A printing apparatus includes a head capable of discharging CMYK inks including a K ink, and a control unit configured to, based on image data to be printed, generate ink amount data for controlling an ink amount of each of the CMYK inks discharged by the head, and to control the head based on the ink amount data, wherein the control unit generates the ink amount data as ink amount data such that lightness of a composite color at least does not increase in a direction from a freely-selected coordinate point toward a black point, the composite color being formed by the CMY inks excluding the K ink based on ink amount data of each of the CMYK inks corresponding to a coordinate on a straight line from the freely-selected coordinate point toward the black point in a predetermined hue range of a color gamut of a color space of the image data.

A memory structure stores a plurality of color maps, the entity, when decompressed by a printer controller, comprising a plurality of first level wrappers, each first level wrapper including at least one characteristic to identify a corresponding color map, and a recipe to define and locate packets for constructing the color map, the recipe having at least one locator for each second level wrapper; and a plurality of second level wrappers of different types, each second level wrapper wrapping a corresponding packet.

There is provided an image forming apparatus that forms an image with a plurality of coloring materials on a recording medium, and the image forming apparatus includes: a hardware processor that calculates a chromaticity range having a color difference not less than a setting value to respective chromaticities of the plurality of coloring materials for use in formation of the image, as a base color range common between the plurality of coloring materials.

There is provided a color matching method including: step of, for each of segmented regions obtained by dividing a region of an entire color chart into a plurality of regions so that boundaries of the segmented regions are parallel to the feeding direction of the base material, determining average color difference between colorimetric values of a color chart outputted from the reference device and colorimetric values of a color chart outputted from the adjustment target device; a step of, taking a segmented region whose average color difference is minimum as the reference region, calculating difference values of the average color differences between the reference region and each of the segmented regions other than the reference region; and a step of specifying a segmented region whose difference value is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value as an abnormal region in which abnormality of a head is occurring.

An image forming apparatus includes a consumable cartridge and a main body. The consumable cartridge includes a cartridge memory storing usage information and identifying information. The main body includes a main memory and a controller. The controller stores the identifying information stored in the cartridge memory in the main memory and rewrites the usage information stored in the cartridge memory into information indicating that the consumable cartridge is used in a case where the usage information indicates that the consumable cartridge is unused. The controller allows the image forming apparatus to execute printing in a case where the usage information indicates that the consumable cartridge is used and the identifying information stored in the cartridge memory is stored in the main memory or executes a specific error process in a case where the usage information indicates that the consumable cartridge is used and the identifying information stored in the cartridge memory is not stored in the main memory.

A pipe connection decision device includes a first material including a plurality of first pipes each having a connector receiver attached to one end, a second material including a plurality of second pipes each having a connector attached to one end, a plurality of light emitters respectively provided on the plurality of connector receivers, a plurality of light receivers respectively provided on the plurality of connectors, a storage device, a display device, and a control device. The control device causes the display device, upon deciding that the color of received light accords with an allocated color, with respect to all of the plurality of light receivers, to display a first message, and causes the display device, upon deciding that the color of received light discords with the allocated color, with respect to at least one of the plurality of light receivers, to display a second message.

To enable highly accurate density unevenness correction while suppressing a reduction in productivity in printing accompanying correction value calculation for density unevenness correction. Based on an image obtained by scanning a chart including patches having uniform density for each tone value, a density characteristic of each nozzle is acquired. A non-ejectable nozzle that cannot eject ink normally is detected by analyzing a pattern for detecting the non-ejectable nozzle in the image obtained by scanning the chart. At the time of acquiring the density characteristic, the density characteristic is acquired based on a density measured value of an area of the image, which corresponds to a nozzle that is not detected as the non-ejectable nozzle.

An object is to enable highly accurate density unevenness correction while suppressing a reduction in productivity of printing accompanying correction value calculation for density unevenness correction. In the image processing apparatus, density correction information that specifies an output tone value for implementing a target density for an input tone value for each nozzle and which does not include the influence by a non-ejectable nozzle that cannot eject ink normally is acquired. In a case where a non-ejectable nozzle is detected during printing processing, output tone values corresponding to the detected non-ejectable nozzle and peripheral nozzles thereof among output tone values specified in the density correction information are changed.

An image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit and a control unit. The image forming unit is configured to print an image at an edge portion of a recording medium. The control unit is configured to generate a two-dimensional code image encoding information from a print job, divide the two-dimensional code image into a plurality of divided code images, and then control the image forming unit to print each divided code image at an end portion of a recording medium such that a two-dimensional code can be formed when a plurality of recording media are stacked after printing. The two-dimensional code encodes, for example, information related a document formed by the stacked the recording media.

A system is disclosed. The system at least one physical memory device to store ink estimation logic and one or more processors coupled with the at least one physical memory device, to execute the ink estimation logic to receive a histogram for each of a plurality of color planes, receive uncalibrated ink deposition data for a printing system, perform a direct conversion of the uncalibrated ink deposition data to generate first calibrated ink deposition data and generate estimated ink usage data for each of the plurality of color planes based on the histograms and the first calibrated ink deposition data.