Patent ID: 6328404
Filing Date: 2001-12-11
Classification: B41J

Abstract:
A printing apparatus that forms dots on a printing medium at a preset resolution in pixels arranged in a two-dimensional array, thereby printing an image on the printing medium, said printing apparatus comprising:a print head that forms each dot of the two-dimensional array on the printing medium;a data setting unit that sets image data at the preset resolution; anda dot creation unit that drives said print head based on the image data set by said data setting unit so as to form the dots of the two-dimensional array on the printing medium at the preset resolution, with at least some of the dots being formed as a flat dot having a significantly smaller maximum dimension in a first direction of the two-dimensional array than a maximum dimension in a second direction of the two-dimensional array,wherein the present resolution is set in the first direction to satisfy a condition that an interval between adjoining dots on the printing medium in the first direction does not exceed the maximum dimension of the flat dot in the first direction, and is set in the second direction to satisfy a condition that an interval between adjoining dots in the second direction does not exceed the maximum dimension of the flat dot in the second direction and that the preset resolution in the second direction is lower than the preset resolution in the first direction.