Image forming apparatus with control of maximum output of colorant
First Claim
1. An image forming method in an image forming apparatus which forms a color image by adhering plural coloring materials to a recording medium, said method comprising:
- an input step of inputting an image signal;
a color conversion step of performing a color conversion process on the image signal input in said input step, on the basis of profile data, and outputting plural color component signals;
a gradation conversion step of performing a gradation conversion process on the plural color component signals output in said color conversion step;
a correction step of correcting an output characteristic inherent in the image forming apparatus; and
a limitation step, executed after said color conversion step and before said correction step, of reducing respective signal levels of the plural color component signals so that a sum total of the respective signal levels does not exceed a limitation value, so as to limit a sum total amount of the coloring materials when adhering the plural coloring materials respectively corresponding to the plural color component signals.
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Abstract
In an image forming apparatus which forms a color image by superposing cyan, magenta, yellow and black toners on a recording medium, a circuit to limit image signals is provided immediately before a gamma correction circuit which corrects an output characteristic inherent in the apparatus so that the sum total of the signal levels of the image signals of the respective colors does not exceeds a predetermined value. Thus, even if a user arbitrarily sets color profile data for color management, a toner spread amount can be controlled not to exceed the predetermined value.
20 Citations
8 Claims
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1. An image forming method in an image forming apparatus which forms a color image by adhering plural coloring materials to a recording medium, said method comprising:
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an input step of inputting an image signal; a color conversion step of performing a color conversion process on the image signal input in said input step, on the basis of profile data, and outputting plural color component signals; a gradation conversion step of performing a gradation conversion process on the plural color component signals output in said color conversion step; a correction step of correcting an output characteristic inherent in the image forming apparatus; and a limitation step, executed after said color conversion step and before said correction step, of reducing respective signal levels of the plural color component signals so that a sum total of the respective signal levels does not exceed a limitation value, so as to limit a sum total amount of the coloring materials when adhering the plural coloring materials respectively corresponding to the plural color component signals. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. An image forming apparatus which forms a color image by adhering plural coloring materials to a recording medium, comprising:
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an input unit arranged to input an image signal; a color conversion unit arranged to perform a color conversion process on the image signal input by said input unit, on the basis of profile data, to output plural color component signals; a gradation conversion unit arranged to perform a gradation conversion process on the plural color component signals output by said color conversion unit; a gamma correction unit arranged to correct an output characteristic inherent in said image forming apparatus; and a limitation unit arranged to perform a process, executed after the conversion process by said color conversion unit and before correction processing by said gamma correction unit, of reducing respective signal levels of the color component signals so that a sum total of the respective signal levels does not exceed a limitation value, so as to limit a sum total amount of the coloring materials when adhering the plural coloring materials respectively corresponding to the plural color component signals. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8)
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Specification