Patent ID: 8376516

Claim:
A method for operating a web printing system comprising: operating at least one printhead that ejects a first color of ink to form a first predetermined pattern on the web in the first ink color; operating at least one other printhead that ejects a color of ink that is different than the first ink color to form a second predetermined pattern on the web in the different ink color after the web has traveled in a process direction to a position opposite the at least one other printhead; generating image data corresponding to the first predetermined pattern of ink on the web and to the second predetermined pattern of ink on the web; identifying a cross-process dimensional change in a web moving through the web printing system from spatial differences in the generated image data between the first predetermined pattern and the second predetermined pattern; comparing the identified cross-process dimensional change to a predetermined threshold; and changing operation of a component in the web printing system to compensate for the cross-process dimensional change in the web that occurred after the web traveled from the at least one printhead to the at least one other printhead in response to the identified cross-process dimensional change in the web exceeding the predetermined threshold.