Patent ID: 6827424
Filing Date: 2004-12-07
Classification: B41J

Abstract:
A print apparatus comprising print heads having a plurality of printing element rows, each of said printing element rows having a plurality of printing elements to form a color image by scanning the same scanning area a plurality of times in a forward and a backward direction using different printing element rows of the print heads to apply ink of a plurality of colors to a print medium,wherein the print heads include two sets of printing element array sections, each of said array sections having printing element rows, the sets being sequentially arranged and capable of ejecting different inks, the arrays of the printing element rows of the printing element array sections being symmetrical in a scanning direction, wherein the print apparatus comprises: a change means for changing an ink application order to apply a plurality of color inks onto pixel areas that form a secondary color by distributing image data to said two sets of printing element array sections; and a mask means for complementarily masking predetermined rasters in a raster direction or predetermined columns in a column direction while scanning image data a plurality of times, wherein said mask means masks the image data distributed by said change means so as to form an image by a plurality of scans.