A method for reducing horizontal banding in a printed image printed with an inkjet print engine having a printhead carrier carrying at least one inkjet printhead, the method comprises: printing on a print media sheet a first test patch with a first inkjet printhead being moved by the printhead carrier in a first print direction (S100, S200, S300); printing on the print media sheet a second test patch with the first inkjet printhead being moved by the printhead carrier in a second print direction (S102, S200, S302), the second print direction being opposite to the first print direction; determining a first characteristic of the first test patch (S104, S204, S304-S310); determining a second characteristic of the second test patch (S106, S204, S312-S318), wherein the first characteristic and the second characteristic are a reflectance characteristic, a luminance characteristic or a chromatic characteristic; comparing the first characteristic of the first test patch with the second characteristic of the second test patch (SI08, S206, S208, S210, S320-S326); and the method is characterized by: selecting, based on a comparing result of the comparing step, an initial print direction of the first inkjet printhead for a first printing pass that reduces horizontal banding in generating the printed image (S110, S212, S214, S328), wherein the comparing result of the comparing step comprises the first characteristic is less than or greater than the second characteristic, the first characteristic and the second characteristic are respectively a first reflectance and a second reflectance, and the act of selecting comprises selecting as the initial print direction the first print direction if the first reflectance is less than the second reflectance, and selecting as the initial print direction the second print direction if the second reflectance is less than the first reflectance. printing on a print media sheet a first test patch with a first inkjet printhead being moved by the printhead carrier in a first print direction (S100, S200, S300); printing on the print media sheet a second test patch with the first inkjet printhead being moved by the printhead carrier in a second print direction (S102, S200, S302), the second print direction being opposite to the first print direction; determining a first characteristic of the first test patch (S104, S204, S304-S310); determining a second characteristic of the second test patch (S106, S204, S312-S318), wherein the first characteristic and the second characteristic are a reflectance characteristic, a luminance characteristic or a chromatic characteristic; comparing the first characteristic of the first test patch with the second characteristic of the second test patch (SI08, S206, S208, S210, S320-S326); and the method is characterized by: selecting, based on a comparing result of the comparing step, an initial print direction of the first inkjet printhead for a first printing pass that reduces horizontal banding in generating the printed image (S110, S212, S214, S328), wherein the comparing result of the comparing step comprises the first characteristic is less than or greater than the second characteristic, the first characteristic and the second characteristic are respectively a first reflectance and a second reflectance, and the act of selecting comprises selecting as the initial print direction the first print direction if the first reflectance is less than the second reflectance, and selecting as the initial print direction the second print direction if the second reflectance is less than the first reflectance. selecting, based on a comparing result of the comparing step, an initial print direction of the first inkjet printhead for a first printing pass that reduces horizontal banding in generating the printed image (S110, S212, S214, S328), wherein the comparing result of the comparing step comprises the first characteristic is less than or greater than the second characteristic, the first characteristic and the second characteristic are respectively a first reflectance and a second reflectance, and the act of selecting comprises selecting as the initial print direction the first print direction if the first reflectance is less than the second reflectance, and selecting as the initial print direction the second print direction if the second reflectance is less than the first reflectance.