Patent ID: 7832826

Claim:
A printing method, comprising: (A) by printing a first area in a test pattern using a first print mode, determining a first correction value corresponding to the first print mode for each of the row regions, based on a first provisional correction value for each of row regions in the first area, the first print mode being a print mode applied to an end area of a medium in a transport direction, and involving repetitively carrying out a movement-and-ejection operation of ejecting ink while moving nozzles in a movement direction that intersects the transport direction and a first transport operation of transporting the medium in the transport direction by a first transport amount, the row regions being a plurality of regions lined up in the transport direction and each being a region in which a dot row is formed along the movement direction by the movement-and-ejection operation, the first provisional correction value being determined based on a density measurement value of each of the row regions in the first area, the first correction value being determined based on a value in which the first provisional correction value is multiplied by an attenuation coefficient, (B) by printing a second area in the test pattern using a second print mode for a plurality of cycles of a period that is determined by a combination of the row region and the nozzle, determining a second correction value corresponding to the second print mode for each of the row regions, based on a second provisional correction value for each of the row regions in the second area, the second print mode being a print mode applied to a middle area of the medium in the transport direction, and involving repetitively carrying out the movement-and-ejection operation and a second transport operation of transporting the medium in the transport direction by a second transport amount, the second provisional correction value being determined based on a density measurement value of each of the row regions in the second area, the second correction value being determined based on a value in which the second provisional correction value is averaged, and (C) in a coexistent segment in which certain row regions and other row regions are mixed, correcting an ejection amount of the ink in each of the row regions using a combined correction value that is obtained as a composition of the first correction value and the second correction value, the certain row regions each being a row region in which the dot row is formed by the first print mode, the other row regions each being a row region in which the dot row is formed by the second print mode.