Patent Document ID: 8599440
Application ID: 12647975
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. An image processing apparatus comprising: a controller, the controller controlling the image processing apparatus to perform a method of adjusting ink pile height, the method comprising the steps of: determining, in an area of image data having a foreground and a background, an estimated ink pile height profile of ink to be deposited on a corresponding area of a surface by an image forming device, the estimated ink pile height profile including a major color component in the foreground, plurality of non-major color components in the foreground, a plurality of non-major color components in the background, plurality of major color components in the background, and a black component in the foreground; adjusting the estimated ink pile height profile through a spatially dependent change of ink at the area until the adjusted ink pile height difference in the area is below a threshold; wherein the spatially dependent change of the ink includes: (1) removing one of the plurality of non-major color components of the foreground whose corresponding color component is least represented out of the plurality of non-major color components of the background in the area; (2) after the removing one of the plurality of non-major color components, equating the amount of each of remaining ones of the plurality of non-major color components in the foreground with a corresponding non-major color component in the background; and (3) scaling each of the remaining non-major color components of the foreground by a factor α, so that the foreground and background have ink pile height differences below a threshold value, wherein α is based on a ratio of a sum of the major and non-major color components of the background minus the black component of the foreground to a sum of the major and non-major color components of the foreground; and storing or causing an image forming device to print an image based on the adjusted estimated height profile.