Patent ID: 7226157

Claim:
An ink-jet recording process for conducting recording by ejecting a pigment ink and a reaction liquid containing a polyvalent metal salt from a recording section, in which a plurality of nozzles for ejecting the pigment ink and the reaction liquid are arranged, to a recording medium while relatively scanning the recording section to the recording medium, the process comprising the steps of: ejecting the pigment ink having a surface tension lower than that of the reaction liquid to the reaction liquid ejected on the surface of the recording medium; and forming, on the surface of the reaction liquid, a filmy aggregate by gathering of pigment agglomerates produced by contact between the reaction liquid and the pigment ink, wherein, in said forming step, the pigment agglomerates migrate on the surface of the reaction liquid toward a boundary between the reaction liquid and the recording medium, and the gathering of the pigment agglomerates is formed along the surface of the reaction liquid by the migration of the pigment agglomerates, and thereby the filmy aggregate is formed on the surface of the reaction liquid, and wherein conditions for ejecting the reaction liquid in said ejecting step satisfy the relationship of 55 × 0.85 × 10 6 × Vd ⁡ ( pl ) - 0.61 Rx ⁡ ( dpi ) ⁢ Ry ⁡ ( dpi ) ≤ duty ⁡ ( % ) ≤ 125 × 0.85 × 10 6 × Vd ⁡ ( pl ) - 0.61 Rx ⁡ ( dpi ) ⁢ Ry ⁡ ( dpi ) wherein Vd(pl) is an ejection volume per dot of the reaction liquid, Rx(dpi) is a recording resolution in the direction of the relative scanning, Ry(dpi) is a recording resolution in the arrangement direction of the nozzles, and duty(%) is a recording duty of the reaction liquid.