Abstract: A direct marking, bidirectional, swathing printer eliminates hue shift between forward and reverse directions swath of the printhead by including at least two sets of printheads, with each set including a printhead for each of the set of colors deposited by the printhead. The color order of the different printheads of each set are different between the two sets, and preferably in reverse order, so that as the printheads move in both the forward and reverse directions alternating rows of dots are formed in reverse color order, so that hue shift due to the order in which colors are deposited occurs on a dot to dot basis, rather than on a swath to swath basis.