Patent ID: 7556345

Claim:
An image recording apparatus for recording an image on a recording medium by main-scanning a recording head, in which a plurality of recording elements corresponding to a same color are arranged, relative to the recording medium in a direction different from an arrangement direction of the recording elements, said image recording apparatus comprising: main scan means for main-scanning the recording head relative to said recording medium; sub-scan means for relatively sub-scanning the recording head and the recording medium by an amount less than an arranging range of the recording elements of said recording head during each said main-scanning; record control means for performing recording by repeating a scan of said recording head by said main scan means and a sub-scan by said sub-scan means so as to overlap an area to be recorded by a scan of said recording head and an area to be recorded by a subsequent scan of said recording head, said record control means performing control so that a line of dots recordable with a single recording element by a main scan of said recording head is recorded by using a plurality of different recording elements corresponding to a same color in each of a plurality of main scans; and setting means for setting, from a plurality of numbers, a number of said main scan to an area to be recorded carried out by said record control means in accordance with image data to be recorded, wherein the amount of the image data to be recorded by a single main scan of the image data recordable to said area is reduced as the set number of main scans increases, and wherein a total number of dots to be recorded in the image by a plural number of main scans with said plurality of recording elements of said recording head is the same regardless of the number set by said setting means.