To provide a method of forming an area gradation Japanese ink dot image similar to objective printed matter.

In the method of forming the area gradation Japanese ink dot image for reproducing a dot image expressed by the Japanese ink on the objective printed matter by optionally coloring with cyan, magenta and yellow, the coloring amount is set so that the difference ▵a*(ki) of the A*value in a CIELAB color space between the printed matter and the aera gradation Japanese ink dot image in the same Japanese ink dot % is smaller than the the difference ▵a*(k100) of a*value in the Japanese ink dot 100%.

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