Patent ID: 7798602

Claim:
An ink-jet printer comprising: an ink-jet head comprising: an image printing head configured to print an image on a medium and having a plurality of image printing ink discharge ports configured to discharge ink to print the image during a layered printing operation; a ground-color-layer printing head configured to print a ground-color-layer on the medium and having a plurality of ground-color-layer printing ink discharge ports configured to discharge ink to print the ground-color-layer during the layered printing operation, the medium and the ink-jet head being configured to relatively move parallel to a first line and along a second direction substantially perpendicular to the first line, a position on the ink-jet head of all of said plurality of ground-color-layer printing ink discharge ports configured to be used during the layered printing operation being displaced from a position on the ink-jet head of all of said plurality of image printing ink discharge ports configured to be used during the layered printing operation along the first line and the second direction; and a dryer configured to at least partially dry the ground-color-layer or the image after printing thereof and before respective printing of the image or the ground-color-layer thereon during the layered printing operation.