When recording is performed in a pixel region by M (M is an integer equal to or larger than 2) passes with N (N is an integer equal to or larger than 2) recording element groups, density variation due to a deviation between recording positions of dots that are recorded by different passes is suppressed while a load of data processing is decreased.First, multivalued image data (24-1 to 24-2) corresponding to the M passes is generated from input image data, and the multivalued image data corresponding to the M passes is quantized to generate quantized data (26-1 to 26-2) corresponding to the M passes. Then, the quantized data corresponding to the M passes is divided into quantized data being complements of each other and corresponding to the N recording element groups. Accordingly, the quantized data (28-1 to 28-4) corresponding to the M passes for the N recording element groups is obtained. With this configuration, the density variation due to the deviation between the recording positions by the M passes can be suppressed. Also, since the number of pieces of data subjected to the quantization is small, the load of the quantization can be decreased.