1. A method for processing a digital color image having three color components, characterized by: separating color values from each of the three color components of the digital color image into a plurality of samples of color values corresponding to a plurality of contrast intervals, selecting one of the plurality of samples of color values from each color component corresponding to one of the plurality of contrast intervals based upon the similarity of the shapes of the distributions of the color values in the selected samples of color values, generating a color reproduction function for each of the color components by normalizing the selected samples of color values, and processing the color components of the digital color image by applying the color reproduction functions to the respective color components of the digital color image to produce a processed digital color image.