Patent ID: 7481514

Claim:
A printing method for printing, on a medium, an image in which a resolution in a first direction is higher than a resolution in a second direction by forming first dots or second dots that are smaller than said first dots at positions on said medium that correspond to pixels structuring said image, said method comprising the step of forming the second dot at a position on said medium corresponding to a certain pixel if the first dot is to be formed at the position on said medium corresponding to said certain pixel, and at least either one of condition 1 or condition 2 below is met: condition 1: neither said first dot nor said second dot is to be formed at a position on said medium corresponding to one adjacent pixel of either two adjacent pixels that are adjacent, in said first direction, to said certain pixel, and neither said first dot nor said second dot is to be formed at positions on said medium corresponding to two pixels that are adjacent, in said second direction, to said one adjacent pixel; or condition 2: neither said first dot nor said second dot is to be formed at a position on said medium corresponding to the other adjacent pixel of said two adjacent pixels, and neither said first dot nor said second dot is to be formed at positions on said medium corresponding to two pixels that are adjacent, in said second direction, to said other adjacent pixel.