AUTOMATIC COLOR ADJUSTMENT IN A DOCUMENT PROCESSING ENVIRONMENT

A system and method for automatically adjusting image color in a document processing system are discussed. The system operates by generating a digital representation of a printed document. The digital representation includes a plurality of pixels. A brightness value is calculated for each of the pixels, and a "brightest" list is generated comprising a plurality of the pixels having the largest brightness values. Also, a "darkest" list comprising a plurality of the pixels having the smallest brightness values is generated. An average bright color of pixels in the "brightest" list is generated, and an average dark color of pixels in the "darkest" list is generated. Red, green, and blue scaling functions each having a white point set equal to the average bright color and a black point set equal to the average dark color are generated. The digital representation is scaled in accordance with the red, green, and blue scaling functions to produce a modified image.