Patent ID: 6866360

Claim:
A printer comprising: a scan axis arranged to receive at least one pen, each pen comprising an array of ink ejection elements adapted to print a swath on a printing medium; and printer control circuitry, responsive to selection of a multi-pass print mode, to cause a printing medium advance mechanism to incrementally advance the printing medium past the pens in a printing advance direction (PAD) between the printing of a first swath and a second swath so that, in use, a first group of ink ejection elements dispenses ink in a swath along respective rows on said printing medium with at least one other group of corresponding ink ejection elements dispensing ink along said rows in subsequent swaths, said printer control circuitry further causing said at least one pen to move across said printing medium at a speed providing a pre-determined drop-to-drop interval and said scan axis being arranged to receive one of said at least one pen which dispenses an ink with a relaxation time which is a function of the characteristics of said printing medium and the amount of ink being dispensed; said printer control circuitry being arranged to cause said first group of ink ejection elements to dispense proportionally more ink per swath than said at least one other group of ink ejection elements in subsequent swaths; and said drop-to-drop interval being comparable to said relaxation time.