Thermal printing on plastic cards where the energization of each individually energizable heating element of a thermal printhead is adjusted based on a temperature of the thermal printhead and a density of the pixel to be printed. For each pixel, the printhead temperature and the pixel density of a pixel to be printed are used to adjust the strobe pulse length that energizes the heating element to print that pixel. By compensating for both printhead temperature and pixel density, a tighter tolerance of the resulting printed densities is achieved.

Thermal printing on plastic cards where the energization of each individually energizable heating element of a thermal printhead is adjusted based on a temperature of the thermal printhead and a density of the pixel to be printed. For each pixel, the printhead temperature and the pixel density of a pixel to be printed are used to adjust the strobe pulse length that energizes the heating element to print that pixel. By compensating for both printhead temperature and pixel density, a tighter tolerance of the resulting printed densities is achieved.

A printer is configured to print on a print medium having a thermal color developing layer and includes: a thermal head having a plurality of heating elements that are arranged in a line; and a processor configured to: set a first application period of a pulse of energizing current, during a scanning line time for one line, the pulse of energizing current applying thermal energy that causes the thermal color developing layer to develop color, to the plurality of heating elements, correct a length of the first application period, which is set by the processor, based on an image to be printed, and determine print speed to be applied in printing the whole image at a constant speed, by extending the scanning line time so as to contain a maximum length of the first application period that has been corrected by the processor.

An image forming apparatus comprises a printhead configured to add energy to an image material including a plurality of color development layers that have different color development characteristics and develop colors in response to heat; and a control unit configured to output, based on image data, signal patterns corresponding to the plurality of color development layers and at least one signal pattern corresponding to a color reproduced by causing at least two of the plurality of color development layers to develop colors used to control the energy to be added to the image material by the printhead.

A printer in one example includes a thermal printhead with resistive heating elements. A motor is provided in the printer for conveying paper to the thermal printhead. A power supply is provided to supply power to the thermal printhead and the motor. A processor is configured to cause the supply of power to the motor to be paused after the supply of power to the thermal printhead exceeds a power threshold value and then to resume the supply of power to the motor after a predetermined period of time elapses after the pause of the supply of power to the motor.

A printing apparatus includes: a main body having a space therein, a thermal head arranged on a substrate provided in the space, the thermal head having heating elements arranged along a predetermined arrangement direction; a first conveyor which conveys an ink ribbon along a first conveyance path orthogonal to the arrangement direction, a second conveyor which conveys a printing object along a second conveyance path orthogonal to the arrangement direction and on an opposite side of the thermal head with respect to the first conveyance path, a first temperature sensor provided in a first space on a side of the thermal head with respect to the first conveyance path, a second temperature sensor provided in a second space between the first conveyance path and the second conveyance path, and a processor.

A printing apparatus includes: a main body having a space therein, a thermal head arranged on a substrate provided in the space, the thermal head having heating elements arranged along a predetermined arrangement direction; a first conveyor which conveys an ink ribbon along a first conveyance path orthogonal to the arrangement direction, a second conveyor which conveys a printing object along a second conveyance path orthogonal to the arrangement direction and on an opposite side of the thermal head with respect to the first conveyance path, a first temperature sensor provided in a first space on a side of the thermal head with respect to the first conveyance path, a second temperature sensor provided in a second space between the first conveyance path and the second conveyance path, and a processor.

A thermal printer includes a thermal head, a temperature sensor, and a controller. The thermal head includes heat generation elements configured to generate heat to perform printing. The temperature sensor is disposed in the thermal printer. The controller is configured to alternately turns on and off the heat generation elements during an idle state of the thermal printer for a number of cycles with a predetermined on-time period in each cycle. The controller determines the number of cycles and the predetermined on-time period based on temperature data obtained by the temperature sensor, such that heat energy generated by the heat generation elements during each of the cycles in the idle state is lower than heat energy generated by the heat generation elements during printing of one line.

A printing apparatus includes a thermal head and a processor. The thermal head has heat-generating elements and prints on a plurality of lines in a medium in setting periods. The processor sets a second period within each setting period. The second period is a time period for adjusting a temperature change of the heat-generating elements without printing, after a first period for printing. The processor determines a n.sup.th line (n: an integer of 1 or greater) among the lines based on printing data for printing the image. The n.sup.th line is a line estimated to have a possibility of sticking on the medium by the thermal head. The processor adjusts a temperature change of at least a part of the heat-generating elements in the second periods corresponding to at least the n.sup.th line and a (n+1).sup.th line, to suppress the sticking.

A printing apparatus includes a thermal head and a processor. The thermal head has heat-generating elements and prints on a plurality of lines in a medium in setting periods. The processor sets a second period within each setting period. The second period is a time period for adjusting a temperature change of the heat-generating elements without printing, after a first period for printing. The processor determines a n.sup.th line (n: an integer of 1 or greater) among the lines based on printing data for printing the image. The n.sup.th line is a line estimated to have a possibility of sticking on the medium by the thermal head. The processor adjusts a temperature change of at least a part of the heat-generating elements in the second periods corresponding to at least the n.sup.th line and a (n+1).sup.th line, to suppress the sticking.