System and method for enhancing the density of black

A computer-based system for enhancing black density of a halftoned bitmap, comprising:

• a computer processor;
• computer memory which stores:
• an edge detection module,
• a neighboring color pixel detection module, and
• a pixel coloring module;
• wherein the edge detection module is operative to:
• receive a halftoned bitmap;
• and
• for each of a plurality of black-only pixels in the halftoned bitmap, determine whether the black-only pixel is within a first distance from an edge within the halftoned bitmap;
• wherein the neighboring color pixel detection module is operative to:
• for each of a plurality of black-only pixels in the halftoned bitmap, determine whether the black-only pixel is within a second distance from at least one color pixel in the halftoned bitmap;
• and
• wherein the pixel coloring module is operative to:
• determine whether to add color to at least one black-only pixel based at least in part on the determinations from the edge detection module and neighboring color pixel detection module;
• modify the halftoned bitmap by adding color to the black-only pixels based on the determination made by the pixel color module;
• and
• output the modified halftoned bitmap.

A computer program product comprising tangible media encoding instructions which, when executed on a computer, perform a method comprising:

• receiving a halftoned bitmap into computer memory;
• identifying at least one black-only pixel in the halftoned bitmap;
• for each of the identified black-only pixels, identifying at least one black-only pixel as a candidate for adding color based at least in part on the location of the black-only pixel with respect to an edge in the halftoned bitmap;
• modifying the halftoned bitmap by adding color to at least one of the candidate black-only pixels;
• and
• outputting the modified halftoned bitmap.