Method and apparatus for producing color internegatives with a digital printer

A method of producing a color image from first digital image data in a system employing a digitral image printer to print a complement of the color image onto a non-photograhpic recording medium for subsequent use in photographically reproducing said color image on a photographic print medium, the method comprising the steps of:

• processing said first digital image data to derive second digital data representative of a complement of said color image, said second digital data being comprised of a digital code value for each of separate color complements in each pixel of said color image, each code value including an added density value generally corresponding to an orange mask in the complement image, said added density value being less than a full orange mask density value by an amount equivalent to a D-min representative parameter in the complement image;
• operating said printer in accordance with said second digital data to cause said printer to print said complement image onto said non-photographic medium with said added density values;
• and
• illuminating said photographic print medium with the complement image on said non-photographic medium with illumination compensated to introduce in said illumination an illumination effect corresponding to said D-min representative parameter absent in the color data of said second digital data.