Patent ID: 8608277
Filing Date: 2013-12-17
Classification: B41J

Abstract:
1. A printing position alignment method for aligning printing positions on a print medium by a first printing operation and a second printing operation, comprising: a printing step of printing a plurality of alignment patterns for obtaining an alignment value used for aligning the printing positions, each alignment pattern comprising a first pattern element printed on the print medium by the first printing operation and a second pattern element printed on the print medium by the second printing operation, wherein the plurality of alignment patterns are printed with different shifting amounts such that a relative printing position, between the first pattern element and the second pattern element, in each of the plurality of alignment patterns is shifted respectively; a first obtaining step of obtaining values that indicate respective optical characteristics of the plurality of alignment patterns; a determining step of determining a range of the shifting amounts, which is used for obtaining the alignment value, based on a value indicating an optical characteristic of at least one alignment pattern obtained in said first obtaining step; and a second obtaining step of obtaining an alignment value by using the values indicating the respective optical characteristics of a plurality of alignment patterns within the range of the shifting amounts determined by said determining step.