Patent ID: 6837571

Claim:
A color ink-jet printer comprising: a first ink ejecting portion operable to eject droplets of a first ink of a first color; a second ink ejecting portion operable to eject droplets of a second ink of a second color other than said first color, said second ink being dried at a higher rate than said first ink; a first control portion operable to control said first ink ejecting portion, on the basis of a gray-scale value at a picture element of an image at which each dot of said first ink is to be formed on a recording medium, such that a total volume of at least one droplet of said first ink ejected by said first ink ejecting portion to form said each dot of the first ink on the recording medium is equal to any one of a plurality of different total volume values; and a second control portion operable to control said second ink ejecting portion, on the basis of a gray-scale value at a picture element of the image at which each dot of said second ink is to be formed on the recording medium, such that a total volume of at least one droplet of said second ink ejected by said second ink ejecting portion to form said each dot of said second ink on the recording medium, is equal to one of said plurality of different total volume values, which one is other than a smallest one of said different total volume values except a zero value which does not cause ejection of any ink droplet from said second ink ejecting portion.