An applicator device includes a printing head that applies a material to a target, a camera that captures an image of the target, and a processor. In the case where the applicator device moves relative to the target or the target moves relative to the applicator device and an application area of the target in the image reaches a particular position in the image, the processor performs a notification process to notify that the application area has reached the particular position.

The image processing apparatus includes: a color conversion unit configured to convert an input color space of the document image data into a device-dependent color space specified by the plurality of color materials; and an output unit configured to output the document image data converted into the device-dependent color space, and the color conversion unit performs, in a case where the document image data includes a first kind of object and a second kind of object different from the first kind, the conversion by selectively applying a first color conversion method of converting data corresponding to the first kind of object into data represented in a first color space and a second color conversion method of converting data corresponding to the second kind of object into data represented in a second color space different from the first color space within one print job.

Formed is a dither pattern that makes it possible to output an image with excellent dot dispersibility and reduced graininess regardless of controls after quantization processing. To this end, an extended pattern in which multiple divided pixels correspond to each of multiple pixels included in quantization data and one or more of the multiple divided pixels are determined as dot-arrangeable-pixels in which dots can be printed is generated. Thereafter, the thresholds of the dither pattern are set based on the extended pattern in which the dots are arranged to obtain predetermined dispersibility.

In a printing apparatus provided with a controller configured to perform a RIP process, when a fixed-width font is determined to be used as a substitute font for a target character to be printed and when a glyph width of the target character is smaller than a fixed width, and a glyph width of the target character is larger than a width of a bounding box of the glyph of the target character expressed by the fixed-width font, the controller is configured to arrange, in the RIP process, the target character expressed by the fixed-width font such that the width of the bounding box is arranged within the glyph width.

Provided is an image processing apparatus that improves the performance when performing image processing accompanying an analysis. An image acquisition unit acquires processing image data for performing processing. A normal image processing unit performs normal image processing for normal output on the processing image data acquired by the image acquisition unit and outputs the normal image data. An analysis image processing unit performs analysis image processing accompanied by analysis in parallel with the normal image processing by the normal image processing unit and outputs the analysis image data. A merge processing unit merges the normal image data output by the normal image processing unit and the analysis image data output by the analysis image processing unit and outputs print data for printing.

Methods and systems for rendering a transparent pantograph pattern. A background path and a foreground path for a pantograph pattern can be determined. An intersection internal to the background path and external to foreground path that is to be marked can be defined. Areas to be masked can be defined with respect to the pantograph pattern. The pantograph pattern can be then rendered as a transparent vector pattern pantograph by writing a background based on the background path and a foreground based on the foreground path and the areas defined as masked.

An image forming apparatus has an office direct print function, and when a non-installed font that is not installed in the image forming apparatus is included in application data, a font substitution guidance screen is displayed on a display. A drop-down list that is an operator for selecting a substitute font is provided in the font substitution guidance screen, whereby a user can arbitrarily select a substitute font. The font substitution guidance screen displays also a sample character group having a typeface according to the selected substitute font.

A method for classifying a printable image to be printed comprising: receiving, at a printing device, print data representing the printable image to be printed; generating an image of the printable image based on the print data; classifying the image to obtain a format associated with the printable image; printing the printable image according to the print data; and updating a counter associated with the format.

An apparatus configured to generate image data represented in achromatic color from input image data and output the generated image data to a printer includes a controller. The controller is configured to replace color information of an object included in the input image data with an achromatic signal value, determine, based on an achromatic signal value corresponding to color information of a pixel of interest in the input image data, whether the pixel of interest satisfies a predetermined condition, and perform enhancement processing on the color information of the pixel of interest in a case where the pixel of interest is determined not to satisfy the predetermined condition.

An image processing device configured to generate printing image data used during printing from input image data including a bar code constituted by a bar element and a space element that are a plurality of elements arranged based on a predetermined standard, includes a frequency distribution calculation unit configured to acquire widths of the plurality of elements respectively to calculate a frequency distribution of the widths of the plurality of elements, a standard width determination unit configured to determine a standard width of the plurality of elements of the barcode in the printing image data using the frequency distribution, and a correction unit configured to correct the widths of the plurality of elements of the barcode in the printing image data to the standard width.