Patent ID: 8573763

Claim:
A method of printing an image onto a substrate in a plurality of passes using a curable ink, the method comprising dividing the image into at least first and second adjacent image portions that combine to form the image, the first image portion having a first width and the second image portion having a second width, and printing each of the image portions from multiple layers of ink deposited in multiple passes over the image portion, wherein the printing comprises: printing a pass of ink comprising depositing a first layer of ink onto the substrate corresponding to the first image portion at a first drop level value; printing a first subsequent pass of ink comprising depositing a second layer of ink from a printhead arrangement onto the first layer of ink deposited on the substrate corresponding to the first image portion at a second ink drop level value and depositing a first layer of ink onto the substrate corresponding to the second image portion at the first drop level, such that the first subsequent pass comprises respective ink drop levels for different image portions; adjusting the position of the substrate relative to the printhead arrangement by a distance substantially equal to the first width; and printing a second subsequent pass of ink comprising depositing a second layer of ink onto the first layer of ink deposited on the substrate corresponding to the second image portion at the second ink drop level value.