A printing method and a printing apparatus are provided. After ink droplets of a photocurable ink are landed on a print medium, a scan of applying a light to cure the ink droplets to form dots is performed alternately in a forward direction and a backward direction with respect to a predetermined unit region, and a time from landing to curing of the ink droplets onto the print medium differs between the forward direction and the backward direction. The printing method includes: providing the ink droplets that include: a large dot having a large amount of ink per droplet, and a small dot having a smaller amount of ink per droplet than that of the large dot; and controlling ejection of the ink droplets, such that number of passes when forming the large dot is greater than number of passes when forming the small dot, when forming a print image.

A printing apparatus prints an image by applying ink to a print surface of an inclined print medium using a print head. A control apparatus for the printing apparatus acquires information on an inclination of the print surface. Based on the information, printing is controlled according to a print condition corresponding to a magnitude of the inclination of the print surface.

An example of a printing carriage system is disclosed. The example disclosed herein comprises a plurality of printheads, and a positioning mechanism. The plurality of printheads comprises a moveable printhead that is moveable with respect to other printheads from the plurality of printheads. The positioning mechanism is to move the moveable printhead from a first printhead position to a second printhead position.

A recording system records a recording image based on image data by repeating a pass operation in which a nozzle row discharges ink while moving relatively to a recording medium in a main scanning direction and a transport operation in which the nozzle row and the recording medium relatively move in a sub scanning direction intersecting the main scanning direction. The recording system includes a code detecting unit that detects an area where code information included in the image data is located, and a recording controller that controls the pass operation and the transport operation based on the image data and a result of the detection by the code detecting unit. The recording controller controls such that the number of times of the pass operation of recording the area is smaller than that of the pass operation of recording an area adjacent to the area in the main scanning direction.

A recording condition determining method executed by a recording device performing recording by a main scanning, in which while moving a recording head in a main scanning direction, dots are ejected from nozzles onto a recording medium, and a sub scanning, in which the recording medium is transported in a sub scanning direction. The method includes a patch recording step, the patch recording step being performed by recording patches at a plurality of different positions in the sub scanning direction by a plurality of types of overlap-processing under respectively different recording conditions, in a single recording job performed by the recording device. The method further includes a selection accepting step, and a determination step of determining, as a recording condition of the overlap-processing of an actual recording, the recording condition of the overlap processing corresponding to the patch selected in the selection accepting step.

A recording condition determining method is executed by a recording device performing recording by a main scanning and a sub scannin. The method includes a patch recording step of recording patches onto a recording medium by the overlap-processing in which the main scanning is performed on a partial region of the recording medium in an overlapping manner a plurality of times, the patch recording step including recording the patches at a plurality of different positions in a main scanning direction by a plurality of types of the overlap-processing under respectively different recording conditions. The method further includes a selection accepting step of accepting selection of a patch from among a plurality of the recorded patches, and a determination step of determining, as the recording condition of the overlap-processing of an actual recording, the recording condition of the overlap-processing associated with the patch selected in the selection accepting step.

A liquid discharging apparatus, having a head with nozzles, a scanning assembly, a conveyer, and a controller, is provided. The controller is configured to conduct actions including a conveying action and a scanning action. The scanning action includes a forward scanning action and a backward scanning action, in each of which a deceleration distance is longer than an acceleration distance. The controller is configured to determine, prior to conducting the forward scanning action, whether a deceleration range corresponding to the deceleration distance in the forward scanning action coincides with a discharging range in the forward scanning action. In a case where the controller determines that the deceleration range coincides with the discharging range, the controller is configured to conduct the backward scanning action, without conducting the forward scanning action, based on partial image data being a part of the image data corresponding to the forward scanning action.

A recording device includes a recording head housed in a carriage, and for discharging a droplet on an obverse surface of a medium to perform recording on the medium, a support section having a support surface for supporting a reverse surface of the medium, and a heater for heating the droplet adhered to the obverse surface of the medium. The carriage is provided with a collection section capable of collecting steam generated when the droplet is heated by the heater. The recording head includes a nozzle cover provided with a plurality of holes for discharging the droplet. The nozzle cover includes a nozzle surface opposed to the support surface The collection section is formed of a material higher in hydrophilic property than the nozzle surface.

There is provided an image recording apparatus including: a conveyor; a carriage; a recording head; and a controller. In a case that a moving direction in the scanning direction of the carriage in one of the two continuous recording passes is same as a moving direction in the scanning direction of the carriage in the other of the two continuous recording passes, the controller is configured to make a length in the conveyance direction of the overlap area to be a first length. In a case that the moving direction in the scanning direction of the carriage in the one of the two continuous recording passes is different from the moving direction in the scanning direction of the carriage in the other of the two continuous recording passes, the controller is configured to make the length in the conveyance direction of the overlap area to be a second length.

Described is an assembly of a guiding structure and a print head carriage, the print head carriage comprising a base carriage controllably movable relative to the guiding structure along a first horizontal axis, the print head carriage comprising a sub-carriage controllably movable relative to the base carriage along a second horizontal axis. The print head carriage comprises an intermediate carriage controllably movable relative to the base carriage along a vertical axis, the sub-carriage mounted on the intermediate carriage for moving together with the intermediate carriage relative to the base carriage, the sub-carriage controllably movable relative to the intermediate carriage along the second horizontal axis.