Patent ID: 8780154

Claim:
A method for reducing variations in gloss in a solid ink jet image, comprising in sequence: a. jetting marking solid ink jet droplets onto a receiver to form an image; b. jetting non-marking solid ink jet droplets onto non-marked image portions of the receiver to cover at least 50% of the non-marked image portion, wherein more non-marking solid ink is jetted adjacent to the edge of the jetted marking solid ink and less non-marking solid ink is jetted further away from the edge of the jetted marking solid ink; c. heating the receiver to a temperature so that the marking and the non-marking solid inks melt; d. spreading both the marking and non-marking solid ink on the receiver; and e. controlling the temperature of the marking solid ink on the receiver to provide a desired specularly reflective surface of the solid ink so that variations in gloss are reduced.