Abstract: The invention relates to a system for dividing a color image in at least three, preferably four separation colors. The inventive system allows to enter the separation colors in a free and location dependent manner. Further for each separation color a location dependent boundary value can be specified. Corresponding separation values are deduced therefrom. In addition, variations of the generated image relatively to the color image are calculated. This allows to perform a color separation into arbitrary colors, which is particularly useful in the field of security printing.