Patent ID: 6601939
Filing Date: 2003-08-05
Classification: G06K

Abstract:
A printing method using a print head on which a plurality of ejection openings for ejecting inks are arranged, said method comprising the steps of:an image forming step, said image forming step comprising: a scanning step, for scanning the print head in a main scan direction, the main scan direction being different from the arranging direction of the plurality of ejection openings, to execute printing of pixels obtained by a thinning process according to a mask pattern, and a transporting step, for, subsequent to said scanning step, transporting the printing medium in a sub-scan direction perpendicular to the main scan direction by the quantities less than the arranging width of the plurality of ejection openings, wherein said image forming step repeats said scanning step and said transporting step to make the arrangements of pixels printed according to respective mask patterns in respective said scanning steps complemental arrangements to each other, so that an image for a same image area on the printing medium is formed by a plural times of said scanning steps; and an applying step, for applying the mask pattern to said image forming step corresponding to each of the plurality of said scanning steps, each of the applied mask patterns being a pattern so that a distance between the pixels printed according to the mask pattern in each scanning step is longer than a predetermined value and the pixels are dispersed.