PURPOSE: To provide a photographic image data processing method which can precisely and stably determine the attribute of a color photographic original picture that is, the presence of a bias in the color distribution on a subject, irrespective of a kind of a photographing film, a storage condition, and a kind of a photographing light source, and which can optimize and automate the color correction in a photographic printing which is typical of selection of a correction level.

CONSTITUTION: A color balance density obtained from a difference in density between a predetermined color and the other two colors is obtained for every pixel in accordance with density data obtained by decomposing and optically measuring a plurality of pixels in a color photographic original picture, and an accumulated density function in which the frequencies of occurrence of color balance densities at the plurality of pixels are accumulated in the density direction. Accordingly, the attribute of the original picture is determined in accordance with the accumulated density function, thereby it is possible to a bias in the color distribution irrespective of a kind of a photographing film, a storage condition, and a photographing light source.