An electric signal obtained by two-dimensionally scanning a color original image through a micro-color filter is processed to be adapted for recording a color image on a subtractive color photosensitive material. The electric signal contains signal components for three primary colors in time series. The electric signal is first converted to a digital signal by use of an A/D converter and then divided into three signals for the three colors. Each signal of different color is processed to have signal sections in which every section of the signal is based on the level of the adjacent section of the signal, each section corresponding to the picture element of the original color image. Then, the three signals are D/A converted to an analog signal, which is used for recording a color image on a subtractive photosensitive material.