Abstract: The optimal number of print passes and a head-to-platen distance are set according to a content of an image to be printed and the user's request (emphasis is put on quality or speed, etc.) to thereby appropriately meet the needs for higher image quality and higher productivity and to perform printing with high reliability. To this end, it is made possible to select whether to execute processing for issuing an instruction to set the number of print passes and the head-to-platen distance according to discrimination of the content of the image. When the execution of the processing is selected, the number of print passes and the head-to-platen distance are appropriately set according to the content of the image (duty, etc.). Meanwhile, when it is not selected, the image is printed by one-pass print with the head-to-platen distance set larger, regardless of the content of the image.

Abstract: An image processing device includes a display unit which displays images, an area designation unit which receives a target image area and an input image area both designated from the images, a tone function computing unit which computes a one-dimensional tone function of the target image area and a one-dimensional tone function of the input image area, a conversion information generating unit which generates conversion information to convert the one-dimensional tone function of the input image area into the one-dimensional tone function of the target image area, an image conversion processing unit which converts image data of the input image area based on the conversion information, and a display control unit which displays the image containing the converted image data of the input image area on the display unit.

Abstract: Multiple alignment patterns, each composed of first and second alignment pattern elements printed by forward and backward movements of a print head, respectively, are formed while the relative printing positions of the two elements are shifted. From optical characteristics data thereof, whether the data is influenced by a disturbance is determined. When the data is determined to be less influenced by the disturbance and therefore to be reliable, an adjusting value for aligning positions in printing in reciprocal movements is calculated by use of: data with the smallest relative printing position misalignment between the first and second alignment pattern elements; and data of optical characteristics close to the data. When the data is largely influence by the disturbance, a range of shifting of relative position is widened than that of the data less influenced by the disturbance so that more data pieces are used to obtain the adjusting value.

Abstract: Multiple alignment patterns, each composed of first and second alignment pattern elements printed by forward and backward movements of a print head, respectively, are formed while the relative printing positions of the two elements are shifted. From optical characteristics data thereof, whether the data is influenced by a disturbance is determined. When the data is determined to be less influenced by the disturbance and therefore to be reliable, an adjusting value for aligning positions in printing in reciprocal movements is calculated by use of: data with the smallest relative printing position misalignment between the first and second alignment pattern elements; and data of optical characteristics close to the data. When the data is largely influence by the disturbance, a range of shifting of relative position is widened than that of the data less influenced by the disturbance so that more data pieces are used to obtain the adjusting value.

Abstract: A printing apparatus and a calibration method are provided which, by using a small-capacity memory, can perform a high-speed calibration processing on data used to eject ink of the same color from a plurality of nozzle arrays. By ejecting ink of the same color from the plurality of nozzle arrays, patch is printed and, based on the printed result of the patch, a content of a print data correction processing is changed.

Abstract: An ink containing a plurality of coloring materials having different hues, wherein the bronze value B, which is calculated from tristimulus values of reflected light, of illumination in the direction of an angle of 45 degrees to a normal to the image, in the direction of specular reflection and tristimulus values of illumination light under the same condition of the illumination by using Formula 1, with respect to a predetermined recorded image recorded by the above-described ink is 2.0 or less.

Abstract: An inkjet printing apparatus and an inkjet printing method are provided which can correct, with high precision, print position deviations among a plurality of printing element arrays in each of a plurality of print modes that use different groups of printing elements in each printing element array. The adjustment values for the print position deviations between the first and second printing element arrays are differentiated between the high-speed mode and the high-quality mode. In the high-speed mode, all printing elements in the first and second printing element arrays are used. In the high-quality mode, a part of the printing elements in each of the first and second printing element arrays are used. Based on these adjustment values, the ink ejection timings of the first and second printing element arrays are adjusted.

Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet printing apparatus and an ink jet printing method which can inhibit degradation of image quality resulting from ink drying unevenness regardless of the type of ink and the amount of ejected ink. To accomplish the object, the present invention determines, based on print data, drying characteristics of ink applied by a print head to a predetermined time control area in an image forming area to be formed on a print medium. Based on the result of the determination, a wait time is controlled which is set between a preceding scan and a succeeding scan in a plurality of scans performed within the wait time control area.

Abstract: A printing apparatus and a calibration method are provided which, by using a small-capacity memory, can perform a high-speed calibration processing on data used to eject ink of the same color from a plurality of nozzle arrays. By ejecting ink of the same color from the plurality of nozzle arrays, patch is printed and, based on the printed result of the patch, a content of a print data correction processing is changed.

Abstract: To provide an apparatus and a method that are capable of recording by performing the number of recording scans appropriate for the level of color non-uniformity. When recording is performed by causing a recording head to scan a unit region of a recording medium multiple times, values related to the respective amounts of inks of multiple colors to be ejected to each of sub-regions obtained by dividing the unit region in the scanning direction are obtained. On the basis of values related to the respective amounts of the inks of multiple colors for a sub-region of interest and neighboring sub-regions adjacent to the sub-region of interest, the number of scans for the unit region including the sub-region of interest is determined.

Abstract: Multiple alignment patterns, each composed of first and second alignment pattern elements printed by forward and backward movements of a print head, respectively, are formed while the relative printing positions of the two elements are shifted. From optical characteristics data thereof, whether the data is influenced by a disturbance is determined. When the data is determined to be less influenced by the disturbance and therefore to be reliable, an adjusting value for aligning positions in printing in reciprocal movements is calculated by use of: data with the smallest relative printing position misalignment between the first and second alignment pattern elements; and data of optical characteristics close to the data. When the data is largely influence by the disturbance, a range of shifting of relative position is widened than that of the data less influenced by the disturbance so that more data pieces are used to obtain the adjusting value.

Abstract: Multiple alignment patterns, each composed of first and second alignment pattern elements printed by forward and backward movements of a print head, respectively, are formed while the relative printing positions of the two elements are shifted. From optical characteristics data thereof, whether the data is influenced by a disturbance is determined. When the data is determined to be less influenced by the disturbance and therefore to be reliable, an adjusting value for aligning positions in printing in reciprocal movements is calculated by use of: data with the smallest relative printing position misalignment between the first and second alignment pattern elements; and data of optical characteristics close to the data. When the data is largely influence by the disturbance, a range of shifting of relative position is widened than that of the data less influenced by the disturbance so that more data pieces are used to obtain the adjusting value.

Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet printing apparatus and an ink jet printing method which can inhibit degradation of image quality resulting from ink drying unevenness regardless of the type of ink and the amount of ejected ink. To accomplish the object, the present invention determines, based on print data, drying characteristics of ink applied by a print head to a predetermined time control area in an image forming area to be formed on a print medium. Based on the result of the determination, a wait time is controlled which is set between a preceding scan and a succeeding scan in a plurality of scans performed within the wait time control area.

Abstract: An ink jet printing apparatus is provided which can form sharp images while maintaining high grayscale levels even if the images include various kinds of image constitutional elements to be printed by image data having different attributes, such as character, fine line and image data. This invention checks attributes of the input image data corresponding to the image constitutional elements making up the images and also detects edge and non-edge portions of the image constitutional elements. Further, this invention generates print data for printing the edge portions and print data for printing the non-edge portions based on attributes of the input image data corresponding to the image constitutional elements.

Abstract: Multiple alignment patterns, each composed of first and second alignment pattern elements printed by forward and backward movements of a print head, respectively, are formed while the relative printing positions of the two elements are shifted. From optical characteristics data thereof, whether the data is influenced by a disturbance is determined. When the data is determined to be less influenced by the disturbance and therefore to be reliable, an adjusting value for aligning positions in printing in reciprocal movements is calculated by use of: data with the smallest relative printing position misalignment between the first and second alignment pattern elements; and data of optical characteristics close to the data. When the data is largely influence by the disturbance, a range of shifting of relative position is widened than that of the data less influenced by the disturbance so that more data pieces are used to obtain the adjusting value.

Abstract: A printing apparatus and a calibration method are provided which, by using a small-capacity memory, can perform a high-speed calibration processing on data used to eject ink of the same color from a plurality of nozzle arrays. By ejecting ink of the same color from the plurality of nozzle arrays, patch is printed and, based on the printed result of the patch, a content of a print data correction processing is changed.

Abstract: The optimal number of print passes and a head-to-platen distance are set according to a content of an image to be printed and the user's request (emphasis is put on quality or speed, etc.) to thereby appropriately meet the needs for higher image quality and higher productivity and to perform printing with high reliability. To this end, it is made possible to select whether to execute processing for issuing an instruction to set the number of print passes and the head-to-platen distance according to discrimination of the content of the image. When the execution of the processing is selected, the number of print passes and the head-to-platen distance are appropriately set according to the content of the image (duty, etc.). Meanwhile, when it is not selected, the image is printed by one-pass print with the head-to-platen distance set larger, regardless of the content of the image.

Abstract: A silver halide color reversal photographic light-sensitive material comprising at least one interimage effect imparting layer (a) defined below and at least one interimage effect imparting layer (b) defined below, wherein, when the photographic light-sensitive material is exposed to light of a “skin color” having the spectral distribution of Table 1 described in the specification and is then subjected to development, a ratio of the chroma C*70 at a brightness L*=70 represented by CIE Lab color system to the chroma C*50 at a brightness L*=50, C*70/C*50, is 0.7 or more. (a) an interimage effect imparting layer containing a short-wavelength green-sensitive silver halide emulsion having a weight-averaged wavelength of a spectral sensitivity distribution of 500 to 560 nm; (b) an interimage effect imparting layer containing a red-sensitive silver halide emulsion having a weight-averaged wavelength of a spectral sensitivity distribution of 580 to 700 nm.

Abstract: A silver halide color reversal photographic light-sensitive material comprising at least one interimage effect imparting layer (a) defined below and at least one interimage effect imparting layer (b) defined below, wherein, when the photographic light-sensitive material is exposed to light of a “skin color” having the spectral distribution of Table 1 described in the specification and is then subjected to development, a ratio of the chroma C*70 at a brightness L*=70 represented by CIE Lab color system to the chroma C*50 at a brightness L*=50, C*70/C*50, is 0.7 or more.