Characteristics of a plurality of skin types have been classified, and skin areas are detected from image data according to the classification. The skin areas are extracted in two steps, first coarsely and next finely. Then, skin areas can be extracted at high speed. For each of the skin areas image data are corrected according to the characteristics of the skin area. Then, skin areas are corrected according to the skin type. Even when an image includes a plurality of persons having different skin characteristics, correction appropriate for each skin type is possible.