Abstract: This invention relates to a printing method and printing apparatus capable of printing a high-quality image free from any visual graininess by reducing density unevenness and color unevenness. In printing by discharging ink from a printhead onto a printing medium, the printing apparatus executes either one of (A) the first printing operation mode in which one dot layout pattern is assigned to a plurality of pixels at the same gradation level and printing is done on the basis of the assigned dot layout pattern, or (B) the second printing operation mode in which plural types of dot layout patterns are assigned to a plurality of pixels at the same gradation level and printing is done on the basis of the assigned dot layout patterns.

Abstract: In cleaning an orifice surface in which the orifices of a printhead are formed, a portion of the orifice surface that readily becomes dirty along with ink discharge from the printhead is preferentially cleaned.

Abstract: An inkjet printing apparatus prints by scanning an inkjet printhead for discharging ink and a printing medium relative to each other. The printhead includes a first nozzle group used to print a dot having a first density, and a second nozzle group used to print a dot having a second density. The inkjet printing apparatus has a first printing mode in which only one of the first and second nozzle groups is used during one printing scan, and a second printing mode in which the first and second nozzle groups are driven at different timings during one printing scan. In this inkjet printing apparatus, a pattern for adjusting the relative printing positions of the nozzle rows in the first printing mode is printed. From this pattern, set values of relative printing positions in the first printing mode are specified. On the basis of the specified set values, set values of the relative printing positions of the nozzle rows in the second printing mode are determined.

Abstract: In an inkjet printing apparatus utilizing an inkjet head and an ink tank for supplying ink to the same, it is made possible to suppress any reduction in image quality attributable to changes in physical and chemical properties of the ink that occur during an elapsed time from the manufacture of the ink tank to the use of the same, thereby allowing images to be formed with high reliability and stability at a low running cost. The apparatus has a discharging unit for discharging the ink through a nozzle at the head and an ink detecting unit for detecting the consumption of the ink in the ink tank. The detected ink consumption is compared with a threshold for ink consumption appropriately determined based on the elapsed time, and control is performed such that the amount discharged by the discharging unit is increased when the ink has not been consumed sufficiently.

Abstract: Printing is performed on a printing medium by using an ink-jet printhead for discharging ink, multilevel printing is performed by multipass printing operation of executing main scanning operation of moving the printhead relative to the printing medium with respect to each print area while changing the number of ink droplets discharged to each pixel, and the number of scans to be performed to discharge ink droplets used to print a pixel with a low gray level value is made larger than the number of scans to be performed to discharge ink droplets used only to print a pixel with a high gray level value, thereby preventing the occurrence of density irregularity and streaks in a low gray level portion and printing a high-quality image.

Abstract: In an liquid discharging head used in an ink-jet recording apparatus, in order to prevent damage of a face surface of orifices and degradation of a blade and maintain orifices in an excellent state preventing adherence of contamination to the face surface for a long time, the face surface is coated with a material having an ultrahigh water-repellent property.

Abstract: A recording apparatus that comprises a cap, an idle suction device for exhausting the cap to the outside, a predischarge device for pre-discharging ink to the cap at designated time intervals, an accumulating device for accumulating the ink by the predischarge, a first comparison device for comparing the accumulated ink with a first threshold value, a first predischarge control device for reducing ink discharge in accordance with the first comparison result, a second comparison device for comparing the accumulated ink with a second threshold value, a predischarge prohibition device for prohibiting predischarge in accordance with the second comparison result, and a second predischarge control device for resuming predischarge in accordance with the period of time defined by the predischarge operation prohibition device, and increasing the ink for predischarge.

Abstract: There is provided a printing apparatus capable of printing input data in proper adaptation to plural types of printing data input units and environments of use. For this purpose, the type of an input unit is first recognized. For example, when it is recognized that a personal computer capable of causing the printing apparatus to perform a setting process for registration is connected, it is judged that the process has already been performed, and a mode for printing at a high speed is adopted. When it is recognized that a digital camera is connected, since it is likely that the process has not been performed yet, a mode for printing at a low speed is adopted to prevent any reduction in image quality.

Abstract: A recording apparatus capable of recording images and positional information representing positions on a recording medium on the recording medium. Positional information is read by detecting an image recorded with a predetermined recording material or by using a device capable of reading the information. The positional information is recorded with a recording material capable of being detected by a device and an image other than the positional information is recorded with another recording material.

Abstract: When an image representing positional information, formed with black spot pattern and the other image formed with color inks including cyan, magenta, and yellow are recorded on the same recording medium, the gradient of color data is corrected during data preparation of colors used for recording the image other than the black spot pattern, according to the duty of the black spot pattern. Thus, even if the other image is recorded to overlap with the black spot pattern, color changes of the image can be prevented to produce a high-quality image.

Abstract: A high-quality image is printed with reduced bleeding in colors that may appear at a boundary between a black image and a color image. A head for ejecting black ink and a head for ejecting color ink perform three times of scanning while feeding is carried out therebetween for moving the printing medium by four pitches of ejection openings arranged on the heads, different ejection openings are caused to correspond to a scanning area, which corresponds to the four pitches, and multi-pass printing is performed to complete printing on the area. The black head completes printing of the black image, and then, the color head completes printing of the color image adjacent to the black image. The arrangement of ejection openings is determined so that between last scanning for completing printing of the black image and the first scanning for printing of the color image, scanning with no performing printing exists.

Abstract: The ink jet printing apparatus of this invention is intended to reduce degradations in image quality caused by color mixing due to bleeding of inks of different colors and thereby enable printing an image with high quality at high speed. To this end, in the ink jet printing apparatus of this invention, a plurality of different nozzle groups are main-scanned M times (M≧2) over a print area to print all print data to be printed on the print area to complete an image. The print head, successively perform the main scans over the print area in such a way that the print head, located at the front position in the printing order, performs an Mth main scan with a lower print density than that of an Nth main scan (1≦N<M).

Abstract: A recording apparatus is provided with two or more kinds of sub-scanning amounts per main scan, and records a high quality image by reducing the bleeding between colors created characteristically by a multi-pass recording method. The number of times of main scanning to complete an image by a first discharge port array for black ink use and a second discharge port array for color ink use, respectively, are set to be m (m is a positive integer) and n (n is a positive integer) times. With respect to discharge ports to be used for recording in the first and second discharge port arrays, a distance between discharge ports which are positioned at upstream ends of the respective first and second discharge port arrays in the sub-scan direction is made equal to a length of a continuously conveying amount of (m+a) (a is a positive integer) times by combination of the at least two kinds of conveying amounts.

Abstract: Printing is performed on a printing medium by using an ink-jet printhead for discharging ink, multilevel printing is performed by multipass printing operation of executing main scanning operation of moving the printhead relative to the printing medium with respect to each print area while changing the number of ink droplets discharged to each pixel, and the number of scans to be performed to discharge ink droplets used to print a pixel with a low gray level value is made larger than the number of scans to be performed to discharge ink droplets used only to print a pixel with a high gray level value, thereby preventing the occurrence of density irregularity and streaks in a low gray level portion and printing a high-quality image.

Abstract: There is provided a small, low-cost, and highly reliable ink jet printing apparatus capable of performing a recovery operation smoothly and forming an image with a stabilized quality. More specifically, when a suction recovery operation for a printing head for ejecting ink is performed, an ejection port surface of the printing head is covered with a cap member, and a cap opening help operation that facilitates the cap opening operation is performed when performing a cap opening operation that separates the cap member from the ejection port surface.

Abstract: This invention has as its object to realize multi-pass print control which requires a short processing time by a simple arrangement. To this end, a printer according to this invention attains multi-grayscale print control by changing the number of dots to be printed on each pixel to overlap each other in multi-pass print control that prints the pixel in a plurality of scans. In this case, index patterns, each of which designates which of scans is to be used to print in accordance with the density level of a pixel, are prepared for respective pixel values. If a plurality of patterns are prepared for each pixel value, a pattern is randomly selected from them. An image is printed in accordance with a print pattern defined by the selected pattern.

Abstract: The present invention provides an ink-jet recording method that allows a time for ink to penetrate into the recording medium and to be fixed thereto, and prevents density irregularity, color unevenness, blot between colors, and stain of the recording medium caused by contact between the recording head and the recording medium. When conducting multi-pass recording comprising the step of executing a plurality of runs of main scanning to each recording area while relatively moving the recording head which discharges ink on the recording medium, it is made possible to select a recording mode from a plurality of recording modes of different numbers of runs of main scanning, and a rest period, during which recording is discontinued after each run of main scanning, is set in response to the number of runs of main scanning corresponding to the selected recording mode.

Abstract: Printing is performed by scanning a printhead unit in which the first nozzle array on which a plurality of nozzles for discharging the first ink are arrayed and the second nozzle array on which a plurality of nozzles for discharging the second ink are arrayed on a printing medium in a direction crossing to a direction of the nozzle array, the first and second nozzle arrays are arranged side by side in the direction crossing to the direction of the nozzle array so as to locate the first nozzles at the same position in a printing medium convey direction, and the number of nozzles of the second nozzle array is twice or more the number of nozzles of the first nozzle array.

Abstract: In a printing apparatus which prints by scanning a printhead having an array of printing elements on a printing medium in a direction crossing to a direction of the array, when a test pattern for verifying the printing characteristic of each printing element is to be printed, adjacent printing elements are driven in parallel to print a straight pattern with a predetermined length in the scanning direction. Printing of a straight pattern is executed a plurality of number of times so as to use all the printing elements for printing at least one straight pattern. In the printed test pattern, variations between the printing characteristics of printing elements that do not pose any problem in actual printing do not stand out. A printing element which degrades the image quality upon actual printing can be determined.

Abstract: The present invention provides an ink jet recording apparatus capable of recording high-quality images in which not only color shading caused in the process of reciprocating recording is prevented, but also bleeding between colors inherent in a multi-pass recording method is reduced. The position of the top of ejection orifices in a second ejection orifice row for ejecting color ink is spaced a length away from a first ejection orifice row for ejecting black ink. The length is determined according to values m, n and such a condition that the value a makes (m+a) an even number. Under the circumstances, recording is performed by reciprocating scanning, which makes differences in recording time between colors equal to each other.