Patent ID: 7344225

Claim:
A printing method comprising: creating print data by rearranging an order in which a plurality of pieces of pixel data which make up image data are arranged; and based on the print data, alternately repeating a dot-forming process for forming, on a medium, a row of dots along a movement direction by ejecting ink from a plurality of nozzles which move in the movement direction and a carrying process for carrying the medium in a carrying direction with respect to the nozzles, to form, on the medium, a plurality of the rows of dots arranged in the carrying direction, wherein, in a case where normal printing for forming the rows of dots in a central portion of the medium is to be performed after upper-end printing for forming the rows of dots in an upper-end portion of the medium, positions, on the medium in the carrying direction, of the rows of dots to be formed by the nozzles during a certain dot-forming process performing the upper-end printing are stored in a table, a comparing process is performed in which positions, on the medium in the carrying direction, of the rows of dots to be formed by the nozzles during a dot-forming process performing the normal printing are compared with the positions stored in the table, and if there is any matching position as a result of the comparison, that position is deleted from the table, and the pixel data corresponding to the positions in the table after the comparing process are extracted from the image data, to create the print data for performing the certain dot-forming process.