Patent ID: 7448721

Claim:
An inkjet printing apparatus which performs printing by bi-directionally scanning, over a printing medium, a carriage on which an inkjet printhead for discharging ink is mounted, the carriage being scanned at different scanning speeds in respective printing modes, the apparatus comprising: preliminary discharge means for performing preliminary discharge; a first preliminary discharge performing portion and a second preliminary discharge performing portion at which the preliminary discharge is performed within a scanning area of the carriage; and preliminary discharge portion setting means for setting a portion or a combination of portions where the preliminary discharge is performed by said preliminary discharge means, from the first preliminary discharge performing portion and the second preliminary discharge performing portion, in accordance with the scanning speed of the carriage in a set printing mode, wherein said preliminary discharge portion setting means sets the first and second preliminary discharge performing portions in a case that the scanning speed of the carriage is not more than a predetermined speed, and sets only the first preliminary discharge performing portion in a case that the scanning speed of the carriage is higher than the predetermined speed, and the second preliminary discharge performing portion is set on a side opposite to the first preliminary discharge performing portion in the scanning area of the carriage.