JP2002214862A - Image forming device, image forming method and storage medium with image forming procedure stored - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To automatically discriminate whether toner reduction processing has been performed according to the contents of a printing job. SOLUTION: Whether the toner reduction processing mode of a job has been set to 'off' is examined (S301). When it is not set to off, whether the toner reduction processing mode is set to 'on' is examined at S302. When it is not set to on, since the rest is automatic mode, the operation proceeds to S303, and the description of post script of a relevant page is examined. Then, an image operator meaning raster image data is searched, so as to calculate the total sum S of a raster image that occupies on the page. Whether the total sum S exceeds 20% of page size is decided at S305; and when it does not exceed 20%, a variable TR is set to '1' in S306, similar to the case where 'the toner reduction is set to on'. When the variable TR is not '0' at S309, the toner reduction processing of the page is conducted in S310.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, an image forming method, and a storage medium storing an image forming procedure.

More specifically, the present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, an image forming method, and a storage medium storing an image forming procedure suitable for forming a color image by, for example, an electrophotographic method.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an electrophotographic color printer, C (cyan) M (magenta) Y (yellow) K
It is known that if the “toner amount” of the (black) output image data is too large for the entire image, it may damage the printer engine or cause “toner scattering”. Therefore, when the "toner application amount" is large, the value of each color data is converted to a lower value, and image processing for reducing the amount of toner used has been performed.

On the other hand, when the "toner amount" is large for only a part of a photographic image or the like, the print engine is not damaged, and rather, printing with the image data as it is can obtain the intended density. Whether or not to perform the conversion process can be switched for each print job. This option to switch for each print job is determined by whether the "toner reduction" processing mode is "on" or "off" (i.e., toner reduction = on / off).

[0005]

However, in the conventional color image forming apparatus, a business document mainly composed of black characters is printed while the "toner reduction" processing mode is set to "off" (that is, toner reduction = off). In such a case, there is a problem that "toner scattering" becomes conspicuous.

On the other hand, the "toner reduction" processing mode is set to "on" (that is, the toner reduction =
When a photographic image is printed with the state of “ON”, the density of black portions in the image may be reduced due to the “toner reduction” process.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide
It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus, an image forming method, and a storage medium storing an image forming procedure, in which the amount of a coloring material can be appropriately controlled according to the content of an image to be formed.

Another object of the present invention is to store an image forming apparatus, an image forming method, and an image forming procedure which automatically determine whether to perform a "toner reduction" process according to the contents of a print job. It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved storage medium.

[0009]

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus for forming an image based on image data, wherein a characteristic of the image data is determined. And a processing unit for performing a toner reduction process on the image data in response to a result of the determination by the image characteristic determining unit.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect, the image characteristic determining unit determines the characteristic of the image data based on whether the image data is mainly character data.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect, the image characteristic determining unit determines the characteristic of the image data for each page of the image.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect, the image characteristic determining means determines a characteristic of the image data for each area of a plurality of adjacent pixels in one image page. judge.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect, the image characteristic determining means determines the characteristic of the image data based on the number of character objects and photographic image objects included in the image. judge.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, the image data is image data having a plurality of color element data for each pixel.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus comprising image forming means for forming an image based on image data having a plurality of color element data for each pixel, wherein the plurality of color elements are provided. Image adjustment means for performing a predetermined conversion process on the plurality of color element data so that the sum of the data does not exceed a specified value, and whether or not to execute the processing by the image adjustment means according to the characteristics of the image data And control means for determining

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the seventh aspect, the control means executes processing by the image adjusting means depending on whether or not the image data is text-based image data. Decide whether to execute.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the seventh aspect, the control unit causes the image adjustment unit to execute a process in accordance with a characteristic of the image data for each page of the image. Is determined.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the seventh aspect, the control means controls the image adjustment means in accordance with characteristics of the image data in each of adjacent areas in one image page. It is determined whether or not to execute the process according to.

According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the seventh aspect, the control means is configured to control a characteristic of the image data determined by the number of character objects and photographic image objects included in the image. Accordingly, it is determined whether or not to execute the processing by the image adjustment unit.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the seventh aspect, the image adjusting means performs a conversion process so as to maintain a ratio of multi-value data of some color elements.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the seventh aspect, the image adjusting means performs a conversion process so as to maintain a ratio of multi-value data of color elements other than black.

The present invention according to claim 14 is the invention according to claims 7-1.
In the image forming apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, the image forming unit forms an image by an electrophotographic method.

According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming method for forming an image based on image data, the image characteristic determining step of determining characteristics of the image data, and the determination result in the image characteristic determining step. And performing a toner reduction process on the image data.

According to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming method according to the fifteenth aspect, in the image characteristic determining step, the characteristic of the image data is determined based on whether or not the image data is mainly composed of characters.

According to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming method according to the fifteenth aspect, in the image characteristic determining step, the characteristic of the image data is determined for each page of the image.

According to an eighteenth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming method according to the fifteenth aspect, in the image characteristic determining step, the characteristic of the image data is determined for each area of a plurality of adjacent pixels in one image page. judge.

According to a nineteenth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming method according to the fifteenth aspect, in the image characteristic determining step, the characteristic of the image data is determined by the number of character objects and photographic image objects included in the image. judge.

According to a twentieth aspect of the present invention,
In the image forming method according to any one of the nineteenth aspects, the image data is image data having a plurality of color element data for each pixel.

According to a twenty-first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming method using an image forming means for forming an image based on image data having a plurality of color element data for each pixel, wherein the characteristic of the image data A control step of deciding whether or not to activate an image adjusting means for performing a predetermined conversion process on the plurality of color element data so that the sum of the plurality of color element data does not exceed a specified value. It was done.

According to a twenty-second aspect of the present invention, in the image forming method according to the twenty-first aspect, the control step activates the image adjusting means depending on whether or not the image data is text-based image data. Is determined.

According to a twenty-third aspect of the present invention, in the image forming method according to the twenty-first aspect, the control step determines whether or not to activate the image adjusting means according to the characteristics of the image data for each page of the image. To decide.

According to a twenty-fourth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming method according to the twenty-first aspect, the control step comprises the step of adjusting the image adjusting means in accordance with the characteristics of the image data in each of adjacent areas in one image page. Is to be activated or not.

According to a twenty-fifth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming method according to the twenty-first aspect, the control step includes determining a characteristic of the image data determined by the number of character objects and photographic image objects included in the image. Depending on,
It is determined whether to activate the image adjustment means.

According to a twenty-sixth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming method according to the twenty-first aspect, the image adjusting means performs a conversion process so as to maintain a ratio of multi-value data of some color elements.

According to a twenty-seventh aspect of the present invention, in the image forming method according to the twenty-first aspect, the image adjusting means performs a conversion process so as to maintain a ratio of multi-value data of color elements other than black.

According to a twenty-eighth aspect of the present invention,
In the image forming method according to any one of Items 27, the image forming means forms an image by an electrophotographic method.

According to a twenty-ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a storage medium storing an image forming procedure for forming an image based on image data, the storage medium comprising an image characteristic determining step for determining characteristics of the image data. And a processing step of performing a toner reduction process on the image data in accordance with a result of the determination in the image characteristic determining step, in the form of a computer-readable program.

According to a thirtieth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a storage medium storing an image forming procedure using an image forming means for forming an image based on image data having a plurality of color element data for each pixel. The storage medium operates image adjustment means for performing a predetermined conversion process on the plurality of color element data according to the characteristics of the image data so that the total sum of the plurality of color element data does not exceed a specified value. The control step of determining whether or not to perform the operation is stored in the form of a computer-readable program.

According to a thirty-first aspect of the present invention, in the storage medium according to the thirty-ninth or thirty-fifth aspect, as the storage medium, a floppy disk, a hard disk, an optical disk storing a program readable by a server computer and a client computer is stored. At least one of a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a CD-ROM, a CD-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, and a ROM is used.

The present invention according to claim 32 is the storage medium according to claim 29 or 30, wherein the storage medium is detachable from a server computer and a client computer.

According to a thirty-third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program for causing a computer to execute an image forming procedure for forming an image based on image data, the program comprising an image characteristic determining step for determining characteristics of the image data. And a processing step of performing a toner reduction process on the image data according to the determination result in the image characteristic determination step.

The present invention according to claim 34 is a program for causing a computer to execute an image forming procedure using image forming means for forming an image based on image data having a plurality of color element data for each pixel. The program activates an image adjustment unit that performs a predetermined conversion process on the plurality of color element data according to the characteristics of the image data so that the total sum of the plurality of color element data does not exceed a specified value. And a control step of determining whether or not to perform the operation.

According to a thirty-fifth aspect of the present invention, in the program according to the thirty-third or thirty-fourth aspect, the program is a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magneto-optical disk storing a program readable by a server computer and a client computer. , An optical disk, a CD-ROM, a CD-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, and a ROM.

According to a thirty-sixth aspect of the present invention, in the program according to the thirty-fifth aspect, the storage medium is detachable from a server computer and a client computer.

[0045]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

(Regarding System Configuration) FIG. 2 shows a system configuration according to the present embodiment. In this figure, 20
Reference numeral 3 denotes a network composed of 100BaseT Ethernet (registered trademark), to which a personal computer (PC) 201 and a color copying machine 202 are connected. Other devices are also connected to the network 203, but are omitted in this figure. The color copier 202 functions as a network-compatible PostScript printer, and prints a color image output from the PC 201.

(Regarding Internal Block) FIG. 1 is an internal block diagram of the color copying machine 202 according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 101 denotes a scanner, which reads an original optically, converts the original into an electric signal, and outputs RGB (Red, Green, BL) in which one pixel has 8-bit luminance information.
ue) Generate digital data. This data is raster data having a resolution of 400 dpi in both the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction.

An image processing unit 102 performs an input masking process, a log conversion process from RGB to CMYK, an output masking process, and the like.

Reference numeral 103 denotes a look-up table (LUT)
And has a conversion table from 8 bits to 8 bits. The LUT 103 has an independent table for each of CMYK. This is used for calibration to adjust for printer individual differences.

A printer 104 forms a color image by electrophotography based on the received frame-sequential CMYK data.

Reference numeral 105 denotes a frame buffer;
This is a synchronous DRAM having a size of MB. The raster image data fetched from the scanner 101 is stored, and writing under the control of the CPU 106 is performed.

Reference numeral 106 denotes a CPU bus.

Reference numeral 107 denotes a CP for controlling the color copying machine.
U, using Pentium III, 600 MHz from Intel. The procedure shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 (described in detail later) is executed by the CPU 107.

Reference numeral 108 denotes an I connected to the CPU bus 106.
An / O port controls the scanner 101 and the printer 104 and inputs signals from various sensors (not shown).

Reference numeral 109 denotes a ROM which stores a program which operates at the time of booting the system and the procedures shown in FIGS. This ROM 109 stores the CPU bus 1
06.

Reference numeral 110 denotes a work RAM, which is 117 MB
Is a synchronous DRAM. Actually, the synchronous DRA of 256 MB is combined with the frame buffer 105.
It is configured as M memory modules. This work R
AM 110 is connected to CPU bus 106.

Reference numeral 111 denotes a SCSI controller.
It is connected to the CPU bus 106.

Reference numeral 112 denotes a 3.5-inch 9.1 GB hard disk drive (HDD) connected to the SCSI controller 111.

A controller 113 for the network I / F is connected to the CPU bus 106. External 10BaseT or 100BaseT or 10B
It is connected to an ase5 Ethernet network to exchange data.

Reference numeral 114 denotes an operation unit of the color copying machine, which includes an LCD panel, a touch panel, and buttons (all not shown).

(Regarding Copy Operation) A copy operation according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

To execute copying, first, the scanner 10
1 reads an original and generates RGB raster image data. The image processing unit 102 converts the data into C, M, Y, K
The data is converted into any of the data, developed by the printer 104 via the LUT 103, and output on recording paper. This operation is repeated in the order of MCYK to form a color image.

In the case of the copy operation, since the "toner amount" of each color does not exceed the specified value when performing the processing in the image processing section 102, it is not necessary to consider the toner reduction processing.

(Regarding the Printing Operation) Referring to FIG.
A printing operation according to the present embodiment will be described.

The user uses the printer driver from the PC 201 (see FIG. 2) to use the color copier 202 (see FIG. 2).
When printing is performed, the color copying machine 202 receives the job described in the postscript via the network I / F 113 and stores the job in the work RAM 110.
Then, the CPU 107 interprets the description of the PostScript to generate a raster image, and the frame buffer 105
To save. The raster image is developed by the printer 104 via the LUT 103 and output on recording paper. MCYK
This operation is repeated in this order to form a color image.

(Switching of Toner Reduction Processing Mode) The automatic switching of the toner reduction processing mode, which is a feature of the present embodiment, will be described with reference to FIG. The processing procedure shown in this figure is executed under the control of the CPU 107 based on a program stored in the ROM 109 (or the HDD 112).

The toner reduction processing mode is one of the options that can be selected by the user with the printer driver. In the present embodiment, there are three options: off, on, and auto. Information selected by the printer driver is described in the PostScript job as part of the print job.

When a raster image is generated in the printer operation described in the preceding section, a toner reduction process is also performed. The process of FIG. 3 is performed for each page of the print job.

First, in step S301, it is checked whether or not the toner reduction processing mode of the job is turned off. If the mode is off, the variable TR is set in step S307.
Is set to 0, and the process proceeds to step S308 for rasterizing the page. If it is not off, it is checked in step S302 whether the toner reduction processing mode is on.
If it is on, the variable TR is set to 1 in step S306, and the process proceeds to rasterization in step S308. If it is not on, the remaining is auto, so step S303
Proceed to. In step S303, the postscript description of the page is checked, an image operator meaning raster image data is searched for, and the total sum S of the raster images occupying the page is calculated.

In step S305, it is determined whether or not the sum S exceeds 20% of the page size.
If it exceeds, the variable TR is set to 0 in step S307 as in “toner reduction = off”, and if not, the variable TR is set to 1 in step S306 as in “toner reduction = on”.

In step S308, the page is rasterized, and the raster image data is
In step S309, if the variable TR is not 0 (that is, if it is 1), the toner reduction processing of the page is performed in step S310, and if it is 0, the toner reduction processing is not performed.

As described above, “toner reduction =
In the case of "auto", the on / off of the toner reduction processing mode is automatically switched for each page according to the content of the page.

(Regarding Toner Reduction Processing) Next, the toner reduction processing in step S310 shown in FIG. 3 will be described with reference to FIG. The processing procedure shown in this figure is executed under the control of the CPU 107 based on a program stored in the ROM 109 (or the HDD 112).

The toner reduction process is performed for each pixel of the raster image on the frame buffer 105.

First, in step S401, the sub-scanning line pointer PY is initialized to 0. In step S402, the main scanning pixel pointer PX is initialized to zero. This P
A pixel to be processed is specified by X and PY.

In step S403, the pixel (P
(X, PY) pixel data C, M, Y, and K values are extracted from the frame buffer 105. This is 8-bit data for each color.

In step S404, it is determined whether or not the sum of the values of C, M, Y, and K is 256 × 2.1, that is, exceeds 210% of the “toner amount”. The “toner application amount” is defined as 100 when the toner of a certain color is full.
Defined as%. In the printer engine of the present embodiment,
It is preferable to keep it at 210% or less. If the number of pixels is 210% or less, there is no problem, and the process proceeds to step S407. 2
If it is larger than 10%, in step S405 A =
A coefficient of (256 × 2.1−K) / (C + M + Y) is calculated, and the pixel data is stored in the frame buffer 105 by multiplying the coefficient A by C, M, and Y in step S406. K is not converted at this time.

Thus, the “toner application amount” is C, M,
Rounded to a total of 210% while maintaining the balance of Y.

In step S407, the main scanning pixel pointer PX is advanced by one. In step S408, it is determined whether the processing of the line has been completed. If not completed, the process loops to step S403. The process moves to step S409 to move to the process of.

In step S409, the sub-scanning line pointer PY is advanced by one. In step S410, it is determined whether or not the entire line processing has been completed. If not completed, the process loops to step S402. I do.

By performing this series of processing, toner reduction processing can be performed on an image of one page in the frame buffer 105.

In the above-described embodiment, the determination is made for each page and the recognition is performed. However, the determination may be made for each area in one page and switching may be performed, or the switching may be performed for each object.

(Modification of this embodiment) Image information input means: Acquires image information to be formed.

Image characteristic determining means: Determines whether the image is mainly composed of characters or an image mainly composed of photographic images based on the image information obtained by the image information inputting means.

Raster image generating means: Generates raster image data from image information obtained by the image information input means. The raster image data has multi-value data of each of a plurality of color elements in each pixel.

Raster image adjusting means: For each pixel of the raster image data generated by the raster image generating means,
The multi-value data of a plurality of color elements is converted so that the sum of the multi-value data of the plurality of color elements does not exceed a specified value.

Control means: According to the judgment result of the image characteristic judging means, the adjustment by the raster image adjusting means is performed for an image mainly composed of characters, and the adjustment by the raster image adjusting means is not performed for an image mainly composed of a photographic image. Control.

Image forming means: An image is formed from raster image data finally obtained by the above processing.

In the above description, the image characteristic determination unit makes a determination for each image page, and the control unit also switches for each image page.

In the above description, the image characteristic determination unit makes a determination for each region including a plurality of adjacent pixels in one image page, and the control unit also switches for each region.

In the above, the raster image adjustment means performs adjustment so as to maintain the ratio of multi-value data of some color elements.

In the above, the raster image adjustment means performs adjustment so as to maintain the ratio of the multivalued data of the color elements other than black.

In the above description, the plurality of color elements include four colors of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black.

In the above, the image information obtained by the image information input means is written in a page description language.

In the above, the image characteristic determination means makes a determination based on the number of text objects and photographic image objects in the image information.

In the above, the image forming means is
An image is formed by an electrophotographic method.

Another Embodiment The present invention supplies a storage medium storing a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or an apparatus, and a computer (or CPU) of the system or the apparatus. And MPU) read out and execute the program code stored in the storage medium.

In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the novel function of the present invention, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

Examples of the storage medium for supplying the program code include a floppy disk, hard disk, magneto-optical disk, optical disk, CD-ROM, C
A DR, a magnetic tape nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, or the like can be used.

The functions of the above-described embodiments are implemented when the computer executes the readout program code. In addition, an OS or the like running on the computer operates in accordance with the instructions of the program code. Some or all of the processing is performed, and the functions of the above-described embodiments can also be realized by the processing.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, based on the instructions of the program code, The CPU or the like provided in the function expansion board or function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the functions of the above-described embodiments can also be realized by the processing.

The present invention is also applicable to a case where the program is delivered from a storage medium storing a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments to a requester via a communication line such as personal computer communication. It goes without saying that you can do it.

(Effect of this Embodiment) According to the above-described embodiment, it is possible to realize an operation mode in which the toner reduction processing mode is switched for each page of a print job in accordance with the content thereof. In most cases, setting this operation mode will provide “toner reduction = on”, which can suppress toner scattering in text-based business documents, and sufficient density reproduction in image-based pages. "Toner reduction = off"
Automatically switches to. Thereby, operability can be improved.

[0104]

As described above, according to the present invention, an image forming apparatus, an image forming method, and an image forming procedure capable of appropriately controlling the amount of a coloring material according to the content of an image to be formed. Can be realized.

Further, an image forming apparatus, an image forming method, and a storage medium storing an image forming procedure which automatically determine whether or not to perform “toner reduction” processing according to the contents of a print job are realized. be able to.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of a color copying machine according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a system configuration diagram according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for switching a toner reduction process in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a toner reduction process according to the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 101 scanner 102 image processing unit 103 LUT (lookup table) 104 printer 105 frame buffer 107 CPU 109 ROM 110 RAM 112 HDD (hard disk drive)

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04N 1/40 H04N 1/40 FF term (Reference) 2C061 AP01 AP04 AQ06 AR01 HH13 HJ06 HK03 HK23 HN02 HN15 2H027 DB01 DE07 EA18 EB02 EB04 EC06 EC10 EC20 FA30 FB05 FB19 FD08 ZA07 2H030 AA04 AD12 BB02 BB63 5C074 AA02 BB02 DD08 DD16 DD24 DD28 EE11 FF15 GG13 5C077 LL19 MP08 PP27 PP32 PP33 PP38 PQ12 PQ22 P23

Claims (36)

[Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus for forming an image based on image data, comprising: an image characteristic determining unit configured to determine a characteristic of the image data; An image forming apparatus comprising: processing means for performing a toner reduction process on data. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image characteristic determining unit determines the characteristic of the image data based on whether the image data is mainly text data. . 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image characteristic determining unit determines a characteristic of the image data for each page of the image. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image characteristic determining unit determines a characteristic of the image data for each area including a plurality of adjacent pixels in one image page. Image forming apparatus. 5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image characteristic determining unit determines the characteristic of the image data based on the number of character objects and photo image objects included in the image. Image forming apparatus. 6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said image data is image data having a plurality of color element data for each pixel. 7. An image forming apparatus comprising image forming means for forming an image based on image data having a plurality of color element data for each pixel, wherein a sum of the plurality of color element data has a specified value. Image adjustment means for performing predetermined conversion processing on the plurality of color element data so as not to exceed, and control means for determining whether or not to execute processing by the image adjustment means according to characteristics of the image data. An image forming apparatus comprising: 8. The image forming apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the control unit determines whether or not to execute the process by the image adjustment unit based on whether or not the image data is text-based image data. An image forming apparatus characterized by determining. 9. The image forming apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the control unit determines whether or not to execute the process by the image adjustment unit according to a characteristic of the image data for each page of the image. An image forming apparatus comprising: 10. The image forming apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the control unit causes the image adjustment unit to execute a process according to a characteristic of the image data in each of adjacent regions in one image page. An image forming apparatus, which determines whether or not the image is to be formed. 11. The image forming apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the control unit controls the image adjustment according to a characteristic of the image data determined based on the number of character objects and photo image objects included in the image. An image forming apparatus for determining whether or not to execute processing by means. 12. The image forming apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the image adjustment unit performs a conversion process so as to maintain a ratio of multi-value data of some color elements. . 13. The image forming apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the image adjustment unit performs a conversion process so as to maintain a ratio of multi-value data of a color element other than black. . 14. An image forming apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said image forming means forms an image by an electrophotographic method. 15. An image forming method for forming an image based on image data, comprising: an image characteristics determining step of determining characteristics of the image data; and
Performing a toner reduction process on the image data. 16. The image forming method according to claim 15, wherein in the image characteristic determining step, the characteristic of the image data is determined based on whether the image data is mainly text data. . 17. The image forming method according to claim 15, wherein in the image characteristic determining step, the characteristic of the image data is determined for each page of the image. 18. The image forming method according to claim 15, wherein, in the image characteristic determining step, the characteristic of the image data is determined for each area including a plurality of adjacent pixels in one image page. Image forming method. 19. The image forming method according to claim 15, wherein in the image characteristic determining step, the characteristic of the image data is determined based on the number of character objects and photo image objects included in the image. Image forming method. 20. The image forming method according to claim 15, wherein said image data is image data having a plurality of color element data for each pixel. 21. An image forming method using an image forming means for forming an image based on image data having a plurality of color element data for each pixel, wherein the plurality of the plurality of color element data are provided in accordance with characteristics of the image data. An image characterized by comprising a control step of deciding whether to activate an image adjusting means for performing a predetermined conversion process on the plurality of color element data so that the sum of the color element data does not exceed a specified value. Forming method. 22. The image forming method according to claim 21, wherein the control step determines whether to operate the image adjustment unit based on whether the image data is text-based image data. An image forming method comprising: 23. The image forming method according to claim 21, wherein the control step determines whether to activate the image adjustment unit according to a characteristic of the image data for each page of the image. Characteristic image forming method. 24. The image forming method according to claim 21, wherein the control step determines whether to operate the image adjustment unit in accordance with characteristics of the image data in each of adjacent regions in one image page. And an image forming method. 25. The image forming method according to claim 21, wherein the control step includes the step of adjusting the image according to a characteristic of the image data determined by the number of character objects and photo image objects included in the image. Deciding whether to activate the means. 26. The image forming method according to claim 21, wherein the image adjusting unit performs a conversion process so as to maintain a ratio of multi-value data of some color elements. . 27. The image forming method according to claim 21, wherein said image adjusting means performs a conversion process so as to maintain a ratio of multi-value data of color elements other than black. . 28. The image forming method according to claim 21, wherein said image forming means forms an image by an electrophotographic method. 29. A storage medium storing an image forming procedure for forming an image based on image data, the storage medium comprising: an image characteristic determining step for determining characteristics of the image data; and the image characteristic determining step. According to the judgment result in,
And a processing step of performing a toner reduction process on the image data, in the form of a computer-readable program. 30. A storage medium storing an image forming procedure, using an image forming means for forming an image based on image data having a plurality of color element data for each pixel, wherein the storage medium comprises: In accordance with the characteristics of the image data, it is determined whether or not to activate an image adjusting means for performing a predetermined conversion process on the plurality of color element data so that the sum of the plurality of color element data does not exceed a specified value. A storage medium storing the control step in the form of a computer-readable program. 31. The storage medium according to claim 29, wherein the storage medium stores a program readable by a server computer and a client computer, a floppy (registered trademark) disk, a hard disk, and a magneto-optical disk. , Optical disk, CD-ROM,
CD-R, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, RO
A storage medium using at least one of M. 32. The storage medium according to claim 29, wherein the storage medium is detachable from a server computer and a client computer. 33. A program for causing a computer to execute an image forming procedure for forming an image based on image data, the program comprising: an image characteristic determining step for determining characteristics of the image data; and the image characteristic determining step. According to the judgment result in,
Processing step of performing a toner reduction process on the image data. 34. A program for causing a computer to execute an image forming procedure using image forming means for forming an image based on image data having a plurality of color element data for each pixel, wherein the program is In accordance with the characteristics of the image data, it is determined whether or not to activate an image adjustment unit that performs a predetermined conversion process on the plurality of color element data so that the sum of the plurality of color element data does not exceed a specified value. A program having a control step. 35. The program according to claim 33, wherein the program is a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magneto-optical disk, an optical disk, or a CD-ROM storing a program readable by a server computer and a client computer. , A program recorded on at least one of a CD-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, and a ROM. 36. The program according to claim 35, wherein the storage medium is detachable from a server computer and a client computer.