A multicolor thermal printer comprising a controller, a thermal printhead, multicolor thermal paper, a monochrome lightness sensor, and a calibration subsystem is described. The calibration subsystem prints a calibration target that is scanned by the monochrome lightness sensor to determine if color crosstalk is present. If color crosstalk is present, the calibration subsystem decreases the contone range of affected colors and saves the new calibration settings.

Calibration requests are received at a network service. The network service assigns a request identifier for the data of a request. The request identifier is encoded into a control strip on a test color sheet using color patches. A color encoding key encodes the request identifier using the color patches. After the test color sheet is printed, a color measurement tool is used to decode the information from the control strip, including the request identifier. The color measurement tool measures the test color strips on test color sheet. The request identifier corresponds to the measurement data. The measurement data along with the request identifier is sent to the network service. The measurement data is processed to generate calibration data, which is used to update the printing device.

An information processing apparatus includes a color measurement unit configured to perform color measurement on a color chart on which a job identifier is printed by a printing apparatus, and a verification processing unit configured to perform color verification on an image printed by the printing apparatus corresponding to the job identifier, based on a color measurement value measured by the color measurement unit, and the job identifier.

An image forming apparatus including an image forming unit is provided. The apparatus determines a color of a tone patch for tone correction, to be composited with an image, in accordance with a color component used in the image; generates a patch-included image by compositing the tone patch of the color determined with the image; generates a corrected image by performing tone correction on the patch-included image on the basis of tone correction information for each color component; performs color measurement of the tone patch formed on the medium on which the corrected image has been formed, and updates the tone correction information on the basis of a value measured.

A color measurement apparatus comprising: a color measurement unit configured to perform color measurement of an image on a sheet, the color measurement unit including a light source; a reference member used for calibration of the color measurement unit; a moving unit configured to move the color measurement unit to a first position at which the light source irradiates a region other than the reference member with light and a second position at which the light source irradiates the reference member with light; and a control unit configured to, after causing the light source to emit light when the color measurement unit is positioned at the first position, and then moving the color measurement unit to the second position, execute the calibration based on data obtained by causing the light source to irradiate the reference member with light.

An image forming apparatus including a plurality of sheet feeding cassettes includes a control unit. The control unit performs control. In a case where a predetermined condition is satisfied during execution of a print job to print image data, the control unit performs control to execute interruption processing of a correction job to print a correction patch. The control unit performs control to determine, from the plurality of sheet feeding cassettes, a sheet feeding cassette to be used for the correction job based on information on the sheet feeding cassette used for the print job.

An image forming apparatus that prints an adjustment pattern on a sheet includes a generator and an image former. The adjustment pattern is for correcting a color value obtained by reading a second patch region on the sheet with a second reader based on a color value obtained by reading a first patch region on the sheet with a first reader. The generator generates image data of the adjustment pattern, and the image former performs printing based on the image data. The adjustment pattern includes a first patch printed in the first patch region and a second patch printed in a region other than the first patch region in the second patch region. The second patch includes a common color patch in a same color as a color of the first patch, and a size of the first patch is larger than a size of the second patch.

An image processing apparatus includes a processor. The processor is configured to set an image position of a reference image in a transport direction of a recording medium to an arbitrary position on a specific page of the recording medium. The reference image is formed using a first color and serves as a reference for an image position of an image of a second color to be formed after the image of the first color is formed. The processor is also configured to adjust the image position for the second color on an adjacent page, located adjacently upstream of the specific page in the transport direction, by using image information of the reference image formed on the specific page.

In a data generating apparatus, a processor acquires offset information indicating a deviation in a colorant usage used by a specific print execution unit from a standard amount of usage. The standard amount of usage is a standard quantity concerning colorant used by print execution units. The processor controls the specific print execution unit to print a first patch image and generates first control data using first read data based on the first patch image. The processor generates corrected first control data using the offset information. The processor controls the specific print execution unit to print a second patch image using the corrected first control data and generates second control data using second read data based on the second patch image. The first and second control data is for common use in the printing processes performed on the print execution units.

An image forming apparatus performs the following. An imaging range imaged by each of the plurality of imaging sensors includes an overlapping portion between the imaging sensors adjacent in a width direction orthogonal to a conveying direction along the conveying path. A hardware processor performs a calibration operation of a first sensor based on a color measuring result of a predetermined inspection image measured within a standard imaging range of the first sensor among the plurality of imaging sensors, and a standard imaging result within the standard imaging range imaging an inspection image with a same pattern as the inspection image. The hardware processor compares imaging results by the plurality of imaging sensors in the overlapping portions and performs the calibration operation of another sensor different from the first sensor using the standard imaging result as a standard.