A surface light source control apparatus for a direct exposure apparatus comprises a light-emission level determining means for determining the light-emission level of each point light source for each of a plurality of groups so that a uniform illuminance distribution is achieved at a position corresponding to an exposure surface of an exposure target when a projection device is set so as to reflect all light rays incident thereon toward the exposure surface, the plurality of groups being formed in advance by grouping the point light sources based on similarity in tendency in terms of illuminance distribution characteristics that the point light sources have at the position corresponding to the exposure surface, wherein the light-emission level determining means determines the light-emission level so that all the point light sources belonging to the same group have the same light-emission level.