An inkjet printer including an inkjet head, a head scanning unit, a wave shape generating mechanism to deform a recording medium into a predetermined wave shape, an obtaining device to obtain information concerning a type of the recording medium to be used in a printing operation, a gap information storing device to store gap information related to a gap between an ink discharging surface and the recording medium in association with a predetermined type of the recording medium, the gap information being acquired from a predetermined range in the recording medium, and a correcting device to correct the gap information according to the type of the recording medium obtained by the obtaining device when the type of the recording medium obtained by the obtaining device is different from the predetermined type of the recording medium stored in association with the gap information, is provided.

White-balance is improved when printing on colored media, while minimizing the time and use of costly materials required by present approaches. In an embodiment, the typical solid white fill or background layer is altered by including in the white layer one or more of the other colors already available in the printer to shade this layer. Thus, a small amount of cyan, for example, helps balance a pink-ish (red) media; yellow is used for blue media; and magenta is used for green media; as well as combinations thereof. A combination of transparent process inks and opaque white helps to maintain brightness (luminosity).

There is provided a printing apparatus including: a conveyer; a platen configured to support the a medium; a head; a carriage; a sensor configured to detect the medium supported by the platen; a liquid receiver; and a controller. The controller is configured to execute flushing, in which liquid is discharged from nozzles to the liquid receiver, after executing printing in a certain printing pass, which is executed before a last printing pass for printing on a certain medium and during which the carriage moves in a first direction. The controller is configured not to execute the flushing at timing between the last printing pass for the printing on the certain medium and a first printing pass for printing on the next medium.

An inkjet printing apparatus includes a mounting unit where a recording medium is mountable, a head unit that ejects ink droplets to the recording medium, a planar direction driving unit that drives at least one of the head unit ejecting the ink droplets and the mounting unit to move in a planar direction and that changes a relative positions of the head unit and the mounting unit in the planar direction, and a height direction driving unit that changes a relative positions of the head unit and the mounting unit in a height direction perpendicular to the planar direction. The planar direction driving unit has a moving speed changing mechanism that changes a carriage speed between the head unit and the mounting unit in the planar direction. The height direction driving unit has a distance changing mechanism that changes a distance between the head unit and the mounting unit.

A printing method includes a printing process that performs printing on a recording medium, in which, in the printing process, a first correction is performed in which discharging portions, where a first correction target head other than a first reference head among heads of a first group and a second correction target head other than the first reference head among the heads of a second group discharge inks, are corrected based on a first reference printing pattern, and a second correction is performed in which a discharging portion, where a third correction target head among heads of a third group other than a second reference head discharges the inks, is corrected based on the first reference printing pattern and a second reference printing pattern.

A method for determining a working gap includes a first recording step for ejecting ink from a recording head onto a first recording medium to record a test pattern, a first imaging step for capturing the test pattern recorded on the first recording medium in each of a state where a distance between the recording head and the first recording medium is a first distance, and a state where a distance between the recording head and the first recording medium is a second distance, a function calculating step, a second recording step for recording the test pattern on a second recording medium, a second imaging step for capturing the test pattern recorded on the second recording medium, and a working gap determining step for determining, based on the number of pixels of the captured test pattern and a function, a distance between the recording head and the second recording medium.

An image formation device includes a plurality of nozzles, a processor which forms an image on the basis of print data, and a memory which stores computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, perform processes including, performing first ejection control which ejects a first amount of the ink at a timing of one of a forward path and a return path in the main scan direction, when printing is performed by a multi-pass method in which each of pixel arrays is printed by a plurality of main scans and, in each of the plurality of main scans, the ink is ejected onto the same pixel array from the respectively different nozzles, and performing second ejection control configured to eject a second amount of the ink at a timing different from the previous timing of the ejection of the ink, the second amount being smaller than the first amount.

Ink containing metal particles is ejected from a print head, in accordance with a plurality of print ratios corresponding to a plurality of scans of the print head relative to a unit region of a print medium. At least one of the plurality of print ratios is set as a high print ratio which is higher than others. A height of the high print ratio, in a case where a scan corresponding to the high print ratio is a Lth (L: integral number) scan in the plurality of print scans, is higher than a height of the high print ratio, in a case where a scan corresponding to the high print ratio is a Nth (N>L; N: integral number) scan in the plurality of print scans.

To predict more accurately whether ink dots formed on the surface of paper by two nozzles arranged in a nozzle row and located at positions close to each other overlap. A luminance amount for each unit area surrounding each chart is derived from scanned data obtained by reading results of printing a plurality of charts (two-dot line chart corresponding to a nozzle pair of a nozzle of interest and a neighboring nozzle thereof among the plurality of nozzles) associated with a plurality of nozzles respectively. Then, based on the luminance amount for each unit area, the dot formation state in a dot formation line by the plurality of nozzles is determined.

Examples associated with printer configuration are disclosed. One example includes printing, using a printer, a first portion of a test patch in a first print direction. A second portion of the test patch is printed in a second print direction. The second portion is printed at a first offset from the first portion. A first portion of a second test patch is printed in the first print direction, and a second portion of the second test patch is printed in the second print direction at a second offset from the first portion of the second test patch. The printer is configured to print in the second print direction using one of the first offset and the second offset based on a selection between the first test patch and the second test patch.