Techniques of editing images using a digital image editing tool involve defining a local adjustment that includes, as separate masks, a spatial mask and a range mask. The spatial mask specifies a region of the image to be adjusted and the range mask specifies ranges of colors and tones to be adjusted independent of the region specified by the spatial mask. In applying these masks, when a user changes a setting in the digital image editing tool, the digital image editing tool weights the effect of the setting according to the values of the spatial mask and the range mask for each pixel of the image.

An operating method of an image forming apparatus includes: receiving an input to select a selective eco mode which selectively applies an eco mode during an image forming job of a document; obtaining at least one area to be excluded from application of the eco mode from a preview of the document according to execution of the selective eco mode; generating a mask in which an area corresponding to at least one area of the document is set in an array corresponding to a preview image of the document, based on information about the at least one area of the document; and outputting the document to which the selective eco mode is applied based on the mask.

In a case where a sample color is outside a color reproduction range of an image forming apparatus, there arises an issue that an adjustment target color cannot be brought close to a user-desired color. An image forming apparatus includes a generation unit configured to cause a printing unit to print a plurality of colors close to an acquired sample color and generate a color conversion table based on a user-selected color among the plurality of printed colors in a case where it is determined that the acquired sample color is outside a color reproduction range of the image forming apparatus, whereas in a case where it is determined that the acquired sample color is not outside the color reproduction range, the generation unit generates a color conversion table without causing the printing unit to print the plurality of colors close to the sample color.

A chart includes a plurality of area images. Each area image of the plurality of area images includes a figure. The figure indicates positional information of each area image of the plurality of area images in the chart. An image forming apparatus includes an image forming device configured to form an image on a sheet to create the chart, and an image reading device configured to read the image in the chart.

An image forming apparatus includes an image forming device that forms an image on a recording medium and circuitry that controls the image forming device. The image forming device forms an invisible image with an invisible material on the recording medium and forms a visible image with a visible material on the invisible image. Each of first and second adhesion amounts includes respective adhesion amounts of the visible material and the invisible material per unit area in a portion, in which the visible image is formed on the invisible image, of the composite image. The second adhesion amount is smaller than the first adhesion amount. The controller adjusts the amount of the invisible material included in the second adhesion amount to be smaller than that included in the first adhesion amount, to cause the image forming device to form the image according to the second adhesion amount.

A printing system receives print jobs having pages that are separated by different levels of ink use to print the pages. The number of pages for different ink use levels are determined as well as the cost estimation to print the different pages. Ink use and cost estimates are provided on a granular level as opposed to overall ink use and costs for printing a print job. Modifications are made to one or more pages to lower ink use for those specific pages as opposed to the print job as a whole. The printing system displays the different ink use levels as well as the cost estimates.

A printing system receives print jobs having pages that are separated by different levels of ink use to print the pages. The number of pages for different ink use levels are determined as well as the cost estimation to print the different pages. Ink use and cost estimates are provided on a granular level as opposed to overall ink use and costs for printing a print job. Modifications are made to one or more pages to lower ink use for those specific pages as opposed to the print job as a whole. The printing system displays the different ink use levels as well as the cost estimates.

Image analysis and processing may include a multiple-tone-control (MTC) unit configured to obtain a tone-control gain lookup table, a plurality of MTC gain lookup tables, wherein the input image is divided into a plurality of blocks and wherein the plurality of MTC gain lookup tables includes a respective MTC gain lookup table corresponding to each respective block from the plurality of blocks, MTC grid parameters, MTC weighting parameters, a tone-control gain based on the tone-control gain lookup table, a MTC gain based on at least one MTC gain lookup table from the plurality of MTC gain lookup tables, the MTC grid parameters, and the MTC weighting parameters, and an output value based on the tone-control gain and the MTC gain.

An image forming apparatus includes an image forming device that forms an image on a recording medium and circuitry that controls the image forming device. The image forming device forms an invisible image with an invisible material on the recording medium and forms a visible image with a visible material on the invisible image. Each of first and second adhesion amounts includes respective adhesion amounts of the visible material and the invisible material per unit area in a portion, in which the visible image is formed on the invisible image, of the composite image. The second adhesion amount is smaller than the first adhesion amount. The controller adjusts the amount of the invisible material included in the second adhesion amount to be smaller than that included in the first adhesion amount, to cause the image forming device to form the image according to the second adhesion amount.

There are provided a conversion processing method of performing LUT conversion processing for converting, via a lookup table (LUT), texture characteristic information of an object of which texture is to be reproduced into ink amount information of an ink, which is used in order to reproduce the object of which texture is to be reproduced on a medium, the conversion processing method for optical texture reproduction in which the texture characteristic information is separated into internal scattering information and color signal information, the internal scattering information and the color signal information, which are separated out, are used as inputs of the LUT conversion processing, and as values of a modulation transfer function as the internal scattering information and the color signal information are used in the LUT conversion processing, reproduction of internal scattering and reproduction of color reproduction, which are important qualities of texture, can be simultaneously realized with high accuracy in print production of performing texture reproduction, a printed material production method, and a printed material production system.