An image processing apparatus includes at least one memory storing instructions and at least one processor executing the instructions to provide an input unit configured to input image data representing a color of an image, and information identifying high gloss and low gloss areas in the image, a first determination unit configured to determine, based on the image data, a recording amount of a printing material for forming the image on a recording medium, and a second determination unit configured to determine a dot arrangement of the printing material by halftone processing for the recording amount according to the information.

An object is to print a high quality image with resistance to print misalignment. To this end, the image processing apparatus generates quantized data for printing a first dot pattern and a second dot pattern in an overlapping manner. The first dot pattern and the second dot pattern are lattice patterns varying in a combination of two basis vectors. In a combined dot pattern obtained by combining the first and second dot patterns, there is a neighboring dot in which a dot in the first dot pattern and a dot in the second dot pattern are arranged at an interval smaller than a lattice spacing. The neighboring dot includes multiple neighboring dots varying in an approach direction.

Provided is an inkjet printer capable of suppressing variations in landing positions of inks ejected from a plurality of inkjet heads mounted on a carriage for each inkjet head. In this inkjet printer, a plurality of inkjet heads 3 are mounted on a carriage. This inkjet printer includes at least one of a first inclination adjustment mechanism (13) for adjusting the inclination of each of the inkjet heads (3) with respect to the carriage in a pivoting direction having a sub scanning direction as an axial direction of pivoting, and a second inclination adjustment mechanism (14) for adjusting the inclination of each of the inkjet heads (3) with respect to the carriage in a pivoting direction having a main scanning direction as an axial direction of pivoting.

An inkjet recording device includes a conveyance unit, a carriage, one or a plurality of ink heads, a pre-processing head, and a post-processing head. The conveyance unit is configured to convey a recording medium in a conveyance direction. The carriage is configured to reciprocate in a main scanning direction intersecting the conveyance direction. The plurality of ink heads is located on the carriage and each eject an ink. The pre-processing head is arranged upstream of the plurality of ink heads in the conveyance direction and ejects a non-colored pre-processing solution. The post-processing head is arranged downstream of the plurality of ink heads in the conveyance direction and ejects a non-colored post-processing solution. The plurality of ink heads includes a plurality of same-color ink heads arranged to align in the conveyance direction to eject a same-color ink.

A method for cleaning nozzle surfaces of an inkjet print head assembly includes using a cleaning slide to carry out a movement along the assembly and clean the nozzle surfaces with a cleaning liquid in ultrasonic vibration. The cleaning slide includes an ultrasonic cleaning device, a suction device, and a rinsing device and the movement of the cleaning slide includes a forward movement and a backward movement. During the forward movement, the ultrasonic cleaning device and the suction device following the ultrasonic cleaning device are activated while the rinsing device following the two is deactivated. During the backward movement, the rinsing device and the suction device following the rinsing device are activated while the ultrasonic cleaning device following the two is deactivated. Cleaning liquid and contamination are advantageously prevented from reaching the interior of print heads or into an ink supply system thereof, preferably in industrial inkjet printing.

An object is to attain both a high-quality metallic color representation and suppression of a reduction in life of a nozzle. The present invention is a printing apparatus including: a conveyance unit configured to convey a printing medium in a first direction; a printing unit including a metallic array in which a plurality of printing elements for applying a metallic ink including metal particles is arrayed along the first direction and a color array in which a plurality of printing elements for applying a color ink including a color material is arrayed along the first direction; a scan unit configured to cause the printing unit to scan a plurality of times in a second direction intersecting with the first direction for a predetermined area on a printing medium; and a print control unit configured to control a printing operation so as to print a metallic color image.

A printing method and a printing apparatus are provided. The print quality of a printing apparatus in a multi-pass method is improved. A scan of applying light after ink droplets of photocurable ink land on a print medium and curing the ink droplets to form dots is performed on a predetermined unit region alternately in a forward direction and a backward direction multiple times. The time from landing of the ink droplets onto the print medium to curing differs between the forward direction and the backward direction. In a subsequent scan to form a surface layer of the unit region in the scan performed multiple times, an ejection controller controls ejection of the ink droplets such that the dots in the surface layer ejected to the print medium are not merged together.

A liquid discharge apparatus includes: a discharge head including nozzles; a head scanning mechanism that reciprocatingly moves the discharge head in a main scanning direction; a conveyer that conveys a recording medium in a sub-scanning direction; and a controller. In one pass, the controller executes: recording processing in which an image is formed on the recording medium by moving the discharge head in the main scanning direction and discharging liquid from the discharge head; setting processing in which the discharge head moves to a starting position of the recording processing for a subsequent pass following the one pass by changing a moving direction of the discharge head at a standstill position; and conveyance processing in which the recording medium is conveyed in the sub-scanning direction.

A liquid discharge method for a liquid discharge apparatus having a plurality of print modes includes determining and changing. The determining determines the print modes by a determiner. The changing changes, based on the print mode determined by the determiner, a use nozzle width and a discharge amount of a spot color head in a line feed direction such that a print mode having a low print speed has a narrower nozzle width and a larger discharge amount than a print mode having a high print speed by a controller.

A printing apparatus including a plurality of printing units along one guide can read test patterns printed with a plurality of types of conveying amount of a recording medium and determine a conveying amount based on the reading result.