Abstract: What is provided herein is a novel system and method for estimating the amount of color in a document. In one embodiment, a binary CMYK input image is received. Each of the CMYK plane is received at an offset from the previous plane, i.e., the 4 planes are not received simultaneously. Each plane is divided into M×N tiles. Pixel values of all four planes are examined separately and the number of on-pixels is counted for each plane. The number of on-pixel counts for each tile are aggregated for each plane. Total on-pixel counts are used to estimate the total number of white, black, color, and gray pixel counts. The total counts for all planes are used to estimate the amount of color. A document is determined to be color if the amount of color exceeds a predetermined threshold. A color billing strategy is determined based on the estimated color amount.

Abstract: What is provided are a novel system, method, and computer program product for estimating the amount of color in a document to be printed, with the capability to handle composite black. A color billing strategy can be dynamically determined based on the amount of color in the document. In one embodiment, a contone CMYK image is examined and the level of color is estimated based on information extracted from the four planes simultaneously. More specifically, it examines the pixel values from all the four planes to calculate the number of white, black, color, and gray or neutral pixel counts. Input CMYK values can be pre-adjusted via a look-up table to take into account neutral balance characteristics. The difference among the adjusted color values is compared against a threshold that is input level dependent. Color is further subdivided into fuzzy colors to handle highlights and neutral areas.

Abstract: What is provided herein is a novel system and method for estimating the amount of color in a document. In one embodiment, a binary CMYK input image is received. Each of the CMYK plane is received at an offset from the previous plane, i.e., the 4 planes are not received simultaneously. Each plane is divided into M×N tiles. Pixel values of all four planes are examined separately and the number of on-pixels is counted for each plane. The number of on-pixel counts for each tile are aggregated for each plane. Total on-pixel counts are used to estimate the total number of white, black, color, and gray pixel counts. The total counts for all planes are used to estimate the amount of color. A document is determined to be color if the amount of color exceeds a predetermined threshold. A color billing strategy is determined based on the estimated color amount.

Abstract: What is provided are a novel system, method, and computer program product for estimating the amount of color in a document to be printed, with the capability to handle composite black. A color billing strategy can be dynamically determined based on the amount of color in the document. In one embodiment, a contone CMYK image is examined and the level of color is estimated based on information extracted from the four planes simultaneously. More specifically, it examines the pixel values from all the four planes to calculate the number of white, black, color, and gray or neutral pixel counts. Input CMYK values can be pre-adjusted via a look-up table to take into account neutral balance characteristics. The difference among the adjusted color values is compared against a threshold that is input level dependent. Color is further subdivided into fuzzy colors to handle highlights and neutral areas.