Patent ID: 6869178

Claim:
An ink jet printing method comprising the steps of: A) providing an ink jet printer that is responsive to digital data signals; B) loading said printer with an ink jet recording element comprising a support having thereon a fusible, porous, image-receiving layer comprising at least two types of hydrophobic polymer particles having different glass transition temperatures, the first type of hydrophobic polymer particles having a glass transition temperature, Tg higher than about 60° C. that is substantially monodisperse and the second type of hydrophobic polymer particles having a glass transition temperature, Tg lower than about 25° C. wherein said first type of hydrophobic polymer particles has an average particle size of from about 0.2 μm to about 2 μm, and has a particle size distribution such that the ratio of the particle size at the 90 th percentile of the particle size distribution curve to the particle size at the 10 th percentile of the particle size distribution curve is less than about 2 and wherein the weight ratio of the first type of hydrophobic polymer particles to the second type of hydrophobic polymer particles is from about 10:1 to about 2.5:1; C) loading said printer with an ink jet ink; and D) printing on said image-receiving layer using said ink jet ink in response to said digital data signals E) fusing said image-receiving layer with heat and/or pressure to form a substantially continuous, transparent layer.