recording elements, from the readout information acquired in the acquiring step; and forming an image onto the recording material by the recording head in which the plurality of recording elements are compensated based on the amount of correction in the carrying out step; wherein, the readout information in the acquiring step discriminates optical density unevenness caused by a factor not being associated with the recording head based on the readout information, and wherein, the amount of the correction is calculated without optical density unevenness when the optical density unevenness caused by a factor not being associated with the head is identified.