<1.5 Modified Examples>
Modified examples of the above-described first embodiment will be described. Note that the following first to fifth modified examples can also be applied to second and third embodiments which will be described later.
<1.5.1 First Modified Example>
In the above-described first embodiment, the reference color is selected (Step S140 in FIG. 4) from among the plurality of sample colors on the basis of the square error between the prediction values and the actual measurement values. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the reference color can also be selected on the basis of the color difference. This will be described below.
In the present modified example, in Step S130 in FIG. 4, obtained is a color difference based on the prediction values obtained in Step S120 and the actual measurement values of the spectral reflectances of the characteristics-acquired gradation value for the prediction target color. Then, in Step S140 in FIG. 4, a sample color from which a minimum color difference is obtained is selected as the reference color.