| 摘要 |
<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To rapidly and accurately estimate, in the printing of an image by use of a dot printer, the consumption of a color material such as ink or a toner. <P>SOLUTION: A plurality of pixels are selected in a predetermined ratio from pixels contained in print image data to generate calculation image data, and the presence/absence of dot formation is determined for each pixel based on the image data to determine dot numbers. Based on the thus-determined dot numbers and the "predetermined ratio" in the selection of pixels, the consumption of the color material is calculated. By this, the consumption of the color material can be rapidly calculated because the calculation is performed using the calculation image data with a minimized pixel number, and the calculation can be accurately performed since the presence/absence of actual dot formation is determined to determine the dot numbers. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI |
