In an example, a method includes determining, using a processor, a set of halftone screens each comprising tiles spanning a plurality of cells, wherein at least one screen is a non-orthogonal screen and the cells comprise parallelograms being defined by a first vector having a first length and second vector having a second length. A first and a second fundamental frequency may be determined for each of the screens using a projection of the first and of the second vector into each axis of a print apparatus reference frame, the first length and the second length. Using the first and second fundamental frequencies, it may be determined which screens are associated with moir effects below a threshold.

An image processing apparatus includes processing circuitry. The processing circuitry is to acquire image data including primary color image data for primary color and spot color image data for spot color; generate primary color halftone data representing the primary color image data as a group of halftone dots, using a primary color screen specifying cyclic arrangement of lines of halftone dots; and generate spot color halftone data representing the spot color image data as a group of halftone dots, using a spot color screen having a second phase that is different from a first phase represented by the cyclic arrangement of lines specified in the primary color screen.

An image forming apparatus in which a lighting position of a dot to be firstly generated by screen processing is changed, in a vertical direction, between a first sub-matrix and a second sub-matrix that are included in a dithering matrix and that are adjacent to each other in a lateral direction, in order not to generate a region where no dot exists in a main scanning direction.

An image forming apparatus comprises an output unit to output output data converted from input data by a halftone process with a first or second matrix in accordance with attribute information on pixels of the input data. The thresholds in the first matrix, whose thresholds are arranged to express the tone level of output data by the number of dots or dot area modulation for input data, and the second matrix, whose thresholds are arranged to express the tone level of output data by dot area modulation for the input data, are arranged such that the average dot size of output data obtained by the halftone process with the second matrix on input data with the first density is smaller than the average dot size of output data obtained by the halftone process with the first matrix on the input data with the first density.

An image processing apparatus includes a scanner that acquires an image, and a processor that changes areas of a plurality of dot patterns in accordance with gradation values in the image using a plurality of dither matrices, and generates a binary image based on the plurality of dot patterns. A change rate of each of the areas differs from each other. The plurality of dither matrices include a first dither matrix and a second dither matrix. A first change rate of a first area of a plurality of first dot patterns formed based on the first dither matrix and a second change rate of a second area of a plurality of second dot patterns formed based on the second dither matrix differ.

Apparatus and methods for printing multi-level and multi-color digital image are disclosed herein. In some embodiments, first and second level AM half-tone screens are respectively applied to first and second multi-level color-components of the multi-level and multi-color input digital image to respectively generate first and second target binary images. The first and second target binary images are printed respectively using first and second inks (e.g. of different colors) onto a common surface. Specific properties of the AM half-tone screens as well as techniques for producing the AM half-tone screens are disclosed herein. In some embodiments, the techniques overcome objectionable textures derived from rounding errors in divisional of conventional AM supercells.

An image forming method being configured to execute halftone processing using a dithering matrix on input image, output a halftone image, perform correction on the halftone image to shift a pixel at a correction position, and generate an image with a converted lower resolution based on the corrected image, wherein the matrix includes a plural sub-matrices, wherein an arrangement of a threshold in a first sub-matrix is configured to form a first halftone dot having a first line shape for an input image with a predetermined density, wherein an arrangement of a threshold in a second sub-matrix is configured to form a second halftone dot with the same angle as the first line shape and having a center position different from the first halftone dot for the input image with the predetermined density, and wherein the first and second halftone dot form a line shape with a predetermined screen angle.

An image processing apparatus which performs image processing for print processing, including: a pseudo halftone processing unit configured to perform pseudo halftone processing by dithering with respect to an input image, and generate a halftone image constituted by plural dots, and a threshold matrix holding unit configured to hold a threshold matrix used for the pseudo halftone processing, wherein in the threshold matrix, thresholds are arranged such that the halftone image has a density region in which dots to be formed depending on a density of the input image are not rotational symmetric on a 90 basis, and orientations of the dots differ from each other in the density region.

An image forming method being configured to execute halftone processing using a dithering matrix on input image, output a halftone image, perform correction on the halftone image to shift a pixel at a correction position, and generate an image with a converted lower resolution based on the corrected image, wherein the matrix includes a plural sub-matrices, wherein an arrangement of a threshold in a first sub-matrix is configured to form a first halftone dot having a first line shape for an input image with a predetermined density, wherein an arrangement of a threshold in a second sub-matrix is configured to form a second halftone dot with the same angle as the first line shape and having a center position different from the first halftone dot for the input image with the predetermined density, and wherein the first and second halftone dot form a line shape with a predetermined screen angle.

An image forming apparatus in which a lighting position of a dot to be firstly generated by screen processing is changed, in a vertical direction, between a first sub-matrix and a second sub-matrix that are included in a dithering matrix and that are adjacent to each other in a lateral direction, in order not to generate a region where no dot exists in a main scanning direction.